Shikuro: A Caribbean Fairy Tale

by Inuma Asahi De

Inuyasha was as bad as pirates came, according to his legend. Kagome was a woman of propriety, destined to marry for her family's honor when all she wanted was to live on the sea. What happens when their eyes meet by chance or perhaps by daring fate?

99. Goshinboku

Blanket Disclaimer: The writer does not own any characters created by Rumiko Takahashi but like everyone else wishes she did. All original characters or concepts are the author Inuma Asahi De's (with the exception of historical figures).

Chapter Ninety-Nine

Goshinboku

Kagome stared into the swaying branches of the giant tree, her grey eyes surveying it with careful curiosity. It was beautiful, magnificent, and somehow she felt a tremendous connection to it that she couldn't quite explain. A soft whisper seemed to come from its leaves as it moved with the impossible summer air that surrounded it and she inhaled sharply. The sound was so faint, like a wind chime on the breeze, that she was almost certain she had imagined it.

Slowly, she looked towards Rin who was still standing at the tree's trunk looking at her with a soft smile. "Can you hear it?" Rin asked and Kagome felt a lump immediately build in her throat.

She glanced away from Rin towards the tree hastily, watching as the strange white rope around its trunk waved in the wind. Each of the little triangles connected to the thick rope seemed to dance as she watched, the breeze picking up one, musing it, before it dropped it to pick up another. The soft whisper she had heard before came to her again and she bit her lip but didn't say a word to Rin. She didn't know what to say, there weren't words for what she heard.

"Come—."

She jumped backwards defensively, raising her hands up into fist as she had seen Inuyasha do many times before. Although, unlike Inuyasha, she would never be able to raise a fist towards anything (it simply wasn't in her nature to). The tree seemed to sway in response to her defensive posture, its branches almost mocking her in that moment. A faint whisper reached her ears again and she opened her mouth as if to ask who was speaking but her own voice froze in her throat. "How can a tree talk?" She asked herself with complete and utter uncertainty, a strange fear nibbling at her heart as she realized that somewhere inside her she knew.

"Don't be afraid." Rin whispered and suddenly came to stand beside her. How the small woman had maneuvered herself without once drawing Kagome's attention was beyond the younger girl. "Just relax, Kagome-sama."

Kagome turned her face towards Rin's. She felt as if her grey eyes were huge and round and she knew she had to look frightened or better yet, ridiculous. If she did look that way, however, Rin didn't say a word. "It's talking to me." Kagome told the other woman, even as she had to push down the awkwardness of saying such a thing. "And I—I—." Kagome's voice died as the tree's whisper touched just the tip of her existence, a soft gentle feeling that made dizzy. "I feel it."

"I know." Rin nodded and turned away from her towards the tree. The wind caught her hair, which Kagome vaguely noticed was oddly held up on one side in a strange side ponytail. It was a hairstyle she had never seen in her life but it seemed to suite the soft, whimsical woman. The wind caught the black strands pushing them across Rin's face. The young woman raised a hand to catch them, her fingers holding the edges of a slew of strands while she stared at the tree before them. "It's time to begin." She spoke softly as she turned towards Kagome still holding the rogue strands.

"Begin?" Kagome felt the question leave her even as she realized she already knew what was beginning.

Rin seemed to be aware of this as well and turned to look at Goshinboku again her eyes closing as she allowed the breeze to seamlessly wash over her. "Do you remember," She began slowly, her eyes fluttering opened as her fingers released the strands of hair, letting them catch the breeze once more. "How everything bombarded you yesterday?" She paused for just a second as if to gather her thoughts, her large chocolate eyes blinking once. "How all our feelings, thoughts, everything touched your mind?"

Her voice caught in her throat, Kagome managed to nod but couldn't bring herself to speak a word.

Her lack of vocalization didn't seem to affect Rin, however, the girl continuing as if she had never paused. "What was it like?" She whispered and turned, finally looking at Kagome straight on once more. Her dark eyes seemed to shimmer as she stared at the younger girl, shifting between a deep wheat gold and chocolate brown.

"I—I couldn't," Kagome bit her lip as she tried to find the right words to express her thoughts. "—think and my brain felt like it was on fire." She gulped slightly as she remembered the pain that had hit her like a rogue wave, encompassing her until she drowned. "It was—awful and then," She lifted her head up, the feel of a strong and particularly warm breeze calming her. It was almost like the wind had grown fingers made of sun and was gently caressing her cheeks with all their love. "Everything went black."

"Your mind shut down." Rin informed as she reached over and took Kagome's hand in her own without hesitation. The younger Miko jumped, her whole body shaking for a moment as she felt Rin's cool hand take her own. Holding onto her with a light grip that seemed impossibly tight, Rin lead Kagome towards the tree.

They had been close to the tree before, only a matter of maybe four or five feet away from the base of the trunk; now, though, Rin took them even closer, edging her way with small almost dainty footsteps until they were just a hair's breadth away. Kagome stared at the bark of the tree right in front of her nose and her heart pounded in her chest for reason's she didn't actually understand. The tree was dark in color and little bugs, which once would have bothered her but no longer did, milled around its surface.

"Our minds shutting down," Rin continued to explain as they looked directly at the bark of the tree together, both studying the overlapping colors of the wood, while seeing different things. "Is a defense mechanism to keep us from becoming overloaded with information." The dog demon explained, her free hand reaching for the bark of the tree, massaging it with just the tips of her fingers, careful of her claws.

"So," Kagome licked her lips and frowned as her breathing became shallow. "It's going to happen every time."

"Not necessarily." Rin smiled softly, her hair gently moving with that strange unnatural breeze. "You just need to learn how to block."

"What?"

Rin pursed her lips and tilted her chin back attempting to think of a way to explain exactly what she had meant. "You know how you can block a punch or a kick in a fight?" She finally settled on lowering her chin back down so that she could look at Kagome again.

"Yes." Kagome nodded once as she started to understand what Rin was saying.

"You can block emotions also." Rin closed her eyes as if in that moment she was doing exactly what she was saying. "You can let them in or you can push them out," She pulled her free hand in close to her body and then pushed it away as if to reiterate her point. "Or," Her hand froze in the air and her eyes snapped opened, two black orbs, calm, cool, and collected. "You can stop them before they even come close to touching you."

"Ok—ay." Kagome spoke shakily as Rin released her hand finally and smiled sweetly.

Her hands motioned to the ground indicating silently that Kagome should sit. The younger miko instantly obeyed, lowering herself to the ground as gracefully as she could manage. She crossed her feet despite what Sesshoumaru had told her the day before and winced as she watched Rin sit next to her, the other woman's legs folding underneath herself in what the Nippon people probably called 'propriety.'

Rin inhaled sharply and glanced over at Kagome before letting the breath go slowly. "Close your eyes Kagome." She instructed and Kagome obeyed.

With her eyes closed the warmth of the sun felt even warmer and the sound of the wind in the clearing became even louder and more pleasurable. She shivered enjoying the sound as it reached her and enjoying the way the wind brushed at her hair, moving it around the base of her neck. She smiled as the breeze touched her skin, she had been so cold for so many months that she had forgotten what it was like to be warm.

"It's nice, isn't it?" Rin whispered beside her and Kagome nodded but didn't open her eyes to look at the other woman. Somehow she knew that she should keep her eyes closed and that Rin wanted her to keep them closed for other reasons besides feeling the sun and wind more acutely. "Now," Rin began again the sound of her breathing loud in Kagome's ears. "Listen to the world around you—what do you hear?"

Kagome furrowed her brows as she took in the sounds that were bombarding her ears. Besides the wind, she could hear some other things but nothing that seemed to her to be significant. The moving of Goshinboku's branches permeated the air and the rhythmic chirping of breeds of grasshopper and cicada (an awkward sound considering it was winter just outside this bubble of warmth.) "Bugs—." Kagome finally answered unsure of what else she was supposed to say.

"Under that." Rin pushed, her voice calm but somewhat disappointed.

Kagome gulped upon hearing that wave of disappointment and for a brief moment opened her eyes. She was greeted by the sunshine and the twisting of branches in the wind. Fluttering her eyelashes she latched onto the sight without thought. "The wind."

Rin opened one eye and glanced at her, making eye contact with the other girl. For a moment, she didn't say anything simply stared at Kagome as if surprised. The surprised expression eventually left, however, and Rin opened her other eye. "Kagome," She whispered as she moved her hands to her lap, sitting them on her knees as she hunched a little. "Think deeper—ignore the every day," She glanced around them looking, it seemed, at all the things Kagome could see as well. "What do you hear that you shouldn't hear?"

"Um." Kagome hesitated not sure what Rin actually meant. She heard what she had mentioned and nothing more. She heard the wind and the bugs and the grass blades brushing against one another on the ground but that was all. There was nothing else actually left to hear.

"Deep breath." Rin whispered suddenly and Kagome turned to her again watching as Rin's eyes sunk back closed. "Breath in," The girl whispered and obeyed her own words, breathing in deeply as her chest rose. "And out." She exhaled, her eyes never opening as she controlled her breathing expertly. "Listen."

Kagome obeyed and breathed in deeply, her eyes smashing shut as she tried to hear whatever it was Rin wanted her to hear. Part of her knew exactly what she should be hearing. She should hear the thoughts and feelings of everything around her but at this particular moment, it was silent. "Why can't I hear anything!?" The thought exploded in her head and she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from growing with her own frustration. The sound of the wind in the trees, increasing suddenly as if reacting to her very emotions, was annoying to her ears and she growled slightly. "I don't hear anything." She finally grumbled hoping that the sound was not loud enough for Rin to hear but, of course, the demon had.

"Be patient."

Kagome resisted the urge to growl as she opened one eye once more and looked around her.

"Do you know," Rin started speaking suddenly making Kagome practically jump out of her skin from surprise. "That feeling right before you fall asleep," Rin paused, waiting for the younger girl to disgust the idea. "When you can still wake up if you really wanted to?"

Kagome opened both her eyes now, staring at Rin as she thought of that strange feeling. She had experienced it, as most people do, almost every night of her life: that moment when your body feels heavy and tired and yet somehow light as if, if you really wanted to, you could still stand for another hour or so. "Yeah."

"Close your eyes," Rin commanded, the firmness in her voice seeming strange considering how small she really was. "And allow your mind to drift towards that state." The words were a whisper, barely loud enough to be heard by anything but a demon. "Think of nothing and anything—hear nothing and everything."

Something in Rin's voice made Kagome believe that such a hypocrisy was possible and so the young girl did as she was told. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, allowing her mind to drift. She felt a thousand different thoughts invade her but she gave none of them more than a passing glance of her psyche. She thought of Inuyasha, she thought of Shippo, she thought of Sango, Miroku and the baby, and all those thoughts made her think of another child, one that seemed so wholly and innately impossible. The image drifted away within seconds and she was thankful for the liquidness of her state of mind. Before she knew it, she felt her consciousness begin to drift away, everything within her ebbing reaching into an infinite darkness that neither worried nor scared her in any way.

In that darkness, she suddenly saw the ocean the waves peaking and falling right behind her eyelids in time with the rise and fall of her chest. She licked her lips as she watched those waves rush towards her in her mind's eye. It was as if they were going to swallow her, the white peaks leaping, rushing, grinding along the ground in her direction. She felt her breath catch in her throat as an innate fear gripped her heart.

"Don't be afraid."

The words were gentle and familiar as if she had heard them a million times. Kagome gasped and swallowed hard as everything seemed to rush around her in a great swoop of energy that made her heart beat wildly in her chest. "Rin?" She asked for the girl, begged for her but it wasn't Rin who answered.

"Deep breath, Kagome."

The voice was deep and soft, the rumble of it so familiar that it made Kagome blink in her own mind as the voice was accompanied by a face. A strong chin yet somehow delicate, a small nose that slopped just ever so slightly and bright gold eyes that shown with the brightness of all his wisdom and gentleness. Wisps of silver hair ran across his face, touching his long eyelashes as they moved as if by supernatural wind.

"I know you." Kagome whispered and she wasn't sure if Rin could hear her or if she was actually speaking out loud or just in her head. "I know you." She repeated not sure what else to say as she looked at him.

She knew this man, she was absolutely sure she did. This was the face of the person who gave her the bow, the face of the person who taught her to make barriers, the face of the person who gently guided her through every single aspect of her self-training to date. This was the voice that had spoken to her, these were the lips that had moved unseen, and this was the face that had never been this clear.

"And I know you." The man spoke with a soft arrogance that reminded her of her husband in such a strong way that it made her nervous to even realize that truth.

The waves that had been leaping at her feet suddenly jumped, swelling up around her, swallowing her whole. Closing her eyes, she let them wash over her as her mind went to liquid and her body felt as if it were about to go completely limp.

"Kagome."

Rin's voice seemed to enter her mind more than it entered her ears.

"Kagome what do you hear?"

There was a desperation in her words that normally would have worried Kagome but at the moment she couldn't think of things such as worries or problems. Kagome allowed her shoulders to slump as her breath came in deep open mouthed gulps. Her eyes fluttered open for real and the image of the man disappeared into the world around her. She found herself once more sitting in the strange sacred place, the warm air touching her skin with gentle radiance.

"Kagome?"

The sound of her name hit her in a way no other word had ever touched her. Even the moment Inuyasha had told her he loved her for the first time didn't hit her in the gut the way her name did in that moment. It was loud and hard and quiet and soft all at once, it was beautiful and for a reason she couldn't explain tears came to her eyes. "I know him." She repeated the words out loud but she could have sworn she didn't move her mouth.

"Who?" Rin's voice made her turn, her gray eyes taking in the beauty of the sweet girl until she shook from it.

"I don't know." Kagome whispered as the sensation of the unnatural warmth here flowed throughout her. "And I do—do and not—yes and no." Her words sounded delirious but to Kagome they made perfect sense. "I know you and yet I don't." She turned towards the Goshinboku, her eyes staring at the tree as if seeing inside its very soul.

Without really realizing she was moving, Kagome rose. Her feet scraped against the ground and her body teetered back and forth with unreasonable instability. She hesitated, her eyes opened and wide with understanding as she listened with ears that did not need sound to hear. One foot stepped in front of the other, her body shook and quaked but she kept moving. The sound of dirt and grass crunching underneath her feet made her shake even more. She felt her hand lift up as if it had a will of its own and then, without warning, her knees gave out from underneath her just as her hand came in contact with the rough bark of the Goshinboku trunk.

"Hello Kagome—I've been waiting for you."

Her eyes snapped open and a sight she had least expected filled her true vision: tree bark. The rough bark of the tree, dark and light all at the same time was staring at her as if it were amazed that she had found it. She inhaled deeply with her own astonishment as the clarity that had filled her mind only seconds before seeped away from her, replaced by the same confusion she seemed to always feel.

"The tree?" She whispered as she blinked rapidly, her hands smoothing over the bark, gently brushing at it with the palm of her hand. "Can a tree talk to me?" She asked herself as she turned to look for Rin immediately in confusion. "It wasn't the tree—someone spoke but—trees don't talk." She explained filling absolutely ridiculous for saying the words out loud.

Standing behind her a good five or six feet, the girl was staring at Kagome, her eyes wide with what appeared to be surprise. "She did it." She whispered as the summer sun hit her hair making it glow with a slight golden hue Kagome had not noticed in the black strands before. "It was all true."

"Rin?" Kagome allowed her hand to drop away from the trees bark as confusion built up in her own mind. "What are you talking about?" Kagome whispered as she stared at the older woman watching as her dark eyes seemed to shimmer with an amazement Kagome couldn't understand. "What," She paused and swallowed not exactly sure what to say to the woman. "What was true?"

Rin didn't appear to hear her, her long lashes fluttering as she looked towards the ground almost in shock. "She really—." Rin closed her mouth and shook her head quickly as if the thoughts were too much for her mind to process. "She really did it." She lifted her head and looked straight at Kagome the mixture of disbelief, hope, and astonishment on her face making Kagome actually step back away from her. "You're the one."

Kagome narrowed her eyes not really understanding what Rin meant by such a thing and yet understanding it as well. "The one Izayoi talked about, you mean?" She asked as she took another step backwards, her hand reaching for the tree to steady herself.

"More." Rin supplied evenly, her eyes washing with something akin to tears before they suddenly went wide and dry as if she had seen something that Kagome hadn't. "Ka—."

Kagome froze as her hand came in contact with something that was most defiantly not a tree. It felt like light and radiance and warmth and happiness. She opened her mouth, sounds wanting to emerge, questions waiting to be asked sitting on her tongue but she snapped it shut as the voice from the tree entered her head once more.

"Come."

Methodically, Kagome turned around her eyes widened as she saw the strangest sight she had ever seen in her life. It looked like the sun, hovering just between her and the tree. It was impossibly bright but it didn't burn her eyes, it merely glowed, shifting and shimmering every time the wind mused at its edges. Blues and reds and golds came in and out of existence as the orb glowed, there birth and death seeming to come in time with Kagome's own heartbeat. She blinked once, then twice, her body moving so slowly that she felt as if she were wading through water. One of her hands rose up, fingers sprawling opened wide so as to touch as much of the surface of that sphere as possible. A bright blinding glow hit the clearing the second the tips of her fingers came in contact with the ever changing surface and she winced but not with fear or pain—she felt neither.

"Kagome!"

She heard Rin's scream but it was so distant that she was sure Rin had to be a million leagues away from her by now. Her eyes shone as she saw a world beginning to open up in front of her, the orb becoming less like a sun and more like a portal.

"Kagome—get away."

Rin's voice cried behind her and barely listening she scrunched up her forehead and turned to look at Rin just over her shoulder. She opened her mouth, fully intended to console the other girl but never got a chance to even whisper one reassurance before she felt hands on her shoulders. They gripped the fabric of her shirt tightly, claws digging into the material, ripping it with a loud tear. She gasped wanting to scream, her hands already rising and her natural energy already flaring.

Her eyes stared at Rin, watching as if in slow motion as the other woman pushed herself to her feet a look of horror and confusion on her youthful face. Her delicate fingers were reaching towards Kagome, the deadly claws in place of her nails shinning in the summer sun. Kagome couldn't help but stare at those claws as she felt her body suddenly being yanked backwards and, as strange as it sounded, she could only think of them in that last moment.

"If they grabbed me," She thought oddly as her mind seemed to fade away, her thoughts disappearing even from her own head. "It would hurt."

And with that thought and with those claws at the forefront of her mind everything around her crumbled into non existence.

Rin fell in a heap on the ground her claws scrapping at nothing but dirt as she looked with complete terror at the place Kagome had once stood. There was nothing there now, only the tree and an empty spot on the ground. "Kagome?" She whispered as fear overwhelmed her, gripping her throat as her eyes washed with all her pain. "Kagome!" She screamed as she pushed herself up, clawing her way to the tree's base, her voice tearing with the desperation that ripped from her throat. "Oh god—no-no—Sesshoumaru!" She knew he was nearby; it had been their plan all along for him to watch from a safe distance. "Sesshoumaru-sama!"

Rin's voice cracked with hysteria as she yelled over and over again knowing Sesshoumaru had to be close by, he had to have seen what had happened. He had promised he would be close, he had promised.

-break-

Inuyasha sat in the training hall, his legs crossed and his eyes closed in a relaxed manner that seemed unbefitting of a man such as himself. Tetsusiaga laid before him on the ground, the sword emitting a strange tingling sensation every once and a while, pushing energy towards him and then bringing it away. He licked his lips as he tried to keep control of his already bouncing leg.

There was a reason Inuyasha hated meditation: he was no good at it. The dog demon opened one eye looking at the sword in front of him as it glowed softly on the ground. "It's almost like its mocking me." He thought to himself dryly as he resisted the urge to yawn and scratch under his chin where the beginnings of facial hair were surfacing lately. "I need to shave." He told himself even as the thought struck him as odd. "When was the last time I shaved?" He wondered to himself cocking his head to one side as he allowed his eyes to drift closed once more. "Have I ever shaved?" His brow furrowed and he began tapping his legs with one claw as he racked his brain trying to remember. "My god—I can't remember—." His eyes snapped opened, both this time, and he huffed. "Who doesn't remember if they've ever shaved before?"

"What?" Takeshi's own eyes snapped opened beside his uncle and he turned his head to look at the older man with barely contained perplexity. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Feeling suddenly incredibly stupid, Inuyasha shook his head and turned away from his nephew quickly. "Nothing—keep meditating." He commanded even though he technically wasn't the one in charge.

If Takeshi minded, however, he didn't make a big fuss about it and instead simply closed his eyes as well turning back to his own meditation as his father had taught him. Unfortunately for the young man, though, even after only being under the influence of his uncle for a few hours he had already been negatively affected (at least his father would say so).

"I wonder what he meant about shaved?" He asked himself, being careful to use English even in his thoughts in order to maintain perfect proficiency. "I've never heard that word before—shaved—shaved—shaved." He nodded his head in time with each one of the words as he contemplated its meaning. "It's kind of like saved—no—not really—how would you spell it? Sha—sha—sha—," He sounded out in his head using the Nihon-go phonetics naturally even though he could read English as well. "S-h-a-v-v-v." He continued on even as he became annoyed. "This is getting me nowhere." His eyes opened in annoyance and before he could stop himself (being so young he had even worse impulse control than his older uncle) he turned towards Inuyasha and scowled. "What the hell does shaved mean?"

Inuyasha actually jumped, his eyes snapping opened, unaware that his nephew had still been stuck on the unknown word. "Um—you know," He reached up and made a motioned across his face that was probably supposed to represent a flat edge razor. "You get rid of all the hair."

"On your face?" Takeshi turned his head to the side looking at his uncle as if the man was nuts.

"Yeah." Inuyasha nodded trying not to send him a look that said, 'idiot.'

"Soru." He whispered suddenly as he thought of the Nihon-go equivalent to his uncle's word. "Hm—," He thought about it for a second before raising his head up to look at his uncle with intensely focused eyes. "You shaved?"

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow at the lack of conjugation on that particular verb but ignored it. "Yeah—." He shrugged his shoulders and forced himself to not add, 'I think' to the end of his sentence.

"You are a lot older than me." Takeshi muttered and looked down at his sword carefully. "I won't shaved for another—four or five hundred years."

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow in slight annoyance at the strange sounding word. "Shave." He corrected his voice laced with absolute disdain. "It's shaved."

If Inuyasha's tone bothered the boy he didn't let on as he shifted bringing his legs out from under himself so that he could sit more comfortably cross legged on the ground. "Huh—?"

"The correct word is shave in that sentence," Inuyasha tried to keep his annoyance out of his voice as he explained. "You know. I shave, I shaved, I will shave, I am shaving." He motioned with his hands as he spoke moving them from left to right in front of his body every time he spoke another form of the verb. "It's just like any other verb in English." He dropped his hands down to his lap as an odd feeling of déjà vu snuck up his spine. "It's like teaching Miroku Nihon-go." He thought to himself as he reached subconsciously towards his sword fiddling with the handle with the tip of his fingers.

"I shave." He repeated and smiled happily completely ignoring the irritation in his uncle's voice (most likely he was used to such strange tones because of his own unemotional father). "Of course." He chuckled strangely happy to have learned something before he turned towards his uncle, cocking his head to one side and smiling. "Thanks."

Inuyasha couldn't help but see himself in the boy in that moment. Even though he had never really seen himself smile in the boyish way, he had heard Kagome mention it often enough to know he did and that she found it unbelievably charming. "And it is." He shook his head slightly as he watched the boy, that trait that they shared still predominate on his face. He was just about to smile at the boy when he felt a cold sweat break out across the top of his forehead.

His heart suddenly began to beat wildly in his chest and he felt a bit dizzy. The room spun for just a moment and he inhaled sharply as he felt his body fall slightly forward. One of his hands jumped out with a mind of its own catching him before he crumbled to the ground. A stabbing pain went up the limb and he hissed from it as his ears twitched wildly on his head for a reason he didn't understand.

"Ojii-san?" Takeshi called to him as he opened his eyes looking at the sudden panic stricken look that had jumped on his uncle's face.

Inuyasha ignored the boy's words as he looked down at Tetsusaiga. The sword was pulsing wildly, actually shaking in its scabbard, so much so that it appeared to be moving across the floor, towards him. It bumped against his hand within seconds, the sword seeming to pulse even more as it connected with him. "What's going on?" He wondered as he looked over the sword, a slight golden hue was now pulsating around it as it shook. "Not shake—," Inuyasha corrected himself as his heart began to tighten with pain. "It's trembling."

"Run."

The dog demon's eyes opened wide as he heard the sword's words distinctly. Without another thought his fingers warped around the sword and he darted to his feet. Perhaps it was instinct or perhaps it was love, whatever it was Inuyasha knew exactly where to go.

"Ojii-san!" Takeshi yelled after him as his feet pounded on the wooden floor but the dog demon didn't stop for a second, his legs wouldn't let him.

-break-

Rin's whole body shook as she looked at the spot where Kagome had stood only moments before. Now, in her place was an emptiness that seemed disturbingly unnatural. "This isn't right." She thought to herself just as she felt Sesshoumaru seamlessly appear behind her. "She's not supposed to disappear." She cried harder as she pulled her claws out of the dirt and tried to breathe but every breath felt undeniably difficult. "She can't be gone."

Kneeling on the ground next to her, his eyes searching her face in an attempt to figure out what was happening, Sesshoumaru gritted his teeth. "Where's Kagome?" He spoke firmly, the emotions in his voice contained but to her, out of control. "Rin, where is she?" He asked once again as one of his hands reached for her shoulder grasping it gently. "Rin?"

Rin shook, her nails digging into the ground as she tried to think of what to say. "I don't know." She finally whispered as she felt the hand on her back pull away in surprise.

"What?" Sesshoumaru's normally stoic voice faltered as he looked down at his wife in complete disbelief, although his face barely portrayed the emotion.

"He—." Rin's voice died in her throat as she turned and looked up at her husband.

The sun shone down through the branches of the trees highlighting his silver hair in the most gorgeous way. She couldn't stop herself from focusing on it as the leaves danced above their heads with a hot puff of air. An image of the man who had stood behind Kagome jumped into her brain and she was struck with the undeniable similarities. She blinked, her head fell and her eyes were trained not on the beauty of his features but the green grass. There had only been one difference between Sesshoumaru and the man that had taken Kagome.

The strips on their face had been different colors.

"Inutaisho." She whispered and lifted her head up to look at Goshinboku. "Inutaisho came—just like she told me he would."

Sesshoumaru's eyes widened and he sat back on his knees within seconds looking dazed. "He really came?"

"And he took her." Rin shook her head and tears brimmed in her eyes as she reached for her husband, grasping his collar desperately. "That wasn't supposed to happen!" She cried as she looked back at the spot where Kagome had stood only moments before. "She was supposed to stay—he—he took her and I," She stumbled over her words just as they both heard something or better yet somewhere crash through the trees. "I don't know where she went."

Inuyasha's feet skidded to a halt just as he heard the words leave his sister-in-laws mouth. His brain not processing the information as he took in the scene before him: the tree, his sister in law covered in dirt and tears, and his brother who was just now raising from the ground, looking towards his younger brother with concern unhidden in his eyes. The younger dog demon frowned at the sight, the wild beating of his heart that had started in the training hall lessoning but not with relief, with ache. "Where's Kagome?" He asked as the ache became more painful telling him that something was horribly, horribly wrong.

"Inuyasha." Sesshoumaru whispered the name, the raw emotions of regret and confusion, so strange as they hit the air that Inuyasha ignored them, unable to deal with their oddness.

Inuyasha's eyes darted from left to right, from Rin to Sesshoumaru and back again. "She's not here?" He stepped forward, his nose instinctively moving, taking in the faint scent that permeated the air around him. The smell of salt and the sea and delicate little lily flowers hit him square in the stomach. "I smell her." He whispered, not bothering to watch as Rin and Sesshoumaru glanced at one another exchanging pained looks. "Where—?" He mumbled as he felt his body lurch forward towards the spot where he could smell that scent most strangely.

Tetsusaiga seemed to cry in his hand as he rushed forward. The sword shook against his fingers and pulsed uncomfortably as he fell to his knees in front of the strange tree. He barely registered the warm air as his hands hit the soil in front of him staring at the spot where her scent both started and disappeared. His chest burned with a pain he had never felt in his life: a sharp, horrifying loneliness that started in his stomach and wound its way through his heart and up his throat until he couldn't speak because of it. It made his eyes mist and even though he hadn't heard the words he knew that something had gone terribly wrong.

"Where's Kagome?" He bit into the side of his cheek to keep from screaming as he ripped his eyes away from the dirt to look at Rin.

Rin swallowed hard enough for Inuyasha to hear the sound, the apology in her eyes terrifying. "Inuyasha—." She whispered as the tears began to flow down her cheeks once again gathering at her chin. "I—don't know."

The eighteen year old Captain felt his heart stop dead in his chest, almost violently so. He breathed in feeling as if he were going to hyperventilate, the mist in his eyes overflowing as the pain in his heart consumed him. A shaky hand, dirt smeared, jumped to his chest and grabbed fitfully for his haori, yanking and nearly tearing the material with his claws as pain consumed every part of him. It was a pain unmatched by Kikyo's death, by his father's death, by even his own mother's death. He felt like, at any moment, his heart might simply explode with an ache he couldn't possibly explain.

The color must have drained from his face as well because even Sesshoumaru knelt down next to him quickly a worried look, Inuyasha barely acknowledged, surfacing on their faces. "Inuyasha." Sesshoumaru spoke first, his voice a strange combination of comforting and worried and monotone.

"Kagome," Inuyasha whispered as his hands began to shake like his sword and his stomach began to lurch as he felt sick. "Kagome." He thought her name the only thing on his mind as the tears continued to fall down his face without him even being aware of them.

Rin shook her head and sniffled as she tried to think of the words needed to comfort the stone struck dog demon. "We—were meditating—." She explained, the demon's face not moving as she spoke, causing her to speak even faster. "I was teaching—her to learn control—I was—teaching her." She stumbled over her words as she reached for her brother-in-law her hand stopping short as she noticed the darkness that was beginning to cloud his face. "We were connecting with the Goshinboku—your mother's tree." Rin glanced towards Sesshoumaru as she felt the hair's on the back of her head stand on end. "We were—she was getting there and then—I don't know what happened." Her voice stopped dead, feeling the lie in her every whispered breath.

Something in Rin's words made Inuyasha snap out of his dazed perplexity, the darkness consuming him as he lost control. "What do you mean you don't know?!" He exploded his hands shaking so violently that he had no hope of keeping his grip on the sword. It clattered to the ground as he looked at the two wild eyed. "Where is Kagome?!" He shot to his feet his bare heels catching on rocks, nearly causing him to fall flat on the ground. "Where's my mate?!" He screamed as he reached grabbing Rin shoulders and shaking her before Sesshoumaru had even realized what had happened.

"I don't know." Rin answered her voice coming out in a near sob as she crumbled under Inuyasha's touch.

Sesshoumaru's snarl from behind him barely registered in his ears as Inuyasha released the woman with an unnecessary bit of force. Rin fell to the ground, tumbling backwards slightly as Inuyasha snarled fiercely. "You were here!" He howled as his anger consumed him, the burning in his heart so painful that he actually thought he might die. "I trusted you—I trusted you to train her; not make her disappear."

Sesshoumaru stepped forward, his eyes narrowed with natural anger as he prepared to defend him mate. Before a word could leave his mouth, however, Rin was on her feet and between the two men her arms spread wide in order to separate them. "I'm sorry—," She apologized as she watched the edge of Inuyasha's eyes begin to twinge with a reddish hue. "It wasn't supposed to happen this way."

"Then what was supposed to happen!?" Inuyasha screamed, his hands clutching into open deadly claws that looked ready to lash out at any second. "What the hell did you do!?"

Rin stepped backwards instinctively, her eyes growing huge as the demon in front of her growled a low threat in the back of his throat. "Inuyasha—please—calm down." She whispered but her words didn't reach reasonable ears any longer.

Inuyasha was long gone, his mind clouded by the demon inside of him taking full control. It was wild and in pain and irate and consumed by the need to find its missing mate. It opened its mouth, elongated fangs dripping with what seemed to be venom. It raised its hands, its knuckles crunching as it poised its claws ready to kill anything in its way.

"Move!" Sesshoumaru suddenly commanded jumping forward and around Rin without a second thought. The woman obeyed instantly jumping out of the way as Sesshoumaru charged his brother fully prepared to protect his mate in any way necessary.

Demonic instincts surged inside the younger brother, his clawed hands lashing out without a second thought in a wide and deadly arc. Sesshoumaru barely ducked underneath the attack, his hair, which always hung down his back in a long sweep of gold, the only part of him that sustained any damaged. The severed silver strands glistened in the sunlight as they drifted past his head. Sesshoumaru ignored them as they drifted, his eyes trained on Inuyasha's second set of claws as they followed the first strike only seconds later. The dog lord jumped backwards instantly, his pupils dilating as his body reacted to the surge of adrenaline burning in his veins. The second his feet hit the ground, he surged forward once more his own hands reaching outwards prepared to fight back just as viciously.

"Chichiue!"

"Takeshi—," Rin screamed in response as she saw her young son enter the chaos, his sword already drawn. "Stay out of it!"

The sound of Takeshi's voice and Rin's plea brought Sesshoumaru immediately back into reason. "Restrain him—don't kill!" Without another thought, he shifted, reaching for the collar of Inuyasha's shirt instead of for the killing blow of his jugular. "That's it!" He thought as he tried to grasp the edge of his younger brother's haori.

Inuyasha snarled in response, the precious seconds it had taken for Sesshoumaru to change his plan giving him enough time to evade his brother's hands. The younger demon sprung backwards hitting the ground just long enough to shove his weight back forward towards his brother. Within seconds, his foot came up to connect with the older man's stomach, doubling the demon over as he thrust kicked him right in the diaphragm. Caught off guard, Sesshoumaru took the hit full force, wheezing as all the air was expelled from his body in one swift motion.

Smirking triumphantly at the hunched form of Sesshoumaru, the demon in Inuyasha swung a closed fist downwards hitting his brother square in the back. Sesshoumaru hit the ground instantaneously pain exploding in his back for only a moment before he rolled to the side missing Inuyasha's heel as the other dog demon dropped his leg down for another blow.

The ground where Sesshoumaru had been crumbled under the impact, debris flooding the air as the sound of the destruction overwhelmed the air. For the briefest of moments, Sesshoumaru laid beside the crumbled heap, his eyes just taking in the sight of his young pup lunging forward. "Takeshi!" He screamed but the boy was beyond the wisdom needed to obey.

Takeshi raised the sword, the blade gleaming as it transformed obeying the child's unconscious desire to protect his father. If it looked threatening to the demonic Inuyasha, however, the chaotic man never once showed it. Instead, he merely dodged the sweeping blade with easy footing before lashing out with claws far more skillful than his young adversary.

Blood splattered on the ground, coating it with the deep red of Takeshi's life source. The young demon screamed in pain having never in his life experienced something as deathly painful as a demon's claws sinking into your arm. Blood flowed from the wound, running down his fingers onto his swords hilt as he fell to the ground from both shock and injury. The sword clattered to in the dirt as Rin screamed in absolute horror behind him.

Before the woman could even take one step towards her son, Sesshoumaru shot to his feet amongst the rubble and jumped forward once more this time catching Inuyasha completely off guard. His hands connected with the other demon's throat, slamming down on Inuyasha's wind pipe instantly.

The younger demon chocked on the hand but continued snarling even as they fell in a crumbled heap on the ground. Sesshoumaru dug his claws into his brother's neck as he moved one of his knees to press down on the younger demon's torso. Pure unadulterated rage flowed through his whole body as the scent of his pup's blood flooded the air. "Bastard!" He screamed as Inuyasha chocked and gurgled, his wild eyes filled with the chaos of a half demon gone mad.

"It's not his fault!" Rin cried out from somewhere to his right, as she tended to their son, holding his bleeding arm carefully against herself to stop the bleeding. "Please—please Sesshoumaru-sama." She cried as the blood soaked her white haori all the way through until it stained even her skin.

Sesshoumaru gripped down on Inuyasha's wind pipe even harder not willing to listen to the sound of her reason.

"Please!" Rin yelled, her voice hoarse as she fought to maintain her own control. "I lost one hope," She squeezed her eyes shut and pulled Takeshi's body closer to her own, her hands holding down on his arm, which was (truthfully) already healing. "We can't—," She cried as the pain of that realization flooded her heart, self hatred clouding her brain. "We can't lose the other!"

Sesshoumaru heard her words, hating them and understanding them all at the same time. His claws, which were sinking into Inuyasha's neck, began to leak poison against his will. Inuyasha snarled underneath him, his wild hands punching and ripping into Sesshoumaru's wrist and forearms as he tried to pry the man off him.

"Please." Rin cried out in desperation one last time. "Please," Her voice began to ebb as she watched her brother-in-law begin to weaken, the lack of oxygen finally starting to show. "Please—if anyone should be punished," She looked down at Takeshi who was wide eyed and scared in his mother's grip, a small pup who had tried to be a man. "It should be me."

Sesshoumaru felt her words like they were lightning. Pulling himself together, the demon hastily let go of Inuyasha's neck. With quick and controlled precision he grabbed for the wildly striking arms, throwing them down into the dirt at Inuyasha's sides. "Control." He coached himself as he looked down at the snarling face, seeing in it the pain of a man who had (most likely) lost his mate. "Submit!" He howled in the tongue of dog demon's but Inuyasha simply snarled in return, his blood red eyes full of hatred and disloyalty. Blood seeped out from underneath Sesshoumaru's claws, the traces of the poison located within them burning the flesh around Inuyasha's wrists instantly.

The younger demon howled in pain and Sesshoumaru cursed angrily as he realized he couldn't let Inuyasha go without risking the demon attacking again.

"Rin," He screamed over his shoulder as he struggled to hold the snarling demon down, his grip crumbling against the completely out of control man. "Get Tetsusaiga! Now!" Sesshoumaru screamed, the complete lack of control in his voice making Rin instantly respond.

Carefully, she untangled herself for Takeshi checking only briefly to make sure his bleeding had stopped (and, surprisingly, it already had) before she jumped up. Scrambling across the rough terrain of the sanctuary Rin nearly fell to the ground as she reached Goshinboku's trunk once more. Tetsusaiga lay on the ground, pulsing angrily in its place nestled amongst the grass. Falling to her knees she grasped the pulsating sword in one hand, pushing herself to her feet with the other. "Here!" She threw the sword towards her husband who let go of Inuyasha just long enough to catch it.

The demon below him instantly took advantage of his freedom, his clawed hands lashing out at Sesshoumaru's face. The older demon roared as the claws connected with his flesh, cutting into the delicate cartilage of his nose. Nearly seeing red himself, Sesshoumaru shoved Tetsusaiga into his brother's hands before leaping backwards, his own hands reaching to cover his savaged nose.

The second Tetsusaiga touched his hands Inuyasha felt the demon in him ebb, disappearing somewhere inside of him so deep and far away from reality that he was sure it would never surface again. Gasping, his chest heaving, he pushed himself up off his back and onto his feet, stumbling and wheezing as his throat ached. "What?" He barely was able to speak, his voice raspy.

"Thank god." Rin whispered as she looked at her brother-in-law, the demon once more in control of himself. Carefully, she pulled herself up moving towards Takeshi as relief flooded her body.

Inuyasha wiped his head around towards her, the smell of his blood mixed with Sesshoumaru's and Takeshi's only adding to confusion. "What happened—?" He asked as he looked towards his nephew, bloody and terrified looking, as if the boy were a tiny bunny.

"Don't let go of Tetsusaiga." Sesshoumaru spoke this time off to his left, his voice back in control as if it had never been the opposite.

Inuyasha shook his head as the smell of blood on his body, on his claws made him dizzy. "What did I—?" His voice died in his throat as his questions were replaced by memories but not memories of what he had done only moments before. Instead, he was flooded with memories from before he had transformed, memories of Kagome, of her scent, of her being gone. Instantly, his knees buckled and he hit the ground full force. "She's gone." The thought hit him hard in the chest, as hard as it had the first time before he had lost control. Inuyasha's stomach lurched, the smell of blood making him nauseous. "She's gone?" He whispered the words out loud, the pain they caused making him pull the sword closer to his body as if it would lessen the sensation.

"Yes." Sesshoumaru spoke matter of factly as he watched his brother slump to the ground cross legged not questioning the demon's lack of memory over the previous incident. Experience had taught him that no half demon remembers such times. "Probably for the best—they'd hate themselves if they remembered." Briefly, he glanced towards his son who seemed to finally be coming around. "The wound's not deep—thank god." He closed his eyes for just a second to collect himself before looking towards his brother again, the confusion on the man's face a haunting sight.

Inuyasha raised his head towards Sesshoumaru's voice, staring at the older man with eyes so wide and child like that it was unnerving. He opened his mouth as if to speak but the words died on his tongue and he simply lowered his head once more. "Oh god." Inuyasha inhaled, the origin of the scents in the clearing hitting him hard making him lightheaded and off balance and sick. He raised his hands up, his claws shaking violently as they came into his sight, drenched in blood. "Oh god—." He stumbled backwards as the blood glistened in the light, Takeshi's blood. "I—what did I do?" He didn't realize he was speaking out loud, the words tumbling from his mouth with a mind of their own.

"Ototou?" Sesshoumaru took a step forward as he watched his brother step backwards shakily, his grip on the sword loosening as he tried to keep himself upright.

Slowly, he lowered his hands and raised his head, a soft moan drawling all his attention towards Rin and her young son. The sight of Rin's blood stained hoari and Takeshi's hot red arm made him freeze. He felt the lump in his throat grow tenfold, vomit rising up from his stomach as his eyes blurred.

"Inuyasha!"

He watched as Sesshoumaru stepped forward, the imagine hazy at best but just clear enough to follow the clawed hand as he plummeted to the ground, unconscious.

-break-

Sesshoumaru sat at his brother's side without moving. It was still just light outside, the soft twilight of the cool early spring day peeping in through the slightly opened door, which lead to the tranquility of the garden. A soft breeze occasionally entered the room, musing the unconscious (or perhaps sleeping) dog demon's silver hair. The younger of the two had been unconscious for a few hours, much to Sesshoumaru's surprise. His body hadn't moved or twitched and he hadn't even released so much as a mumble in his sleep.

Rin had contributed it to exhaustion, the exhaustion she associated with transformation from a half demon to a lunatic full demon. Sesshoumaru himself barely had any experience with such transformations. In fact, his only experience came from when Inuyasha had been a pup and Izayoi had enchanted a Shikon jewel to keep him controlled until he was big enough to wield Tetsusaiga.

Glancing now at his brother, Sesshoumaru couldn't help but frown. "You're big enough now—." He thought as he studied the sword, clutched tightly between unmoving fingers.

The older dog demon shifted slightly, his legs feeling stiff from having sat vigil at his brother's bedside for so long. Despite the pain in his legs from prolonged sitting, he knew it had been a wise decision to stay by the boy's side. Firstly because, not an hour into Inuyasha's unconsciousness a strange fever had overtaken him, leaving his skin flush and sweat on his forehead. It was odd but Rin said that too was to be expected from a transformation as ferocious as Inuyasha's had been. And secondly, because he knew it was best if Inuyasha awoke to his face and not a stranger's.

"I can calm him." Sesshoumaru told himself as he looked at his brother's sweaty flush cheeks.

Leisurely, the demon lord reached for a rag that was draped over Inuyasha's forehead. It was hot to the touch, almost burningly so causing Sesshoumaru to frown darkly as he took the bit of clothe and carefully dipped it into a slight bowl of water that rested near the futon. He wrung it out easily and placed it back against Inuyasha's skin once more in hopes of bringing the fever down. The action seemed futile to him, the burning temperature of the half demon's body hadn't change in hours after all, but he did it anyway (mainly because it was something to do).

The soft squeak of the door behind him made the ears on the side of his head twitch but he didn't turn, he didn't need to.

"Takeshi is fine," Rin spoke softly as she sat in the door way on her knees, the edge of the sliding door cradled in her hands. "He's already healed up."

Sesshoumaru nodded his head, a well contained and control sigh of relief (barely noticeable) leaving his mouth. "Good." He thought, ignoring the strangeness of hearing his wife speak English so clearly and naturally. "Some things are better left ignored." He told himself and closed his eyes momentarily to collect his thoughts.

"How's Inuyasha-sama?" Rin implored further as she edged her way across the threshold of the door, the pretty jade kimono she had on far more difficult to move in than the miko uniform she had worn earlier that day.

"No change." Sesshoumaru answered bluntly as he listened to his wife close the door behind her. The swish of fabric from her kimono as she stood made him tense ever so slightly but he said nothing as her feet padded across the room. Within seconds she was somehow next to him, standing over him by only a good two feet even though he was sitting and she was standing.

Looking down at the regal man Rin sighed and sank to the ground, allowing herself to sit right beside him at his right elbow. Sesshoumaru didn't say so much as one word in response and much to her further surprise, he didn't think one either. "He's gone blank." She told herself as her stomach sunk a little bit and a slight fear overtook her. "He's blocking everything out—like he used to." Hesitantly she reached for him, wanting to comfort him, to bring him back to himself but something in his posture made her hand fall. "He'll be okay." She whispered instead, her words not causing Sesshoumaru to so much as flinch.

"Physically." The dog demon spoke the one word, his voice monotone but his emotions filled with distaste. "Maybe."

Rin nodded her understanding as she turned to look at the young demon. Although she had told Sesshoumaru that the man's body was reacting to the strains of transformation, she had a sneaking suspicion it was something else. "Heartbreak." The thought gave her chills, the word somehow evil to her. "Without Kagome—his body just—shuts down."

"Do you have any idea what happened to Kagome?" Sesshoumaru asked suddenly, although his voice sounded as controlled as ever.

Jumping a bit, Rin turned and looked at him, a frown on her face. "It had to be Inutaisho," She explained matter of factly, images of her father-in-law popping up in her head. "Just like Izayoi said."

"But why did he take her?" Sesshoumaru shook his head slightly as he tried to wrap his mind around his own words. "Izayoi said nothing about him taking her."

"I know." Rin pursed her lips, her own theory about what happened on the tip of her tongue. "But should I tell him?"

"If you have something to say Rin," Sesshoumaru finally turned and looked at her, his cool eyes seeming to say he had read her mind. "Say it."

Rin panicked at the sight nearly having a heart attack as Sesshoumaru stared her down. "Don't give me that look." She commanded as her heart raced in her chest from the possibilities that were racing around in her mind. "Sesshoumaru can't read mind, Sesshoumaru can't read minds, Sesshoumaru can't read minds—," She told herself over and over again even as a little bit of doubt jumped up in her head. "At least—I hope so."

The demon in question merely raised an eyebrow, his face almost comical as he looked down the bridge of his nose at the tiny woman, the corner of his lips dangerously quirking as if he wanted to laugh. "I don't read minds Rin." He told her, which only made the girl panic even further.

"That's what I was just thinking!" She accused and Sesshoumaru laughed, actually laughed, something only Rin ever got to see. It wasn't a loud laugh or a hearty one, it was only a small chuckle that made his quirking lips finally jump into the tiniest of smiles. "You shouldn't lie, Sesshoumaru-sama." She chastised and crossed her arms over her chest in mock defiance.

Sesshoumaru chuckled softly once more from her defensive posture, her sheer tininess making the gesture the least intimidating thing he had ever seen. "You're far too small to look deadly." He told her bluntly and she huffed in response.

"That may be true." She told him as she leaned forward a little more, looking him straight in the eyes in a way no one else ever had. "But I know all your weaknesses, Sesshoumaru-sama," She smiled dangerously, little fangs that were almost small enough to pass for human glistening as she spoke. "And that makes me the deadliest demon in the world to you."

Sesshoumaru held back a growl of approval as she edged a little bit closer, his blood growing hot in his veins. "True." He mumbled the urge to bend down so as to capture her little minx lips overwhelming him.

A soft moan from the bed in front of them broke the mood instantly and the two darted apart in embarrassment having been raised in a very private and demur society. Their eyes turned simultaneously for the prone figure on the futon and they both waited with their breath caught in their throat as the man shifted slightly for the first time in hours but didn't wake.

Rin sighed deeply in relief as guilt began to jump up inside her throat. "How awful is that?" She asked herself as she felt a little dirty for having nearly kissed her husband lustfully while her hurt brother in law laid in bed, his mate missing and his heart shattered. "I'm a horrible person."

"The very fact you think so," Sesshoumaru told her as he rubbed his face with the back of one hand to collect himself. "Shows you're not."

Rin raised her head and looked at her husband as he gently rubbed his tired eyes. "You should get some rest Sesshoumaru-sama." She told him, reaching to touch his arm and rub it gently. "I'll watch him."

"No." The word was stern and said with so much contained hostility that Rin actually bit her lip.

"You have to rest." She told him even though she knew it was pointless; Sesshoumaru was not the kind of person that changed his mind about anything. "That's why we have two kids instead of one." She sighed tiredly and dropped her hand from his arm as she glanced towards Inuyasha once more.

Knowing that Rin was aware of this personality trait, Sesshoumaru didn't even bother to respond to her imploring words. "So," He began stiffly, his emotions all contained once more. "Do you know what really happened?"

"I think so," Rin nodded her expression tight as she looked down at the prone body of Inuyasha. "I think he took her—to the miko's world." She bit her lower lip as she allowed the sneaking suspicion to enter spoken existence.

"The what?" Sesshoumaru furrowed his brow in confusion, turning to look at his wife fully.

Rin placed her hands demurely in her lap feeling wholly self conscious in that moment as her husband stared at her with completely unguarded eyes. "The world," She paused for only a moment as she laced her fingers together on her lap feeling uncomfortable with what she was about to say. "Of white."

-break-

Kagome's eyes fluttered opened as she came back into awareness with a sudden sharp intake of breath. White filled her vision and the sound of absolute and total silence rained down in her ears. Confused, she turned her head left and right, looking hastily at the extraordinary environment that now encompassed her. Everything was white, the floor, the ceiling, the walls, if any of those things actually existed (it was hard to tell.) It all seemed so vaguely familiar as if she were certain she had been in such a place before.

Frowning, she picked up one foot to take a step forward, the bottom of her bare feet connecting with something that felt like dirt. Her eyes jumped down to see if the ground had changed but it was still white, an empty white that had no substance to it. Unnerved, she bent down, her fingers probing to see if she could touch the unknown. Sure enough her fingers came in contact with a solid surface.

"I'm not floating." She realized as she pulled her fingers away from the surface with surprise jumping up her throat. "But isn't this the world of white?" She whispered as she straightened, her eyes staring into the unfathomable distance.

A splash of color greeted her gaze and she gasped, the blur of green and brown and blue, a soft impossibility in that white world. Her eyes widened as the color expanded, a wash of brown running towards her feet as if it were a soft water color. Shaking her head she stepped backwards, the hardness of the ground underneath her feet seeming to agree with what she saw with her eyes. Her eyes darted in every direction watching as the brown covered the white surface of the floor all around her. Splashes of green soon followed, flecks of grass appearing as if they were being painted right in front of her eyes with an invisible hand.

Above her, an explosion of blue hit the top of the world, covering it with a draping of different shades of blue. Shocked she lifted her head up watching as it washed over the ceiling above her before falling down like waves. White clouds appeared out of nowhere and a sudden rush of sunlight, yellow compared to the lack of color, fell down around her. She gasped as the warmth touched her skin making her heart beat rapidly with pleasure.

"This isn't—," She closed her eyes soaking in the warmth deliciously. "It's not that world." She opened her eyes against the thought and gasped as a sudden addition to that world appeared right in front of her.

A sapling, tiny and seemingly insignificant, no more than a foot tall had been planted right in front of her. She tilted her head to the side as the heat of the new sun was matched by a cooling breeze that shook the tiny tree. It moved with the wind, dancing sweetly until it suddenly shook, seeming to cry out as the earth around it was pushed away. The tiny branches trembled and then in a giant rush, it rose out of the new brown earth with such speed that Kagome could only assume it had been struck with magic.

She practically fell backwards as the tree grew and grew until it was towering over her head, a thousand leaves and branches shading her completely. "The—Goshinboku—it's that tree." Her hands pushed into the warmth of the earth underneath her in shock and she gasped as she pulled her hands away to find them covered in the brown soil. Her eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth in surprise having not expected the painted colors to be real. "What is this place?" She breathed out the question as she stared at the dirt underneath her fingernails.

"What do you think it is?"

Kagome's eyes snapped upwards coming in contact immediately with the very man who had taken her. He was standing in the shade of the tree, his long silver hair (straight like his eldest son's) blowing with the breeze as he smiled at her. Little rays of sunlight hit his face making his gold eyes sparkle in a way she recognized all too well. "You're—," Her voice died in her throat as she felt the wind that touched his skin touch her own, knowledge appearing in her head that shouldn't have been there. "Inutaisho."

"Yes." He nodded as he stepped forward and into the light. His hair shown even brighter as the sun hit it fully, making him look like a spirit. "It's a pleasure to truly meet you," He nodded his head towards her and sent her Inuyasha's boyish smile. "Daughter."

-break-

Soft—deep—musky—

Inuyasha breathed in deeply, that musky scent in the air seeming to bring him back into wakefulness.

Ticking—not a clock—something—something—

He groaned and turned towards the sound trying to open his eyes unsuccessfully.

Muffled—a voice—maybe—maybe not—

"Ototou—."

Scent—Kagome's scent—lingering but not actually there—

His eyes flickered against the vague light just barely able to discern something hovering above him. It was the outline of a figure but it was so unfocused that he couldn't discern anything except its existence.

Hiss—a candle—nighttime—

"Kagome?" He moaned and tried to lift his hand only to becoming fully aware of a distinct heaviness against his fingers. Forcefully, he opened his eyes only to hiss and snap them shut as pain flooded his body from the light in the room, even if it was soft.

"She's not here."

He heard the voice but felt as if it were far away and not actually right next to his head. Painfully, he pried his eyes opened once more on pure will alone, the hazy image beginning to take shape. Silver hair gleamed in the moonlight and golden eyes reflected the candle that flicked at the futon's side. "Nii-chan?" He whispered and frowned as he heard his own voice, childlike in his ears.

"Hai." Sesshoumaru nodded his stoic face coming into full view as he looked down at his younger brother. His eyes were clouded and sincerely unemotional, as they always were, and his expression did nothing if not match. "How do you feel?" He switched to English causally as he kept that oddly neutral expression on his features.

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes in response, a vague memory of that calm and collected face being completely filled with emotion haunting him for a moment. "I don't—I," He closed his eyes as a wave of dizziness overtook him momentarily. "Don't know." He finally managed to say as his fingers curled around something he didn't know he was holding. "Tetsusaiga?"

"Hm." Sesshoumaru grunted slightly, the sound strange coming from his person. "You'll remember soon enough."

"Remember what?" He pushed the words up and out of his throat with difficulty as he looked towards his older brother who had not so much as moved even a hair since Inuyasha had awakened.

Sesshoumaru didn't say a word in response only closed his eyes as if waiting for Inuyasha to answer the question on his own. Why the demon lord chose to wait rather than simply explain was hard to tell.

But, as the demon lord had seamlessly predicted it was only a few seconds later that Inuyasha's brain was flooded with the reality of what had happened that morning in the cherry grove. In a flash, the younger demon flew upwards, the sheet that had been covering him falling to the ground and the sword that had been draped over his chest landing with a clatter as well. His hands came up to his face and he stared at his claws surprised to find them clean, no evidence of blood to be seen.

"But—even if I can't see it—it's still there." His hands shook for a moment the image of his little nephew, the small boy curled against his mother in a pool of blood, attacking him. "Is Takeshi—," He lifted his head up towards his brother who was accessing him coolly. "Takeshi okay?"

"He's fine." Sesshoumaru spoke with a clipped control that seemed to say, 'If he wasn't fine, you wouldn't be alive.' And it was debatable whether or not the demon lord was thinking such things or not.

"Good—." Inuyasha gulped, his hands falling to his lap as he shook his head. "Why did I attack him?" He spoke out loud, not realizing he had, the strangeness of his words making Sesshoumaru finally move.

The older demon leaned forward, his eyes staring at Inuyasha as if the other man had grown a second head. "Inuyasha." He spoke the name sternly waiting for the demon to snap to attention before he began. "What do you remember?"

The younger dog demon frowned his expression tight as he tried to understand what Sesshoumaru meant. "Blood." He finally answered, his voice wholly truthful. "All I remember is—blood and—." He paused as his mind reached for a memory he didn't want to remember.

As if the universe was mocking him, Kagome's face appeared right in front of his eyes as if she were leaning towards him. Her bright grey eyes sparkled and her sweet lips formed words he could only guess meant something close to, 'I love you.' Her hair draped over one naked shoulder, his mark glowing, his name highlighted in bright red, the same color as her blood.

"Kago—." He gulped and reached for the image wanting to touch her hair where it draped against the skin on her shoulder.

He wanted to feel her, so he could tell if she was really alive. He wanted to kiss her neck and run his hands through the silky blackish, reddish, brownish combination that was her hair. He wanted to push her down, to kiss the space below her chin and down, down, down until he found the part of her that no other man had ever dared to explore. He wanted to make her scream until his ears were positive that she existed. He wanted to hear her moan, the sensation vibrating throughout him, until his body believed that she was really underneath him, above him, beside him, wherever she happened to be.

He just wanted to touch her, to know that she was real—but his fingers met nothing, just cold air.

The image disappeared, his hand seeming to destroy it the second he tried to act on his every fantasy. It plummeted soon after, hitting the bedspread where Tetsusaiga rested. The cold metal of the sword's hilt made his skin prickle and he bit the inside of his cheek to stop his lips from parting in a sob. "What—," He spoke with all the control he could muster, his confusion and memory gaps the only thing keeping him from springing up off the bed and after her. "Happened?"

"We don't know." Sesshoumaru actually hesitated for a moment as he looked at his younger brother, sympathy welling in his heart despite what Inuyasha had done in his rage.

The words entered Inuyasha's ears slowly as if the appendages themselves didn't want to hear them. His eyes watered and his lip quivered and for all pretenses he felt exactly as he had the day his mother died. Slowly, his head turned, looking throughout the room, recognizing it as the very room he and Kagome had slept in the night before.

"I wish I had the energy to make love to you right now."

His words mocked him, penetrating his very soul with the irony of knowing that moment had been his last chance. Tetsusaiga rattled in his hand, absorbing his emotions in a way he couldn't honestly understand. He breathed in and breathed out, heavy panting breaths that he could barely control. "I have to find her!" He jumped out of the bed so suddenly that Sesshoumaru, although only just noticeably, flinched. Slinging the sword into his waistband the younger demon started towards the door, fully prepared to run to the very ends of the earth in search of his mate.

"Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru called after him as he too stood although his movements were far more graceful than Inuyasha's hasty ones. "It's not possible."

Inuyasha froze at the sound and shook his head angrily. "Forgive me if I don't fucking believe you." He turned and glared back at his brother who only looked at him with apology.

"I know you have no reason to believe me." Sesshoumaru spoke each word carefully, watching Inuyasha's muscles tense as if the man was ready to spring at any moment. "Still," He continued maintaining eye contact with his brother for fear the man would run and he would have to chase him. "It's the truth—she is no longer in this world. Rin confirmed it."

Inuyasha stared at his brother, hating him in that moment with every fiber of his being. "You're lying."

Sesshoumaru didn't say a word, only maintained his eye contact with the younger man. His deep gold eyes, normally so guarded and contained (if only in that moment) opened.

Inuyasha stepped back from the sudden intensity of emotion that seemed to flood from his brother's features into his very soul. Pain, desperation, apology, forgiveness, all these emotions and more seeped from those eyes, hitting Inuyasha like a bullet. "She's—," He felt his lips tremble as the ache in his heart confirmed the words he was about to say. "She's dead?"

"Yes," Sesshoumaru broke eye contact, looking completely away from his brother. "And no."

"What do you mean?"

"Rin believes," Sesshoumaru explained carefully as he forced himself not to look at his brother, not even for a second. "She has been spirited away." He sighed and, as Inuyasha looked on, slouched slightly. "There is nothing any of us can do to bring her back—not until she is ready—ano." He allowed the sound to hang in the air loosely for a moment before he added the rest. "Assuming she ever is ready."

The words soaked Inuyasha conscious, coating him in an anguish that made his knees double until he sunk to the floor. "Do you," Inuyasha hesitated, not quite sure how to word what he wanted to say. "Hate me that much?" He whispered, the strangeness of the words catching Sesshoumaru completely off guard. "So much—," He turned his head and looked at his brother, blame jumping into his eyes. "That you—you let her get taken away."

"Ototou—." Sesshoumaru stepped forward, stepping over the abandoned futon, so he could kneel in front of the other man.

"Why!" Inuyasha ripped his eyes away from Sesshoumaru and towards the ceiling of the darkened room. "Why do you hate me?" He cried as he banged one fist on the floor a sob sticking violently in his throat. "Why?" He slammed his fist against the floor again the sound echoing dangerously around them in the darkness. "Tell me," This time he turned his anger away from the floor and instead aimed it straight at Sesshoumaru. "Tell me!" He yelled as he grabbed the older demon, not noticing in his grief that Sesshoumaru didn't once bother to defend himself. "Damn it!" He shook the demon his claws hitting through his clothes until they hit skin.

The scent of blood filled the air and unable to take the smell Inuyasha shoved Sesshoumaru away not noticing that the older demon actually did fall slightly backwards from the pure force. Near hysterical, all Inuyasha could do was bring his hands up to bury in his hair, yanking at it as hard as he could, pulling strands out with such force that his scalp actually bleed.

"Otouto." Sesshoumaru chastised emotionlessly as he reached for Inuyasha's hands fully prepared to untangle the man and save his scalp from further damage.

"Don't touch me!" Inuyasha yelled in response and shoved the hands away violently, his claws nicking Sesshoumaru's already abused wrist. "Fuck." He cursed as he gulped down air, the pain in his head nothing compared to the pain in his chest. "Why—why!" His eyes snapped open, looking straight at Sesshoumaru who hovered half on his knees, half on his feet beside him. "Just tell me—why do you hate me?"

Staring at his baby brother's face, Sesshoumaru felt his own heart tighten in his chest. Slowly, he lowered his hands down dropping them in a completely and utterly un-Sesshoumaru like manner at his sides. "I don't," He spoke so softly that the words were almost impossible to hear. "Hate you."

"What?" Inuyasha whispered, perplexity taking over the anger within him.

"I've never," Sesshoumaru lifted his head and looked the other man straight in the eye. "Hated you."

Inuyasha opened his mouth to protest but stopped as the honesty in his elder brother's eyes stunned him into silence.

"I hate your mother," Sesshoumaru went on, his expression even but his eyes filled with intense and unnatural regret. "And I hate our father," The monotone of his voice faded as he spoke the word 'father' treating it as if it were almost vile. "But I've never hated you."

"What the hell?" Inuyasha pushed himself away, not able to believe that Sesshoumaru could possibly be speaking the truth in that moment. "It's a trap!" He told himself and growled low in his throat, a warning that their kind often used when they felt sincerely threatened. "You're fucking lying."

"I'm not." Sesshouomaru's voice didn't change and neither did his eyes. Regret trimmed their edges the emotion so obvious that even Inuyasha could bluntly see it hovering in those eyes. "I can't hate you." The demon shook his head slowly and for, perhaps, the very first time in his life stumbled over his words. "This—you were just a child," He raised his head and looked Inuyasha in the eye. "You were born into this mess." He stopped for a moment as if collecting his thoughts and then, much to Inuyasha's complete amazement admitted something wholly personal. "Just like—I was."

The room grew silent as brother stared at brother, neither one knowing quite what to say as the admission hung in the air like a dirty secret. Inuyasha had never once thought of Sesshoumaru as having any emotions and yet, in this moment, he had displayed more than Inuyasha could actually handle. He had even admitted something innately personal, an action that Inuyasha couldn't recall Sesshoumaru ever performing. Sesshoumaru was stoic, he was silent, he never once spoke about himself even to his own flesh and blood, "Who are you?"

"I'm your brother." Sesshoumaru answered the question as if it were the most natural thing to answer in the world. "Listen, Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru continued on, not giving the younger man any time to process what had just been said. "We don't choose our parents—I didn't—you didn't," He paused and, in the strangest move yet, licked his lips. "But we can choose to disagree with them, even to hate them."

"You—."

Inuyasha tried to speak but Sesshoumaru cut him off before he had time to even contemplate the rest of his words. "Someone should have told you this long ago."

"Told me what?" Inuyasha managed to ask as he stared at Sesshoumaru as if he had never seen the man in his life.

"Who your parents really were," Sesshoumaru spoke with his even monotone once more, a mask seeming to appear on his face covering every emotion up in a way Inuyasha had never really noticed before. "What they did for the world," He continued on as his eyes turned cold, steely amber. It was as if the man Inuyasha had known in childhood was returning with each word. "And what they did to you." The demon lord stopped for a moment, his eyes tightening to the point of perfect control. "What they did to me." He finished, every last emotion gone from his face. Sesshoumaru had closed his face back up again but this time, at least, his voice hadn't gone with it.

-break-

"Welcome back to the world of white." Inutaisho told her as he motioned to the fully colored world around them.

"White?" Kagome shook her head as she turned her body until she could push herself up off the ground. "This isn't white." She stated bluntly as she whipped her hands on her pants, noting the way the dirt stains rubbed against the fabric with eerie realism.

"Oh," The man shrugged slightly as if her concern were something to be perfectly ignored. Luckily for Kagome, however, he choose not to ignore it. "I suppose you're right," He turned towards the tree that had sprouted before Kagome only moments before. "It is in color but that doesn't change the fact that we are in the world of white."

"I don't understand." Kagome shook her head in confusion as she looked at the man's back, noticing now that he wore his hair in a high ponytail unlike either of his sons.

"It is only white for those who aren't permanent residence." He explained as he looked over his shoulder at her, his voice such an odd combination of Inuyasha's and Sesshoumaru's that it actually made her skin prickle. "Only the dead see the beauty in it—the living sees nothing but whiteness."

"So I'm dead," She inferred as she looked out at the world around her watching as little flowers now began to grow in the brownish green dirt. "That's why I see it like this?"

"Not necessarily." He shrugged as if the answer he was about to give was unimportant. "The rules are a bit more complex than that."

"So," Kagome brought a hand up to her head, rubbing at her temple as she felt a headache beginning to build there from her confusion. "I'm not dead?"

"No," He told her softly as he stepped forward away from the tree even further. "The first time you came it was because you were close to death and this world saved you." He motioned towards the distant, never-ending existence around them. "This time—," He lowered his hand, his eyes looking out across the expanse as if he was actually looking for something she couldn't see. "You came because I summoned you here." He looked back at her and raised an eyebrow almost playfully. "If you are summoned here, then the previous rules don't apply."

Kagome pursed her lips and crossed her arms under her chest in a way that was all too much like her husband. "Seems a bit convenient to me."

"Aren't all the best things convenient?" The man replied with a smile on his delicate features, his eyes sparkling dangerously.

Kagome couldn't help the way her heart softened at the sight, taking it in with longing. "He looks so much like Inuyasha." She told herself as the man's lips curved in a way that was identical to his son or better yet, a way that proved his son was a lot like him. Clearing her throat and controlling her thoughts, Kagome lowered her arms down. "So why," She asked, her voice tight even if her body was a bit more relaxed. "Why did you bring me here?"

Inutaisho's smile turned from charming to strained as he looked her over carefully, "To train you of course."

The young Miko blinked rapidly from his words. "No offense," she shook her head and tried to smile but the quirk of her lips never came. "But how can you train me? You—do you know anything about being a Miko?"

"Perhaps I should have been clearer," He raised a hand up and tapped it against his chin once, the action seeming so oddly deliberate that Kagome had to wonder why he had done it. "I will not be training you myself—I brought you here so another could train you."

"Who?" Kagome raised an eyebrow as she looked around them for any semblance of another person.

"I will."

Kagome's head snapped around as the unfamiliar voice jumped into her brain, her body turning until she could see behind her. Standing there, a white haori and a bright red hakama wrapped around her body, was a person Kagome had only seen in dreams and Inuyasha's memories. Soft brown eyes, the color of twin chestnuts stared into her grey ones. "Izayoi."

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you," She smiled and tilted her head to one side, those brown eyes narrowing in an oddly peaceful way that Kagome had never seen another person use before. "Kagome."

End of Chapter

Please Review

A/N: Not much to say. The end of the school year is coming and my students have finals next week. I just realized this is the first time in almost twenty years that I have not suffered their same fate. It's kind of nice! Anyway, for all you poor unfortunate souls who do have finals or had finals, all the best, good luck, and pray for good grades, yeah? Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

P.S. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has continued to read and review. I am honored by your encouragement and commitment to my story. I hope it continues to please as we approach the end and all the truths are finally revealed.

Bonus Point:

Let's go for a hard one. Which historical period in Japanese history does the Inuyasha series take place in? (Hint: It starts with an 'S' in Japanese and an 'F' in English.)

Last Chapter's Bonus Point:

Sesshoumaru lost his arm fighting Inuyasha in their father's grave! Congrats to the winners.

KNSAnimeFreak, Menarie, WhiteLotus, Heavenly Eclipse, AiydanWarrior, atem4321, Heartz of Darkness, Asian Delicacy, shadowdancer261, Inuluna19, Glon Morski, Cagome, Everliss the Wolf, anime4eva222

Notes:

Goshinboku – Just a quick note. A lot of people think that the name of the tree at Kagome's shrine is Goshinboku. Actually, Goshinboku is a term. It simply means "Sacred Tree" and is a title given to any tree that is viewed as sacred in the Shinto religion.

Next Chapter:

Truths

See you then!

UNEDITED

POSTED

5/27/2014