The True Holder of Shikon

Disclaimer - Don't own Inuyasha.

Chapter 34 - Decided

XxXxX

Sesshoumaru opened his eyes, coming to his senses rather quickly. Two scents appeared right before a twister entered the clearing. It vanished as Kouga slid to a stop. The Taiyoukai's eyes went wide and a sigh of instant relief passed his lips. Sango got down from the wolf's back and ran into his arms.

"Sesshoumaru, I'm so relieved! I was almost afraid that you went after Naraku." He closed his eyes and pulled her closer.

"I would have if you had not returned." His voice was softer than usual. He then released his grip and looked at Kouga. "Thank you for keeping her safe and returning her." The wolf youkai smirked. Though he hadn't been happy to thank him, he had to do it.

"No problem. Now we're even, right, Sango?" He watched them with a feeling of relief. "Naraku did hinder us a bit but we worked around it. You two should watch out. She was lucky I heard her scream." Sango watched Sesshoumaru. "She would've died from the fall."

"Fall? Did she fight Naraku on the ledge and get dropped?" The Taiyoukai asked curiously. At the nod from both, he realized that he had been correct in his assumptions. His analysis of the cliff had been pretty thorough so the pieces fell right into place.

"I didn't want him to get me, even if it meant my death. But...even dying is not an option right now." Her voice was quiet. Kouga sighed and turned around to leave. "Kouga!" He paused and looked over his shoulder. "Be careful, okay?" He nodded and left with a brief wave over his shoulder. The Taiyoukai stood there with her for a moment before he pulled away and went to sit against the tree.

"This is exhausting." He gently let his head hit the trunk. Sango looked back at him sadly. Then she turned away from him before wrapping her arms around herself.

"I'm so sorry, Sesshoumaru. I never meant to be such a burden on you." He gave her a confused looked before he realized what she was saying.

"Sango, you are not the burden. Naraku is the one that I blame for all of this." He stood back up and went to her, wrapping his arms around her from behind. "I would never allow such a monster to harm you. Even if I get tired and frustrated, I will never give up on you." She smiled and turned around so that she could hold him.

"I love you, Sesshoumaru. There is no way that I will ever give up the fight again, either." He kissed the top of her head before resting his cheek against it.

XxXxX

Kagome rolled over and opened her eyes. She was by herself in her bed. Her room was empty of life. The hanyou was nowhere to be found. After looking at her clock, she jumped up.

"I'm gonna be late!" All she could think of was getting dressed and rushing off to school. She grabbed her uniform and ran into the bathroom to do her usual routine at hyper-speed. Then she dashed downstairs and started downing her breakfast. Souta yawned and put his plate in the sink.

"Try not to defy the laws of time and space, okay, Sis?" He asked dryly, as though she did it all the time. In fact, the only ones surprised by her amazing speed and ability to not choke on food were Inuyasha and Daisuke. Inuyasha was growing furious at her because, in the feudal era, she was so slow that everyone was ready to go and she was just starting to get ready.

"Why do the shards never matter this much, huh, Kagome?" He asked, his narrowed amber eyes sending her those vibes. She knew she was in for it later. "You never seem to care this much about our journey..."

"That's because there's no set time to start. And it isn't like she'd get detention." Souta stated from the other end of the table. Kagome paused from her morning rush to glare at him. She swallowed her mouthful of food.

"Even though I am behind this morning doesn't mean that I can't find time to teach my darling little brother a lesson." She spoke rather quickly but her voice was so menacing that Souta didn't need to be able to understand her words, even though he did, in order to know exactly what she said.

"Kagome, dear, why don't you take your time? Inuyasha can get you to school rather quickly, couldn't he? Why rush such a beautiful morning?" Kagome's mother broke the tension quite amazingly. It was a beautiful performance. Inuyasha sighed and gave Buyou a long glance. Why couldn't he stay and play with the cat instead?

Inuyasha found himself being forced to bus Kagome to school. He didn't know why, either. And he had to take that ridiculous hat with him, too! That family was asking way too much of the hanyou.

"I want you to behave while I'm in school, okay? Even though it seems like I tell you this every time we're here, you still find a way to draw attention to yourself." He landed on the roof of the school and set her on her feet. She stared at him with a worried gaze. He shrugged.

"I dunno if I'll be here when you get home." He sounded nervous, despite how much he held his emotions back. "I don't feel right in this place." Her eyes widened slightly. But then she felt his lips pressed against hers. How she wished he didn't say what he had said. She pulled away and looked down at all of the students. "I'll probably be back later on tonight, though. I just want to check in with everyone, y'know?" She nodded. He was beginning to get uncomfortable with her silence.

"I'll see you later, then." Her tone wasn't that of the previous night. It held no softness, no warmth. He just nodded before leaving her standing there alone.

XxXxX

Sango could tell that her little disappearing act didn't go over well with anyone. Miroku rushed over to them when they entered and pulled Sango into a tight embrace. He let all of his relief become evident with the sigh that passed his lips. Then came the words, the lecture that she was expecting. But they didn't come from the houshi.

"What the hell were you thinking, taiji-ya? I leave for one night and you go and get kidnapped?" Inuyasha stood behind Miroku, arms crossed and eyes narrowed. "What in all the hells happened? Did you fight Naraku?" She backed away from the houshi before slowly shaking her head.

"I wouldn't even call it a fight..." She sat down, suddenly exhausted. Telling the story was bound to take a mere half hour, if even, but...she didn't even want to consider thinking of how close Death had come to touching her skin.

After everyone was filled in, she was sure that she would never be let outside alone again. However, they only told her to be more careful. The young taiji-ya was shaken enough from the encounter. She looked down. Even when she least expected it, he would be there...or especially when she didn't expect it.

What kind of idiot would I be to get captured again? I know exactly what he'd do to me... And if I died, I would be a complete servant of that bastard. Not that I consider dying to be an option...

She shook her head as thoughts bombarded her. Being a spiritually enabled taiji-ya was far more complicated than just being a normal human taiji-ya. Priestesses were purity reincarnated and taiji-ya were just youkai exterminators.

"What are you thinking of?" She smiled and turned to look at her lover. "Something seems to be troubling you." Softly shaking her head, she eased his troubled thoughts.

"I'll be fine and we both know that. My thoughts were just...on my new...or not so new spiritual powers." He chuckled and set his hand on her head as he sat down.

"You ponder the fate of yourself too much, little one." She blushed as he gave her head a pat before removing his hand. "Midoriko chose you to be the true Holder. That is all you need to know right now. Other than how you plan to deal with Naraku." The Taiyoukai made himself comfortable by stretching out his long legs, leaning back on his hands while regarding her with an easy gaze.

"As always, you're right. Though, you know me too well to know that I can't help it." She crossed her arms over her knees and sighed. "But I'm not the only one with a curiosity problem." He raised a brow before smirking at her. Then he just shrugged in response to her statement. She looked around, not even realizing that they were by themselves until that very moment. "Did Inuyasha go back through the well?" He stifled a yawn before replying.

"Not yet. He said he was waiting until nightfall. That old priestess requested his help, along with the houshi's. Rin and that kitsune have been playing around the village all morning." She smiled, hoping to make the current event a normality in her life. She loved sitting and talking with Sesshoumaru. And she couldn't wait until she was marked as his. Though, she had gotten angry at him and Naraku for using that phrase and word far too often. She didn't wish to be considered as a possession but...she actually did want to become his. It was then that she began to wonder why he had not yet marked her.

Why? He will eventually mark me, won't he? Why can't he do it now? I just...want to make sure that nothing will prevent us from being together... Doesn't he want that, too? He said he did but...

"You should probably get some rest. You look ready to fall over." She jumped at the sound of his voice, startled out of her thoughts. "Sango?" With a shaky smile, she stood up and went toward the room she had used before.

"You're right. I think I will get some rest..." She pushed the small door aside. "Good night." Even though it was still daylight outside, she felt like it was past midnight. Without a second thought or without waiting for a reply, she slid the door closed. Leaning against it, she let out an uneasy sigh. It was going to be tough for a while, of that she was confident. But why did it have to happen at all? Hadn't she suffered enough? Why was Naraku trying to make her life a living hell? She walked over to the spot that was her bed.

I love him so much. Yet he... No, of course he returns my feelings. He said he does and I believe him. Sesshoumaru would never lie to me...

"My beloved..." She lay down, pulling the covers over her body.

XxXxX

It seemed inevitable. He was drawn to the place, without even realizing why. The sacred presence eased his turbulent mind and calmed him thoroughly. He was angry about the fact that Naraku had once again nearly taken his woman. It infuriated him to no end that he would have to watch over her like a sentry or a guard. Of course, he felt light in her presence and didn't object to being around her, he did it by choice, but the fact that he couldn't have time alone really made him angry. He loved her, of that he was certain. But he also loved to be alone. Now Naraku was basically making that impossible.

"You seem to like this spot a lot." A voice said softly from the shadows of the trees. He shrugged, not even surprised that he was found. It wasn't like he was trying to hide. If he had been, he wouldn't have been found. "Why is that? It seems like everyone does."

"It is the presence all around this place." Sesshoumaru responded lazily, sitting down and leaning back so that he could feel the bark pressed against his back. "Don't you like the feel of it?"

"Doesn't comfort me as much as it does for you and the others." His hanyou brother stepped into the clearing and took a seat directly across from the Taiyoukai. "But I have a reason to hate this place." Intrigued, Sesshoumaru merely quirked a brow before giving his brother a look, as though he should continue. "That tree is where I was sealed, Sesshoumaru. Kikyou pinned me there with her Sacred Arrow."

"So it is your presence that lingers with this tree..." Inuyasha frowned, wondering exactly what his sibling was getting at. "It was just so familiar. I wondered why it eased my soul." The silence that followed was more than tense as the hanyou stared at the tree. "Did you accept death at the time?"

"Yeah, I mean... Dying was better than feeling betrayal and...I didn't exactly have the greatest life." He bit off a hurtful comment and the Taiyoukai could tell that he was holding something back. With slightly narrowed eyes, the elder sibling stared right at the hanyou, as though giving him a signal to speak. "It was...because of you." He suddenly snarled. "Because you abandoned me to live on my own, an outcast to everyone! If you were any different now...I'd be surprised. Watch yourself with Sango because if you ever hurt her, I swear..."

"I have no intention of causing her pain." At least some of the tension dissolved and the barrier was made visible. "I don't understand what attracted me to her, Inuyasha. I don't understand why I have feelings for her. Perhaps Father had passed some of his personality to both of his sons." Inuyasha could tell that the feelings Sesshoumaru had for Sango were confusing to the Taiyoukai. "I cannot say what it is..."

"Well, you might not even have to wonder, Sesshoumaru. You're better off leaving well enough alone and just going with your gut." The hanyou stood up, suddenly feeling way too much tension. He turned to leave when his brother's soft-spoken words stopped him.

"I had no intention of making your life a living hell." Sesshoumaru glanced up at the sparkling light that filtered in through the leaves of the Go-Shinboku tree. "You may have been worse off if I had taken you in. There is no way of knowing, Inuyasha. Everyone...wanted more than anything to kill the bastard child that Inutaisho sired. They also wanted to kill the witch that seduced him. However the story went, that was what they all believed. Being around such animosity nearly made me weary to stay there. I left to go and find you when I heard your mother was killed. I had every intention of killing you back then..."

Sesshoumaru stood, shadowed by the trees and wrapped in a dark cloak. His amber eyes gazed out expressionlessly from the darkness, glinting whenever torchlight passed. No one saw him there because he willed it so. No one saw him standing there watching the grieving young scrap of a hanyou beat on the ground angrily with his tiny fists. His wretched sobs came out sounding hoarse, as though he had screamed all day and had lost his voice.

"It is best if you stop while you still have fists to defend yourself with." Lord knows how long the mud-covered puppy would've sat there and beat at the ground, venting his grief and anger the only way he knew how.

"Who're you? An' why do you care?" His voice was cold, the beginning of a life-long icy defensive nature. Sesshoumaru stepped forward, scowling down on the pitiful youth.

"Fine, then. Do not take advice that suits your welfare. It matters not." The light drizzle had long since become an outright downpour but that didn't matter to the Taiyoukai and the hanyou didn't even seem to notice that he was soaked and covered with mud. For goodness sake, his silver hair was completely brown and his ears weren't even visible anymore.

"Who're you? Tell me!" He couldn't even see the face of the one that had approached him and all he could smell was mud.

"You dare to command me? Use your nose, whelp." Sesshoumaru pushed back his hood and smirked at the completely shocked expression on the boy's face. A ghost of a smile traced the young hanyou's lips.

"A-Are you really... A-Are you my big brother?" His question was filled with his vulnerability. The hanyou child didn't want to be alone. He wanted to be with what family he had left. And Sesshoumaru was all that there was.

"Your 'big brother'? I suppose that young children call their elder siblings as such..." A wide grin settled over the mournful expression on the youth's face. "Your name... I cannot recall it."

"Inuyasha." Inuyasha's small body trembled with excitement. "Have you come to take me with you, Sesshoumaru? Mommy told me that you would never have anything to do with me and I almost believed her but now..."

"Now you believe differently? You've no reason to. I have no intention of taking you with me, my dear little brother." Sesshoumaru looked away from the boy and stared at the grave of the woman that his father had died for. "Father was so careless..." The Taiyoukai's eyes glazed over as he remembered the death of his own mother.

"What d'you mean...? You're not...here to take me? Then why did you come?" Inuyasha's small hope that he would be saved and sheltered had all but shattered at his brother's feet. Sesshoumaru watched as tears once again began to run down Inuyasha's face, his own expression stoic. The tears mingled with mud and the streaks were completely visible. His eyes were already red from his earlier grieving. The Taiyoukai found that he couldn't lift his claws up against a child, especially one that reminded him so strikingly of his father.

"That is none of your concern." The boy was grieving enough. He wasn't so callous as to take the life of another in such a condition, much less his own sibling. "Wipe your tears, puppy. And do not search for me when you've grown up. I will find you sooner or later when the time has come for your demise."

"How... You're a..." Inuyasha couldn't even think of a suitable word for the youkai standing before him. He kicked mud at his big brother, furious that Sesshoumaru could rip his hopes to shreds without any hesitation. "Get out of here! You don't belong here, youkai." The Taiyoukai evaded the splashes quite easily. He smirked.

"Perhaps some suffering would do you good, little brother. Farewell, for now." Sesshoumaru disappeared, leaving Inuyasha standing alone once more. But he was alive...

"You're kiddin' me... You went there to...kill me? Why didn't you?" Inuyasha slumped to the ground, feeling a dull ache in his chest. It was familiar to him, having been there since the day that Sesshoumaru had just recalled. "You took pity on me, didn't you? Was I just so pathetic that I wasn't worth your time or effort?"

"You...reminded me of him. The way you talked in defense...and the way you looked. I could not harm you. I had no feelings for you as a sibling and I still...cannot say that I have any now. But killing a child and one so..." Sesshoumaru stopped, his gaze averted and his expression stoic. He stood up, unsure of whether or not to continue the conversation. He looked to the sky, realizing how late it had become. "Should you not be going back to your woman, that priestess?"

"Kagome? Oh, right..." He looked behind him, his eyes seeing past the trees toward the well. It unsettled him, for some damn reason. He didn't feel right in Kagome's world. But he had to go and see to her. When he looked back, his brother was gone, probably to go to Sango. When had things gotten so confusing?

XxXxX

Her eyes found his, reflecting her torn emotions. He pulled her close, kissing the top of her head. Her nightmares were increasing. She knew Naraku was growing desperate and it was scaring her. What would he do to get to her next? Would he go through Sesshoumaru? Would he try to hurt him?

"Sesshoumaru..." Those intimate dreams that Naraku had sent to her made her shudder with disgust. The fear pooling in her mind made her desperate for safety and comfort. His arms were wrapped securely around her, banishing her fears away. Her lips found his, engaging him in a passionate kiss. He gently pulled away, mystified by her behavior.

"Sango?" Sesshoumaru's amber eyes fixed her with a level stare. "What is it? Something is bothering you." A small, crystalline tear glided down her face.

"Make me yours, Sesshoumaru... Take me. Take all that I am and claim it as yous." Everything was quiet for a few moments. She felt him brush her bangs away. He captured her lips in a slow, tender kiss. She could already feel his rejection of the idea. He pulled away from her, almost hesitant to say anything. She wanted to start crying and he could tell.

"I am doing all I can for now. I cannot mark you or make a permanent claim on you. It is far too soon." He whispered gently. His soothing gestures barely registered in her mind. She wanted to feel safe. She wanted to make sure that absolutely nothing could tear her away from the Taiyoukai.

"Then take me in the only way you can." He was not one to protest when it came to her wishes and there was only one way to grant her request... In fact, the thought had crossed his mind before. But was it a good step to take? Or would it only cause harm? She stared at him with eyes wide and filled with emotion. How could he possibly deny her something that would only bring them closer? He smiled softly before pushing her down onto her back. His lips began their journey at her own lips before travelling further down...

XxXxX

Sango stretched, yawning as she stepped into the sunshine. She wondered where everyone was. Maybe Kagome would accompany her to the nearest hot springs for some private girl conversation. A relaxing event like that hadn't happened in a while. Perhaps she would do just that...

"You should go take a bath, Sango. You stink." Inuyasha's voice called to her from the roof. "Now go and do as I say before I toss you in the cold river." Her face flushed red. She refused to face him after he had made such a blunt remark. But she couldn't just let him go without even a retort.

"You should try to be a bit more tactful, Inuyasha. Maybe then you wouldn't suffer so many injuries for that disgusting mouth of yours." She tossed her hair over her shoulder as she walked away to find Kagome.

"Bitch." He growled, having lost the nerve to give her a lecture on how she should watch her behavior. Perhaps his brother was rubbing off on her... If she got any more of his personality quirks, he would have to start threatening her and separating the two of them for very long periods of time.

Sango sat in the hot springs by herself, remembering that Kagome would be gone a little while longer. Her eyes stared into the water. Her stress wasn't going to relieve itself. She was just so upset that Naraku was getting to her. Midoriko would no doubt tell her that she was worrying over nothing. Naraku was just a bastard that needed to be put in his place. And she intended to do just that at their next meeting.

"Sango." Looking up, she noticed Miroku standing by the trees. She flushed and covered her chest as she pushed herself deeper into the water. She glared at him but he simply averted his gaze. "Relax, I do not mean to watch you bathe. I just wanted to tell you that you should be extremely careful, okay? I know all about your desire to kill Naraku and gain revenge... But I do not want to see you hurt, okay? Inuyasha spoke for all of us yesterday. I intended to tell you the same. You also need to take care around Sesshoumaru. Don't doubt his intentions to wait but please..."

"Houshi-sama, you have to trust me. I won't be so stupid as to let Naraku get too close again. He will never be my downfall." Her eyes held a murderous look, one in which gave the houshi chills. "I've had enough of him. I'm fed up with agonizing over everything. I'm sick of letting him get to me. I don't know what made me that way...maybe it was this joining of my soul with Midoriko's... Still, I will not let that abomination touch me. I've decided to be his downfall."

"Sango..." He sighed before smiling slightly. Then he walked away, his eyes dull.

You're a lucky dog, Sesshoumaru.

XxXxX

Things are really going to start heating up as the end draws near. I've had fun with this and before I even posted the first chapter, I was ahead by many. However, when the computer went down, it slowly crept up on me until I no longer had a lead on it. At any rate, I had everything planned out so that it would follow and remain on a set track. Some hints are crucial to the story so watch closely!

Thanks to all of you that have been supportive. I hope you've enjoyed this as much as I have!