Disclaimer: Nope, I didn't when I started and I still don't...
A/N: Well, let's see...this chapter was actually too long so I cut it off (it turned out to be 11 pages in word when I cut it, which is good, but before it was like going to be 14 or so and I didn't want to feel rushed...also that allows a preview for all of you this time!) Warning: rape-ish situation...doesn't actually happen but the insinuation of the possibility that it COULD have happened to poor Tsuki is there...Garou's not very nice of course...the rest I think speaks for itself. Go on and enjoy...my thanks at the end...is it just me or are there fewer reviewers out there now? Not for this story I mean but like I've had only four or five reviews on my other stories...maybe you guys are biting me for my like...what was it? three weeks of laziness...hehe, sorry...anyway, on with the chapter.
Tsukiyume Awakens
Awareness returned slowly, like the sun rising over the mountains, pushing the reluctant shadow of night away. Her voice came to her, and her first instinct was to make a sound, to call for help, she didn't know from who she expected the help to come or why she felt she was in danger in the first place, but she couldn't deny that that was what she felt.
Weakly, she moaned, and found that her own voice was a stranger to her.
Other senses returned, just as slowly as simple consciousness had come. Why did her body, her limbs, all feel so heavy? Why did she feel so cold? It was so freezing that she didn't even shiver—her body had sunk below even that instinctive ability. When she tried to breathe in sharply her lungs seemed to seize up, fighting her.
Panic flared within her chest, a caged bird, fluttering, trying to escape.
Her eyes snapped open, deep brown, flickering with an intelligence that was, at the moment, very dull…
A blue sky greeted her, darkening—she saw pinks and purples on one side of her view of the world. The fireworks at the end of the day, calling the sun home. The sight calmed her, and slowly, very slowly, she began to remember everything.
The shrine that she had walked all day over the road in the company of her older brother to reach, the offerings of rice cakes tucked away with a few precious gold coins in a little silken pouch. Her brother's face swam before her mind's eye, his gray-blue long hair tied high on his head, in the style that a samurai might use—he was trying to pass as one of the human warriors. Yes, that was right: she had been wearing black mourning robes, covering herself from head to toe, to disguise her partially inhuman characteristics. And her brother…she remembered his gentle, loving smile, his warm, guiding hand tugging on her own, the pale paint he had used to hide his turquoise inuyoukai crests on his cheeks.
If she closed her eyes again and focused on these misty, dim memories, she could still scent the incense burning around the alter she had erected for her father in his temple…the monks had thrown her curious glances, perhaps sensing vaguely, that she wasn't completely human, or perhaps their eyes lingered on her tall, stoic older brother who waited for her patiently at the gates. She'd heeded none of them any mind, had merely prayed to her father's spirit, wishing that he guide her troubled heart, that he soothe her brother's unhappiness…that, if he could, he should bestow love from beyond the grave onto their mother's heart.
And then she remembered nothing but fear, and a scent. The scent of a predator that had come for her, descended in a storm of shadows.
There was nothing beyond that, nothing but the freezing, chilled darkness of her own innermost mind.
As she inhaled again this time, and tried opening her eyes again, her panic returned, sharp and overpowering this time. She made a frightened, terrified sound, a little squeak of helplessness to herself. She'd never been stoic like her brother, like their mother. She was a bundle of nerves, of weakness, though her mother had never really been bothered by it—her heir was all she had wished for, why should she press her daughter to be the same? Yet she had always worried about failing them all somehow—and now she was sure she already had. Her capture was shame enough, but to be so frightened of what might be coming, death surely, was unthinkable.
I will not shame my family or my clan; I will die bravely.
She tightened her small-clawed fists, pressed them into the chilled grass at either side of her. Her heart was beating, pulsing more with each second; her body was warming with each breath, one after another. It was sheer will that pushed her up into a sitting position. She blinked fearfully at her surroundings, fighting the newly born shivers that were rushing through her revived body.
It was a wide meadow, a swathe of mostly snow-less grass. She smelled and heard water brushing the land somewhere to her right. She looked that way and saw the gray dullness of water; the sun had already ceased leaving its colored reflection on the lake's surface. Now it was like a giant blot of ink. She gazed away from it, shivering despite herself.
Her eyes landed on a wolf—a large wolf!—curled with his back to her, sleeping apparently. As she tried to scent it, him actually, she realized that he was not a wolf, despite what he looked like. He was something else, a thing she had never scented before…her blood froze.
I have scented him before! The thing, the shadow that came for me in the temple shrine…
She jumped to her feet, thinking of nothing but a mad dash for escape—only to find herself tumbling as her feet gave way underneath her. Pain afflicted her still half-numbed and utterly confused nerves. She realized that she had a mouthful of grass in her mouth; she spat it out disgustedly and weakly tried to regain her breath.
A look over her shoulder silenced her breathing altogether.
The wolf-thing was no longer a wolf. Now he strolled toward her wearing an ugly, foul scented cloak. His deep brown eyes—too much like hers—bored into her, and she didn't miss the sadistic gleam within them. When he grinned it was actually closer to a snarl of malice, she wanted to scream but her lungs refused to work. Her body stiffened instinctually, but she found she couldn't move…
He reached her, knelt nearby, and reached out with one massive, grotesquely powerful hand. His claws looked horribly filthy, gray like fungus on a corpse. She flinched when she felt his hot touch on her spine, the sandpaper of his skin scratching her, although she sensed that he wasn't actually trying to harm her…yet.
She realized, with a gasping cry of despair, that she was wearing only her innermost robe, and that the beastly man had tugged it down to expose her neck and upper back, allowing him to touch her, flesh on flesh. Her hands gripped the ground, her own claws tearing through soil and grass alike. Her skin crawled with so much revulsion that she thought she might scream, though her lungs refused to work properly. She gasped for air, blubbering like a tiny child.
His terrible hand brushed over her, came to her right shoulder, the one closest to him, and gripped her, hard. She cried out, and the first tears slipped free of her eyes, despite her promise of valor from moments ago.
The cold of the grass and earth beneath her bit into her back as the beast-man rolled her over so that she lied as she had when she'd first woken: facing the darkening skies. She saw his ugly face easily now, the thick, bulbous nose, the bald, greasy skin from thousands of years of hydrophobia. The eyes were the worst; they stared at her as if she were an ant under a magnifying glass, a mouse caught in a trap. She knew that no matter what she did there would be no mercy from such a beast.
She held herself rigid and bit the insides of her cheeks, forcing herself to be honorable. Whatever he may do to my body, I shan't taint my soul with shame, I won't cry out…
His mouth screwed up into a sneer, showing yellowed teeth that she thought might've been chipped from excessive years of use. "Bitch!" he spat at her, his spittle landed on her bare shoulder, so hot it was scalding. She winced, but bit her tongue, remaining completely silent.
His laughter was harsh and grating on her ears. She felt them fold downward against her hair, felt her muscles shivering despite how hard she tried to silence them.
"You are pathetic!" he taunted. She felt his rough touch move over her chest, tugging at her thin robe roughly. Though she had squeezed her eyes shut against the sight of him, she could still feel the sudden breeze of chilled air against her exposed breasts. Fear welled up inside her, and she thought that unless she screamed, found some release for it, she would surely vomit.
The beast above her made a growling noise, thick with irritation, "You are hardly more than a child!"
That much was true. In human years she supposed she should long since have been a woman, still young, but likely married and expecting her first children. In demon years she was still a child—a young adolescent. In hanyou years, for half demons aged completely on their own terms, she was perhaps a barely passable young woman; her shape was small, unpronounced. She prayed that her youth might save her such a sickening torture as rape…but she doubted it.
Just kill me… she begged silently.
But she had no such luck; her pleading went unanswered.
The blazing, painful touch came again, and she flinched immediately at it, her instinct rising anew, demanding that she fight him, but though her will was strong her limbs were heavy and cold once more—she was unable to move. The beast's hand remained where he'd placed it—thumb and pinky fingers resting just beneath her small breasts, the other fingers inhabited the valley cleft between them.
Her helplessness made her fear and instinct fade and turn just as quickly into despair. Tears welled up inside her eyes, started to overflow silently, spilling out the corners and rolling away, warm against her skin. Still more to her shame a sob rose as well, her chest heaved as she gave in, the heavy, hot hand on her skin remained were the wolf-man had placed it.
And then she felt a stab of pain where his middle finger rested, right between her breasts. Her eyes snapped wide and she tried to flinch away, whimpering weakly…yet movement was still impossible, and a moment after the pain began it ceased abruptly. She craned her head and rolled her eyes, trying to see what he had done to her, but she couldn't…
The man removed his hand, snarling under his breath, muttering horrible curses at her, though with only a passing hatred. She detected, dimly, a note of triumph within his voice.
Her breath was shallow as he walked away…and slowly she began to feel the relief wash over her—she was not dead, she was not raped…had her tears worked? What had he done to her…? She tried to stir but still her limbs refused to work. Despair threatened again but she withheld it.
Swallowing frantically, she asked toward the sky, her voice wavering painfully, "What…what…"
"Close your mouth, miserable weak bitch. I wouldn't touch you for pleasure in a million years—you're not worth that…" she heard him shift, move closer to her, and she cringed, fearing that he might announce that a million years had in fact passed and that he could hurt her in just the way she feared…but he short of her by several feet, snarling, low in his throat.
"Tell me your name—I command it."
The place that had hurt before, when he'd laid his terrible hand over her in such a delicate spot, a spot that was supposed to be hers and hers alone to share, burned anew. The pain was so sharp and sudden that, although she bit her tongue in desperation, she cried out with it—and mid way through the cry her throat seemed to be under someone else's control. The muscles worked, her tongue flicked, her lips shaped the sounds that emerged from her throat, and she spoke.
"My name is Tsukiyume."
There came one brief, satisfied grunting laugh from the beast before he rose his deep voice again, growling out his next command: "Tell me you are a miserable, worthless and cowardly bitch. I command it."
Once again the pain came, though this time she fought the urge to cry out. Her throat wrenched against her will, strangled, alien sounds rushed out of her, until she could no longer withstand the pain and gave in. "I am a miserable, worthless and cowardly bitch."
The laughter was longer, harder now, triumphant. "Sleep, bitch, I command it."
Immediately the pain resumed, tormenting her. Tsuki writhed under it, at first choking back her cries, and then, finally, screaming with them until, she felt her energy draining away. Her limbs turning heavier and heavier. The world darkened swiftly, though she knew, faintly, that it was not the sun that was going out, but her instead. When the darkness finally stole over her completely, she was thankful…the pain ceased.
Tsukiyume slept.
The water for the bath took some time to warm during which Nikimi chatted with Kagome amiably. Kagome learned that Nikimi considered herself apart of a long line of servants to inuyoukai lords. Her father and grandfather had all been highly trusted guards under Taikokajin's rule, yet legends from her great-grandmother told of Koshoshiro, Taikokajin's father. Nikimi's sister and brother had all been sent to serve under different inuyoukai lords and ladies, but it had been Nikimi's honor to stay in her Lady's service.
"Where did your brother and sister go?" Kagome wondered absently as Nikimi tested the water for the hundredth time—and this time found it suitable.
"My brother went to serve one of Lady Taikokajin's younger brothers not far from here. My sister chose to enter the service of a different family completely—she waits on the inuyoukai lord of the western lands, Lord Sesshomaru is his name…" she glanced cautiously to Kagome, "I believe that your son would call Lord Sesshomaru his uncle, am I wrong?"
"No, you're right." Kagome sighed, heavily. Just the mere mentioning of Inuyasha's older half-brother was enough to make her feel shaky with exhaustion. "Sesshomaru isn't very…" she struggled for the right word, "Pleasant?" she scowled, cuddling Koinu closer instinctively.
Nikimi laughed a little, stepping away from the bath. "I suppose you wouldn't think so highly of him." She smiled awkwardly at the young mother, "But my sister has never found quarrel with Lord Sesshomaru's habits. He is a hospitable ruler." She gestured to the now steaming bathwater, "You bath awaits you, Lady Inuyasha." She bowed, "Would you wish me to fetch you bath oils and clean robes for you?"
Kagome nodded, feeling intensely grateful. "If it's not any trouble…"
Nikimi shook her head immediately, "Just hurry, my lady, and bathe—before the water grows cold again!" she laughed as she walked out of the small, steamy room, sliding the screened door shut behind her.
The bathroom (and literally, that's what it was!) was brightly colored. The walls were yellow and pink, seemingly cherry blossoms, Kagome thought. She lingered, enjoying the moist air, and the prettily painted and decorated walls—the pink-hued lamps that hung down from the ceiling—before letting Koinu down out of her arms and onto the floor. He squealed at the sudden opportunity to explore, and eagerly set out to do just that. His puppy's ears twittered back and forth in open curiosity.
With one watchful eye on what her crawling son was up to, Kagome stripped off her clothes gingerly, and left them beside the door. Beside the tub Kagome easily found several towels, waiting to be used. She tried to ignore the instinctual discomfort that came with being naked in a foreign place, and silently wished she knew Inuyasha were nearby…
Koinu had crawled to where her dirty clothes were piled beside the door. She laughed at the sight of her son grabbing up tiny fistfuls of her clothing and stuffing them into his mouth. To complete the picture the pup began making chewing motions, his little jaw working up and down. When his eyes closed, Kagome realized that the pup was taking in her scent by sucking on the clothes, as bizarre as that was to her…she shook her head in silent astonishment. So like your father…
How many times had she caught Inuyasha sniffing her or scenting something that belonged to her? Time and time again she knew Inuyasha worked through his nose without even realizing it. Dog demons were instinctually running on their olfactory senses.
The realization made her sad for a moment. What if Inuyasha didn't return? What if it was a scheme, sending the hanyou on a bogus mission with Shimofuri at his side as a hostage, only for the hostage to transform into an assassin? The thought made her shudder with fear, praying silently that Inuyasha would remain tense, that his senses would remain alert. Trust no one, Inuyasha…when her eyes drifted to Koinu, who pulled a different article of clothing out to suckle and chew on by this time, she amended the thought: Trust no one both of you. Both father and son.
The light resounding echo of footsteps in the hallway made Kagome tense as she was snapped back into the present and found herself standing over Koinu, smiling down at him, completely naked…hurriedly she scooped up her little son, stripped off his still clean cloth diaper and climbed into the tub with the pup clutched to her chest. He coed at her abrupt closeness, flesh to flesh, and immediately buried his nose and lips into her neck. His cooing rumbled on against her as the screen door slid open.
It was Nikimi of course. She smiled at Kagome, genuinely, and closed the door swiftly behind her to preserve the room's warmth. In her arms she carried a bundle of robes, undergarments, towels, and a few glass vials full of shampoos, perfumes, and oils. She walked to the tub and bowed, setting the goods at the foot of the tub.
"I brought everything for you, Lady Inuyasha…" but abruptly she frowned and made a huffing sound, displeased with herself, "But stupid me—I forgot the pup." Her eyes locked onto the aforementioned child and shone with amusement. "He's really adorable…" she sighed, "He'll probably grow up and be a terrible heartbreaker…"
Kagome laughed, "I know his father was." She smirked.
"Well there's no way I'm going to let him go around after a fine bath in just his skivvies…" she frowned again, her hands went to her hips, "I'll be back in a few seconds Lady Inuyasha, my apologies." She bowed once and was gone before Kagome could even say as much as 'Thank you!'.
Alone again Kagome lowered Koinu into the bathwater, slowly, so as not to alarm him. Rather, it had the contrary effect. The pup splashed her immediately and squealed in sheer glee. He remembered water as well as bath times of the past. Unlike cat demons, inuyoukai generally held no fear of water. Koinu, being more than half human as well, was untroubled by it—except for when it was poured over his head, and unfortunately that was what bath times usually called for.
Kagome cupped a few scoops of water and dribbled them carefully over Koinu's little silver-furred head, and the pup whimpered uncertainly. He splashed at her hands when she dipped down again to draw up more water for him. Soon the pup was openly whimpering, his tiny white dog-ears flicked backward against his flattened mop of silvered hair, his lower lip protruded threateningly.
"Uh oh, no you don't Koinu…" Kagome sighed, resorting to tickling him when the pup's whimpering began to rise into a cry. The pup abandoned his pouting and squirmed desperately in his mother's grip, squealing and piercing the warm bath air with baby laughter.
Through it Kagome didn't hear the door slide open, didn't hear the echo of footsteps in the hallway.
"Lady…Inuyasha?" came a hesitant woman's voice from the doorway.
Kagome stopped her torture of the pup and twisted gingerly around to see who it was at the door—for the voice was clearly not Nikimi's. "Hello…?" she called, trying to keep her nervousness out of her voice.
The woman standing just inside the door was a wiry thin woman, dressed in a pink-brown kimono that only went to about her mid-calf. The obi was white. Her face was pleasant, though not beautiful by any stretch of the imagination. She was far older than Nikimi had been. "Your bath is going well?" inquired the strange maid, her voice darker and gravelly in comparison with Nikimi's open, pleasant sound.
"Yes, thank you…?"
"My name is Momo." The maid bowed, "And you are my lady Taikokajin's cousin Inuyasha's mate, correct?"
Kagome nodded slowly, taking in this new presence with a now wary expression. Momo? Where have I heard that name before…?
"Good, good!" Momo cleared her throat, carefully, and Kagome knew she immediately wouldn't like whatever it was that she was about to hear, "Your child? You're bathing with your child?" she frowned, "How can you ever get clean with a pup screaming at your breast?"
Kagome tried to restrain the burning blush that stole over her cheeks. "I'm fine…"
"Nonsense! I'll take him to be bathed and dressed separately. You'll likely hardly recognize the little imp when he returns to you!" though the maid's words were said in a tone that seemingly indicated pleasantness, Kagome felt suddenly as if Momo had actually said I place a curse upon your head, may your nights be sleepless and your children sickly.
She shuddered and held Koinu closer to her. Deliberately, she turned her eyes completely from Momo at the door, letting the maid see only the back of her skull and the blue-eyed, white-eared pup as he stared at the maid innocently over his mother's shoulder.
"I don't want to put you to any trouble at all…" she muttered quickly.
"No, no…it's no trouble! Lady Taikokajin has taken you as a guest in her home. To refuse would be a shame, you dishonor my lady's hospitality!"
Kagome's jaw tightened. "Taikokajin didn't order a separate bath for my son, I don't see why it should bother her that I wish to bathe with him, and to be the one that bathes him."
"But my lady—" Momo's words were interrupted and cut off by Nikimi's footsteps reverberating off the walls of the hallway.
"Momo? What are you doing?"
"Lady Taikokajin sent me to check up on Lady Inuyasha and her little son." though Kagome saw none of the two maids interactions with each other, she remembered at that moment why the name Momo struck a chord within her…when I overheard the guard and a different maid speaking they said Momo was Taikokajin's favored maid as of late…she stiffened, realizing that it was likely this maid had been sent to lay her hands on the pup and bring him straight back to the pink-eyed bitch.
"And she found out that I am fine, as is Koinu—and she was just leaving." Kagome hissed over her shoulder. The silence that followed immediately afterwards was a sure sign that Momo was thoroughly insulted by Kagome's none-too-subtle hint.
"Yes, if you will excuse me, Nikimi…" Momo's tread disappeared until it was only a memory running down the halls.
Nikimi's soft-footed gait entered the room and the young maid bowed beside the tub. "I have found the perfect thing for the pup to wear, Lady Inuyasha!" she exclaimed, and lifted the tiny set of robes up for Kagome to inspect. They were bright red like freshly oxygenated blood, like fire burning hot, a dawn or a sunset at its most brilliant, like Inuyasha's fire rat robes…
Kagome grinned. "Wow! I'm impressed!"
A bulky, heavily armored man knelt on one knee before the carefully, delicately seated inuyoukai woman before him. Swathed in her usual luxuriant robes, Taikokajin looked every bit the part of a reigning goddess. Her pink eyes glimmered with a sharp, conniving, cruel intelligence. Her bright hair—almost closer to pure white like snow rather than the silver that the rest of her close genetic family bore—was pinned high in a manner that human women in high courts used to signify their royal, regal ranking. She'd chosen this style to assure that the man before her—an arrogant but loyal samurai—saw her as intensely beautiful and not alien in any way except for the turquoise marks on her cheeks and the sharpness of her ears.
"Lady Taikokajin." He muttered her name gruffly, his voice gravelly, though that was normal for this man.
She nodded to him once, "You may face me, Kentaro." She waited while he rose to his feet, his bearing stiff and uncomfortable. In the world of mortal humans, from which he only rarely ventured out from, women were porcelain dolls. They painted their faces white and their lips bright red, outlined their eyebrows in charcoal. They wore fancy robes and trinkets in their hair. Those were all normal things, and many of them were things Taikokajin did already. She wore fabulous robes of lavender and obis of bright white; her face was already pale enough to have been painted though she left her lips colorless, and her hair was up regally.
But that was where the similarity ended. Taikokajin might've physically appeared to be an alarmingly pink-eyed human woman with strange steaks on her face at first glance, but her bearing, and her behavior, made her true identity unmistakable. Only a demon woman could rule as Taikokajin so clearly did. No human woman would order the samurai about, nor would she have commanded his respect—no matter how beautiful she was.
Yet at the same time the samurai could've loved and fought for the beautiful human porcelain doll. He wouldn't have likely done the same for Taikokajin simply because he understood her ruthlessness. Demons didn't, on the whole, scare him any longer. And yet, female demons, especially those with great power, still managed to scare the samurai witless. He couldn't fathom their mysteries, what made them so entirely different from the same gender in human women…after all; male demons were frequently almost the same as any mortal man…
"What news have you of the hanyou and my son?" she barked, pink eyes narrowed critically.
Kentaro continued to stand carefully at attention, "Lady Taikokajin, I have spied their general direction—it is west. They head into the Western Lands."
Taikokajin looked as if she might doubt him. Kentaro sweated profusely for several seconds, praying that she see that he had simply been the messenger, and what left his lips was the truth as far as he had known and seen it. Soon enough he breathed in relief as the pink gaze lightened and she sighed, pale lips pursing.
"The Western Lands?" she scowled for a brief moment. That was another thing that still unnerved the samurai. Taikokajin in particular, was full of emotion. Few demons wasted time expressing such things—it was perceived as weakness. Yet Taikokajin did it anyway. Kentaro suspected that it made her a poor ruler. Her son, when he replaced her, would be better…
Abruptly she looked up, her gaze pinning him, sternly. "I need you to ride straight by the fastest roads to my brother's castle grounds. Tell Sasugainu Koshoshiro that he must fly immediately to Lord Sesshomaru Inutaisho's palace with these instructions: Kill Inuyasha."
Kentaro blinked, rapidly struggling to remember her instructions. "I am to tell your brother, Lord Sasugainu, that he must go to Lord Sesshomaru and tell him to kill…" his voice died as he recognized the name and the suddenly obvious alliteration to a famous individual by Taikokajin's failing to mention a last name. Kill Inuyasha…he hadn't even known that the inuhanyou of the legends was real! He stared in shocked silence at the demon woman before him, not seeing the way her pink eyes clouded with rising disgust and anger.
"Did you not hear what I said, Kentaro?" she growled, sarcastically.
He shook himself into wakefulness, regaining his voice at the same time, "Inuyasha, you say, kill Inuyasha? Is this the Inuyasha of the legends? The one that defeated Menomaru and Kaguya and Ryokotsusei and Naraku…?"
Taikokajin's eyes were narrowed into slits of sudden hated. "The same, you idiot." She snapped. One delicate but cruelly clawed hand pointed toward the doors, "Now, leave me and ride fast and hard until you reach my brother. Go!" Yes, go, mortal man, before I strike you down dead…and before Shimofuri and Inuyasha reach Sesshomaru themselves.
When she looked up again she saw that Kentaro had indeed left her, and swiftly just as she'd wished. She nodded a little in approval silently. Good, the foolish human knows when to obey…now if only I could trust my son to do as I command too…
Endnotes: I'm gonna get this done quick cuz I have other stuff I need to do...
BIG thank yous to ALL reviewers! SerenaClearwater (best part of the third movie was IY as a baby briefly seen crying...I wish I could watch it again but the site that had it I think went down. And appearances are tough to keep straight, I take notes to make sure I'm consistent...but I do know it's tough!) Yami Chikara (sniggles) slummyreddragon Zoderella ItaiandChihiro4Ever, TheDarkAngel101 (perfectly okay) NefCanuck orangepencils (yeah, this is my biggest review collecting story (shakes her head) astounds me everytime!) Heather Shikou (don't worry, take your time) inuyasha'sbabe07 (They're not trivial, keeps me on my toes! Kay: Sesshy and Rin will likely make an appearance in the next chapter, maybe more. They have a delicate back story that I shall expose, I'll say one thing for that backstory: it's not good for IY/Sesshy relations...and Myoga...You caught me, I've rather forgotten about him. He is likely to appear later in my other story "Women In Black." here I haven't found a place for him...) InuYasha'sGirl KagomeSango (I don't think so, but it makes sense no?(grins)) Lena17, The Moonless Night (yes, sesshy and Rin will appear in the next chapter...and I kept your review in my mailbox so that I can look back at your one-shot description (grins) Thank you!) Simonkal of Inyu (yes, she's still pretty normal, but later chapters Kagome is going to weaken and suffer a bit...but you're right about her and the hugeness of her soul, it's gonna be the only thing that saves her...) Prophet WolfStar (LOL! I'm glad to know that I can give you something to talk about (sniggles) Thank you! Raven is it?) Tiamath (yes, it wa,s good memory. (grins) but Shimo-chan wasn't saying Sesshy wouldn't run into them or care, he said that with himself beside Inuyasha Sesshomaru would see that it was a diplomatic mission, not a war party.) kirarakitty, andarial, andRinelwin Preview time!
Shimofuri turned completely then to face the hanyou. "We must seek his permission, Inuyasha, surely you are aware that it would be rude to just walk across and through his lands without making ourselves fully known and explained." The gray-eyed demon nodded lightly, "It makes perfect sense to go and speak with Sesshomaru."
Inuyasha snorted, "Feh! Only if you want him to ram Tokijin up your ass kid!"
Until next time!