Disclaimer: Nope...don't own him...Kagome does (smirks)
A/N: Okay, computer ate my first message here...grr...I have Graduated! After the all night party at the W (YMCA to the rest of the U.S., don't as we're weird where I live) I have had a lot of extra time while my sisters and Mom still do their normal daily routine. I have, obviously, been using that time to write. My regular readers can probably tell that b/c I Miss You, and WIB have all been updated right after each other...I am, as you can tell, free and a little bored. But that's okay...(grins) just send me a line in a review, eh? It's all good...Key now to the story: Warning! Warning Danger Will Robinson! Danger! yea I know, dumb, but anyway cursing is UPPED this chapter and Inuyasha gets (ahem!) vulgar while trying to bash his brother. Yes, no more cliffy there, the Sesshy-Yasha confrontation is upon us! But try not to gasp and gape TOO much at some of the things Inuyasha taunts his brother with or someone else in your household might give you a funny look...(smirks) anyway, the taunts also fit into a back story that I don't really expand on here but I have planned out in my head...see if you can find it...the rest I think speaks for itself and needs no words, other then that you're all going to hate Lady Pinky some more...I'm proud of my scene between her and Momo later...but you're going to hate me for the insunuation of future threats to Koinu and Kagome...well anyway, nuff of me babbling: Enjoy!
Demons, Vampires and Mikos
Shimofuri felt a black fear—or was it shame?—open up inside him. Mother, why didn't you keep your foolish plots to yourself? You've been so blinded by your desperation for Tsukiyume…why didn't you stop to think that you'd be insulting Sesshomaru by asking him to do that? He kept his face smooth and unaffected, as if Sesshomaru had asked if the weather outside was pleasant. At his side he could feel Inuyasha spoiling for a fight, though with who exactly had yet to be determined.
It's time to play politician, Shimofuri…he lifted his head a smidgen higher, trying to exude confidence. "What is this, my lord, that you speak of? I was not aware of any plans my mother had for your younger brother." He struggled to keep his nervousness from reaching his sweat glands—if it did Sesshomaru would easily pick out the fact that he was lying. Liars always carried with them a particular scent and dog demon lords tended to be the absolute best at discovering such lies.
One look at Sesshomaru's golden eyes and Shimofuri knew that something had tipped the demon lord to see the lie. A tiny narrowing of the golden eyes, so like Inuyasha's, and a slight thinning of the lips. A muscle in the jaw twitched, tightened, and then ceased all movement.
"You are a fine speaker, young Shimofuri." Sesshomaru granted, though a note of sarcasm resounded in his otherwise monotone voice, "But your face belies your words easily." His golden eyes lost their sharp focus, seemingly bored again by the topic, "You are too closely related to Lady Taikokajin." The way his words were spoken left no doubt to either Inuyasha or Shimofuri that it was meant as an insult.
"Damn straight Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha abruptly interjected, his white fangs gleaming in an expression that was somewhere between a grimace and a smirk. "That pink-eyed little bitch has been a pain in my ass since I first met her!"
Sesshomaru's gaze, had it been lethal, would've long ago incinerated Inuyasha. As it was it seemed to smolder and singe Shimofuri despite the fact that it wasn't even aimed at him. The hanyou, however, remained unflinchingly within that stony glare; his smirking somehow even managed to increase at it.
"I grow tired of your voice, Inuyasha." The monotone somehow managed to snarl, though the stony, handsome face remained unchanging.
"Yeah? Well, you know I'm getting sick of your face, dumb-ass."
Sesshomaru pretended that his brother had completely vanished and instead looked to the young, inexperienced heir of the Middle Lands. "Do you intend to kill Inuyasha?"
Shimofuri blinked once, and then cursed himself for doing it. Sesshomaru's bland, flat tone had so taken him by surprise that it had left him dumb, speechless. Perhaps it had been what the demon lord intended—he seemed to look particularly satisfied now.
What am I supposed to say? Beside him Inuyasha was stiff, his scent radiated aggression, testosterone, a stiff readiness for battle. The hanyou had a mate and pup he needed to stay alive for and at the first sign of danger he would turn rogue and renegade, slaughtering both demons if he could…in front of him Sesshomaru was a mystery, waiting expectantly, eyes narrowed dangerously. There was likely no right answer, Shimofuri suspected, but instinct whispered of denial or a negative answer…yet some other part of him screamed for the truth.
Shimofuri turned slightly, pinning Sesshomaru and ignoring Inuyasha for a moment. The gray-blue eyes met the fiery sunlight of the golden-yellow, Middle and Western lands clashing, youth and age matching one another.
"My mother requested that I kill Inuyasha, yes."
The said hanyou stirred, growling, "Why you little runt, I'll slit you—"
"However," Shimofuri rose his voice above Inuyasha's onslaught and cleared his throat, "I had not given it serious consideration. My only wish in this quest is to ensure that my mother holds Lord Inuyasha's mate and pup safely, and to help my half-sister. I have no other vendettas, and no reason to strike out against Lord Inuyasha."
Sesshomaru appeared, though it was a quiet expression, pissed. "My half-brother is not a lord." He corrected, throwing a quick glance that dripped poison to the aforementioned hanyou.
"Yeah, but I'm still better than you." Inuyasha growled. His hands were lingering at the hilt of his infamous sword, ready and waiting.
Sesshomaru's golden eyes narrowed to slits of yellow-gold hatred, twin beams of it trying to burn his half-brother alive, "Inuyasha." He raised his one hand up to chest level and flexed the clawed fingers. They cracked ominously, a bluish-white youkai energy crackled once like electricity. "How is your little wench doing?" he asked, his voice a dark monotone, threatening, "I've heard the bitch bore you a pup—a son. You'll have to forgive me, little brother, I forgot to send congratulations…" the youkai energy cracked again and Sesshomaru's face took on a cruel look, eager to deal out torture and violence…
Shimofuri's heart was beginning to pick up speed. He had fought with lesser demons before, slaughtered many of them. He'd killed a few cat and panther demons sometimes while out alone patrolling his mother's lands—but never had he fought demons equal to either Sesshomaru or Inuyasha. He had honestly not known what he was embarking on when he'd brought the brothers together…he tried to stifle the panic that was beginning to engulf him. I must stop this!
"My lords—" he began, stretching out his hands in what he hoped was a peaceful, calming motion, "This is—" Inuyasha's voice drowned out his message of peace before it had even really started.
"You son of a bitch!" the hanyou jumped to his feet, hands ready to rip Tetsusaiga from its sheath.
"Yes, little brother," Sesshomaru's fingers flicked again, the energy crackled like the tendrils of a fire, "I am the son of a female dog demon! Don't waste my time with your stupidity."
"You're the one who's stupid, Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha snarled, "You leave Kagome and Koinu the hell outta this or damn it all, I'll blow you straight to hell—and that'll be after I slice your other arm off!" midway through his blustering threat Inuyasha had ripped Tetsusaiga out of its scabbard, instantly transforming his father's renowned Fang of Destruction.
The demon lord of the Western Lands smirked noticeably, though disgust wavered in his golden eyes. He'd risen to his feet, his body in a very relaxed stance, as if they weren't about to tear each other limb from limb. "You named your son Koinu? Puppy?" the start of a shining green peeked out of the edges of Sesshomaru's clawed fingertips, "How adorable of you, Inuyasha."
Shimofuri resisted the urge to grind his teeth together in frustration. How can they do this? Just fighting anywhere? If they try to tear each other apart in here it'll ruin the castle! Doesn't Sesshomaru see that? How do I stop this! The youth's eyes strayed to the sliding door that Sesshomaru had entered from…he remembered, vaguely, that his mother had gathered information and rumors about Sesshomaru before she'd come to ask his help. A few of them she had mentioned to him in idle amusement…one of them had been the rumor that Sesshomaru's human mate was the only one that had any real power over the demon lord.
Taking the risk seemed by far preferable to the alternative of sitting on his butt while the hanyou and his half-brother destroyed the palace around them and delayed their quest to destroy Garou and rescue Tsukiyume before it was too late…with one silent but very deep breath, Shimofuri rose to his feet and padded hurriedly toward the door. Behind him the battle was still only one of words, though by the sound of Inuyasha's ferocity it was fast growing into something more…
"Fuck you!" Inuyasha blustered, unable to come up with anything better for the moment. He leveled Tetsusaiga at his brother and sneered, "At least I have a son!"
This seemingly lame comeback drew a downward tug on the inuyoukai lord's lips, a small frown. As Inuyasha lifted Tetsusaiga to be about even with his older brother's head he smirked viciously, sensing from his brother's brief flash of outrage. Somehow he'd hit a nerve within his stony older brother, "Ah ha! So my big badass brother can't get it up eh?"
"Silence!" Sesshomaru commanded, but Inuyasha's dangerously vulgar taunting continued unabated.
"Or did I slice more off than just your arm, Sesshomaru? C'mon, level with me, we're brothers, remember?" the hanyou was grinning wickedly, his grip on Tetsusaiga wrenching and twisting, preparing the sword for action. Any minute now and Sesshomaru would be provoked into battle…
The green, spectral-like energy—though it was anything but imaginary and completely solid Inuyasha knew from experience—grew from each finger and then united an inch down into a thicker, glowing cord. It pulsed with Sesshomaru's wrath. "You will be silent, worthless hanyou!"
"Oi—that was lame. How can I be worthless, Sesshomaru, when I'm the only one that's carrying on Father's line, hmm?"
"I will kill you, Inuyasha, but not before I slaughter that human wench and your bastard pup." The whip had grown so long it was now curled on the floor, a snake waiting for the moment of the strike. The demon lord wrenched his hand backward, preparing to lash the weapon out…
"Bring it!" Inuyasha bellowed, lowering his stance in preparation.
Sesshomaru's body stiffened, his arm muscles flexed, his fingers tightened, and his face twisted into a mask, a battle-hardened grimace of hate…the green flash of the whip started to move, to uncoil…
"No!" a woman's voice, high and shrill, cut through the thick, tension-ridden air. Immediately Sesshomaru's hand halted at the sound, his face dropped the hatred mask and transformed to one of widened eyes, surprise—panic. He sniffed the air and took in exactly what he'd feared…Rin.
Inuyasha's ears moved backward and forwards in confusion, his face was caught between a smirk of amusement and a frown of bafflement. He too caught the faintly familiar scent of the young woman his brother had raised and then mated…but the scent had changed, warped, aged. It was troubled…and in a flash of insight Inuyasha realized that his brother's scent was different too, pained by worry and a sickness of…dare he say it? Yes, he had to—a sickness of the heart.
From the sliding door two figures emerged. One was the lithe and tall form of Shimofuri, sliding aside to let the other pass in front of him. The gray-blue eyes sparkled with a mixture of pride and profound relief. Behind him a shorter, pallid-faced, black haired woman appeared, her deep, dark brown eyes focused solely on Sesshomaru's poised form.
Inuyasha lowered the Tetsusaiga to the floor, letting the blade rest there, still a danger but now a withdrawn one. This movement drew a narrowing of the eyes from Sesshomaru briefly before he too let the pulsating green whip slowly withdraw, vanishing from whence it came into the demon lord's fingers.
Rin made her move then, stepping forward into the room and falling to her knees in a low bow just behind Sesshomaru. "My lord," she murmured, faintly.
Inuyasha took the moment to study her carefully then, and blinked with surprise at what he saw. Rin wore an outer robe of orange-yellow, a color just a tad darker than that of the Inutaisho siblings. It seemed obvious that whatever she was wearing underneath had been unacceptable for company eyes, thus she'd needed the outer robe to cover it up. When Inuyasha sniffed the air he noted that there was a scent of lingering illness about her: blood, sleep, fatigue…when she looked up at Sesshomaru, who'd finally turned to face her, Inuyasha saw the girl's pale cheeks, the pained glimmer in her eyes…and as he inhaled a second time he realized with a jolt that he'd smelled this illness before, knew exactly what it was…
More than a year ago Inuyasha and Kagome had been struggling to start a family. Once Inuyasha had thought, with his acute sense of smell, that they had succeeded. Kagome's scent had changed as her hormones did, tuning him into the possibility of pregnancy long before Kagome herself ever suspected it. But it wasn't meant to be. Just as he'd been sure of it, and just as Kagome had begun to think the same thing, the scent had changed into the illness stink, and was washed away in blood. Kagome had recovered after a time, but the loss was something that had pained her nonetheless, though she hadn't ever really grasped its importance as much as he had through his nose: it was a miscarriage. It was the loss of an unborn life.
Now, staring at Rin as she knelt before his older half-brother, Inuyasha smelled the same scent and felt an abrupt pity sweep over him. Without realizing he did it, the hanyou lifted Tetsusaiga and sheathed the weapon, sighing heavily. He crossed his arms over his chest and waited, listening and watching the interactions between his brother and Rin.
"Rin." Sesshomaru's voice was as close to a growl as any of them with the exception of Rin had ever heard it come before. "Why have you disturbed us?"
"Please forgive me," she murmured, bowing a second time, "I cannot stand bloodshed in this palace while there is still a task to be done."
"A task?" Sesshomaru asked, his voice an empty question.
"Yes…" she sat up and looked past him to Inuyasha. "I remember when my lord told me of his discussion with Lady Taikokajin. She spoke of a hanyou-eating monster. I wished then that my lord had agreed to help Lady Taikokajin…" she threw Sesshomaru a brief look that thoroughly screamed, 'I told you so!'
"But, of course, cold bastard as he is," Inuyasha interjected smugly, "He didn't."
Sesshomaru showed no sign whatsoever that he had heard this, but when he spoke again to Rin it was with a harsher sound to his monotone. "Rin. Get up."
She obeyed wordlessly. Her thin, frail form, for all its physical weakness, radiated strength and defiance. Inuyasha wondered briefly how it was that Sesshomaru could stand the young woman's proud bearing, let alone her humanity, which he'd always professed so obstinately to hate with a vengeance.
The demon lord's one strong hand lashed out and settled on Rin's waist, directing her toward the exit of the room. Although his face was stony and cold, Sesshomaru radiated anger. "Leave us, Rin. This is a matter of diplomacy."
She turned in his grip, despite the fact that his clawed fingers twisted the robe with her movement, exposing the slip of white under robes beneath it. "Lord Sesshomaru!" she eyed him with a knowing, accusation-filled glare, "You use your whip in matters of diplomacy?"
Inuyasha tried, and failed, to withhold the snickering snort that escaped his throat. "The jig's up Sesshomaru."
Once again the demon lord ignored his younger brother's quips. "Leave, Rin." He ordered, his voice stern, almost openly angry now.
Rather than move to obey her mate swiftly, Rin lingered, turning in Sesshomaru's grip until she faced him completely. Though Inuyasha knew something strange was going on between the couple he couldn't move to see the exchange completely without drawing Sesshomaru's attention, and as long as he remained where he was his brother's back blocked his view of Rin. He suddenly envied Shimofuri, who remained by the doorway to the room and could see everything that went on. Judging from the young lord's frequently very open face, Inuyasha was missing something very interesting.
Rin had enfolded her mate's one hand into both of her own and was squeezing them rhythmically. Her head had dipped forward just enough to rest her lips against the demon lord's chest as she whispered very quietly her last attempt to ensure that Sesshomaru left his half-brother and the young heir of the Middle Lands alone and unmolested. Though Shimofuri didn't catch every word he did manage to make out the gist of her bribe: she was going to bathe and she wanted someone to come and join her in a few minutes…
Sesshomaru's eyes had narrowed—but not with anger or malice…rather with a hungry, predatory gleam. "Go then." He ordered, pushing her gently away. This time Rin flowed out of the room, her task completed.
Only when the door had slid shut behind her did Sesshomaru turn and glare at Shimofuri. "You have my permission to cross my lands—but I will be watching you both. You are to escort Inuyasha to this beast and slay it…" his eyes were tiny slits of threat and distrust, "Do not kill Inuyasha—that is my responsibility. Tell Lady Taikokajin that as well."
Inuyasha was ready to ram Tetsusaiga through Sesshomaru's guts. "Like hell any of you losers will!"
Sesshomaru was unruffled by his brother's words. "Arrogant, Inuyasha—and foolish. I shall kill you another day when Rin is too busy with my pups to notice." He ignored Inuyasha's death glare and bowed to Shimofuri just slightly. "Good day, cousin."
And then the demon lord of the Western Lands had vanished beyond his sliding doorway, eager to sneak up on Rin in the bathhouse.
In the silence that swallowed up the room afterwards Inuyasha crossed his arms and snorted angrily, turning his nose upwards, "Feh! What a pussy!"
"She has yet to succumb to the furui's soul-sapping?" Taikokajin snapped, irritably, eyeing Momo over her shoulder with a sneer as the squat, mousy woman tied the demon woman's ornate obi carefully behind her.
"I'm afraid so, my lady." Momo repeated, timidly. Her hands, browned from work in the gardens as a much younger woman, worked as delicately as she could make her own plump, sausage fingers perform. She nearly held her breath as she struggled to tie the sash correctly.
Today the kimono was baby blue and the obi gray—a man's colors, shades her son liked wearing…shades his father had liked. Taikokajin scowled, sneering at her reflection. If she thought back hard enough, she realized, this kimono was likely a betrothal gift from her damned mate's family. They all had the same features as Shimofuri—gray-blue eyes, darker colored hair. They might as well all have called themselves Gray, or Noukon for dark blue. She remembered the bitch that called herself Haiseishoku's mother, a dark, gloomy woman who stuck her nose up at her son's "unfortunate-looking" mate, the pink-eyed albino…
"Damn them all…" she cursed, still staring at her reflection.
Momo looked up from behind her, blinking confusedly. "I'm sorry my lady." She murmured, bowing to herself as she backed away from the finished obi. "The news of Lady Inuyasha's condition displeases you?"
Taikokajin hiked the wretched baby blue fabric up with her clawed hands, growling very much like an angry dog. Her pink eyes flashed just as violently as Inuyasha or Sesshomaru's could've with their brilliant gold. She glared dangerously at the innocent maid, "You're finally right about something, Momo." She snapped, stepping into her shoes for a moment to examine herself again, though the scowl remained firmly in place. "I am displeased with her condition."
Momo, still some distance away and bowing low before her irritated mistress, looked up now, eager to regain her good graces. "Would you like me to slip her something in her meals…?"
Taikokajin paused a moment, her eyes becoming unfocused…and then she whirled on the maid, her face a mask of blind fury, "You foolish little wretch!" she snarled, stomping toward the prostrated maid like a raging bull, "Don't even think about it!" she hissed, glaring down at the helpless mortal woman. "If you give the mother anything it may harm the pup—have you no sense?"
"No, my lady, I do not." Momo murmured, her face still kissing the floor.
Taikokajin made a noise of disgust in her throat and walked back toward the mirror, still posing before it, examining her face for flaws. After a moment she grunted, a sound almost like a man, and kicked her shoes off her feet. One of them ricocheted and hit the glass in one of the mirrors hard enough that it broke into a spidery web of shards that glittered, throwing light at strange angles. They broke the reflection of the swaying grasses that were embroidered on Taikokajin's kimono and turned them into cruel, stabbing lines instead, like knives or the crooked multitude of teeth inside a heartless demon's gaping mouth.
"Damn." Taikokajin cursed with a frown at the mirror. She looked back at Momo and raised her voice, "Well—what do I keep you for, woman! Get your lazy backsides over and fetch me a new mirror!"
Momo leapt to her feet and obeyed her mistress wordlessly. As she scrambled toward the door, carefully so as not to shatter the spider web of glass shards, Taikokajin rose her voice again commandingly, "Oh, and Momo, send in Mitori while you're out, tell her to bring a different kimono that she will dress me in."
"Yes, my lady." Momo answered, but her voice was weak, distraught, and timid. As she stepped out into the hallway, still carefully carting the mirror, the spidery cracks gave way and clattered and crashed to the floor. One of them managed to imbed itself into her foot mid-step. Momo nearly shrieked with the pain but clamped one hand over her mouth at the last moment, biting the insides of her cheeks until they bled.
Taikokajin had lost patience with her…Momo felt sick inside. She started once more down the hall, yelling for assistance, and for Mitori. The bloody footprints she left in her wake were testimony to her agony—both outside and inside.
This is all Lady Inuyasha's fault…if I could just snatch her pup away Lady Taikokajin would forgive everything and take me in as her favorite maid again…
Her mind spun wildly, plotting ways to pull herself back into the highest circle of the maid's social rung…it would be so easy just to take the child…
Garou's thick, ugly face scowled out over the waters of the lake, disturbed. Only part of his mind was present in the meadow, watching over the limp, rag-dolls that had once been hanyous, the rest of him was dispersed with his black magic, sent out in all directions of the compass. Many millions of years had allowed him keen extra-sensory perception of auras and souls—he could sense a half-demon's presence and health not only from hundreds of miles away, but also, in some special areas with a focused energy, through time itself.
He had done so with ease at the well…but the wretched miko woman and her child had escaped…though not wholly unscathed…
With a snarl Garou shook his head and stepped back from the waters of the lake, his mind once more complete. How was he supposed to hunt hanyous when there was one child whose single, solitary soul was enough to free his kind forever? He growled to himself, thick, clawed hands clenching into fists until they came close to piercing his own flesh.
A black energy, like a shadow given a body, swarmed and shifted about his hands, like a swarm of night-black ants or bees. Garou focused his mind, closed his angry, mud-brown eyes, and the blackness hovering about his fists was sucked back into his flesh.
I've let her linger long enough…The child's mother, the miko, was stubborn on a level that was hard for him to comprehend. It'd been weeks—weeks—since he'd gained a connection to her soul with his dark magic. Weeks since he'd begun to suck the life from her…and still the woman drew steady breath, was able to wake from his grasp, and was actually beginning to fight him.
Her soul was massive. He'd had an idea from the moment he'd touched her and gained the connection with her that it was, but he'd never guessed, never even considered, that her soul could be so huge. And powerful. Though she likely had yet to understand what was happening to her—after all, she had been unconscious when he'd touched her, how could she remember his spell, his evil touch?—Garou had no doubt that when she did, not if, but when, his task would be a lot harder.
So it was that he turned his attention from hunting hanyous and toward his faraway, seemingly helpless prey. He urged and strengthened the spell over the mother, tightened his grip…and felt her very oppositely charged miko's energy grate on his mind and body alike…
Static electricity crackled along his clawed fingers, stinging and burning, but Garou pushed past it, ignored the pain…the miko could only last so long against the black magic, no matter how strong her will was—she was still a mortal creature, a thing bound to the earth. She was controlled by life and death together, by all the earth's natural rhythms. He however, was not. No earthly rules such as death bound him, he was immortal in the truest way on only one condition: that he used the lives of others, hanyous, to keep his own soul and body connected to the earth.
He was a vampire.
It was this difference between his dark magic and her miko energy with its purity, which assured Garou of his success against her. The miko and he might be evenly matched—but while she would weaken and need time to recover, he need only devour another hanyou's soul and be normal again in mere moments.
The miko woman's strength failed her then and Garou's black magic withdrew…his hands shook as he reached to the bright, glowing stone about his neck, the Soul Stone that housed the souls of the hanyous that he needed to devour to stay alive. Palms clasped the Stone, drew the needed energy out for his recovery…when Garou let go of the Stone he snarled viciously with frustration and looked furiously toward the lake waters again…
That damned miko! He'd never thought that hurrying the process would drain him so much—the power the mother carried within her was far more powerful than he had anticipated. His magic had drawn out nearly a dozen souls to replenish him—that was too many!
He settled himself down into what would've been a meditating position for a monk, but for him it was a hunting position. No matter how much he wanted to orphan the child he couldn't risk that many souls at one time to do it…it would have to be a mix of fast and slow. Time would defeat the miko; she was, despite her power, only human and thoroughly bound by the laws of earthly life.
For Garou the hanyou-eating vampire there was only one law to follow besides self-preservation: the continuous hunt for souls. He hunted them so ruthlessly that it was never long before Garou rendered them temporarily extinct—and then he was always forced to move on. Continent to continent, the hanyou hunter made himself a nomad, wretched and homeless. If he couldn't get his claws on the child before Japan's supply of half-demons was exhausted, he would be forced to leave and another million years might pass before he could find another suitable child…the healthy offspring of a male inu-hanyou.
As he settled by the shores of the lake, the gentle waves brushing the beach, his mind splintered and shot in every direction, his senses flowing out over the lands around him, seeking familiar half-demons' auras like a child looking for chocolate Easter eggs. As he slowly became absorbed in this search for food, Garou failed to notice the timid stirring of one of his hanyou prizes: the whelp named Tsukiyume. He completely missed the quiet pulsing of her soul, of her consciousness, growing like a thundercloud in the afternoon skies, slowly reaching up and outward…
He failed to notice that this gentle, subtle spiritual energy dulled his hunting senses, just enough to hide one hanyou from him. It shielded one half-demon's soul and aura even as it drew steadily closer to where Garou had made his foul den at the shore of this lake. Garou never sensed the famed Inuyasha, never thought to question why the pink bitch of the Middle Lands or the inu-hanyou mate of the miko for that matter had seemingly not bothered to confront him to reclaim their loved ones…
Endnotes: THANK YOU ALL! I know that my last posting of this was before the (or was it just after? I can't remember...) the Memorial Day weekend, during which time FFnet wouldn't let everyone (or was it just me? Oh well...) log in...(snickers) I guess even website managers and such need vacations...well, here it is, earlier than normal thank you Graduation, i have more time to waste writing...(smirks.) So my THANK YOU to everyone! And all of last time's reviews that I didn't get to (Chapter 19 I think) I shall answer now...
THANK YOU: (From Chapter 19) The Moonless Night (good question...I think he could either wear it in the style that Inuyasha's father wore it or long like Inuyasha and Sesshomaru keep there's. My instinct is to say long and neatly kept like Sesshomaru b/c I've always thought of him as a younger, sweeter Sesshy only with blue-black hair (smirks) definately a good question, keeping me on my toes...) orangepencils (Yes, I don't know anything about a Peach Girl but Momo does mean peach I think in Japanese...I took it out of memory from the book Memoirs of a Geisha from the nasty character "Hatsumomo.") Yami Chikara (Lady Pinky made a mistake trying to tell Sesshy what to do, he'll never be a pawn if he can avoid it, even when the other individual has similar goals. You're also right, despite their fighting and wounding of each other I actually don't think Sesshomaru would kill Inuyasha, though they DO seem to enjoy fighting, as I showed here and have observed in the anime easily enough. Also TO ALL: I believe Sesshomaru's role in this story isn't completely over yet...(smirks)) freelke (hands over a huge double chocolate chocolate-chip cookie(grins) This one will go on to be about as long as "Hanyou" its prequel was, I think. I Miss You will go on maybe even longer...(shrugs) not sure yet...) kareemachan (You have NO idea how much your review cheered me up when I read it! That day was miserable for me, my choir director played favorites BIG time and denied me a solo, despite the fact that I've been in choir for four years, served him at every concert. When I wanted recognition for it with a solo at Graduation he tossed me aside. I cried all the way home but your review made me smile for the first time in at least an hour! I thank you a LOT! Not only for your encouragement and your praise, but also for the sharing of your stories...my Mom has been urging me to finish a novel and submit it somewhere, but fanfiction is easier to write and I feel it hones my skill, though someday I DO need to stop it and turn to original writing. I hope to hear from you some more, and I hope to continue to please you! Again, THANK YOU! I hope you find this when i post it and I try my hardest never to forget a reviewer, never to insult or be cruel to one either! Again, THANK YOU!) Simonkal of Inyu (good question about Sango and Miroku, I'm having attacks of guilt about them...don't worry, they'll find their way back in here sometime...) fanfiction1 (I think I meant highborn as in that his father was basically royalty...yes, ) Tiamath (hehe, yes, you're right about sesshy...yes, I have described Garou in human form somewhere...I can't remember where exactly though. He has deep brown eyes...otherwise (shhh!) I've probably contradicted myself somewhere...) That's all questions from Chapter 19!
THANK YOU: (Chapter 20) orangepencils (actually it's just like Sesshy, like he says he wants to kill IY but he refuses to do it if someone else tells him to do it...it's all about the "Huge stick up his ass" as Inuyasha would say.) SomeoneInThePastOfEarth, freelke (yes, I am going to go to college, likely to major in an English/literature area and minor in the sciences...can you tell? (snickers)) kirarakitty (LOL, yes, the number of times she's been possessed...(snickers)...her time is coming shortly...) Zoderella (thank you! It was fun but generally unremarkable. I was ready to get outta there...) InuAndMiroku'sGirl Sango (sorry about those cliffies...) slummyreddragon (I don't drink alcohol and the all night party I went to was school-organized...I'm a good girl generally...though I'm not shy either. But hangovers from lack of sleep apply too I suppose, so you nailed me on that one!) TheDarkAngel101 ((smirks) I meant it to be sad though...I know if I were afraid of dying and not seeing my baby grow up...gosh I'd break down...) Prophet WolfStar (GO Prophet! (snickers as she watches Taikokajin and WolfStar beat each other) hehe...I'm really loving making a utterly hate-able character.) Heather (thank you...sorry I made you sad...(sniffles)) Simonkal of Inyu (LOL, don't hurt yourself sitting on the pins and needles! Did you know you're one of the only, maybe you ARE the only one, who mentioned Tsuki's father's spirit? (nods) I was surprised...I've always had a slightly larger plan for Tsuki than it might appear. I really enjoyed writing the hints of her backstory...and her father's story I like desperately want to write into a one-shot, interested? Speaking of that, I did receive your message and I shall investigate your story, I already liked the name, "Why Not Me" and don't knock yourself! I've been writing a long time and reading a lot too to get this way...it's not a gift but a lot of practice. Also styles can differ, if your style isn't like mine that's FAR from a crime! Anyway, when I'm done with this I'll head on over to read it and review...) Tiamath (hehe, Sesshomaru the Mule...can you imagine that fanart picture? A white mule with long silky hair, angry amber eyes and some huge fluff mokomoko-sama thingy for the tail or running down the back...(Giggles) And Taikokajin is probably sane, though her anxiety for her daughter has driven her to the breaking point. The backstory I've thought up for her illuminates her cruelty a little.) NefCanuck ( I know all about stuff spazzing out...(nods)...) The Moonless Night (Good to see you again! Sorry to hear about your brother...I hope it wasn't a car he had a run-in with...(cringes)...and you're one of very few who've mentioned Tsuki's run in with her father's spirit...thank you! I swear the idea of her father's identity smacked me one day and I just had to include it some way...the idea of a one-shot of that story still plagues me...) darkangel818 (You reviewed "Hanyou" Thank you! Sorryif you think I got it wrong...I hope if/when you read this story that you will think I've improved. Trouble with Kagome is that she's tough to get right sometimes, if I make her too strong-willed she gets called "a bitch" and if I make her quieter then she's a pushover...I hope I've improved...) Well that's everyone I think! Preview time!
Inuyasha chuckled suddenly, his shoulders jerking with the movement as Shimofuri stared at his back, "Don't tell me that pink bitch of yours hasn't explained the birds and the bees to you yet, pup!" he paused mid-step and threw the gray-eyed inuyoukai youth a careful look, "Or was that your father's job?"
Shimofuri averted his eyes. "I am not naive." He assured the hanyou, and stepped forward, pressing past Inuyasha to lead the way.
Until next time!