Disclaimer: theworldsgreatest01 does not own Inuyasha and does not wish to. Too much work.

Authors Note: theworldsgreatest01 actually wrote the chapters before the prologue explaining these events and has continued to do so, despite the need to explain to these readers about what in the world is going on. Yet, theworldsgreatest01 does not feel like writing the prologue, but nonetheless has started it by writing at least one sentence. Sorry, but explaining things is so boring to this fanfiction author. So since the worldsgreatest01 has already written at least eight chapters and still has only written one sentence for the prologue, the author has decided to just post them and give its readers, well, something to read. the author promises to finish the prologue soon so you won't have to continue asking, "What is going on??" Enjoy. (And sorry for the mix-up. This is actually chapter four. This author hopes that no one was confused by this inconvenience.

Chapter Four: Stars

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My body hurts like hell. His body hurts like hell, Kirara's, Oka-san's, Oto-san's and Shippou's and hell, we all hurt like hell. I imagine none of us emerged unscathed from such a bloody war between a new foe we stumbled upon, called Kazekami. The little brat was also followed by a human ninja of some sort who looked much older than him, maybe older than Nii-san, but didn't show his face. Either way, we lost miserably. The ninja did probably the most damage. Damn it all, the other demon controlled the wind and manipulated it to disable the Kaze no Kizu so that my father had no way of using it. The Kongousouha was useless as well, so we were practically defenseless.

The anticipation of the night had us all uneasy because there could be a meager demon attack at any moment and we were in no condition to fight. Not even the badly wounded couldn't hitch a ride on Kirara because Kazekami had made sure of her immobilization by battering her limbs almost to the bone. Nii-san cradled her as a kitten in his free arm to his chest with the other in a sling. We all trudged silently in the dead of twilight in defeat and the feeling of carrying it upon our shoulders made everyone irritated. Especially with the wounds we sported irregularly on our bodies, so neither of us bothered to speak. Even Shippou remained stolid as we walked on. Usually his little chatterbox ass is just running like mad about stuff no one cares about, but this time he got hit bad right in the head, so I figure that knocked his brains into place.

I can calculate each blow down to the margin because they're throbbing like irreparable sores that cry out to me and let me know where they are. One is a deep cut at my collarbone and runs into my right breast, multiple scratches along my arms, another at the ribs, a black and blue on the thigh…and two bruises on one shoulder. Probably a broken bone somewhere, but-oh well. It's life. And I am pretty much pissed off at this point because, ah, yes-I forgot the bleeding opening on the bottom of my foot that I have to step on while we walk…I mean, how great is that? Fucking perfect.

Nii-san sends a furtive glance my way. I respond with a silent scoff when he looks at my left foot, and back into my eyes with a deep gentleness in his. He's concerned, I know. Right now, though, all I care about is settling down and resting. I believe that is all everyone cares for. Oka-san turned around to glance at my foot as well, and only then did I realize, watching my own faltering stride, that I had been limping. She leaned over to Oto-san. Covering her mouth with her hand, she whispered something; he nodded. Another look at me.

Great, now I'm a side-show performance. I roll my eyes at him, then stick out my tongue. He growls, but Miroku and Sango titter in response. This causes him to redirect his wrath for a moment. I take the opportunity to lose interest in the game, since my bones are deciding to punish me for now. Nii-san walked up beside me.

"Are you-"

"I'm fine!" I seethe before I hear his pity question. He knows I can take care of myself! How dare he try to drop that shit on me! I was fully aware of my own state thank you very much. But, I have to remember not to jump to conclusions. Nii-san regarded me with a bewilderment and furrowed eyebrows.

"-aware that we've been walking this path forever and haven't found a place to relax?" he finished, cautiously.

I blinked. "Oh. Well, um, yeah. Yeah! I knew that. Yes, we have." I acknowledged the lopsided smirk out the corner of my vision and made a mental note to severely "re-injure" him for it later. Pride twiddled down to nothing, I pouted and shook my head to the side, but my hair accidentally smacked Nii-san in the face, where the bandage on his cheek was enough to suggest the area was tender.

"Ouch!" he yelped. God, he didn't have to be such a girl about it.

"Sorry." I murmured, my own face going a bit pink for a while. "It wasn't on purpose."

We fell silent as he rubbed at the scuff on his chin awkwardly, the moon serving as the sole light for our grassy plain on which we meandered along. I wanted to desperately just outright fall-out and into a deep sleep wherever. If for the space of a second, because in all actuality the cut on my foot threatened me by the minute, the damn pounding in my thigh carrying the motions. All was quiet in the expanse. A few trees intersected this way and that, as if I cared. This little walk was longer than sorrow! I tried to take my attention away from the pain by observing the stars, more distinguished than normal nights, resembling diamonds shooting out threads, holding the moon up and suspending it on heaven's plate for my sight. I had begun to lose touch with reality when Shippou's wail cut through the stupor like a dull, pint-sized dagger. "I can't take it anymore you guys!! I'm too tired, my feet hurt and I just wanna go to sleep!! Even Kikyou's limping like some cripple!"

What? The little bastard had the nerve to point at me. We all stopped and formed a circle around him collapsed on the ground. Miroku sighed and said, "Well he is right. I seem to be fatigued as well."

"We should just set up camp here." Sango offered.

Oto-san smudged dried blood on his forehead when he placed a hand there and sighed. "Ah, what the hell. I'm pretty tired myself. Let's get some sleep."

I exhaled, but still grabbed up the tiny punk by the ponytail, ignoring his shouts of protest. Nii-san held out his palms and told me to be easy. Please. "You're lucky we're all beat up now, or I would've had you sore all over for that comment." I spat, shaking him around.

Almost immediately after we all gathered our belongings underneath an old sequoia with wizened branches, I drifted farther away from the others and the sounds of mingled exhalations filling the air, including content sighs of happiness-to an expanse only fifteen feet off. The futon that we were given by the handmaiden of a craft shop served its purpose when I laid it out on the grass and finally, slowly, sat down.

Oh, the nicks still had their tinge, but did it feel good. I made sure not to move too much, so as not to reopen healed wounds. Still, my muscles untwined once I connected my butt to the mat. No one disturbed me, or found that I was isolated a big thing to consider or tried to make unwanted company. They already knew me, as Oka-san describes me. "Just like her proud, headstrong father." Sometimes I desire a second to myself. Clearing thoughts. Although, what most of them don't know is that I'd like someone to talk to after a while…for pure human interaction. This passes by all but one.

I know his footsteps on the dew-stained grass, the swift soundlessness of his robes as he walks, the scent of heavy birch-wood trailing on the air. "How many do you have?"

I turned around. His hem was painstakingly torn at the sleeve and left dangling sadly by a couple of strings it seemed, he took a seat in front of me with a lethargic smile. Beneath all the gauze there could be a great possibility a second eye had been present, even though it was covered, as well as the rest of his head. Poor Nii-san. He had so much unnecessary bandaging that he almost looked similar to a burn victim. I couldn't laugh conspicuously. God, it was impossible.

"Eleven. So far. That was quite a battle, hm? I wonder who the ninja happened to be. He was formidable, I have to admit. That technique…impeccable. Fills me with a certain nostalgia, I don't know why. Just so familiar." Nii-san responded while unwrapping himself like a gift. "And you?"

After he was done removing the essentials, I shifted my arm and winced. Clearly, he preoccupied his mind analyzing our new foes. Things that didn't interest me. Why would I want to wonder about the people who kicked my ass?

"Probably were demons, both of them. Even though I smelled human for the ninja, he was too strong to be mortal…I think I've got five or six." I breathed, placing my head in my hands. It throbbed like mad. "When is Maburoshi ever going to take us on himself, the coward. Sending all the cronies and not coming out to put his fight to the test. I bet he's scared. Little bitch. When I get my fists in that face! I'll kill him!" I shouted to the sky above.

Nii-san stretched out a leg close to my foot, reclined back for a full extension of his lengthy frame, took his arm out the sling and placed both hands behind him in the dirt to support his weight. With a sensual exhale he looked up to the dark cloudless sky. "Let's not talk about Maburoshi for now. My bruises start to pulse, thinking of him. We'll relax and talk, okay?"

"Fine." I said. A silence that did not even remotely identify to talking passed between us. All sorts of insects chirped about our heads, cicadas grating tunes, soft- humming tree bugs. I allowed my eyes to slip to his leg inches away from touching me. Did he want to do that? Coax me into some weird game he decided to play? A brief flashback brought the events of a few weeks ago swirling in fragments. The air grew thicker with the memory of my weakness, crying in front of him like a child. And exactly what is going on now, me showing how a simple fight can wear me down to nothing, opening my flaws. Fighters never reveal their shortcomings.

Stupid. Completely stupid. How could I sit there and let him dissect me while I can't ever scratch but a surface of what he is? I wasn't thinking when I moved away, in an effort to gather the little shreds of dignity I had left. I couldn't believe that I had cried. Tears burned at the back of my throat again as I decided to leave altogether.

He noticed. "Where are you going?"

I swallowed hard to bite them back. It was hard. "Um, I don't feel like talking right now. I'm going to go for a walk somewhere.

"Alone." I added before he had the chance to get up.

Out of nowhere, from the clouds dropped a medicine box, by the grace of higher powers. Divine intervention. We both froze when it landed at our feet, and far off in the distance came a shout.

"Change those bandages you two!" Oka-san called.

Oto-san seconded. "Yeah, you brats need to be ready to leave tomorrow! Infections can't slow us down!!"

Hm. The irony considered in the situation was amusing. I rolled my eyes to respond inwardly to the annoying antics of my parents, but when I tried to follow through on my resolution to leave, Nii-san's hand clamped delicately around my wrist and stilled me. Holding the plastic box emblazoned with a red cross insignia, he stared into my eyes.

"Tell me what's wrong while I help change your gauze. It will be better than trying to figure it out on your own. After all, as the saying goes, two heads are superior to one. We have to listen to them." His gaze was solemn and pleading, still searching me.

I snorted. "As if I give a damn about their dumb requests. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not a little girl anymore and I don't have to listen to Oka-san and Oto-san."

When I attempted to pull my arm free a second time, the grip was tightened. "Oh, yes you do. Because if you leave without changing your bandages…I'll tell."

I gaped at him in astonishment. The whole scenario, including the sordid blush on his cheeks-reminded me of the tender age of five. He actually threatened to tell on me. What a tattle-tale! I thought, then cursed my own regression to that stage. But as I observed his facial features, solid and unmoving, the special dash of honey added to his cocoa eyes: I realized he was serious. He was really going to rat me out if I didn't succumb to his orders. Nii-san was blackmailing me. Suddenly I understood that there really is at least a hint of Miroku lingering in his genes.

Rather than grant him the satisfaction of knowing that he had ingeniously ensconced me in a perfect plan, I refused to speak and snatched the box from his hand, took my wrist back and sat down without so much as a fleeting glance in his direction. I heard his fingers meddling with the clasp of the medicine box, it swinging open, him lifting up the alcohol bottle, its contents swishing around the exterior.

"You aren't going to look at me. I can deal with that for now, but something tells me that as we continue the conversation, there will be a reason which causes you to make direct eye contact with me. Aside from this, I want to know what your problem is, what would cause you to try to run away in such a hurry from your only Nii-san and leave me for dead. Can we broach this topic?"

My straight-forward gaze did not waver. "I see. Well, then. I guess we'll just fill the time for now with dressing our wounds. Tell me where yours are, and I'll pass you the proper bandaging." he said, organizing the items before him.

"I can get my own stuff." I snapped and grabbed at the nearest thing when he caught my arm swift as an eagle's strike. He blushed upon contact.

"Um, its-I wanted to-to…" he released me like my skin had burned him, using the hand to scratch a place on the back of his head that probably didn't itch at all. "I wanted to clean my wounds first. Since I have more, and-and you weren't speaking to…me."

I turned around to get a full view of how fetching he looked. Memories flooded back…ah, the essence, sheer innocence of childhood. Nii-san was a continuous reminder of that milestone in life, those years where nothing mattered because he still held that boyish air. Something foolish, childish and painfully reminiscent to back then. It was a typical comfort that reassured me, or the both of us-despite what we may be going through now, in light of all the growing up we must cram into ourselves in such a short period of time- that we used to be kids. Our inner child still lies beneath the outer shield, and Nii-san shows it the most. I'm not sure if he ever grew up.

Trepidations aside, he held my stare eye for eye, trying desperately to understand me. I didn't back down this time. "Is it that you don't want to feel vulnerable, Imoutou-chan? See, that is a problem that can be fixed if you just request it. Take matters into your own hands. Pride is too empty of an emotion to lose a good connection between another over. I want to be there for you." My breath caught slightly. "If that means that we be on the same level…I can do that. I can. We have to be in this together. You have to trust me, and I you."

"You can never trust and know a person. Never enough." I interrupted with my father's old saying.

My words faded the rouge from his cheeks. Almost by command, his face stoned. A faint chill crept up my spine at the sight of Nii-san actually being serious, not funny or childish or anything. I felt my heart beat shallow and thicken, the air harder to breathe. Still, he was soft behind the exterior. Searching. He wanted to show me his sincerity. I couldn't see past his eyes telling me more than that. My eyes widened. I figured it out. He was searching me.

At that moment, in slow motion he took the collar of his robe in his fingers, pulling the fabric off his shoulder. Carefully untying his garb, it slipped through a hand, fell to the mat along with the rest of his robe. He displayed fresh cuts and bruises to me as well as his entire torso, undressed down to the waist. I could tell he was nervous by a frequent ripple in his abdominal area, the rise and fall of his taut chest.

I let out a breathless chuckle. Why was I breathless? "And what is you stripping supposed to do?" I responded, raising a sarcastic eyebrow.

Looking at me, I almost mistook it for a tentative, bedroom glance. If it was, I'd choke. "To show you that I have just as many wounds as you. And I'm willing to let them go if you are."

Unbelievable. I didn't care for a minute for all the bullshit he spewed out his stupid…face! How in the world can he manage to make me angry so quick? Say there was a record of all the times Nii-san has upset me to the point where I am seized by a fierce desire to break his bones. Scrolls would be piled up on lists. But I had something for his ass. I picked up the alcohol and opened it up, poured some on a gauze pad, then pressed it against a nasty cut on his right chest. Ah, the sheer satisfaction.

He shouted in agony. "I'm sorry! What's wrong with you?! Stop, stop, please Imoutou-chan!"

"Shut up!" I took my instrument of torture back. "Acting like a big baby. You said you wanted to clean your little paper-cuts right? So hold still. I don't know where this heroic bravado is coming from, but I can tell you this. Show me your battle scars and I see a whiner. Hide your sorrows and I see a warrior. Just because you take off your shirt you think you're equal to me. What the fuck gives you the right to request my thoughts be displayed to you as an open book? All I want is for me to not have to dig to know whatever you think while I have to be open and ready for you to take and take and not give anything! It doesn't work like that. It doesn't."

Astonished at my long-winded speech, one that surprised me all the same, Nii-san's jaw hung open slightly. He startled. "Imoutou-chan. Only, its just that-I was thinking of what happened then…"

"It was nothing. Forget it."

"I wish I could. But I can't. We must-"

He stopped abruptly when I touched his bicep, my fingers squeezing the chiseled muscle there. "I'm impressed. Not stronger than me, of course, but getting there. Barely."

Ordinarily he would have tried to pursue the subject already broached, this time I didn't give him incentive regarding the matter, with a quick acrobatic jump onto a different theme, I knew he would have to capitulate. And that he did, albeit becoming immediately self-conscious of his current state of undress. His face heated severely. Again, my mind wanted to recall a certain event when he explained such actions. I resisted although I was compelled.

"I have been training more. When I am in a fitful sleep, or can't find it, I wake up and go out to the nearest clearing alone, then I practice on my combative skills. It is good exercise, I never thought that I would benefit from being a slight insomniac. Neither had I pondered my little escapades given me more strength, but I've been a little lighter on my feet." Pausing to catch his breath, only then did I realize my hand lingered on his arm. He missed it, I quickly withdrew lest he notice. He lifted his hands to look at them. "Sometimes it comforts me to know I'm trying harder, training toward our goal. This is the first time I've taken a glance at myself in terms of gaining muscle mass. You think my efforts make any difference?"

Nii-san dropped his observation, switching attentions to me. I grinned quite narcissistic-like, coating the fact. Actually, the last time I saw his chest was when I accidentally walked in on him while he bathed-which, as far as I can remember, occurred a year and a half ago, involved me seeing the male anatomy up close for the first time, and after I got past all the…other…things, his structure was smooth and taut. He really made definite changes. Not that I would let it show. Regardless, I still have a strict sense of my personality.

"I wouldn't say muscle mass. I mean, when you're still not as strong as your younger sister, then you're probably not as beefy as you think." I winked, and turned up my nose. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him watching his own clenched fist, smiling. "But, I guess I can see some change, if not any. So, you were training behind my back, huh? Trying to get stronger without letting me know? But I can't complain." I waved a nonchalant hand. "You probably aren't pushing out as hard as you should be. I bet if you asked for my help now, there would be much more of a difference. You must be doing some childish nonsense exercises. Me, on the other hand, I can do some training regimens."

He laughed. Not mockingly, that would be a stupid move to earn an ass-kicking from yours truly. It was a good spirited one. "Then maybe I should wake you and seek guidance, Imoutou-chan."

Nii-san picked up the gauze pad I tortured him with earlier, craned his neck to see a laceration on his left shoulder blade and reaching over he attempted to clean the wound himself. Such a fool. I entertained the act for a moment, then snatched up a pad, soaking it before dabbing the cut. He inhaled sharply, I saw his body clench, his shoulder rippled.

"You know, maybe I should teach you. Then you would know the meaning of a real workout." I said, watching how I cleaned his cut.

"I would like that. It wouldn't be so quiet."

I raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing."

Besides the lingering night air around us, his scent was what penetrated my senses most. He smelled…good. Familiar and comforting. He smelled like warmth, a sanctum that will always be there and one I can count on to calm me. It soothed me, relaxed my tensed limbs whenever he entered a room or expanse. I can never explain the way just smelling him makes me feel. So many emotions always come all at once, I can't choose which one. I was able to fully detect his scent because there were no clothes hiding it, and I closed my eyes. There was a lot of refrain I had to endure to keep the overwhelming desire to lie against him from surfacing.

I placed a bandage on the cut once it was assumed to be clean then he muttered a small thanks in return, I nodded in acknowledgement while he admired my handiwork and smiled. "You're good at this. Much better than I."

"I'm assuming you want me to do the rest of them then?" I asked. He shrugged and replied, "If you want to." So we sat there for a pretty long time, me sanitizing his wounds, talking about things that really made no sense at all, like sparring and debating the mannerisms of certain demons. Soon, a tiny dose of sleep attempted to hang around on my eyelids. The sky had turned extremely dark so the only way we knew where we both were was by the stars. Patting on the last bandage, I yawned, stretched and clapped my hands together.

"Finished."

He exhaled in relief, for he had been clenching against the alcohol while I cleansed his wounds. As he nodded and grinned, complimenting me, the cicadas began to chirp a tune that preoccupied my attentions for only a second and after I came back to reality he was thanking me. "You do a better job than I do. Thank you, Imoutou-chan."

For the time- enlightened to say the least- by the melody the insects strung along, a confusing thought overtook me and I felt possessed by it, my arms weren't mine as they moved across my chest to have my fingers clench the fabric of the haori. Perhaps it was because I had just catered to him that I began to notice as he looked like a new man, I was still troubled by the lacerations across my legs and the scrapes on my shoulders, the cut across my collarbone and that I was bearing old, soaked gauze while his was a bright, illuminated white in the pitch black dark.

Whatever it was, I shifted so that my back faced him and slid the crimson cover from my shoulders and allowed my bare flesh down to the edge of the cleavage of my breasts, to be braced by the damp dew of the midnight air. I could almost feel Nii-san's jaw dropping as my haori fell in the back down to the base of my spine to reveal the many battle-scars hidden from view with bandages already hard from the absorption of blood. Taking in a deep breath, gracious from the feel of open space on my skin, I mumbled, "My turn."

I heard him swallow against a knot in his throat and the dull scratching of nails at his head. "What?" he asked, his voice breaking.

He aggravated me. "What did you think?" I snapped as I craned my neck to see him out the corner of my eye. "I was just going to dress your little paper-cuts and you would lay back and take a nap? Do I look like a maid to you? Get to work on mine and we'll call it even."

"Um, you can't do it on your own?"

"No! You're gonna do it like I did for you!" I shouted. "Don't try to get out of this."

A silence passed and I knew he was contemplating the awkward situation within himself, but I interrupted by admonishing him. "Hurry up! I can't sit here like this forever!"

Only then did I listen to the slide of his knees against the futon and the commotion of his body settling behind me. He swallowed again, while I huffed in annoyance at how long it took him to get his bearings, then finally, I felt the tips of his fingers touch my back. It was clandestine, and he retracted once the contact was made. I tried to conceal my own nervousness, and also wondering why I was nervous in the first place, when his fingernails grazed me, then caught the bandage and slowly, yet gently, removed it. He cleared his throat, then responded with, "That's quite a wound. How did you get it?" His voice seemed hoarse.

Why was mine so low when I responded? "A katana. Hidden underneath the sleeve. A stupid mistake, one that you would make."

"I see." He sounded millions of miles away in his own world.

He didn't warn me when the alcohol touched it. I hissed and cringed.

"I'm sorry." He rushed to say, quickly sterilizing it, then grabbing a new bandage and covering the laceration.

Nii-san's breathing became heavier as he went on, the deep exhalations tickled the nape of my neck and caused a sensation in me like I've never felt before. Many times he's made me feel a bit safer than normal, like I could depend on him for anything, and since childhood I found him always the butt of my cruel jokes, but when I was the subject of another boy's teasing, he was quick to step in front of me and shield me from such evils. He is my big brother, forever has been, yet we are not related by blood. And maybe this is what's making me feel this way. Everytime we get closer than usual, or we sidle up in battle and throughout all the bloodshed, in the end the only scent I can make out is his all over my clothes, and that's when I frequently remind myself that he's not my real brother, that we're not of the same parent when I breathe in the smell of my clothes to keep it inside my nostrils so that all I smell is him. Lately, I've been doing just that. I have no idea why, but it started when I first hugged him the other day and his scent lingered on me for weeks, no matter how much I tried to bathe, and then I found myself liking it, being accustomed to it because it is so familiar. I keep lamenting that its just the safety that the smell brings that makes me breathe it in. Maybe I want Nii-san's protection. For him to clear the scars from my body if only once.

I have no clue if he feels the same. But, what am I thinking? If he feels the same about what? There's nothing special I feel toward him, in fact, I don't feel anything! Why do I keep using the word feel?? Well, according to what is truth, whenever I nudge him or bump into him he blushes. He tries to avoid me at night. He doesn't like to sleep anywhere near me, or by the rest of us at all. Usually he goes off to a spot by himself and settles there, wallowing in his solitude. Recently, I've tried to figure out his thoughts, why he called me beautiful and how it entails to his actions around me. I don't know what's going on, because since that scene when I dropped my defenses, he seems sensitized. As if he is fully aware of me and my presence. This I can see from when we hide in our veiled paradise, escape the watchful eyes of our parents and converse silently, unburdening ourselves and relieving each other of heavy secrets. Things have changed ever since we started it.

I notice whenever we are in deep conversation; he looks at me differently, so intently. I know its not that he's staring, but his eyes follow me, like once I start speaking, I can feel him watching the movement of my lips then slowly rising up to search my eyes…and its so hard to decipher. Not easy to tell whether its fascination or-- something else. That other factor, I don't really wanna think about it. "C'mon!" I say to myself, "You've got be kidding!" But those talks, feel…what's the word? Intimate? Ok, I know I'm not supposed to be using the feel word all over the place anymore. I just can't help it! Wait, intimate is definitely not the word. No, no. Too personal. How about…comforting? Yeah. That would be the perfect word.

Then again, why the hell am I even still thinking that? He's Nii-san for crying out loud! The stupid dumbass who believes he's just so attractive and handsome and blushes all the time, clumsy and weak. Even if he does practice at night all by himself, he'll never be strong enough to beat me!

He releases a long, drawn-out breath behind me which brings me back to the present. I shuddered noticing the cold for the first time of the night, or maybe it's the way he slid his hand down my spine, over the places where my skin was covered by small bandages, probably inspecting his work. His fingers gently touched an area underneath my left shoulder blade, where I know a faded scar lies, the bite mark from when I was about two years old. The snake bite that Idate permanently engraved on me. The bastard. At least he was killed shortly afterward. Nii-san ran his index over it, and I could feel the air shift as he frowned, then it softened when I knew he was just squinting at it in deep thought.

I want to reach around, stretch my arm over my shoulder and hold his hand for some reason I can't explain. A sudden urge to touch him and feel his hand in mine. But it's a stupid thought and it went away as quickly as it had come.

Nii-san's hand left contact with my back and finally, he said in a hoarse, cracked voice, almost a whisper, "Okay."

A thousand things are running through my head to say and do, I don't understand it all, so I went with the next best thing, just being me. Its so confusing, almost scary. Why do I want to do all these things? Why do I want to do and say so much for him? Why now? Even though I eventually will seek answers for those questions, I won't do it now, for now, I just pulled my haori back upon my shoulders, took a deep breath and looked at the blood soaked gauze covering the long cut starting from my collarbone and ending slightly on my left breast to realize there was a lot more wounds on me that I had to treat myself. So I sigh and spin around on the mat to face Nii-san, my haori untied and practically exposing my chest save for my breast bindings hiding it from view, but that didn't stop his eyes from growing twice their size and his cheeks turning bright red. Sensitive fool.

"W-w-what--what're you d-doing?" he sputtered, crawling a little backward on his hands and feet.

"I gotta fix this nasty cut right here," I pointed to it and he looked away, "and some other ones too. These I can do by myself."

He stumbled over his words again, unable to believe I was being soo outrageous by just cleansing my wounds in front of him. I reached for the antibiotic wipes when he spoke. "How can you do this?"

"Easy." I said, taking off the old gauze and allowing the air to hit it. "What's so bad about it? Why are you so uptight?"

"Uptight?!" he exclaimed, which causes him to take his eyes off the area of the futon he trained his gaze to and look at me. "You think you can just go around anyone and--in this state of undress and think its ok to--"

"You're not just anyone. I thought you were my Nii-san. I thought that's how you thought you were to me. Or were you lying?" I looked into his eyes, watched them jump all over my face.

"No. I just--you don't understand…" After placing a new bandage over the cut my attention was caught by his statement and I watched as he shut his eyes tightly.

I tried my best to ignore what he said, but it did sting for me to hear him say that, openly admit how naïve I seemed to him, for someone else to say it wouldn't have hurt nearly as much as it did when he said it. Maybe he's right, I don't understand. But I wish I could! And it isn't fair that he flaunts his knowledge, I hate when he uses all those complicated words and continuously repeats how he's older than me and therefore knows more than I do, how he just places stupid barriers between us, how he's so determined to prove that were on different levels and I'll never be able to understand because I'm so young, because we're different!!

I roughly pulled my hakama up to my thigh where my other wound was and while I ripped off the gauze and started cleaning it I looked up at Nii-san and he returned the gesture. He quickly glanced at my exposed flesh, blushing, and rushed to close his eyes and turn his back to me. I stopped, my breathing hard and heavy. I couldn't believe it, but all I felt as I looked at his back was hatred. Real hate. And its all his fault. Its always his fault! He's the one who makes me feel like I'm stupid when its him all along! Like I'm being unreasonable but its him! He's the unreasonable one!!

Grabbing the alcohol bottle I could only think of him and his stupid fucking back turned to me. His stupid hair, stupid back, stupid shoulders, stupid wounds…

I held the bottle tight in my hand, watched the liquid sloshing around for a moment, then wound my arm back, focused on that stupid asshole's head, my focus unwavering, and threw it. The satisfaction I felt as I heard the sharp sound it made colliding with skull is beyond comparison. He buckled over as soon as it hit, cradling his poor head in his arms, scampered to his feet and whipped around to me. Now he wants to look at me…

"Imoutou-chan! W-why-why would you, what--?!"

I sneered and projected as much anger as I could in four words. "Get away from me."

"What?" he whispered, furrowing his eyebrows.

"You heard me. Go away! Go someplace else!" I picked up the first aid kit and threw it at his feet. He jumped back in alarm. "I don't wanna see your face!! I don't wanna see any of you! Just leave me alone!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, rising to my feet as well. I could feel the tears burning at my eyelids.

He kept his distance, knowing full well that he couldn't take me on if I were to go to drastic measures and get physical. He tried to comprehend the situation and my outburst and I was glad that for once, he didn't know what was going on. "Imoutou-chan…why are you--"

I threw my fist down and shouted, "I thought you wanted to turn your back to me! Isn't that what you were doing this whole time?! Huh? Well, do it! Get away from me, turn your back to me, whatever! Just make sure I don't ever see your face again!!"

All the commotion must have gotten the attention of our parents at the campsite a few yards away, because suddenly I heard their footsteps and the rustling of grass and while I made sure to keep all the anger in my eyes aimed at the ass in front of me, my Oto-san and Miroku tried to figure out what the hell was happening.

"Hey! What's wrong with you two? We heard your mouth all over this place!!" Oto-san barked, pointing at me. Then he noticed that my hakama was untied and my chest was only covered by the thin bindings on my breasts. I covered up as soon as I knew he assumed the worst. All I could focus on was the asshole nervously keeping his eyes on me but losing sight of me to place it on his mother's serious expression.

"Kohaku, what happened?" her gaze flashed to the blood trickling down his neck from his scalp. "Why are you bleeding?"

"Kikyou, what's going on?" my Oka-san saying the exact same words he did got my goat, so I eventually snapped my head to her. "Everything would be just fine if he--" I brought my focus back to the stupid man in front of me, "--would just get out of my sight and I would never have to see his face again!" My voice rose with every word and by the time I got to "again" I was yelling.

That doesn't bode well with my Oto-san and he immediately rounded on him. I'm guessing all he could think of was how undressed I was. "What the hell did you do to my kid?!"

"I didn't do anything." he replied, holding his ground under the intense glare of Oto-san. "We were…just talking. And, I must have said something--"

"Like what??"

"Inuyasha, I think this is between the two of them. It must be a confrontation that they have to work out amongst each other…" Miroku offered, quickly coming to his son's defense. He glanced at him with an equally questioning expression. "…they must to deal with this themselves. They both are nearly adults now."

Oka-san must have agreed with Miroku's reasoning because she went up to Oto-san and placed herself in front of him, blocking him from rounding on the dumbass with the gash in his head. "Miroku's right. Inuyasha…"

Oto-san gave one last glare at the dumbass. "If you did whatever I'm thinking, or anything like that…if you did anything to my daughter…You're gonna have to answer to me."

The idiot held up under the death glare again, with a solid look in his eyes.

"I guarantee you that Kohaku did nothing of the sort that you're thinking right now Inuyasha." Miroku interjected.

"Yeah, this is coming from Miroku."

Sango cut off the two with some not-so-new news. "Uh, Miroku…I'm not sure just what your son did, but he's bleeding from a bad wound in the back of his head…"

"Oh…well. That is interesting…" he says, suspiciously tossing a glance at their son.

My Oka-san worriedly turned to me and asked in a quiet voice, "Kikyou…what did he do that would make you hurt him like that?"

I picked my head up and crossed my arms over my chest. "That dumbass knows what he did. If you wanna know what happened, just ask him. He seems to know it all. Right?" The last word I direct toward him. I look at him one last time in the silence, directly into his eyes, and I see the same guilt he always tries to communicate whenever he messes up, but it just doesn't speak to me this time. I avert my stare to the grass at my feet. "I just don't want to be near him right now and I would appreciate it if he would just leave."

I heard my Oka-san call my Oto-san and her words of wisdom, some mumbles from Miroku, a disappointed sigh from Sango, and then the rustling of grass again. Someone stopped as the rest treaded in the distance, their footsteps growing weaker and weaker. I could still feel his deep, brown eyes bearing into me, trying to read me, pleading with me. Then the one who stopped, their voice rang out in the night, and I recognized it as Sango's.

"Kohaku. Let's go now."

He hesitated for the space of a second, then he started after his mother, and as he walked off, the sounds of his movement weren't distinctive anymore in my ears, weren't special like they were before. Now they were just like everybody else's, and I couldn't tell the difference between his footsteps and his mother's. He suddenly lost all significance.

I inhaled deeply and couldn't detect his scent. And I looked up at the stars, hoping to see one, just one that was shining for me…

And I couldn't.

AN: Clearly one can sense the confusion within Kikyou and deduce her anger and frustration at this. She is not very open with her feelings toward the opposite sex, and does not know how to deal with her hormonal malfunction in being attracted to the one she calls her big brother. Because of this, she acts spontaneously, as she is confused and does things that startle Kohaku and make him feel dirty for witnessing them. theworldsgreatest01 tried in this chapter, to convey the dificulty of teenage sexuality and angst, and hopes that they portrayed it as well as they imagine they have. Perhaps they will reconcile in the next chapter. Perhaps.

Once again, theworldsgreatest01 is begging for reviews, critics, anything. Please? Don't leave the author hanging.(bad joke)