Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, Prince of Tennis or any of its characters.

New Beginnings
[19] Blood Seal

"All right," Higurashi said, tying her hair up into a messy bun before rolling up her sleeves. "Take off your shirt."

Tezuka blinked; out of all the things he had expected to come out of her mouth, this most certainly wasn't it. "I beg your pardon?"

Higurashi must have realized the implicated behind her words. She blushed slightly but pressed on, "Look, your demonic energy is expanding much more quickly than I thought possible." Her gaze darkened and she leveled Tezuka with a look that made him feel like he was five again. "I'm going to need some heavy-duty seal in order to keep your yōki contained.

He swallowed hard. "May I ask what you're planning on doing?"

"I'm going to create a Blood Seal."

Tezuka frowned; he had absolutely no idea what a Blood Seal was, but if it was anything like her previous one, he wasn't sure he wanted to know. "Then the last one…"

Higurashi nodded, understanding his though process. "All seals need blood," she explained. "But not all seals are Blood Seals. Blood Seals are one of the most powerful seals in existence, right underneath Sacrificial Seals." She reached out and patted his shoulder good-heartily. "And since I'm not going to kill myself just to seal off your yōki, we're going to do the next best thing. I'm going to write a semi-permanent seal on your skin with my blood. And by semi-permanent, I mean that it's not going to come off unless I or another person with holy energy unseals it or someone with powerful yōki breaks it."

"I see," Tezuka responded, hesitantly.

"I'm going to write it on the back of shoulder, close to the source of you yōki. It's also less noticeable so you'll be able to wear short sleeves. And if anyone does see it, you could always pass it off as a tattoo or something but if you really want to hide it I'm sure Sesshomaru has some sort of illusion seal for that.

Tezuka nodded slowly, attempting to observe all the information he had just been given. And here he had thought that now that he knew Higurashi's secret, he would no longer be surprised at anything else when it came to her. How wrong he was…

"Blood Seals are powerful indeed," Wakagami said softly. He frowned slightly. "Have you ever attempted one, priestess?"

"No," Higurashi chirped. "But how hard could it be?"

Suddenly, Tezuka found himself wondering if it was possible to slip away unnoticed and still be polite about it. Before he even give it further thought, however, Echizen's green-black hair caught his eye and he sighed. He knew that he would be more than willing to play Higurashi's guinea pig if it meant he could continue playing tennis with the young prodigy. The things I do for him, Tezuka thought. With a deep breath, he turned his gaze back towards Higurashi. "Where shall I sit?"

She brightened up considerably. "Wherever you're most comfortable."

Tezuka looked around and chose to sit down in the center of the room where Higurashi would have all the space she wanted to do what she had to do. She knelt down behind him as he slid his shirt over his head and the cool air hit his skin, making him shiver. Higurashi then rubbed her hands together in a way that reminded him of Inui. Fortunately, he knew that she was only warming up her hands so he wouldn't flinch away from her upon contact.

When Higurashi laid her hand lightly onto his shoulder, it tingled against his bare flesh much like the bracelet did hours before. Although it wasn't as painful, it was uncomfortable enough that Tezuka had to consciously order himself to stay where he was. "You need to try and calm down as much as possible," Higurashi murmured softly. "I think your yōki is based off emotions just like my own powers are."

Depending on how in control of her powers Higurashi is, Tezuka may or may not be purified into nonexistence. He wondered how exactly he was supposed to calm himself knowing this information.

"I like to meditate," Miroku advised helpfully from his position on the couch. And then he continued, "Thinking of the beautiful round curves on a woman's body—"

Sango, who was seated next to him easily silenced the perverted man with a swift jab to the ribs, knocking the breath out of him without even a glance. Tezuka wondered how used to it she was. "Be quiet monk," she said in a bored tone. "You don't need to taint him with your perverted mind."

Tezuka noticed Echizen glancing in the direction of the archway. He was pretty sure the young tennis prodigy was on the look-out for his father. Certainly, Echizen didn't want to two of them to meet. Ever. Tezuka didn't think he could blame him; he wouldn't want it either.

"I'm not a big meditator, myself," Higurashi said, rubbing soothing circles on his back, completely ignoring the second half of her friend's comment. Tezuka wanted to inch away from her touch, and not all of it had to do with the uncomfortable tingles coming from her. "I like to pretend to go to sleep, I end up relaxing like that."

Tezuka was pretty sure that's not how meditation worked. And despite the fact that her idea had merit, he didn't think it would work, especially with the dreams he has been having recently.

However, whether it was due to Higurashi's words or her awkward, yet soothing ministrations on his back, Tezuka found himself relaxing in the end. Honestly, he didn't actually think he was but Higurashi patted him on the back. "That's right," she said cheerfully and then extended a hand in Wakagami's general direction. "Sesshomaru, if you would please—ow!"

She snatched her hand back with a hiss. Wakagami must have cut her palm but Tezuka couldn't be sure; the demon had moved much too fast for his eyes to follow and much too quiet for his ears to pick up. Besides the fact that Wakagami was currently licking his bloodied claw, Tezuka wouldn't have thought anything had happened. He shuddered slightly at the sight and turned his attention away, choosing instead to concentrate on Echizen. The younger tennis player was familiar if nothing else in the room was and just the mere sight was enough to calm Tezuka down and further his resolve to get this whole Blood Seal ordeal over and done with.

"Would you please warn me the next time you do that?" Higurashi hissed.

"Why don't you sit him?" Inuyasha demanded, a rather childish pout of his lips.

Wakagami looked amused at the thought until Higurashi responded: "I would if I could." The demon lord narrowed his eyes but didn't dignify her comment with a response. Instead he looked away with a small snort through his nose; Tezuka could see a single pointed ear twitch in annoyance.

"Kagome."

Echizen's voice, though soft was both a surprise and relief to Tezuka. "Right, right," she said. "Sorry."

Tezuka tensed again as Higurashi took a deep breath. Delicate fingers pressed into her back, sharp nails scratching characters onto the smooth surface of his skin. The tingling on his back was getting more than a little uncomfortable now but Tezuka held his position, not wanting to give up now. And if this worked out, he hoped that life could continue on as normal. Tezuka could physically feel Higurashi's blood dripping down his back and he wondered how deep the cut on her palm was and how much blood she had already lost.

He could hear Higurashi breathing behind him, her breath sounding slightly labored.

The two occupants on the couch shifted, sitting up stiffly. "Lady Kagome…" Miroku breathed, eyes wide.

"Shut up," Higurashi said. "I'm almost done."

"You're exerting too much energy!" Sango cried out. "At this rate—"

"Silence," the demon lord hissed out sharply.

"This is a Blood Seal," the other demon—Inuyasha—shot back. "Not a Sacrificial Seal!"

Although Tezuka had known something was wrong the minute Miroku had spoken up, he wasn't alarmed until the last comment. Against his better judgment, Tezuka turned his head around in an attempt to catch a glimpse of Higurashi-san What was going on? What was she doing?

"Don't move," Higurashi ordered, voice tight. "I'm almost done."

The pain on his back was almost unbearable now but Tezuka forced himself to obey her words. It seemed like forever for her to finish writing down the characters onto his back and by the time she was finished, Tezuka felt as if the back of his should had been stabbed multiple times. He couldn't remember his shoulder ever hurting this much before; the only time anything had gotten close was back in junior high during his match with Atobe.

"All done." Higurashi was out of breath, breathing hard as if she had just ran a mile.

She picked her hand off his back and the instant he did so, the stabbing pain dulled. Tezuka turned around to thank her, however, before he could get the words out, Higurashi slumped down onto him. He caught her, eyes going wide as he noticed the blood running down her arm and soaking into her shirt. He could only imagine what his back must have looked like.

"Kagome!" more than one voice called out.

He shouldn't be surprised at how much her friends cared for her but their panic and horror still caught his attention. He couldn't help but remember the time that he had fallen down on court in pain and how his friends had rushed towards him. The memory made something warm bloom in his chest. And of course, he also remembered that Echizen was the only one who remained seated, watching the scene played out with wide eyes. As shocked as the young prodigy must have been at the time, Tezuka knew that Echizen was the only one who understood him then. He understood Tezuka's need to continue playing the match despite his injury.

Higurashi was pale and cold underneath his touch but Tezuka noticed that despite the pink sparks of her purification powers dancing on her skin, it no longer tingled against his own or pained him in any way. He shifted her so she was in a more comfortable position and was alarmed to see that she appeared to not be breathing. "Higurashi-san?" he asked hesitantly.

"I'm fine," she muttered. "Sorry 'bout that." She pushed herself back up, swaying slightly despite being seated on the ground.

"You should have stopped!" Inuyasha snapped, voice hard. Despite his tone, Tezuka knew that the demon was only worried about the young priestess. "If it was too much to handle you should have stopped! You're going to get yourself killed one of these days."

Higurashi didn't answer. Instead she glared at the ground unseeingly, her eyebrows furrowed as if she was deep in thought. Finally, she turned her blue eyes in Tezuka's direction who just noticed that he was still holding onto Higurashi's waist. He dropped them immediately and felt himself flush.

"Strange," Miroku murmured quietly. He gave the demon lord a quick glance, taking careful notice of Sesshomaru's narrow-eyed expression. "Forgive me, Lord Sesshomaru," he said. "But even you must realize that there must be more to the situation. If Kagome-sama were to attempt to seal away your demonic energy, I doubt she would have been as exhausted as she is now. I fear that something else is at play here."

Wakagami thinned his lips, an action Tezuka was familiar with. "I cannot be positive," he admitted.

"Lord Sesshomaru?"

With the young priestess still lost in the depths of her thoughts, Wakagami narrowed his eyes further and turned his gaze in Tezuka's direction. "When she was sealing his demonic energy, it rose in an attempt to fight her off. He is weak, however, and in the end, it is no surprise that she won." He paused, running a hand through his hair and throwing it over a shoulder. "Despite this... For a moment, just before she sealed it off, I heard whispered promises of power."

Neither Tezuka nor Echizen had the faintest idea what he was talking about but it appeared everyone else did as they managed a collective gasp. "That means..."

"Pray it is not true," the demon lord said, looking away. "Then it would not mean anything."

"No," Higurashi said, looking up. "You're right, Sesshomaru."

"Hn."

"At first I was just fighting Tezuka-san's aura. That was easy but then when I actually started to seal it away, something else kicked in."

"The Shikon," Miroku stated.

Higurashi nodded with a wince. "Yes. I think so. And I made sure to observe it this time; it's not a fake, it's the real thing.

"Was it coming from buchou?" Echizen asked, speaking up for the first time.

Higurashi frowned. "No... There was no real direction." She closed her eyes. "It felt as if it was coming from everywhere all at once."

"What does this mean?" Sango asked worriedly.

They fell silent. Finally Higurashi lifted her gaze towards Tezuka. "Tezuka-san," she said. "Do you have Sasabe-san's number?"