Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha only my OC :(

"Lady Shiori, you're leaving already?" whined Rin. "But you just got here."

"Only for a little while, I'm coming back," said Shiori as she removed the flowers from her hair. "Rin, how many times must I tell you not to put decapitated flower heads in my hair?"

"But they make you look so pretty!" she said smiling.

"No one is going to take me seriously if I look 'pretty',"

"But I take you seriously Lady Shiori!" Rin beamed.

"If you did there wouldn't be flowers in my hair," Shiori muttered under her breath.

"And just where are you going this time?" demanded Jaken.

"I'm going to visit Toutousai, he might have some useful information about my father," she answered.

"Why not just go to the netherworld and talk to your father yourself?" he asked.

"Because he's not in the netherworld, he's been banished to the fiery pits of hell," she said flatly. "I don't know about you, Jaken, but that's not on my list of places to go."

"Aren't they the same thing?"

"No, hell is much worse," she said softly.

"Well, what does Toutousai know about you anyway?"

"I don't know, that would be the whole point of the visit. To find out what information he knows," she held out her blade, "but I believe he made this sword."

"Well, don't forget, he did move away. I doubt you'll ever find him!" Jaken teased

"I don't think he moved permanently. He only moved himself temporarily out of fear of Lord Sesshomaru," she said.

"Well, he can be terrifying when he's angered," said Jaken trembling.

Shiori looked up into the sky. She'd never actually seen Lord Sesshomaru angry before. She'd seen him annoyed and highly irritated, but never incredibly angry. She tried to picture it in her mind, but she just couldn't. She was just never around whenever he became enraged—how convenient for her.

"Lady Shiori, may I come with you?" asked Rin.

"Why?"

"Because I like spending time with you," she said shyly.

Shiori really didn't know what to say. That was the first time anyone ever told her that. She had no idea how to respond. Just what was with this girl?

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were blushing, eh Shiori?" Jaken teased as he poked her with his staff. "Ever since Rin's come along you've become soft. It's like you're not even your evil self anymore. I can finally live comfortably."

Shiori snatched away Jaken's staff and aimed it at him, "Staff of 2 heads!"

She chased Jaken around Ah-Un and blasted him with fire. Jaken ran for dear life but couldn't manage to escape Shiori's wrath.

"Ouch! Ow! Okay I take it back! You're not soft! You're evil! You have a heart of stone!" cried Jaken in pain.

"Too late!" she casually said as she continued burning him.

Rin watched the entire scene from the grass.

"Wow, Lady Shiori's even more violent than Lord Sesshomaru," she thought. "But deep down inside I know she's a good person. They both are."

Sesshomaru casually walked up and observe what was going on. He was curious as to why Shiori was attacking Jaken. Yet, he did nothing to stop it.

"Lord Sesshomaru! You've returned!" said Rin happily.

Shiori stopped when she realized Sesshomaru was back. She hid the staff behind her back, then through it at Jaken's head.

"Ow, you stupid girl!" he yelped. "It's bad enough I now have 1st degree burns all over my body!"

"Lord Sesshomaru," said Shiori, "I must leave you all once again."

"My lord, she's going to go see Toutousai. Might we go with her? You might be able to force him to forge you a new sword now that you have Tokijin."

"No," he said. "I have no need for such things. You are free to go, Shiori."

"Yes, I'll go right awa-"

Shiori suddenly fell to the ground in mid sentence. Rin quickly dashed to her head.

"Lady Shiori! Lady Shiori!" she cried as she shook her body. "What's wrong with her?"

"She's passed out," said Jaken.

Sesshomaru briskly walked over to the unconscious girl.

"I'm receiving a strange demonic aura from her. It's similar to that of the soul pall bearers." He moved her hair out of her face and looked into her eyes. They were lifeless and cold. "Her pupils have changed color and elongated. Her body temperature's even dropped. She has the appearance of a corpse, yet I can still feel her breathing. What's the meaning of this?"

"Lady Shiori!" called Rin

…

"Lady Shiori!" echoed Rin's voice through the darkness.

Shiori slowly opened her eyes. She was lying on a cold floor in the middle of darkness. She tried to sit up, but couldn't move her body. She tried to call out to Rin, but found she couldn't speak either. The only thing she could do was move her eyes.

"What's going on?" She thought. "Am I inside of my mind again?"

She tried to move again, but it was hopeless. She was completely paralyzed. She could still hear Rin's frantic cries for her. But she could do nothing but listen.

"Father? Are you here?"

"I'm here, Shiori," he answered her thoughts.

He materialized in front of her. She could barely see his face as it loomed over her. He knelt down to her side.

"You can hear me?"

"Of course I can, we're inside your mind. There's nothing you can hide from me," he said darkly.

"You've got some nerve coming here. Release me at once,"

"But if I did that, you would never listen to me,"

"Why on Earth should I listen to anything you have to say?"

He didn't say anything, only stared down at her. While her expression didn't say it, he knew she was boiling with anger. He could feel it. She would never listen to him no matter what state she was in.

"Release me!"

"As you wish, my daughter," he said to her.

"You have no right to call me that,"

He placed his index finger on her forehead and a wave of energy trickled down her body. Shiori blinked, and was suddenly able to move her arm. She slowly gained feeling in the rest of her body. Shiori sat up and stared at her father. They were now face to face. Her violet eyes burned with rage. Without even thinking twice about it, she swung her fist at her father. He easily dodged it.

"How dare you invade my mind!" she shouted. "You have no right to be here. Especially after everything that's happened."

She unsheathed her sword and attempted to slice his head off. He quickly avoided each of her advances.

"Why!" she angrily shouted. "Why didn't you tell me about Reika? Why didn't you tell me I met you once before as an infant? Why didn't you tell me anything?"

He caught her blade with one hand and looked deep into her eyes, "I wanted you to find out everything through your own experiences."

"My own experiences? What about Kikyo? You practically put her in my path. That didn't happen by sheer chance of fate," she snapped.

She put her hand to his chest and fired a spiritual blast. But he quickly disappeared. Shiori looked around for him in the darkness.

"Get out of my head!" she ordered.

"Shiori...always remember what I said to you during our last visit. I meant what I said," boomed Isao's voice from all around her.

"You are nothing but a liar," she spat.

"It's disappointing that you think that," he said. "I can't change what's in your heart. Only you can do that. I can already feel it changing,"

"You couldn't be further from the truth," she said searching the darkness for him. "Show yourself!"

"Everything I did was for a specific reason," echoed his voice.

"Did Reika murder my mother?" she questioned.

He didn't respond.

She angrily stomped on the ground, "Answer me!"

An icy wind tussled her long dark hair. She turned away as a swirl of wind and light formed in front of her. Isao appeared before her, his eyes were full of sorrow.

"Yes," he solemnly said.

For the first time in her life, Shiori felt her heart stop beating. She couldn't even bring herself to look him in the eye. Her father was indirectly responsible for the death of her mother. How as she suppose to feel about that?

"Shiori, look at me," he said to her.

But she refused. She continued to look over to the side. What was happening to her? Isao put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, but she rejected him. She angrily slashed at him over and over. He had no choice but to block her attacks with his own sword.

"Hell wrath!" she shouted.

Her father countered her attack with one she'd never seen before.

"Doomsday strike!" he called out.

A swirl of grey energy emitted from the sword and shot through the middle of Shiori's energy. It pushed back some of her attack. Shiori stood her ground the deadly strike approached.

"This power…..if I'm killed here, my body will also die."

Before she could move, Isao swooped in and whisked her out the way. She angrily tried to break free from his grasp, but he held her closely to his chest. The more she fought, the tighter he held on.

"It's been such a long time since I've held you like this," he said calmly. "I haven't held you in my arms since you were a newborn,"

"Put me down!" she demanded. "I want nothing to do with you."

"What happened with your mother wasn't right and I apologize for that," he said. "But you have to know this; I did love your mother."

"Why must you continue to insult me with more lies?" she quietly asked.

"I have never lied to you," he shot back.

"No, you just withheld information,"

"It's true though, I did love your mother. But after everything that happened with Reika, I knew we could never be together," he said to her.

Shiori finally stopped squirming around and lay limp in her father's arms. She looked into his pleading eyes.

"You claim you loved her, yet you did nothing to prevent her death," she said softly.

"Yes, Reika and I were together. But I could always feel that her heart was full of darkness. And yet, I loved her anyway. But when I first laid eyes on your mother, I felt a happiness like I'd never felt before in my life. It was love at first sight," he said. "I will always regret not stepping up to save Hikari."

"Lust at first sight seems more accurate," she said dryly. "You got what you wanted, so you were done with her."

"No, it wasn't just lust," he said. "I loved her. But we never had a chance. It is forbidden for shinigami to have relationships with any other beings. I'd already walked the line with my relationship with Reika."

"So my mother wasn't worth the risk?" she asked.

"No, that's not it at all. By that point, I'd already endangered myself and Reika,"

"Then why did you have one last rendezvous with mother?" She demanded to know. "Why did you ask for her to bear you a child? What were your plans for me? Did you plan for me to fight your battles?"

"Shiori, you always did ask all the wrong questions," he said somberly. "But I suppose you'll have the answers you seek soon enough."

"You're supposed to be dead," she said with aggrivation. "Why are you still lingering around?"

"Because you still need me," he whispered. "I'm the only one who understands you."

"You don't understand me at all," she said. "You don't know anything."

"Shiori, I do understand you. I know that you're conflicted with your emotions right now. I know you feel betrayed by everyone. Emi, your mother, myself. I even know about your feelings for Sesshomaru," he said.

"Get out of my head!" she ordered. "Right now!"

Shiori fought to break free from his grasp. But Isao wouldn't let go of her.

"Curse deflect!" she cried as he energy emitted from her body.

Isao released her and sprang backwards. She fell to the ground and bounced back as well. He glanced at her.

"You know very well that you can't hide your emotions from me. Where do you think you received that ability from?" he said to her.

"You know, you're becoming a real menace to my life," she said pointing her sword in his face. "You think just because you can feel my emotions, you can understand them? Even I don't understand my own emotions. But I know I don't have feelings for Lord Sesshomaru!"

"Like I said, you can't hide your emotions from me," he said. "Shiori, go to Toutousai. Listen to what he has to tell you. Afterwards, we'll talk again. I'm sure you'll have much more to ask me. In the mean time, become more aware of your own feelings and emotions."

His face began to disappear in another swirl of light. Shiori shielded her eyes from the blinding light. Her body was waking up again.

"Become more aware of my own feelings and emotions? What nonsense….." she thought.

"Look Lord Sesshomaru, she's starting to come back to normal. Her eyes are turning back to normal," echoed Rin's voice through the light.

The blinding light slowly disappeared and Shiori could finally see. She saw Rin's face smiling down at her. Sesshomaru was also looking down at her. She quickly realized that she was lying in his arm and propped up on his knee. He took note of her surprised expression and slowly sat her up.

"He was holding me….." she thought.

"What happened to you?" he casually asked her. "You looked as if you were caught in a trance."

"It was my father's doing. He went into my mind," she responded.

"But I thought you said your father was dead," said Rin.

"Yes," said Shiori dryly. "He is dead. And I wish he would stay that way."

"So he's a ghost?"

Shiori shook her head, "no, my father's not technically dead. His body has been placed in permanent slumber. He projected his spirit into my mind. He might as well be dead."

Shiori stood up and brushed the dirt off her. Rin hopped up as well.

"Just what happened between the 2 of you?" asked Sesshomaru.

"I can't really say," she confessed. "I'm not exactly sure myself.

"Well, whatever took place sure seemed to upset you," he said standing.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because, you were crying. I've never seen you cry before," he said walking away.

"Don't leave me my lord!" called Jaken. He raced after him.

"I was crying…But why?"

Rin looked up at Shiori, "did your father say something mean to you Lady Shiori?"

Shiori was confused now. She didn't cry at all while she was inside her mind with her father. At least….she didn't remember crying. One of the last things he said to her was to become more aware of her own emotions. Was this one of the things he meant? Her father always seemed to be testing her for something. Just what did she need to prove to him anyway?

"I'm leaving now Rin," she announced. "Go and catch up with Lord Sesshomaru."

"But I want to go with you. Please, may I come?" she pleaded.

"This is something I want to do alone," she said placing a hand on Rin's shoulder. "But I'll be back before you know it."

"Okay," sighed Rin sadly. "I'll miss you."

Shiori nodded and watched Rin run after Sesshomaru. As she watched her go, she felt a subtle sadness in her heart. She would miss the young human girl. And she would also miss Lord Sesshomaru….though she didn't want to admit that to anyone. She wouldn't allow herself to think about what her father said to her.

"That's absolutely ridiculous," she thought. "I don't have feelings for him. I could never….."