Chapter 23:

Inu no Taisho

"It is good to love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is well done."
― Vincent van Gogh

Prompts: Rise by John Dreamer and Shards of Light by Arn Andersson

The pack of Naraku hunters found quite quickly that their moment of peace was not meant to last. Ryura and Tsuyoshi felt a backlash of Sesshoumaru's youki, showing the Inu Daiyoukai was involved in some large battle. Inuyasha's mind immediately went to Naraku.

"Come on!" Inuyasha yelled.

Ryura was fast to pick up Kagome and head off in the direction Sesshoumaru was in. The rest trailed not far behind him. The Inu Daiyoukai wasn't far away from them and when they saw what was happening, Kagome let out an ear-piercing scream.

Sesshoumaru was being covered in flesh from the body of Magatsuhi, the very one who had sealed Kagome's power when she was a child. Sticking through Sesshoumaru's chest, his armor shattered, was a long tentacle-like appendage made from Magatsuhi's body.

"Ryura, put me down!" Kagome thrashed against his hold, but he didn't budge.

Ryura growled softly and hopped back into the air, high above the battle. No matter what he did, Kagome wouldn't stop trying to get away from him. Sesshoumaru was now completely covered. Magatsuhi laughed, angering Kagome further. Why wasn't anyone helping him!?

"Magatsuhi!" Kagome screamed. "Let him go! Inuyasha, someone, go help Sesshoumaru!"

The dark spirit of the Shikon no Tama looked up in the sky at the Miko being held by Ryura.

"Little Kagome!" Magatsuhi called out, voice dripping with venom. "How good it is to see you again!"

"Kagome!" Ryura said firmly. "Look at me!"

The Miko managed to tear her eyes away from Magatsuhi and looked at Ryura. He was frowning, looking far from pleased. He took in the desperation settled in Kagome's eyes and let out a soft sigh while leaning forward to rest his forehead against hers.

"Trust Sesshoumaru. Why do you think none of the others are helping?" he murmured as he brushed his nose along Kagome's cheek. "Trust him, and watch."

Kagome's breath caught in her throat, but she slowly slid her eyes to watch the writhing mass that covered Sesshoumaru anyway. Seconds ticked by, feeling like years, until a neon green light broke through the flesh of Magatsuhi, shooting up towards the sky. It was closely followed by another, and another.

"What!?" Magatsuhi yelled, not believing what he was seeing. This was impossible!

More and more the green light spilled from the cracks now being formed, and eventually, the mass of flesh exploded. Sesshoumaru stood in the wake of the explosion, holding in his left hand a glimmering sword that was glowing with the same neon green light. He brought the sword closer to his face, examining it for a moment, then he looked up to Kagome and Ryura high in the air.

Sesshoumaru watched for a long moment before turning his attentions back to Magatsuhi. The spirit of the Shikon no Tama held a look of horror and confusion on his face. Magatsuhi found it hard to move. His body wouldn't listen to him, no matter how hard he tried to get it to work. He could only watch with further horror as Sesshoumaru raised the sword high into the air and with a roar bring it down on the lingering bits of flesh that were once again trying to consume him.

Explosion after explosion resulting in bright green bursts of light flew through the air, heading directly for what remained of Magatsuhi's body. The spirit screamed as its corporal form was annihilated in the face of Sesshoumaru's attack. There was nothing he could do to stop it. It didn't matter that he had tried to separate part of his body from that which was being literally eaten by the neon-green energy. It followed after him until nothing was left but the echoing sounds of Magatsuhi's enraged screams.

A large, ethereal face appeared in the sky, its backdrop dark storm clouds, and as it stared with hatred and loathing at Sesshoumaru, its face contorted into rage.

"This is not over, Lord of the West!" the face yelled with a booming voice that shook the very air itself.

Ryura was forced to land, not liking the way the air vibrated around Kagome and him. He curled his body around Kagome and they both continued to watch as the true face of Magatsuhi floated in the air. His angry eyes flicked between everyone there and finally they centered on Kagome.

A dark energy in the shape of a lightning bolt suddenly crackled along the air and flew from the ethereal face to head for the young Miko. He needed to kill her,now. The seal on her powers was beginning to weaken. Magatsuhi could feel it, and should that happen, there was no way he was going to survive the last battle when it happened.

Ryura shoved Kagome behind him with one hand as he drew Fujinga with the other. He felt the Miko press herself against his back and cling to his armor, shaking with something akin to fear. As the black lightning headed for them, Ryura shoved his sword downwards, embedding it deep within the earth.

"Dragon Gale!" he called out towards his sword. The tornado-like dorm appeared over himself and Kagome right as the lightning bolt reached them.

The two energies clashed, black meeting white as Ryura fed his youki into the defensive technique. His teeth grit together with the effort it took to fend off Magatsuhi's attack and it was taking every bit of youki he had stored away to keep the technique going. This guy was strong, empowered by the full and corrupt Shikon no Tama.

Beneath her hands Kagome felt Ryura begin to shake. She looked up them at the wind surrounding her, watching as black and white energy clashed together like raging waters. Around her she could hear the concerned yells of her friend, and she could hear Sesshoumaru and Tsuyoshi saying her and Ryura's names.

They couldn't get close enough to help. The power was too strong, too chaotic for them to attempt it. Inuyasha tried but he was quickly tossed away, his body smoking as he laid on the ground, unconscious and unresponsive to Shippou's calls.

Ryura's shaking hand that was pressed against her hip released her, and Kagome watched as he slowly rose it to grab Raijinga's hilt. It soon joined Fujinga in the ground, and his attacks were increased with earnest. White-blue lightning sparked around them, shooting up to clash against the still flowing Magatsuhi's black lightning.

The Dragon Daiyoukai was pushing himself as far as he could, trying to keep Kagome safe. Sweat beaded his forehead, his teeth clenched together even further. Kagome could see the muscles of his arms bulge out through his shirt, the white fabric clinging to his form now.

He was doing this for her, to keep her safe. Ryura could have easily moved out-of-the-way, but Kagome would have been left seriously injured or dead. Even though he was pushing himself to the point he looked like he could fall over dead at any moment, he never moved. He stood firmly against Magatsuhi's empowered attack, all for Kagome.

Within her, at that realization, Kagome felt something break. The pink of her reiki exploded from her body like a pent-up fire, licking out at the edges of the Dragon Gale, and Kagome screamed. Her scream pierced through the sounds of the two waging forces of Ryura and Magatsuhi, bring about another attempt from her friends to get close and help, but again none of them were able.

Pink slowly bled into blue and the fire that was Kagome's power flew high into the air, breaking through the black and white, through the wind and lightning. Her head fell back as she continued to scream, and the world around her ceased to move.

Time itself slowed down as the seal on Kagome's power shattered and both her and Ryura were overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of how strong that power was. And yet, even though it was reiki, the force meant to oppose youkai, Ryura remained unharmed. The blue reiki wrapped around him in a soft embrace, renewing his energy.

Ryura let go of Raijinga's hilt and reached for one of Kagome's hands still on his back. When he had it in his grasp, he pulled it around until the arm was wrapped around him, and he held onto her tightly, focusing on her energy only to combine it with his own.

Like an arrow, the mixed energies of white and blue sailed towards Magatsuhi, slicing the floating face in half. Magatsuhi roared with pain, fading from existence with a promise left on the wind that he would see them again.

Kagome collapsed against Ryura's back as the Dragon knelt. He never let go of Fujinga and not once did he release Dragon Gale. He kept it going, not for sure if Magatsuhi would keep his promise now or later. Ryura didn't want to chance Magatsuhi showing up right as he released the Dragon Gale.

Even as he knelt, Kagome didn't let go of Ryura and she too dropped to her knees. Her reiki still flowed from her, combining with the tornadic winds of Ryura's technique. She couldn't make it stop. It was too much, too strong, and she didn't know what she was doing. The only thought going through Kagome's mind was that she couldn't allow herself to hurt Ryura. It was a miracle to her that he was even still alive. She realized then she did, in fact, have some miniscule amount of control over what she was doing.

"Kagome," Ryura ground out. "Let it go. It's okay. I'll be fine."

"No!" Kagome screamed and she clung to him tighter. "I don't want to hurt you!"

Ryura gave a weak laugh and squeezed the hand he was still holding on to. "Like this could kill me. Have a little faith, woman."

Kagome pulled back to stare at Ryura's face. He was looking over his shoulder at her. Ever so slowly she nodded and did as he said. She let go. Her reiki shot up as a column into the sky, parting the clouds above them. Years and years of held back energy had finally found its release, and now there was nothing Kagome could do to stop it.

Sango had to drag Inuyasha away when she saw what skin was showing begin to turn red. Kagome's power was accidentally burning Inuyasha. It was even affecting Shippou. The young Kitsune youkai was forced to scurry away.

None of the youkai could help it when their youki began to leak from them like a slowly bleeding wound. Red from Sesshoumaru, blue from Tsuyoshi, gold from Inuyasha, green from Shippou, and literal flames from Kirara. Each of them were surrounded by their youki as they were forced backwards.

Further and further they were pushed back as the column of Kagome's reiki grew, and each of them worried for Ryura would was trapped in the middle of the chaos.

Ryura, however, was unharmed. He let go of Fujinga, causing the Dragon Gale to drop abruptly, and quickly he turned around and grabbed Kagome to hug her to his chest. Her head was tilted back and she was screaming again, but Ryura didn't let go, even when blood trickled out of his right ear. He held tightly onto her and simply let her reiki flow over him.

Slowly the light died down until it disappeared after forming only a thin line a few inches wide. The clouds resumed their positions, only for rain to fall shortly after. The heavens opened up and drenched any who were not under cover.

Kagome's head lulled forward to land roughly against the side of Ryura's bare neck. She was still conscious, but barely. Ryura leaned up slightly to look around, trying to find the others, but the rain was too heavy. The literal sheet of water corrupted his vision and he sighed. Since he couldn't see, Ryura was going to have to wait until the rain let up until he dared to move.

In the mean time he decided to just try and cover Kagome as best he could. Ryura pulled her closer to him and hunched his large form over Kagome's smaller one. He could feel her body shaking with silent sobs, making him frown slightly and lower his face until his mouth was beside her ear. There was no way she was going to hear him otherwise. The rain was too loud.

"I'm fine, Kagome," he said over the roaring water.

Kagome looked up to him, coming back to her senses. She rose up on her knees and threw her arms around his neck, holding onto him as tightly as her weak body would allow, and she cried. She wailed, yelling how sorry she was, that she could have killed him.

"But you didn't!" Ryura retorted. "I'm perfectly fine!"

Kagome only cried harder, this time out of relief.

They stayed that way, holding each other, until the rain finally let up and disappeared altogether. Ryura helped Kagome stand, then supported her by wrapping an arm around her waist. She was still far too weak to walk on her own. Ryura found himself leaning on her for support, as well.

Sango was the first to arrive, gently taking Kagome from Ryura and lowering the young woman to sit on the barren, drenched ground. They spoke quietly as Shippou ran to join in. He clung to Kagome's neck, sobbing at how relieved he was to see her and Ryura still alive.

The others moved forward and soon Kagome was surrounded by multiple people, even Sesshoumaru. When Kagome saw him, soaking wet with two arms and a new sword clutched in his left hand, she cried out and pushed herself to stand despite Sango trying to keep Kagome in one place. She stumbled over to Sesshoumaru, who had held out an arm to catch her, and when she was against him, she wrapped her arms around the middle of his torso and hugged him tightly.

Sesshoumaru slowly wrapped his free hand not holding his new sword around Kagome's shoulders, flicking his eyes up to Ryura. The Dragon simply smiled and shrugged his shoulders, as if saying "What can you do?"

Looking back down to the woman sobbing against him, Sesshoumaru sighed softly and tightened his grip on her a fraction. His eyes, however, were centered on a black dot in the sky that was rapidly approaching. It was Totosai sitting atop Momo, his flying cow.

Everyone except Kagome watched him come to land and hop off the back of Momo. Totosai clicked his tongue at seeing Kagome as close to Sesshoumaru as she was, but he pushed that to the back of his head for the moment, instead looking directly at the sword Sesshoumaru was holding. Totosai turned and pulled off a scabbard that matched the color and appearance of Sesshoumaru's sword's hilt, then with his other hand, did the 'gimme' motion.

Sesshoumaru growled softly but allowed Totosai to take the sword anyway.

"Nice one you have here, Sesshoumaru," Totosai murmured as he 'spoke' with the sword. "It's name is Bakusaiga."

"Bakusaiga..." Sesshoumaru repeated slowly. "Explosive Crushing Fang... How fitting."

His voice rumbled Kagome into the present, making her aware of what she was doing. She squeaked and tried to squirm away, but Sesshoumaru wasn't having it. He wrapped his newly returned left arm around her, letting go with his right, and turned them both to face Totosai. The sword smith slid Bakusaiga into its sheath with a click, then handed it back to its master.

Before Sesshoumaru could take it fully, and only had his right hand wrapped around it, Totosai looked up into the Inu Daiyoukai's eyes.

"With this you have surpassed your father. May your reign by righteous, Inu no Taisho," he said then fully let go of the sword.

Sesshoumaru's eyes widened for a moment as he stared down at his sword. With this sword, Bakusaiga, pulled from his very being, Sesshoumaru passed his father in power while the former Inu no Taisho was still among the living. Sesshoumaru now held his father's title, just as Totosai said.

Sparing a look down at the little Miko still trapped in his arm, Sesshoumaru came to realize it was her voice, her shouting, that woke a deep part of him that he'd never known to exist before now. He slid his golden gaze over to Ryura and hummed thoughtfully. Perhaps he wouldn't let the Dragon have her so easily. It all depended on Ryura and how fast he would act.

Inuyasha grumbled as he stared at Sesshoumaru's sword. Big freakin' whoopee do, he thought to himself. So what? He managed to regenerate his arm and pull a sword from his youki. What was the big deal about that, huh? Tapping his clawed fingers against his cheek, Inuyasha snorted and finally looked away from his elder-half brother.

The hanyou kept himself on the ground in a brooding position, not really wanting to look at anyone at the moment. That was, at least, until Miroku piped up from his spot by the brightly burning fire.

"I think the last battle with Naraku is going to happen soon," he said, a disturbed frown on his face.

Sango glanced at Miroku and nodded firmly. "I think so, too. We might want to go back to Kaede's village and prepare."

"We'll go in the morning, then." Inuyasha grumbled loud enough for everyone to hear. He then laid on his back and rolled over, facing away from the fire, with his hand propping up his head. His puppy ears twitched back and forth, listening to the sounds of the night and to Kagome's soft breathing.

The Miko had gone to sleep before the sun set. Which was probably a good thing. Inuyasha had felt the amount of power she had released, and he was amazed she stayed awake as long as she had – not that he'd ever say that out loud. Either way, with Kagome's true power unsealed, Inuyasha knew the last fight was going to go much smoother. It would still be harrowing, knowing Naraku he would throw everything he had at them, but with Kagome coming along, they wouldn't need an army at their back like Inuyasha thought they would once upon a time.

Inuyasha closed his eyes and listened carefully to the sounds around him, expanding just beyond Kagome's breathing. He heard Miroku and Sango speaking quietly enough that he couldn't exactly make out what they were talking about, but from what he could hear, it seemed to be about Naraku.

Tsuyoshi was further back, resting against a tree with Ryura lounging against the opposite side of him, facing towards the woods and what the darkness hid. Sesshoumaru sat close to his own pack, silently watching over his own sleep.

Everyone seemed to be at peace for the most part.

Ryura, however, was far from being at peace. This was the first time in a few days he had been this far away from Kagome while she was sleeping. He twitched at the thought and growled low enough it only rumbled his chest.

He shot up to his feet and stepped lightly over to where Kagome and Shippou lay, then lowered himself to sit at their side. Ryura felt his body relax and he nodded to himself, folding his arms over his chest. This would do.

Tsuyoshi clicked his tongue and shook his head, causing both Ryura and Sesshoumaru to look at him. They kept their question to themselves, waiting for the rest of the group to finally go to sleep.

And when Miroku was the last one to succumb to slumber, Ryura rose slightly and turned to face Tsuyoshi.

"What was that about, eh?" he asked.

Tsuyoshi looked over. "Whatever do you mean, my Lord?" he answered a question with a question.

"You know damn well what I mean," Ryura answered.

"I am curious as well, Tsuyoshi," Sesshoumaru said, his head tilting to one side as his gaze slid over from the fire to look at the water Dragon.

Tsuyoshi sighed quietly and shifted. He waited until he was a bit more comfortable, then began to speak. "Lord Ryura, you are not courting Lady Kagome."

"And...?" came Ryura's bland voice.

Tsuyoshi fixed him with a small glare. "And yet you act as if you were. It is dishonorable to Lady Kagome."

Ryura sat back and blinked. "Pardon?"

"Your actions prevent another male from courting her who would not normally challenge you due to your status as Daiyoukai," Sesshoumaru explained.

Tsuyoshi nodded his head in agreement. "Exactly. I know you were ripped from your parents at a young age, Lord Ryura, and I doubt Ryuukotsusei taught you courting etiquette, however..." he trailed off, pausing for just a split second. "Unless you wish to truly court Lady Kagome, you are only dishonoring yourself and her with your actions."

Ryura, shocked, looked between Tsuyoshi and Sesshoumaru. They would be dishonored over his apparent ignorance of courting etiquette? Were they kidding him? By the serious looks on their faces, Ryura knew they weren't.

He looked down to Kagome's peacefully sleeping face and frowned. This was not the time to be worrying about over who was courting who. He kept himself close to her to protect her, as Magatsuhi obviously wanted Kagome dead. So, he was supposed to ignore her safety in favor of etiquette?

"Fuck that," Ryura growled out. "Kagome will remain at my side, regardless of what you two or anyone else believes. I will not keep her in harms way to keep in time with some fucking useless traditions. If someone wants to court her but can't find the balls to challenge me because they already think she is mine, then they don't deserve her in the first place!"

Sesshoumaru and Tsuyoshi looked at Ryura with surprise, not expecting that. So far, whenever Tsuyoshi explained something Ryura hadn't had the chance to learn until now, the Dragon went along without any resistance. This was a sore subject, they guessed, and they allowed the matter to drop for now.

Ryura spun himself around roughly. His clawed fingers dug deeply into his thighs and he felt blood pool under his fingertips, but he didn't care right now. He was angry beyond angry. He was pissed. How dare they want him to put etiquette and tradition over Kagome's own safety.

As he silently fumed, Kagome watched from under half-lidded eyes. The small spike of Ryura's youki had woken her up and she managed to hear the last half of the conversation.

Ryura was muttering under his breath and his brows were furrowed. Kagome glanced down to his hands and saw his claws in his thighs, and she sighed softly. Slowly, as not to surprise him, she reached out and gently tried to pry his fingers away from himself. Ryura looked at her from the corner of his eyes and Kagome smiled softly while squeezing the hand she held.

"It's okay," she whispered. "And thank you."

All of Ryura's anger left him, seeping away at Kagome's words. His body relaxed and he wove his fingers through hers. He didn't say anything however, instead letting his actions speak for him.

When she fell asleep again, Ryura didn't remove his hand from hers. He held her hand throughout the night, even though he felt Tsuyoshi's glare searing his back.

The next morning, Kagome purposely ignored both Sesshoumaru and Tsuyoshi, to their chagrin. The Miko acted perfectly normal with everyone else, though! She just wanted to make it known that she didn't appreciate Ryura being treated like he had.

They weren't courting, so what? That sure didn't stop Sesshoumaru from kissing her! Kagome thought Ryura's behavior towards her was perfectly fine. She knew as well as anyone that she was in no shape to fight on her own, and until she was able to, she was going to take the protection Ryura was offering. You don't look a gifted horse in the mouth, after all.

All the way back to Kaede's village she snubbed Sesshoumaru and Tsuyoshi, and purposely touched Ryura more than she normally would have, just to get her point across.

She was her own person, and she silently dared them to say otherwise. The modern woman who was Kagome came out in full force and if she wanted to plant kisses all over Ryura's face while he carried her back to the village, those two sticks-in-the-mud weren't going to stop her!

But, Kagome was too modest to do such a thing, no matter how angry she was.

Instead she grumped and muttered almost Inuyasha-like rude comments about the two Daiyoukai.

Ryura was trying so hard not to laugh his head off the last stretch to the village. He wore a grin most of the day. Kagome's sour mood mixed with Ryura's own elated mood only served to confuse everyone but Tsuyoshi and Sesshoumaru, but no one really wanted to ask what was going on – Inuyasha especially. Kagome just looked too angry and he didn't feel like being sat right now.

When Kagome announced she was going home to rest and prepare for the battle, not a single soul said anything against it. Ryura went with her, intending on staying for roughly an hour to say hello to Kagome's family.

Those left behind immediately rounded on Sesshoumaru and Tsuyoshi.

"What did you two do!?" Sango asked hotly. She had been the most affected by her sister's anger.

"We did nothing, slayer." Sesshoumaru said with a small glare in her direction.

Sango growled. "You must have done something! Didn't you see the way Kagome was acting!?"

"I gotta agree with her, Sesshoumaru. I've ever only seen Kagome act that angry when I did somethin' stupid," Inuyasha said with a grin. Now that Kagome was gone, he was happy to see someone else on the receiving end of her anger besides himself.

Tsuyoshi rubbed his forehead, trying to ease away the headache he felt coming on. "Lord Sesshoumaru and I simply explained to Lord Ryura that his actions towards Lady Kagome were unbecoming, ignoring all courting etiquette. Since they are not courting, they were dishonoring themselves. I assume Lady Kagome woke up when Lord Ryura became angry, and overheard."

"What!?" Inuyasha yelped. "That's stupid!"

"Coming from one who grew up as an animal, that does not make much of an impact, Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru bit out.

"Like hell that makes a difference! I never thought I'd say this and mean it, but ya two goofballs are fuckin' idiots!" Inuyasha said. Despite the grin on his face his words were harsh and scolding.

"Why ever are we the idiots, Inuyasha-sama?" Tsuyoshi asked with a frown.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes as he brought his arms to rest behind his head. "I'm gonna let Miroku explain it. He gets it better than I do," he said.

Miroku nodded twice, agreeing wholeheartedly with what Inuyasha had been saying the entire time. "Lady Kagome, as you two are aware, is from the future. Five hundred years, to be exact. Things are not the same in her era. You two greatly insulted her by telling Lord Ryura to keep his hands to himself."

"We... insulted her?" Tsuyoshi asked, shocked. "What in the world?"

"Where Lady Kagome is from, it is not rare for men and women to be more giving of their affections towards those they are close friends with. For example, have you ever seen Lady Kagome flinch away from hugging Inuyasha or myself when she is happy?" he asked, curious.

"No," Sesshoumaru admitted, and Tsuyoshi shook his head shortly. "I have not, either."

"And there you go. You basically told her she can't hug, touch, or stand close to an extremely good friend of hers," Sango said next.

Shippou, who had been silent and sitting on Miroku's head, decided to throw in his two cents as well. "If she thought like you guys did, then she wouldn't have ever adopted me, 'cause I'm a male and not directly related to her. It wouldn't have mattered how old I was. In the eyes of society, both human and youkai, what Kagome did with me would've been seen as wrong."

Tsuyoshi sucked in a sharp breath of air then. "I see. She would have never given you the affection you needed as a child."

Shippou gave a sage-nod, happy Tsuyoshi got what he was trying to say.

"Y'see, Kagome doesn't work that way. She's a kind woman, and loves showing others how she feels. She'll yell at you if she's angry – well she'll sit me. She'll hug you if she's happy with something you've done for her or someone else. She's really expressive," Inuyasha said. "If anything I thought Sesshoumaru would've gotten that by now. He's known her for almost a year now."

"I believe you all are forgetting it is not simply hugging, or touching," Sesshoumaru said in response to Inuyasha's jab. "If you do not remember, Ryura has kissed her."

"Yeah, to stop her from biting herself. Or would you rather she bleed all the time and attract who knows what?" Sango asked with a thoughtful tilt of her head. "I know he's tried to get her to stop before. Growling at her just wasn't working anymore."

Miroku nodded quickly in agreement with Sango. "That said, both parties were wrong in this situation, and for the sake of killing Naraku, I believe it would be best to let it go."

"What!?" Inuyasha exclaimed. "Whaddya talkin' about, monk!?"

Sighing, Miroku explained. "This is not Lady Kagome's era. How she acting is a bit off-putting to others who do not know her origins. To us, however, who know better it is more understandable. That is how it is both parties fault. Lady Kagome for refusing to look at it in the way Lord Sesshoumaru and Tsuyoshi-sama do, and their fault because they should have not expected anything different from her."

Enlightenment lit up Inuyasha's face. "Oh. I get it now. Yeah, we might just wanna put this away 'til after we kill Naraku."

"Agreed," five voices agreed in unison.

Kagome looked down at the papers in her hands, her eyes wide and her breath coming out in excited pants. She passed! She passed every single exam she took with a score of ninety or higher, too! Eri had delivered the tests to Kagome's house while Kagome was gone, and in the end, managed to snatch back her magazine, too.

Though Eri did leave a small sticky note on one of Kagome's tests to let Kagome know she wasn't going to forgive her for running off with her magazine in the first place until Ryura Kumori came with Kagome to apologize!

Kagome, however, pushed that thought aside. She passed!

Clutching the papers to her chest, Kagome cackled dangerously. She wanted nothing more than to find Hojo and shove it in his face. Unfortunately for Kagome, however, Hojo was still in the hospital, and it looked like he wasn't going to be released until he admitted he didn't see two demonic looking beings and that one had purposely shot lightning at him.

Ryura shuddered at Kagome's cackle, hoping it wasn't for him. She was standing behind him as he sat on the couch, talking to Souta and Daisuke.

"I'm pleased you came to visit us, Ryura!" Daisuke said happily. "Only proper, after all."

Daisuke was teasing them. Eri had asked all about Kagome's "boyfriend" when she came to drop off the papers. If it wasn't for Hitomi understanding what was going on, their cover would've been blown.

Ryura let out a chuckle as he rose to his feet, ruffling Souta's hair at the same time.

"I will need to return. There are a few things I will need to see to," he said with a smile.

"What? Already?" Kagome asked from behind him.

Ryura moved around the couch to stand in front of her. He leaned over to look at the papers in her hand and smiled, pleased with what he was seeing. Kagome had explained to him that the way she was graded was on a hundred point basis. The higher the number as a result, the better she did.

"Tell me when Hojo is released from the...hospital," the foreign word took him a bit to get used to. "I wish to see his face as much as you do."

"Alright! But you didn't answer my question," Kagome pouted. "And what if you can't get through the well without me?"

"Yes, I need to leave already," he said as he tapped her nose with a finger. "And if I can't get through the well, I will simply come back for you."

"Fine, fine," Kagome grumbled playfully. "Tell everyone I said hello, and that I'll be coming back in the morning."

"I will," Ryura promised.

He was gone after saying goodbye to her family, and Kagome went about meditating as Kaede had shown her, along with doing what Miroku had asked of her. She has far more power now to get used to, and she didn't want it to go bonkers when she fought against Naraku. Her family mostly left her alone, sensing something important was about to happen.

Kagome sat under the shade of the Sacred Tree for hours, slipping in and out of her meditative state. Her power danced across her body until she would pull it back in. She repeated this until she felt she had a better control over than she did before.

When she opened her eyes, it took her blinking them a few times to realize what was going on in front of her. At first she thought it was just her imagination or an illusion but the more she blinked, the less blurry her vision became. This wasn't an illusion at all.

Sitting in front of her a few feet away was a man dressed in a very expensive looking black suit that was slightly disheveled. The first few buttons of his navy blue shirt were undone and his black tie was loosened about his neck, hanging haphazardly to the side. Stylishly cut short black hair was half smoothed back with parts of it falling into his eyes that were closed.

Kagome recognized him after she adjusted to seeing him.

"R-Ryura?"

Bright green eyes opened to greet her and he grinned. "Hey, Kagome."

"You... you're here..." she breathed out.

Kagome had been worried something horrible had happened between them in the past. After she found out Ryura was alive in her era, she couldn't stop her brain from running itself crazy trying to come up with a reason why the modern Ryura wouldn't come to visit her. But he was here now, sitting in front of her, wearing the same grin she saw from the five hundred year younger Ryura not more than seven hours before.

Ryura leaned back to rest on his hands and his grin grew. "Of course I am. I felt my youki disappear and made my way over here as fast as I could."

Kagome saw a light in his eyes that he didn't have in the past. He seemed more...carefree. Happier. She was glad he was doing well.

"I don't want to sound rude, but why now?" she asked softly.

The grin fell from his face, but he kept leaning back on his hands. His green eyes looked up into the branches of the Sacred Tree and he sighed softly, "It's actually thanks to your mother. Five hundred years ago, for me, I asked her the same thing, kind of. She said that this version of me, in front of you now, probably didn't want to scare you because we had been enemies until recently."

"That makes sense..." Kagome trailed off. "Um... How have you been?"

Ryura looked back to her and smiled softly in a way Kagome had never seen before. "I have been extremely well."

Silence fell between them and Kagome found herself wanting to ask what had happened, but a part of her knew he wouldn't tell her for the same reason she didn't freely hand out information on the future to her friends in the past.

"I have a family," Ryura whispered. "One of my sons is an instructor at Tokyo University, but since most of my children look like they could be mine or my mate's siblings, it's not something we can really show to the public."

Kagome's world came to a halt. He had a family? Of course he would, after all this time. Kagome knew he would need an heir for his lands and his House. But why did it hurt so much?

She forced herself to smile. "Really? That's wonderful! I'd love to meet them one day."

Her words didn't seem to fool him. Ryura rose off his hands and scooted forward until they were sitting with their knees lightly touching. He took her hands in his and leaned towards her until their resting together.

Kagome wanted to cry. If he had a family, why was he doing this to her? It hit her then that Ryura must see her as nothing but a close friend, a part of his House. If he treated her so well and she was only his friend, Kagome couldn't imagine how well he treated his mate. She had to be the luckiest person alive in the world.

At that thought, Kagome felt jealously surge through her body.

"It happens tomorrow," he whispered, staring directly into her eyes.

It?

Kagome's eyes widened. The last battle with Naraku. She couldn't find the words to express what she was feeling. Anxiety, worry, jealously, shock – it all was a jumbled mess in her mind and her heart.

"I missed you," he said in a way that did actually made Kagome cry. Hot tears spilled down her cheeks.

Ryura's grip on her hands tightened. It felt so odd to her to not feel the light prickling of his claws against her skin. She let out a silent sob that racked her body.

"Can I stay with you until you go back?" he asked after a long moment.

"B-but your... your family," Kagome hiccuped.

"They know," he responded softly.

Kagome rose up on her knees and flung her arms around him, cradling his head against her chest. She felt his body shake with emotion and could feel how much he was wanting to say, but couldn't, simply by how hard he was holding her.

Kagome knew then that she was going to die tomorrow. She was going to sacrifice herself to save the world from Naraku and the Shikon no Tama.

She buried her face into his short hair. The black locks became damp as her tears continued to flow. Her eyes were open and she was staring down at him, not knowing what to do besides cling to him.

A.N.: DON'T KILL ME, EVERYTHING HAS A PURPOSE! I swear! For those of you who have seen The Final Act, you can pretty much see Sesshoumaru doesn't get his sword in the exact same way as he does in the anime. I've been changing things here in there to include Ryura and Tsuyoshi, hehe.