A/N: Heya readers *waves* ^_^ thanks to my wonderful reviewers *hugs you all* you've made a crappy, stressful week much brighter ^.^

So VERY Sorry about the delay. And sorry this chapter isn't very long, I ran out of time and wanted to just give you an update to tide you over until perhaps next week. Please review!

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A Truth of The Past; Present Peril

Seven

"Well…say something…Sesshomaru…" Inuyasha muttered after a long silence, in which Satoru relished in the agony in Inuyasha's face. "Is…is what he saying true?!" Kagome watched Inuyasha spin on his heel, seizing the front of Sesshomaru's silk kimono. "Tell me!!! Is what he's saying true?!" The priestess standing beside them watched as Sesshomaru peeled his little brother's clawed hands from the front of his clothes, holding them tightly in his own, not saying a word in reply.

"I'm not the one to answer you, Little brother…" Sesshōmaru finally replied, prising his brother's hands from his clothes, ignoring the claw marks in the fabric.

"Well who the heck is?! If what that asshole said is true then our father won't answer me, will he?" Again, Sesshōmaru didn't answer.

"Inuyasha…"

"The fact that you're not answering…" Inuyasha cut across him, his voice almost silent, and heavy with misery, "it just means that it's right…isn't it?" Inuyasha's golden eyes flashed crimson for a blink of a second, causing Sesshōmaru to step back slightly. "Fine," Inuyasha growled, a little of his inner-demon's voice sneaking into his words. "I'll get answers myself…" Kagome watched as Inuyasha darted off through the gardens, and out of sight, not sure whether to follow or to stay where she was. A small, irritated growl rumbled in the back of Sesshōmaru's throat, as he gave Kagome a quick, polite bow, before hastening after his brother.

Leaning back slightly, Kagome sat down on the edge of the fountain once more, gazing thoughtfully at the rippling water. Suddenly, her body trembled with a shiver, as she saw the dark-haired demon's image reflected in the water, having quite forgotten he was there up until that moment. Her fingers toyed nervously with her yukata sleeves, nibbling her bottom lip, praying he would turn and leave, but he didn't.

"You never did answer my Father's question," came his sleek voice, jade eyes staring at her reflection within the water with a look Kagome didn't quite like.

"E-Excuse me?" the demon seemed a little too pleased with her meek voiced response.

"My father – Lord Eisuke. You never did answer."

"A-Answer?"

"Yes. You were asked if the rumours are true…that you're that mongrel's whore." Kagome's teeth dug further into her lip, as she refrained from retorting the way she would have wished to. No, she knew that smacking that smug look off his face would only cause more trouble for the family that had been so kind to her. The very same family that had rapidly become so important to her.

"And how do you expect me to answer, Satoru," she responded, almost through her teeth, deliberately forgetting her politeness. She would never call such an arrogant brute Lord anything!

"With the truth, My dear," he purred, leaning down so that his breath skimmed the raven hair hanging loosely by her ear. "I've never taken the time to look at humans before killing them, but after admiring your delectable self, I find it easy to believe that a demon would drop so low as to crave a human's flesh…particularly if the human were as – well-endowed as you are…" Kagome shuddered as the hot breath steamed in her ear, a hand resting on her shoulder.

Flinching from the touch, Kagome felt an overwhelming claustrophobic feeling building inside her. "I'm not some whore..." she growled under her breath, her brave voice the total opposite to how she felt on the inside. "And to talk down to such…kind, good-hearted, strong people that are worth five-thousand of you is just…you're not even worthy of the air you breathe!" The girl winced, letting out a small scream before it was strangled into silence by the clawed hand crushing against her windpipe.

"And I suppose you are worth breathing the same air as us demons?!" he spat in fury. "YOU, who lies with a half-breed – He's not anything! He doesn't belong here! I honour his old man for putting up with him as long as he did! Any other demon would've slit his little throat before he drew his first unworthy breath!"

Suddenly a loud smack sounded, Satoru dropping Kagome to the ground. The priestess looked up, mahogany eyes widening as she saw the crimson mark across Satoru's cheek resulting from a full-force slap, beside him standing an out-of-breath Izayoi, dark eyes burning with anger. "Y-You…You bitch-"

"-You utter filth!" The woman's voice trembled with fury as she cut across his insult, "For years I've watched in silence, years I've watched you seize anything that gave my little boy any shred of happiness in his otherwise miserable life and tear it to shreds! You foul-tongued little worm!!!" Even Kagome flinched as the woman seized the blade in Satoru's belt, yanking it into her hands and swiping the razor edge across Satoru's cheek. A thin line of blood wept form the gash. "It's scum like you that destroyed my son's childhood. People that are too narrow-minded to see that the half-demons, the humans and demons that dare to love another regardless of their species, THEY are the strong ones and you – YOU ARE WEAK!!!" Dropping the sword to the ground, Izayoi leapt forward, smacking the young demon with all she had. Losing his footing, Satoru stumbled back, collapsing onto the earth not far from where Kagome still knelt, shocked by the maddened outburst of a woman she'd imagined to be devoid of any anger. A woman scorned, Kagome's mind began, snapping back to reality with Lady Izayoi's voice. "My husband, my mate may ignore your jibes because of your arrogant father's alliance to him, but I will suffer in silence no longer!"

"IZAYOI!" Kagome and Satoru flinched at the raised voice that echoed through the gardens, watching on as Izayoi turned casually, her lady-like grace and tranquillity returned, as she faced Inu-no-Taishou.

"Yes, Dearest?" Izayoi replied quietly, as her mate stormed over to her.

"What are you doing?!" Kagome couldn't help but feel her whole being tremble in fear at that usually so warm and gentle voice raised in anger. The demon lord's golden eyes flashed an angry crimson as the woman ignored his question, simply walking past him, heading towards the great archways that lead back inside. "IZAYOI! DON'T YOU DARE TURN AWAY FROM ME!" Izayoi, who Kagome had never seen disobey or anger her husband before, stopped in her tracks, turning to give him a complacent glance.

"If you didn't turn your back on your son's pain I wouldn't have to."

Inu-no-Taishou growled.

"How can you say that I've done anything but think of Inuyasha in all of this?! THIS IS ALL FOR HIM!!!"

"Your son needs more than an Honourable Ruler to fight for his equality. He needs his father to fight for his happiness as well…"

"All I've ever strived for is for his happiness! Don't play the 'Great Wise Izayoi' and talk down to ME - wench!"

"Calm yourself, I shall not dispute with you while you're under influence of that foul temper of yours-"

"DON'T TALK DOWN TO ME LIKE I'M A CHILD!!!"

"Kagome," the said girl jumped slightly as the woman spoke her name softly. "Will you come with me for a moment?" Kagome looked from Izayoi to Inu-no-Taishou, debating whether or not to obey, especially as it looked like Inu-no-Taishou was about to strike his mate. Nervously the girl got to her feet, following after the woman, who left her silently raging mate behind.

***

Inu-no-Taishou snarled under his breath as he threw open the door to the room that served as his study. Rage still flowing through his blood like fire on oil, it was becoming increasingly hard to control his full-demon temper with all of it all pent up. About to throw himself down in his chair in what Izayoi (on the rare occasion that they fought) aggravatingly called a 'tantrum', when he saw his two sons standing before the desk.

"Boys, not now, please," he sighed, trying to keep his tone down and not sound angry with them. "Whatever it is, now is not a good time to-"

"-Well when is it a good time to discuss how you used my mother as a whore?!" Sesshōmaru's eyes widened in uncertainty, apprehensive of his already fuming father's reaction to Inuyasha's bluntness.

"Inuyasha? What did you-"

"-I heard it okay! From fucking Satoru, which is even worse!" Inuyasha cut across his obviously bewildered father, a growl rumbling through his reverberating voice.

"Watch your language, Inuyasha, what's the matter with you?" Both full-demons jumped slightly as Inuyasha stormed forwards, lashing out and swatting the objects on the large desk off onto the floor, glass shattering everywhere.

"YOU old man, YOU'RE MY PROBLEM!!! WERE YOU EVER GONNA TELL ME HOW MY BIRTH INCONVENIENCED THE BOTH OF YOU?!!!"

"Inuyasha, you don't understand, we-"

"No, I understand perfectly…" Inuyasha growled. "You were both in it for your own selfish reasons right? You for a rut and Mother for the protection of her family and the others in that fucking place!"

"Inuyasha, LISTEN TO ME!"

"No YOU LISTEN!!!" The demon lord narrowed his reddening eyes at his youngest son, but fell silent for Inuyasha's following words.

"You…You are a liar…"

"Inuyasha-"

"-You've been lying to me for two-hundred years!" The half-demon yelled, cutting off his brother's voice as he tried to intervene. "You two didn't have this bullshit romance that you'd have sacrificed everything for! Mother and you were just convenient for each weren't you? And when I came along, tarnishing her innocence and purity, you had to accept me and her as your family 'because otherwise the whole demon world would know you used a human for a rut!" Tears of both anger and misery pricked at the half-demon's eyes as his voice dropped to a near whisper. "Did you even love me? Did you even really feel any kind of happiness when I was born?" The room fell silent. "You didn't love her right?! So you didn't love me either?!"

"Inuyasha, please-"

"-All this 'equality' shit is just crap! EVERYBODY knows that Sesshōmaru is your heir, your preferred, your real son, I'm…I'm just your inconvenience – Your 'mistake', right?!"

"Inuyasha-"

"-It doesn't fucking matter anymore! Everyone knew it but I'VE only just realised how true it is! I HATE YOU!!!"

"INUYASHA, ENOUGH!" The half-demon stopped, dead silent, not meeting his father's eyes.

"Understand me, Inuyasha…" Inu-no-Taishou said softly as possible, Sesshōmaru regarding them closely from his place beside Inuyasha. "The world is a dark, cruel place, and no matter what you try to achieve, it'll always try to tear you down… I loved Sesshōmaru's mother, passionately, unbelievably, and when she died bringing Sesshōmaru into this world I…I felt like all the vitals in my body were torn from me at once, and my heart was still struggling to keep me working all on it's own… I felt like I'd died… I never thought I'd ever be able to feel anything again…"

"Father, don't you'll just-"

"-Five-hundred years had passed, and a gap where she used to be still throbbed painfully in my heart," Inu-no-Taishou said quietly, cutting across Sesshōmaru's words. "By chance I met a human, a princess, the most beautiful human woman I'd ever seen. So young yet she looked on me with such knowing, wise, worldly eyes; dark eyes that reached my soul like no others had done for centuries.

"No, I didn't love her then…she, intrigued me you might say…I began to find myself unintentionally keeping track of her, meeting her dutifully in the same place. She talked with me, at first simple, honest talk of the world, and then…deeper, personal feelings and thoughts that I'd never shared with anyone. She opened me up to the world again, erasing the hurt that Sesshōmaru's mother had left behind… She became my friend, Inuyasha." Inu-no-Taishou met Inuyasha's eyes at last, "The demon, Ryuukotsusei attacked her home, and naturally, I put a stop to it, not managing to kill him, but nevertheless getting him away from it. However, a human by the name of Takemaru of Setsuna somehow managed to take credit for his defeat, and her family offered her off to him in marriage as some kind of…payment." Inuyasha and Sesshōmaru didn't miss the growl in their father's voice as he managed the last word. "She met me in the usual place, and she…she confessed her love to me."

"So Mother told you she loved you and asked you to take her away so you wouldn't have to marry Takemaru, right?" Inuyasha asked, not thinking this story was much better.

"No, quite the opposite. She told me because she was going to go through with it. If you knew your mother at all, Inuyasha, you'd know that she wouldn't have asked that of me if she knew how much I still clung to the memory of Sesshōmaru's mother. But…for some reason I…I couldn't bear to think of her with somebody else, and when I saw those tears in her eyes, they…they undid me. I couldn't bear it. It wasn't until I saw her crying, over me, crying because she knew we could never be together, that I realised how deep the feelings that had slowly developed in my heart were. And like it was some spell all of a sudden thrown over us it just – happened." Inuyasha raised a brow.

"So I just 'happened'?" he asked sarcastically, still sounding bitter.

"Not you, you idiot. 'It'." The half-demon blushed as Sesshōmaru, who seemed to have understood it a little better, corrected him.

"After that, every time we met it just seemed like some form of unnamed intoxication that drew us together. And then one day, she never turned up, nor the day after that, or the day after that…Four days passed before I went to her castle myself, and found out what was wrong. I found out that your mother was pregnant, Inuyasha." Inuyasha frowned. He didn't want to hear this. He didn't want to hear that his arrival ruined everything for the two of them.

"Stop it; just stop it okay I don't-"

"-You will listen, Inuyasha." His father's voice commanding, and even though it wasn't a shout, Inuyasha felt compelled to obey, even as angry and upset as he was.

***

Gazes varying between awe, honour and horror struck the faces of the servants, some bowing so low their noses were barely inches from the floor and some turning in disgust. So many different opinions and feelings towards the great dog-demon as he strode through the halls of what these humans called a 'castle'. Regardless of the looks and whispers that the foolish servants and guards thought he couldn't see nor hear, Inu-no-Taishou pushed open the doors to the room that held Izayoi's scent the strongest, the poor little servant who was meant to announce his presence strides behind him, not able to keep up.

"M-My Lord!" The little man squeaked, quite out of breath as he finally reached the room, "Lord Inu-no-Taishou to see the Princess."

"Thank you, that will be all." With that the small servant left, Inu-no-Taishou alone in this room, (which the demon lord could tell must've been Izayoi's) with this dark haired man, who was regarding the demon with a familiar fear in his onyx eyes.

"I presume you've come to call in light of…it?" Inu-no-Taishou narrowed his eyes slightly.

"I have come to ask after Lady Izayoi. The humans of this village say she has bee sent away, however, I can still sense her. She's here somewhere in the castle." A long silence fell, and Inu-no-Taishou grew tired of waiting for the man to answer him. "I wish to see her."

"Indeed," came the human's deep, slightly intimidated voice. The demon lord followed after the human that lead him back outside.

He had presumed that human royalty lived in the main house, in fact his interest in human's allowed him to know this for a fact, and yet this man had lead him through to a building on the far side of the castle's estate, and in through a guarded door and into what Inu-no-Taishou felt, was a dark, suffocating room. Low ceilings, heavy, nearly impenetrable curtains adorning the windows and dark furniture made up the room, and when he saw her, laying fast asleep on a futon at the far wall, Inu-no-Taishou knew what was going on here.

"What is she doing in a place like this?" he growled, "this is squalor!"

"This is payment for her sin," the man said simply.

"Sin? What sin?"

"The adulterous wench betrayed her engagement to Lord Takemaru of Setsuna! It was one thing for her to lie with a demon but to allow herself to fall pregnant with a half-demon!" Inu-no-Taishou's golden eyes widened.

"What did you just say?"

"That is why she is here, and will remain so until the pregnancy has passed, then she shall be true to her promise and give her hand to Lord Takemaru." The demon lord wanted to rip this man's offensive tongue out! And while he was at it, evisceration and possible decapitation was looking pretty appealing too! But he wouldn't do that, kill a feeble human like this, especially since he could tell this was none other than Izayoi's father.

"I assume you wish to…" the man paused, walking over to the futon on which Izayoi slept, pulling aside the thin white material suspended over it from the ceiling. Inu-no-Taishou walked swiftly over to the bed side, seeing the woman curled up with her arms predictably around her stomach, which Inu-no-Taishou could already tell, had none other than his child inside of it. What have I done? "We assumed to let her have it, after all, we have no way of killing it without killing her, so…"

"So?" Inu-no-Taishou repeated, anger surfacing, wondering what this man that dared called himself a father intended to do with his daughter, and all because she was pregnant? Ludicrous, the demon lord thought. But then, this is a half-demon, no one would think twice about it…

"It is well known that demons and half-demons are born immaturely to what we call a 'full-cycle' correct?" Inu-no-Taishou nodded slowly, knowing full well that it was Izayoi herself who must have disclosed this information, no one else in the vicinity remotely worldly enough to know of anything demon.

"Don't tell me," Inu-no-Taishou began, suddenly realising something, "don't tell me you intended to keep her hidden – in here, until the child was born?" The human sneered.

"What else would one do with her, whilst she's carrying that thing she's not fit to breath the same air as the rest of us-"

"-She's your daughter, Human," Inu-no-Taishou growled under his breath, trying to beat down his anger, not wanting to wage a battle with Izayoi's family.

"Yes, and as a father, it is my job to see her doing right, repenting for her sins, and doing well in the world."

"By doing well, you mean killing her child because it is a demon's, and marrying Takemaru because he is either rich or will prove somehow beneficial to yourself as an ally, correct?" The man feigned shock. These bastard humans, selling their children off like cattle!

"I take it you disapprove of my methods?" Inu-no-Taishou didn't answer him, he didn't need to, the look of rage on his face said it all. "Well in any case, different method, same result, you will deal with it then, I imagine?" Inu-no-Taishou blinked a moment, confused, that is, until he saw the human lord glancing at the swords at his waist.

"You expect me to kill it?"

"But of course, why else would you have come?"

"I…" For the first time in a long while, Inu-no-Taishou's voice faltered. He was speechless. Would he kill it? Could he? It was his and Izayoi's baby wasn't it? But…it would be a half-demon… The demon was drawn from his thoughts as Izayoi's father stepped aside, motioning with his frail, human hand to the sleeping woman on the bed. He's waiting for me to do it… Kill it! Inu-no-Taishou started at the sudden rage in his thoughts, no in his soul. Kill the abomination! His inner instincts as a demon, versus his conscious emotions and feelings, he suspected, either way, they both waged war against each other in his head, making him want to smack it against the wall just to get them to stop. Kill it! – No, you can't! – Yes you can!

"I can't…" Inu-no-Taishou muttered almost inaudibly. "I won't."

***

"Your mother's family were keeping her out of sight until you were born, so they could get rid of you, and still give Izayoi's hand in marriage to Takemaru. Her father assumed I'd come here to get rid of you from inside her, and stepped aside, watching, waiting for me to do so. So I was faced with a decision…" Inuyasha's ears slicked back against his head, the fact that his father, who for as long as he could remember, had pampered and doted on him, was talking about trying to kill him was just too much for his mind to manage.

"Father, stop this, you're only-"

"-Silence Sesshōmaru." The younger demon fell silent at his father's words. "Your mother was lying there asleep, Inuyasha. Her father was asking me to get rid of you, my inner demon and everything that I had, even my lands demanded it if I were to keep them. But I didn't. Because-"

"-Because I was a mistake of yours that you were responsible for!" Inuyasha cut across. Suddenly Inu-no-Taishou leapt forwards, and Inuyasha yelped as his father smacked the side of his face. Staring at his father in pure shock, at being struck by his hand for the first time he could remember.

"Don't ever say things like that. You, no one can ever understand how precious you are to me." Inuyasha's ears pricked slightly. "When I saw you for the first time, such a vulnerable, distressed child born into a world that hated you before you even took first breath, all because I was a demon, and loved your human mother. I've never felt such an overwhelming desire to protect something. You don't get it do you? Demon children, when they're young, in their lacking of control over their powers, they're outright dangerous! You, you demanded so much attention and coddling, and protection. If there's anything you can trust in this world it's how much we care about you." Such soft words from such a gruff voice didn't sound right, but Inuyasha's ears perked all the more in any case, as if he were a small child.

"So…you don't hate me?"

"Brat," Sesshōmaru growled, making Inuyasha smirk.

"Then why didn't you say something?!" The half-demon barked at his older brother.

"Because, there were circumstances and events that may have been necessary for you to understand, things I can't have known. Father's love-life with your mother is none of my business, nor do I wish it to be."

"So…Satoru was lying?" Inuyasha asked quietly, receiving a glare off his father.

"That boy…you should know by now not to listen to him. You've been fighting since I can remember, Inuyasha. Don't take all the things people like him say to heart." Inuyasha nodded slowly, partially ashamed at believing it even for a moment.

"I'm sorry Dad," Inuyasha mumbled.

All three of them jumped at the sudden, rampant hammering on the other side of the door.

"Come in."

Before those two words had even finished leaving Inu-no-Taishou's mouth the door flung open, a bloodied up soldier, gasping for breath, not minding the crimson fluid that leaked off his head onto the once valuable rug spread across the floor. Nothing stayed in this family long without getting blood on it.

"Mr Lord, they stormed the borders, but the messenger was taken down before he got here, they stormed the walls, My Lord!" The three demons watched him, both horrified and confused.

"They?"

Yes, My Lord," The demon nodded wildly, his breaths coming out in short, fast rasping noises. "They breached our defences and stormed the castle. They're inside!"

"Who, Boy? Who is inside?!" Inu-no-Taishou demanded.

"The Revolutionaries, My Lord." Inuyasha's eyes widened in pure horror at his sudden realisation.

"This whole thing was set up," he growled out, darting through the doorway and speeding down the halls without so much as a second glance back at his brother. This whole thing was somehow set up. The revolutionaries must've known something; they must've been watching us! And all of it was done to set us all against each other, and for me to leave Kagome alone!

***

Kagome bit her lower lip nervously as she and Izayoi walked slowly through one of the upper halls, one of the only parts of the castle Kagome had ever seen. It was with that notion, that she realised for the most of her time here, she'd only seen inside Inuyasha's bedroom, the dungeons and a brief glance at the gardens and main hall. This place is huge! I'm never gonna remember where everything is! As if reading her mind, Izayoi responded to her awe struck face with a warm smile.

"I know, it's a bit grand for us mortal girls isn't it?" she laughed softly, "It took me a bit of getting used to as well. Just you wait," the woman said the last past with a pensive look, "when you have children you'll realise what a pain it is to keep track of a small rambunctious baby in this place, especially when they learn to walk." Kagome smirked at the image of a little Inuyasha having full run of this place.

Suddenly Izayoi stopped, and Kagome glanced confusedly at her, until the woman turned the ornate knob on the door, leading the priestess inside. Kagome's head practically spun when she saw the inside of the grand room. It was twice the size of Inuyasha's room – which was saying something! A luxuriously crimson coloured material dressed the grand bed, draped over it from the ceiling and pooling on the ground around it. Izayoi couldn't help but smile at Kagome's expression as she continued to take in the sight of the room, hazel eyes coming to rest upon the full length wall hangings which adorned the walls. Some of historic battles that Inu-no-Taishou's ancestors had fought centuries ago, some of Inu-no-Taishou himself with what Kagome could only guess was his own father. But what caught her attention was the painstakingly embroidered wall-hanging, with the four images of Inu-no-Taishou, Izayoi, what Kagome deducted to be the demon equivalent of an adolescent Sesshomaru, and Inuyasha, who didn't look anything more than around three years old.

"Did – did someone really make that?" Kagome practically gasped, Izayoi nodded. "It must've taken them forever!"

"No dear, just a long while," Izayoi responded with amusement at her astonished expression.

"C-Couldn't they have just painted it?"

"Well, yes I imagine so, but Inu-no-Taishou had it made when Inuyasha and I first came to the castle. I expect he wanted to include our slightly strange family in this," she paused to look around at the family crests and history that adorned the walls. Kagome blinked.

"How much did it cost him to have made?" Izayoi shrugged.

"I'm not sure. He does shower me and the boys with rather extravagant gifts sometimes though, so I shouldn't imagine he spared any expense on it," Kagome was still reeling from the fact that Izayoi had called Inuyasha and Sesshomaru 'boys'.

"Umm, Lady Izayoi?" Kagome asked meekly, finally tearing her eyes from what she guessed was some form of family tree, decorated in a type of gold-leaf design.

"Kagome, just call me Izayoi," the woman said gently, "I don't expect formalities from family." Still reeling from that statement, the Kagome continued.

"W-What's it like…to know you'll live forever…and you'll never grow any older?" Izayoi watched her strangely for a moment, seating herself on the bed and patting it beside her, gesturing for Kagome to sit.

"I called you up here because I wanted to see if you needed to talk, and I guess you do. I'm not sure what it feels like exactly, all I know is that it's a sacrifice I willingly made to be with the man I love." Kagome was confused.

"Is it really a sacrifice though? I mean I…I feel like I'm using Inuyasha to stay young forever." Izayoi smiled again, that warm motherly smile that Kagome was becoming very attached to.

"Inuyasha doesn't see it that way Kagome, I promise you. Amongst demons, their mortal mate becoming immortal with them is considered a big sacrifice on the human's part. It means they have to watch their human families and friends grow old and die, have to suffer demon trials and the ages of the world. But as for a human using a demon to gain eternal youth, that's why most demons, especially canine demons mate for life. Your life-span and soul is tied to the demon. If you go through with this, you can't change your mind, Inuyasha will be your one and only, and you'll never be able to 'be' with any body else. Kagome frowned.

"I wouldn't want to be with anybody else."

"No, no, no, I know you wouldn't that's not what I meant. I just… Kagome, dear, you have to know…it's not always going to be an easy task, being with the man you love…"

The priestess watched the older woman quietly, before she got the courage to speak up again.

"You mean…like the argument you had with lord Inu-no-Taishou?" Izayoi nodded slowly.

"Kagome? Can I ask you something?" Kagome looked bewildered.

"Of course."

"Well, I just-" Suddenly, the woman's voice cut off, a the sound of voices. Thousands and thousands of screams it seemed, raging through the two women's ears. Izayoi leapt to her feet, making Kagome start.

"What is it? What's-"

"-Something's wrong," the woman replied, dark eyes widening in horror. "Come. Quickly." Izayoi snatched Kagome's wrist, practically yanking her arm from the socket as the woman dragged her through a door the opposite side the way they'd come in. A door that Kagome hadn't noticed until that moment.

Flinging open the door, Izayoi pulled Kagome into what Kagome could only call a nursery. A child's cradle and toys standing tidily in their place. Was this…is this Inuyasha's old nursery? She didn't have time to ask. Izayoi let go of the young girl's hand, running her long, pale fingers over the intricate carvings of the marble fireplace, tracing every contour and crevice. Until… Kagome let out a little squeal of surprise as the fireless grate slid back, leaving a dark, foreboding passageway.

"A secret passage?" Kagome asked. Izayoi nodded brusquely. Seizing hold of Kagome's arm again, Izayoi hastened them both inside, stopping briefly only to pull what Kagome saw (through the dimness) as a lever of some kind, the grate sliding back into place, taking with it all light. She and Izayoi were sitting in the thick blackness and as Kagome heard the woman get hastily to her feet, she tried to follow. Stumbling to her feet, her legs faltered. Suddenly, whether it was because of the darkness or not, Kagome felt a nauseating dizziness spin her in the dark, and she fell. "Kagome!" she heard in a desperate whisper. Warm arms encircled her, pulling her to her feet. "Come on Kagome, just a little further." Kagome winced at the pain rushing through her body from the fall. She felt like she was going to be sick.

"Where are we?" She felt her arm pulled round Izayoi's shoulder, and the jerking movement of the woman assisting her in walking onwards.

"A hidden passage. On the rare occasion the castle was infiltrated, I used to bring Inuyasha in here and we used to hide until Inu-no-Taishou came and got us. I know this place like the back of my hand. The only people it's known to are myself, Inuyasha and Inu-no-Taishou. It's safe." Kagome nodded, though the woman wouldn't be able to see the gesture.

She felt sick, she felt exhausted, dizzy, like she was going to pass out. She wanted Inuyasha.

"I don't feel so good…"

"It's okay," Izayoi assured her, "rest here; it's the central most part of the castle. It's safe here." Kagome winced as Izayoi awkwardly let Kagome slide down the cold stone wall and onto her bottom.

"I-Izayoi?" Kagome asked, a flustered, claustrophobic feeling rising up within he with the dark and the panic. "What's happening? Where's Inuyasha? What's-"

"-Shush!" At the frantic whisper, Kagome silenced, feeling Izayoi drop down next to her. "Listen." Thundering footsteps echoed all around them, beyond the walls of the secret passageway, Kagome imagined. Running, people were running, that's what she could hear. And Screaming. Deafening screams that made her pulse rise in terror. Inuyasha. Where is Inuyasha?!

TBC

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A/N: Likey? Review? Maybe? K, I realised something whilst watching my Inuyasha dvds last night, that my character Satoru (Lord Eisuke's son) has the same name as a little boy Kagome and Inuyasha help in Episode 12. Never mind though, it's not the same Satoru (since that little boy was adorable and this 'grown-up' guy is a feckin ass ^_^) Neways, I've had suggestions or more like people would like to see some Inuyasha kiddie flashbacks, is there anyone else that would? just asking, if anyone thinks it'd be interesting/cute whatever I'll give it a shot. Another idea was a flashback of when Inuyasha was little and Sesshomaru would be in it too, but they're both ideas from the same person so, does anybody agree with them? Review please readers ^_^

Love Shigure-san

x chuu x