Chapter 18: Showdown?!

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Sesshomaru's roar echoed around the empty home, an angry cry as he launched himself at the half demon, fist pulled back to knock that entitled look off the half breed's face.

His rage fed into his pulsing aura, flaring to life when Inuyasha stepped aside as if his attack meant nothing.

Then in a greater show of disrespect; Inuyasha turned into him, hitting Sesshomaru straight across his jaw with enough strength to have the great Sesshomaru stagger.

He moved then, Inuyasha used his disbalance to grab ahold of his collar. Pulling him in towards the half demon, to where Sesshomaru was met with hard gold eyes, not unlike his own, before he was thrown away with all the force of a demon in rage.

It was a disgraceful moment when Sesshomaru hit his wall with force, the concrete splitting under the pressure.

Inuyasha watched with a calculating coldness that was long ago harnessed, keeping his eyes on his opponent, as his brother struggled to his feet.

He couldn't make out the Lord's next plan, his head had bowed shielding his eyes, as his body relaxed as he stood.

"What's the matter old man? Out of breath already?"

When Sesshomaru didn't take the bait, he pressed harder.

"Who knows, maybe you've got a point there; makes sense that I would be the obvious choice for Lord of the West, seeing as I'm the one running around doing the job as it is. Who even needs you?"

"You sure do make a lot of noise for someone who has nothing to say."

His voice was amused... mocking.

Inuyasha snarled in return, but when Sesshomaru lifted his head, the lost despair from his eyes was erased. His red rimmed eyes, and large block of smoke that trailed lazily from growing fangs, spoke of the danger Inuyasha was facing. He found himself swallowing the growl in his throat.

Sesshomaru had him in his hold before he could properly draw a breath, pulling him close just to deliver a round of hits across his face. Inuyasha felt the wind leave him, still he tried to lift his arms, cover his openings, but the fist that hit left and right were faster than he.

He felt those nasty acid claws as they left marks all down his arms, the acid eating away at his clothes as if they weren't reinforced with his own strength, leaving behind no blood as they branded his skin upon contact.

Sesshomaru went on as so, switching between blows and claws, as he continued to back Inuyasha into a corner.

Soon the half demon had a mouthful of blood that threatened to choke him, his break from the blows came when a vice grip coiled around his throat.

Sesshomaru panted with the effort to hold back, suspending Inuyasha in the air by his Mokomoko, he sneered at his fruitless struggles.

"You think you are strong enough to defeat this Sesshomaru?"

Inuyasha choked on his words, perhaps it was the blood, or the tail that squeezed life out of him. Gradually, the edges around his vision began to haze. His claws dug into the fluffy weapon; yet all he managed was to pull clumps of fur, his feet kicking a feeble attempt to free himself.

"You. A lowly half breed, incapable of control; to think you would stand before me in challenge, what a laughable offense."

He gave no time for a response, not that there would have been one, with a flick of power from his Mokomoko, Sesshomaru had tossed the half demon halfway across his home. Enjoying the sound that the ground made as it broke upon contact, the way Inuyasha laid in a fit of coughs before struggling back up onto two legs.

"Such a disgrace you turned out to be."

Inuyasha tried to snarl, growl, anything that would voice his anger. But even the air he breathed could barely wheeze in and out of his throat.

"K-keh... if I'm... such a- Disgrace... What does... that... make you... eh, Sesshomaru?"

His eyes had registered the kick, but his body had been too slow, moving just a fraction too late. Inuyasha crashed into the patrician's expensive lounge, breaking it to pieces as Sesshomaru's kick had launched him there.

Sesshomaru lifted a hand to eye's view, allowing the green poison to build from his fingertips and ooze out, a threat and a clear show of power.

"This Sesshomaru will not allow our blood to be tarnished further, I swear this to you, Hanyou."

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Inuyasha stared blankly at the chrome walls of the elevator, barely registering the slow hum of movement as it took him home. Red clouded his vision for a moment before, with a growl, Inuyasha wiped the blood away with the back of his sleeve.

Damn rotten day it turned out to be, although he had succeeded in pulling Sesshomaru back from whatever abyss the idiot was trying to dive into, the poison from those damn claws of his would make healing a slow and painful process.

The doors dinged open, illuminating his entrance, numbly Inuyasha shuffled on. Everything was off, his house shrouded in darkness once the doors slid close. He would've thought it odd, but time had slipped from him somewhere in the fight, when Sesshomaru had started using his real strength.

He didn't bother checking in on Kagome, the pounding in his head could not take another verbal trashing by anyone at this point. Though the pain was likely due to the cut just above his left eyebrow, it ran in a deep gash from the top of his head, down to his eyebrow.

The darkness did not affect his sight, his demon eyes more than capable of seeing in pitches ten times as dark, but the ringing in his ears would have to be dealt with once in the privacy of his bathroom.

Entering his room, Inuyasha paused, blinking his eyes as if that would change the image in front of him.

There, on the love seat he kept in the space between desk and the door, slept Kagome. Unbothered and softly snoring, in fact he suspected she was drooling all over his furniture.

Once more his blood heated, and although his body was tired, he marched right on over. Full intend on rudely awaking her, then mercilessly kicking her out of his room, but just as he reached her-

Well, he could argue it had been the way the moonlight had fallen from his two-level sized window. It had done something different to the shading of her hair, it wasn't black as he originally thought. No, her hair now showed a blended assortment of dark blues with lighter toned highlights.

He could argue it had been the subtle differences in her scent he hadn't noticed previously, walking closer, he was intrigued that it had a sort of apple spice blended with the wildflowers.

It was odd to him, that his heightened senses could miss such things. Entranced by the details he hadn't picked up on until now, Inuyasha had pulled an ottoman over so he could rest, while he studied her closer.

His blood was no longer heated, but his heart continued to beat in the same exhilarating way, so much so it was beginning to ache. Or perhaps it was one of the many blows Sesshomaru had successfully landed.

It felt like moments only that he sat there and stared, but when the light began to filter in, he knew he had sat up all night just staring at the way she seemed to change throughout the night. Every movement from the light outside cast a shadow on her face, they danced over her features, illuminating different areas as the light shifted.

At one point, it had been her lashes that seemed to create a longer shadow over her cheeks, that had kept him captivated. But mostly, it had been her soft breathing that had entranced him.

Inuyasha had sat here and watched the night transform her, not unlike his masking spell. Just staring at her face, wondering if her eyes would be different too, urging them to open inside his mind so he may confirm or deny their color.

It was funny really, that he would startle when she finally cracked her eyes open.

"Inu-yasha?"

He wanted to tease her some, say something like, "Who'd you expect." But his mouth had grown dry without his whereabouts, as his throat continued its throbbing discomfort.

Trying to peel his mouth open had been a struggle, one that ended with a groan as he pulled the cut above his eye, releasing a fresh batch of blood down the side of his face.

She was up in a second, eyes wide and alert as she whipped her head around, like she expected the culprit to be around here somewhere.

"Inuyasha! What happened to you?"

"Oww, ouch. Hey loudmouth," Inuyasha half whispered, only now feeling how parched he really was. "You mind turning it down a notch or two?"

Kagome gasped, her hand shooting up to partially cover her mouth, in a flurry of movement she was up and pulling on his one good arm.

"C'mon, we gotta get you to a hospital" Her feeble attempts to lift him were in vain, and worst of all he was laughing at her! "Inuyasha! Get serious will you, we need to take you to a doctor right now."

"Keh, hospitals are for the weak and elderly."

"Or the possibly concussed. Seriously Inuyasha, get up, we have to get you to a hospital; now!"

Inuyasha continued to chuckle, pulling his arm lose from her grasp, and proving that there was not a damn thing wrong with him by jumping to his feet with a flourish.

"Ta-da" He joked, groaning in response when she slapped his back in retaliation.

"Oh, will you cut it out, you look like you got your ass handed to you!"

Taking offence, Inuyasha gave her an annoyed growl, not that she would be able to decipher between the types of noises he was making; her weak human ears wouldn't be able to distinguish between them.

"Let's get one thing straight Bitch, there was no ass handing done, okay? Besides, what's the big deal anyways, I was worse off when you found me, and look at me. Still kicking ass."

But his words lost conviction as a fit of coughs racked his body, her hand soothed his back till it was over.

"Believe me, I remember vividly... Well, if you won't go to the hospital, I guess it can't be helped, come on."

"Come on? Come on where? What are you doing?"

Kagome ignored him in favor of pulling his half-slouched form up towards the spiraling steps that led to his bed, all the while huffing and mumbling to herself. Things like-

"Not again..." and "Up another set of stairs..." and "This is getting so old..."

Until finally, they had made it all the way up, with Inuyasha half protesting the entire way. However, as it seemed a human girl could manhandle him as he was now, a patch up job wasn't a bad idea after all.

He thought it would be awkward work, this was no small twin mattress, leaving her no choice but to climb in the bed with him to treat his wounds. He assumed the closeness would put her on edge, that she would be red all over, with fumbling fingers.

But Kagome made quick work, meticulous in her ways, as she wiped away the remains of the blood that coated half his body. Her attention on the bigger wounds that had yet to stop bleeding, using just about everything from the first aid kit she scoured.

Kagome never strayed from her work; didn't ask how he'd gotten like that neither. Although, Inuyasha suspected that was only a matter of time, the girl was far too intrusive to just let tonight be.

"Sit up."

Kagome mumbled, and he obliged, flinching when she sprayed that damn disinfectant on his cuts. Twice he tried to tell her it was a pointless task, his demon blood would not allow for infection to grow, his cells healed at a much faster rate than humans, and twice she told him to shut up.

"Okay, back down." She helped him ease his way down, from anyone else he would've been insulted that they thought he needed the help. But seeing as it was just Kagome, he didn't complain, much.

"Almost there." Kagome assured; her hands gentle as they patched a large block of gauze over his still bleeding eye. It was funny to him that she'd be so gentle when clearly, he could handle far worse than a little ache from 'too-tight' bandages.

But it seemed to be a big deal for her; so he settled himself to watch as she had removed the thing, and carefully put it back. Three times in fact, until he caught her wrist and pulled her away from the area.

"I think you go it."

Her laugh was laced with nerves, reaching up, she tugged a strand of lose hair behind her ear, admitting rather impishly. "Sorry, I don't really know what I'm doing."

"Could've fooled me."

When she laughed as if he had told a joke, he had to sit up on his elbows, meet her eyes so she'd know.

"I'm not joking, you seriously got some laten talent there, you would've made a great physician."

"Would have, maybe, if I was given the chance that is."

Inuyasha felt the need to tuck the same strand of hair back in place, but instead he said, "You might still have that chance."

Never had he regretted fewer words, her eyes had lit up, hands snaking out to braid nervously at that strand of hair.

"Did you talk to him? What did he say? Can I go take my tests?"

"Kagome..." he began but stopped, what more could he say?

She was but a child, and her world so small, she was ignorant as to how far down her request was on the list of things that were deemed important.

"Kagome things don't work the way you think they do. You're not on holiday here, your very life could be taken at any moment, and you're out here worried over finals. It's just a stupid test that will mean nothing in the long run."

Kagome deflated before his very eyes, her gaze dropped, and a terribly sad smile took residence over her features. Inuyasha quickly began to breathe through his mouth, unable and unwilling to smell that citrous tang that was Kagome-upset.

"You're right, of course."

She admitted, edging herself off the bed, hastily collecting all the items she had scavenged for.

'Don't do it, don't do it.' Inuyasha implored himself, begged his own body to lay back down; let her get packed up and shut the door behind her. But in one awful moment Inuyasha made a huge mistake, breathing in her scent had been his reckoning, perhaps from the very beginning.

For it seemed no matter how much of an internal battle he was waging, the words left his mouth at a speed even he couldn't stop.

"Good. Cause they'll have to be rules if we're going to do this."

Her head snapped up, mouth forming into a little 'o' as she gazed at him. "You're kidding"

'Say yes! Tell her it was a cruel joke at her expense.'

The words were there, but the longer he stared at her hopeful eyes and genuine smile, the weaker his resolve became. Till, with disgruntled sigh, Inuyasha gave in.

"It won't be like you think it's going to be, you're not just gonna waltz in and outta here at a whim."

Excitement flooded Kagome, till she was nearly bouncing on the edge of the bed. "No, no, of course not! Just when we do cram work at schoo-"

"No!" Inuyasha sat up fully, leaning towards her, he grabbed a hold of that unruly lock of hair. He pulled it so that her face was closer to his, "you said tests, not school- just tests. Don't play with me girl.

You'll only be allowed in and out of the building for your stupid exams, that's it, nothing more. Got it? Or else you'll find yourself in a less than optimal situation.

Understand?"

Inuyasha ended his rant with a show of teeth, attempting to intimidate her, even if she could not see the long-pointed fangs there.

Even through his threats her smile did not waver, "Right, okay, no big deal! Just tests, but you know they'll ask where I've been all this time, attendance does count."

"I said no."

His voice was firm, eyes hard, and she knew then there was no wiggle room there. "Okay, okay! Don't go biting my head off, I was just saying is all."

His growl was a different pitch, sounding more like an exasperated low 'woof' than a growl really.

"Don't worry about that, it's an easy fix, now that you have exactly what you came in here for, you can get out. Bad enough I had to deal with Royal-pain-in-the-Ass himself, now you're invading my personal space."

Kagome huffed, grumbling, more to herself than him. "You're the one who told me to stay here"

"I did not!" He snapped, when Kagome turned a twisted glare his way, Inuyasha growled out, "Just get out so I can sleep, will ya?!"

She jumped off the bed and no more than two steps ahead did she turn, her face etched in concern, making him think she had another impossible request up her sleeves.

"What now?"

"No, nothing, just that-"

Glaring at her from his half slouching position on his bed, Inuyasha snapped out, "What?! Get on with it"

The same determined look crossed her face as she turned fully to him, "Is he okay? Your brother I mean?"

The air stilled inside his lungs, his blood heating with an unknown quickness, he found himself snarling at her with full strength. Sitting straight up to look at her better, with one hand flexing outward. She wouldn't be able to see it, but he had his claws fully out, as a warning.

"You're pushing it, Girl!"

Her eyes widen, that nasty odor of her fear whirling in the air like unseen incense, hands coming up to cover her thrumming heart.

"I- I was just..."

Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he was frighting her, that he was solely responsible for that stench; and somewhere further than that, he wished he'd be able to rein his blood better, wished he'd stop intimidating her at the slightest rise from his demon.

"Just get out!"

He barked, flinging himself back down on the bed in a show of annoyance.

Kagome didn't move at first, he could feel her eyes on him. Then, with slow measured steps, she retreated. He stayed awake throughout the whole thing, listening to the sound of her fading steps till he was alone in the silence.

Inuyasha stared up at his vaulted ceiling, his eyes bore a hole in them, as he retraced his day from start to finish.

'Why did I do that?' Frustrated, the tortured demon ran his claws through his hair, mind a hectic swirl of contradictions and endless questions. All of them circling around a certain raven-haired girl.

Why had he agreed to take her? With no ounce of indication that Sesshomaru would give in to such a ridiculous request.

All he managed to do was buy her time, but how much? That would be up to him, so long as he could keep Sesshomaru distracted, he'd push her to the back of his mind; Sesshomaru had bigger worries these days.

Pulling his arm over his eyes, Inuyasha stayed up for several hours after. His mind racing a mile a minute until finally, with great fatigue, he fell into a deep slumber. Dreaming of apple orchards, and green fields littered with rows of wildflowers, and the wide blue ocean. Oddly enough, they met at the same point of place.