Quadrangle by RhiannonoftheMoon

Chapters 1 thru 4

A/N: This fic has been nominated for Best Angst/Drama on A Single Spark! Yeah!

I am reposting this 4 chapter at a time. Sorry, I'm just lazy like that. I know the chapters are long.

Chapter1 – Wish Gone Wrong

Kagome stared at the completed Shikon no Tama in her hand, the purified power within swirling just under its crystalline surface. To think they had come so far, suffered so much, for such an insignificant thing. And she had suffered the least of them.

She raised her eyes to Sango's straight back, the light of the campfire throwing dancing shadows around her though the proud taijiya did not move. Head held high, her thick, black ponytail tossed by the wind, she was staring into the night, silently mourning the passing of her younger brother Kohaku. He had died one month ago at the hands of Naraku, who had ripped the jewel shard out of his back in a desperate attempt to save his own miserable life. Her tears had long since dried, but each night, she took a moment to remember him and her fallen kinsmen.

Miroku moaned softly in his sleep as he struggled against the effects of the poisonous insects that he'd sucked into the void in his hand. The wind tunnel was now closed, but the toxins had given him a fever and chills wracked his lean frame. Kagome had done what she could for him; now she had to wait for the antidote to take effect. She hoped he lived to enjoy his life now that the curse of Naraku had been broken.

Shippo stirred in her lap, his fluffy red hair and tail the only parts she could see of the little kit who had curled against her stomach. A full-blooded fox demon child, she had adopted him as her own son and loved him as such. He'd lost his parents to the Thunder Brothers, who had killed them for a shard of the jewel she now held in her hand.

The only member of their little band of shard hunter that was missing was Inuyasha, the half-dog demon she'd been in love with for the past four years. But instead of remaining with them after their victory over their vanquished foe, he was off searching for his lover, Kikyou. She had been injured during the fight and disappeared after the battle had ended. Once the hanyou had been sure Kagome was relatively unhurt, he'd rushed after her. That had been the most painful wound of the battle.

The one person that Kagome wouldn't have minded seeing out of their lives for good, she admitted to herself with a pang of guilt, other than Naraku himself, was still alive...okay, undead. Fifty-four years ago, Naraku had tricked Kikyou and Inuyasha into betraying each other over this very jewel, and fifty-four years ago she had sealed him to a tree and died. Four years ago, Kagome had unsealed him and Kikyou had been brought back to undeath in a clay body by the magic of the witch Urusae. Kikyou had claimed Inuyasha's life as her own, intending to take him back to hell with her, and Inuyasha seemed willing enough to follow her.

So much suffering.

And Kagome? She hadn't had her family killed or cursed. She'd escaped with nothing more than a broken heart. The jewel was whole, Naraku dead, her errand complete, but Inuyasha was not hers and she doubted he ever would be. After all, she was his love's reincarnation, a pale echo of the woman he truly desired. She would give him the jewel so that he could make his wish and then she would return home through the Bone Eater's well, a time portal between modern day Tokyo and feudal Japan. There was nothing left to keep her in this era; she should go home to her own time. Nothing but her friends and adopted son...

Like a manifestation of her own thoughts, the hanyou stepped into the ring of firelight, the warmth of the flame licking over his silver hair and small, triangular ears. His golden eyes were cast down, refusing to meet her own. Closing her hand over the jewel, and she dropped her head hid her face with her black bangs. She knew he could smell her tears, but she didn't want him to see them.

"What the hell are you still doing here?" Inuyasha grouched at the one of the four people around the fire who was not a part of their group. Sesshomaru, his full demon half-brother, ignored him, continuing to stare at a point in space that none other could see. As beautiful as he was deadly, with a mane of impossibly long, silver hair and golden eyes, he was a contrast of effeminate grace and masculine presence. He sat at ease on a log, one knee bent and the other straightened before him, with his right, and only, arm resting on his knee.

"How dare you insult my Lord with your filthy words!" Jaken hopped to his feet and squawked in a shrill voice, his two-foot green body gyrating in indignation.

"That's enough, Jaken," Sesshomaru said quietly when Rin stirred in her sleep. The child had been resurrected by Sesshomaru and now followed him like a puppy. Though the demon lord seemed indifferent and compassionless, he protected her fiercely.

Inuyasha levered a glower at the imp, then turned back to his brother. "Don't you have something better to do than hang around with us?"

"Such as searching for dead women in the middle of the night? You are a fool, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru did not honor the hanyou with a glance, nor did he understand his brother's obsession with mortal women, a trait passed down from their father, perhaps, or maybe his only choice because no self-respecting demon bitch would have him. Still, he had this lovesick woman-child following him around and watching him with sad eyes while he chased the tail of an undead creature who could not bear him pups. It was obvious from her scent that she was nothing more than graveyard soil and old bones, while the other one was very much alive... and crying...again.

Her tears disturbed him, the harsh smell of salt out of place in these quiet woods. They were a sign of weakness to a youkai, but the girl was not weak as most of her peers. He'd known her in passing for the last four years, but it had been as enemies. Not a typical human, she had stood up to him fearlessly on more than one occasion, ruining his armor and defending his brother with a temerity that had captured his attention like no other human had, save for Rin. Over the years, he'd begun to recognize her as the source of Inuyasha's growing strength, though he doubted his idiot brother realized it.

He was not with the group by choice; he had been tracking Naraku himself and his group converged with that of his half-brother's when they confronted the evil hanyou. A coincidence, perhaps, but their combined strength had finally felled their enemy. The only reason he was still with them was because Ah-Un had been severely injured in the fight. Rin had been heartbroken, so instead of putting the two-headed dragon out of its misery, he had allowed the miko to treat it. The fact that she had offered to help, and then nursed it with the skill of a healer, had momentarily surprised him. The dragon was now resting with Rin curled up by its side.

"Shut the fuck up. You don't know anything," Inuyasha snapped, his cheeks heating with guilt. He knew what he was doing to Kagome, that every time he went after Kikyou, her deep brown eyes would get a little more miserable. He'd listened to her cry herself to sleep on more than one occasion when she thought he was still out looking for his first love. He hated himself for hurting her and was terribly afraid that one day, she might not forgive him, but couldn't resist seeing Kikyo. And that was all it was, he simply had to see her, sometimes hold her, but it was a betrayal of Kagome nonetheless.

"I know you are a worthless half-breed and an idiot."

"Yeah? Well why don't you tell that to my Tetsusaiga," he drew his sword with a flourish, brandishing the rusty blade as it transformed into an enormous fang. It was the only thing he had on his brother, the fact that he possessed their father's sword of destruction and Sesshomaru did not.

"Osuwari," Kagome spoke softly, her eyes still fixed on her fingers wrapped around the jewel. With a startled yelp, Inuyasha crashed to the ground, dragged down by the enchanted rosary around his neck.

"Kagome!" he protested, glad to have an excuse to be angry with her. It was better than the crushing feeling of guilt that had been plaguing him. When the spell released him, he picked himself up off the ground and sheathed his sword, sending a seething glare at his brother. He meant to send one to Kagome as well, but she wasn't looking at him. The anger faded and his ears drooped. Shoulders slumping in defeat, he slouched over to her and seated himself by her side.

"Kagome," he started, but was cut off by a wave of her hand.

"It's okay, I understand." She opened her hand, revealing the pink orb in her palm. "It's yours now." She took his hand and turned it over, rolling the jewel onto his palm.

One wish, just for him.

He stared at the Shikon no Tama, feeling its power radiating through his skin. For as long as he could remember, he had wanted to become a full demon. Did he still want that? He didn't know; the few times he'd transformed into a full demon, he had almost lost himself to bloodlust. Would Kagome stay with him now that the quest was over? Would it even be fair to ask it of her? He didn't know that, either. His heart was torn between two women who shared the same soul. Once, he had mistaken them for the same person; how wrong he had been. "I...you should keep it until we get back to the well," he said, but let it sit in his palm.

Kagome nodded, the pain in her chest constricting her breath. He expected her to go home. And why wouldn't he? She'd just be in the way of his relationship with Kikyou. She wrapped an arm around Shippo's slumbering form, holding him close against her stomach. He burrowed into her warmth, curling his fingers into her white blouse.

"That wish is wasted on one such as you. It should be given to one more deserving of its power," Sesshomaru said apathetically, as if discussing the weather.

"Someone like you, right? Fat fucking chance."

"I did not say that."

Inuyasha snorted, fisting his hand around the jewel. "Bastard. I wish our places were reversed; then you'd understand."

As soon as the words had tumbled over his lips, pink light streamed out from between his closed fingers. The light engulfed him, and then reached with cold fingers to take hold of Sesshomaru. Blinded by the brightness of the Shikon's magic, the humans could only shield their eyes with raised arms. Shippo whimpered quietly against her, turning his head away from the light, but did not wake.

Gradually, the light faded away, leaving two stunned brothers staring at each other across the campfire. Inuyasha saw himself as if he was looking in a mirror, but he knew that was impossible. He had been next to Kagome a moment ago, and he was still there... but it wasn't him! His mind reeled in confusion. If he wasn't him, then who was he? The impassive expression and slight narrowing of the other's eyes sent a chill through his body, raising his hackles: he knew that look. And he knew who he was.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, placing her hand on his red clad arm and staring up into his face.

His silver ears rotated toward her and his amber eyes lowered, fixing her with an icy stare. "Remove your hand from this Sesshomaru."

Kagome gasped and snatched her hand away as if it had been burnt. It was Inuyasha's face, his body, but it was not his soul staring at her from those pools of gold. Jaken uttered a strangled cry and fell backward in a dead faint.

"Kagome, I'm over here," Inuyasha said shakily, not liking how close she was to his brother: his brother, who was wearing his body. Clumsily, not used to his increased height or the loss of an arm, Inuyasha stumbled around the fire. The smell of her fear, the sound of her heart hammering in her chest permeated the air, and she trembled slightly as she leaned away from him. His heightened senses told him that she was afraid of him and he fought against the instincts that urged him to press his advantage; that the female should submit to his will.

"It's me, Kagome," he captured one of her hands in his, holding it awkwardly in unfamiliar claws. She flinched, instinctively scooting closer to his brother, who stared at her with distaste.

"Inuyasha, what have you done?" she whispered, extending hesitant fingers to touch the crescent moon crest on his forehead.

Sesshomaru resisted the urge to rub the place on his arm that still tingled from her touch. His heart had lurched in chest when she'd placed her warm fingers on his arm. For a moment, his entire attention had been fixed on the dark-eyed female who gazed up at him with such concern, and then he distanced himself from the confusion caused by his body's responses. Was this the curse of human blood, this uncontrollable flux of emotion and instinct? Sesshomaru had maintained a tight grasp over his youkai blood. It was apparent that Inuyasha could not.

"The fool has made his wish," Sesshomaru stated, opening the hand that clutched the Shikon no Tama. Transparent and empty, it lay in his palm like a sphere of polished quartz. He tipped his hand, letting the thing roll out and onto the ground. Sesshomaru felt his ears rotate to follow the small tinkle as it hit the dirt; hanyou ears, now his ears.

Black rage exploded from the pit of his stomach, strangling coherent thought. He drew back his fist and slammed it into face of the demon in front of him, snarling in satisfaction as he felt bones crunch under his knuckles. Before his brother could recover, he followed with another punch under the jaw, snapping Inuyasha's head back and knocking him backward onto the ground.

Scrambling in the dirt and falling when he tried to put weight on an arm that didn't exist, Inuyasha snarled back, the pain in his face evaporating as he felt his face elongate. This cold fury him was nothing like the blind wrath that gripped him in his hanyou body.

"Osuwari! Osuwari!" Kagome screamed shrilly and stood, frantic to break up the rapidly escalating fight, Shippo clinging to her shirt and yowling in protest. Sesshomaru's neck was yanked down by an irresistible force and hit the dirt with a painful thump, the rage evaporating into shock. Again, he was slammed into the ground, unable to fight it.

"Hiraikotsu!" Sango sent her bone boomerang into the demon lord who was transforming as she watched. She understood that it was Inuyasha, but too many battles had shaped her instincts, and the boomerang was out of her hand before she could think. It hit him in the stomach and pinned him against a tree.

"Stop it, you two! This isn't going to solve anything!" Kagome snatched the jewel from the ground, holding it so tightly that her fingernails bit into her skin. "You'll be hurting your own bodies."

Blinking sleepily, Rin glanced between the tall, graceful demon against the tree and dog-eared one on the ground. "My lord?" she asked, approaching fearlessly and peering up at Inuyasha.

"I ain't your lord, runt," he pushed the boomerang off of him, freeing himself and warily eyeing his brother, who was fuming in the humiliating position in which he was kept. "And this wasn't my wish. I wanted to be a full demon, not a jackass."

Kagome made a frustrated noise in the back of her throat. "Inuyasha no baka! This was your wish and now the jewel is dead." She paled and sat heavily next to Sesshomaru's prone form. "The well..."

"Kagome, I-"

"No! You never think, do you? You've squandered you wish and the now well is probably closed!" She burst into tears, burying her face in her hands.

"Don't cry, Kagome." Horrified at his own stupidity and Kagome's sobs, he tried to touch her shoulder.

She batted his hand away. "Don't touch me, Inuyasha! Osuwari!"

The air was knocked out of him as Sesshomaru hit the ground hard, a small crater forming around his body. Growling, he rolled his eyes to glare up at the hysterical human. She had yet to realize her mistake and he made a mental note to somehow rectify this situation. He was Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands, and a human female would not subdue him.

Inuyasha winced and backed away, almost wishing it were he on the ground. More than any other time he could remember, he deserved a good sitting. "I didn't mean-"

"Osuwari!" she yelled in his face, balling her fists. He simply stood there, a stricken look on his face.

"Stop that at once, wench!" Sesshomaru snarled from the ground, his voice muffled.

Kagome blinked several times, then looked down at the demon lord turned hanyou. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Sesshomaru-sama."

Inuyasha's jaw dropped. "Don't apologize to him!" The comical look of outrage was out of place on those elegant features.

Miroku opened his eyes and propped himself on an elbow. "Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing? Did she just call Inuyasha Sesshomaru?" he asked the demon slayer standing next to him watching the scene with wide, disbelieving eyes.

"Houshi-sama, you sleep like the dead. Inuyasha accidentally wished on the jewel, and now he and Sesshomaru have...well..." she waved a hand at Sesshomaru the hanyou, who had reclaimed his seat on the log, his indifferent expression belied by the twitching of his silver ears. Inuyasha, the youkai, sat several feet from Kagome, hands planted on the ground between his feet, knees splayed apart.

He dropped backward onto his sleeping roll with a big sigh. "I've always said he was dense. What is our next move?" Sango just shook her head, completely at a loss.

XxxxxxxxxX

The wind hissed through the long, brown, dry grasses and tossed her hair into her face. She tucked the unruly strands behind her ears, and then pulled an arrow from her quiver. Her eyes searched the field for the jewel shards she knew were there; though injured, Naraku's evil aura permeated the air.

A patch of grass suddenly flattened, then moved parallel to her position, catching her eye. Squinting against the afternoon sun, she thought she saw a glimmer of pink...yes! There they were! She shouted to her friends and pointed to the waving grass, notching an arrow and releasing it in one fluid movement. The arrow flew true, arching over the field in a corona of purification.

A gray-green tentacle shot out of the grass and knocked the arrow aside, but not without sustaining damage. The tip burst off, pulpy and wet, then fell into the grass, smoking with foul, purple miasma. More tentacles erupted from the prairie, snaking toward her. Hiraikotsu spun through the air, cutting through two tentacles at once and returning to its mistress.

Something slimy wrapped around her ankle and wrenched her off her feet, hitting the ground hard on her stomach. She screamed as she was dragged toward the hub of those writhing fingers of flesh, her bow forgotten in the grass.

"Inuyasha!" she cried, her fingers scrambling for purchase in the dry soil. Blades of grass slipped through her clenched fists, slicing through the soft skin of her palms as she was pulled inexorably closer to the monstrosity, and Inuyasha did not come.

"Inuyasha!" Her throat burned with the force of her scream. Another tentacle wound around her other leg, squeezing her calf. She shuddered with revulsion and kicked frantically, trying to dislodge the slimy thing. It tightened its grip, sliding further up her leg.

A heavy gust of wind bent the grass and she was able to see her friends: Sango cradling Miroku who lay sprawled in the grass, already in the grips of the saimyoushou poison, Inuyasha scenting the air, then running after Kikyou, Rin wailing as the dragon thrashed and bled.

"No, Inuyasha! I'm over here!" she extended her arm toward his retreating back, fingers grasping at the empty air. The breath was squeezed out of her as a tentacle wrapped her chest, twining around her neck to cover her mouth. Choking on the bitter taste of slime, her panicked eyes watched him disappear into the forest without a backward glance.

Kagome sat up fast, gagging and coughing as she struggled to breath, sweat drenching her body. It's okay, Kagome, you were only dreaming," Shippo whispered to her, clinging to her clammy neck. He'd almost woken her when she'd begun to toss in her sleep; now he wished he had.

She pressed a hand against her pounding heart, panting slightly. Of course it was a dream; that wasn't how it had happened. Inuyasha had rescued her after that first tentacle had grabbed her ankle. He'd lopped off the end of the tentacle, showering them both with purple ichor, then gathered her into his arms and leapt away from the fray. That had only been the beginning, and he hadn't left her until after the battle.

Glancing around the campsite, she searched for the hanyou in question, sighing in relief when she found him lounging on a log and staring into space, his red haori and hakama a beacon in the darkness. The waning moon glinted off of his cascade of silver hair and triangular ears. Feeling her stare, his golden, expressionless eyes slid toward her and she gasped. Not Inuyasha...

She dropped her head quickly and slouched back into her sleeping bag, trying to get comfortable in her damp clothing. Shippo's warm body helped stop her shivering, but didn't touch the frost on her heart. Inuyasha was not at camp, which probably meant that he'd gone looking for Kikyou again.

XxxxxxxX

Sesshomaru listened to the rhythm of the girl's breathing slow as she slipped in slumber. He found it interesting that she feared him more in this body of his brother's than in his own. But she had woken up scared, reeking of human fluids. Such vile, messy creatures, human were. Always something disgusting either going in or coming out of them. Irritation rose in a swell and a frown settled on his face. Though a half-breed, his brother's nose worked passably well. How could he stand the company of three of these filthy creatures?

He smoothed his features when he realized that he'd allowed his emotions to show on his face. Yes, the great taiyoukai had emotions, but it was weakness that prompted others to display each thought and emotion on their faces and bodies. He knew he had a reputation for being cold-hearted and indifferent; had carefully fostered that image with years of discipline and an iron will. Give the enemy no more information that was absolutely necessary and maintain the advantage of surprise; it had served him well for centuries. Lord Sesshomaru kept his thoughts and his council to himself.

However, he could not seem to exercise that control over this half-human body. It almost seemed to have a mind of its own, prompting him to do things he would never, in his right mind, had have done. He clenched his fist, remembering the rage that overwhelmed him and the satisfaction of feeling his knuckles smashing into his brother's face. Such behavior was undignified, utterly beneath him. To think that he, Sesshomaru, had started a fistfight when the great Tetsusaiga had been sheathed at his hip.

Reflexively, his eyes crept to his father's mighty fang lying next to Tenseiga and Tokijin. Inuyasha had not been pleased when he'd realized that he could no longer wield his sword. Kagome had insisted that they remove their swords before another fight broke out and they'd agreed; Sesshomaru because he had yet to figure a way out of Kagome's subduing spell and Inuyasha because he didn't like seeing his brother posses Tetsusaiga.

Sesshomaru had desired the sword since he'd learned of its power, sure that his father would bequeath it to his heir. When the old dog had died and left it to his younger son, Sesshomaru had been furious and refused to accept his father's will. The sword had been enchanted to prevent full demons from using it, but better it be useless and in his hands than used by Inuyasha.

Which begged the question: why had he not yet killed his half-brother? He had tried several on several occasions, but each time, he had stopped for one reason or another. He would not admit to defeat in any of their battles, though it may have seemed like he had been beaten to others. The time had simply not been right, he decided with a small nod. Though after this complete and utter foul-up, all thanks to the carelessness of his sibling, his hands itched to pulverize him. Now he was forced to stay with the group until they figured how to undo this spell. Returning to his lands in this condition was out of the question. He had wanted Tetsusaiga, but certainly not like this.

His eyes strayed to the sleeping miko before he could stop them. What was it that she saw in Inuyasha? The image rose in his mind of the girl, huddled over his brother with tears in her eyes, shielding him with her own body. And Inuyasha repaid her loyalty by sneaking off after the undead woman when she had fallen asleep. Sesshomaru didn't care; it wasn't his problem. His brother was a beast, and beasts had no honor.

Except that now he was the beast.

XxxxxxxxX

"Stop where you are, demon!" Kikyou's stern voice halted him in his tracks. He felt her aura flare and his own strengthen in response to the challenge by an enemy power. With a struggle, he withdrew his youkai, trying to seem non-threatening to the priestess through the trees. He had been so excited when he'd finally found her scent on the wind that he'd momentarily forgotten that she probably wouldn't recognize him.

"Kikyou, it's Inuyasha," he called softly, still not used to the velvety sound of his voice.

"You lie. I sense the aura of a full youkai, not a hanyou."

"Listen to me, Kikyou," he stepped from the screen of trees, and then dodged to the side quickly as an arrow hit the tree next to his face. "Kikyou..." he whispered as he finally caught sight of her. Standing straight and proud under an enormous oak tree, she notched another arrow to her bow. If it were not for the injury on her shoulder that leaked magical essence and the musty odor of clay and bones, he could have sworn it was the same woman with whom he had fallen in love. 'It is the same woman,' he insisted to himself. 'She may have changed a little, but she's still my Kikyou!'

The pale, eerie light of her soul collectors glimmered around her, lighting the depths of her narrowed eyes. Twining around her with serpentine tails, each one paused over her injury and glowed briefly before moving on. Ever so slowly, her injury was knitting.

Her fingers tightened on the fletching of the arrow and Inuyasha shook himself out of his reverie. "You have to believe me, it's Inuyasha."

"How can this be?" Kikyou held the bow steady; now that she had seen the look in his eyes, she thought that maybe it was he after all, but he was also a demon and could not be trusted. She had seen this demon before, fighting against Inuyasha... her eyes roved over the moon on his forehead, magenta stripes on his cheeks. Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands.

"There was an accident with the jewel..." he trailed off as Kikyou's eyes lit with understanding and she lowered the bow, dropping the arrow into the quiver on her back.

"The Shikon no Tama should never have been entrusted to my reincarnation," she said scathingly. "She is not powerful enough to keep it safe."

"It wasn't Kagome's fault! It was mine," he admitted, averting his gaze from her piercing eyes.

"As I said, she could not handle the responsibility, so now you reside in your half-brother's body. And the jewel?"

"It's just a dead rock, now."

She nodded once. "Why are you here, Inuyasha?"

His head snapped up. "You were injured during the battle and I thought-"

"I do not need your protection."

He took several quick steps forward, using his demon speed to reach her before she could protest and wrapped his arm around her, crushing her to his chest. She stiffened at first but could do nothing in that iron embrace, then relaxed against him and closed her eyes, feeling Inuyasha's soul through the unfamiliar body. How she missed his companionship, their conversations, the afternoons they would spend wandering the fields, Inuyasha trailing her and always on guard. All that was lost, wasn't it?

No matter what she did, Inuyasha always came back to her, despite his affection for her reincarnation. She had claimed his life as her own, and he had claimed hers in return, but she no longer wanted to drag him to hell. She had learned to exist as an undead creature but still desired to live the life as a normal woman. 'Well,' she corrected herself, 'I would rather not toil in the dirt with the peasant women of the village. Physical labor does not suit me.'

Her eyes popped open as a realization struck her. Inuyasha had said that the jewel was now nothing more than a rock, which meant that it had not been purified or destroyed. Could it be that she could gain an advantage from this situation? She hardly dared hope, but the glimmer that kindled in her heart refused to be smothered.

Chapter 2 – Provoking the Miko

Kagome groaned and rolled over, trying to shield her face from the bright morning sun. Why was it that no matter where she chose to sleep and how dense the forest canopy, a ray of sun managed to hit her in her face? It couldn't hit her somewhere else? A muffled protest and small flailing feet forced her to uncurl and release the angry red ball of fluff.

"I'm sorry, Shippo," she mumbled, sitting up rubbing her eyes with her balled fists.

"Feh," the kit huffed, burrowing back into the sleeping roll.

Kagome smiled at his Inuyasha-like response and glanced around for the hanyou. For the last couple of nights, he's stuck around, much to her delight. Perhaps Kikyou had sent him packing. A girl could hope, couldn't she?

She spotted him in the tree above her, staring down at her with a strange smirk. It had been two full days since he'd made his careless wish but she still couldn't get used to the range of emotion that flowed across the ex-demon lord's face. She had supposed that his face was immobile, like a woman who'd had one too many face-lifts, but that apparently wasn't the case. Each expression fitted his graceful features with a breathtaking beauty.

She blushed, realizing that she was admiring Sesshomaru. 'No, no, it's okay. I'm admiring Inuyasha, not Sesshomaru.' But no matter how she rationalized it, she had to admit he was good-looking, the kind of guy one would find on a poster her in school friends' bedrooms. She recalled a poster that Eri had bought recently, a muscled hunk wearing nothing but a pair of cut-off shorts, and blushed harder, not even wanting to go where this train of thought was leading her.

"What are you staring at, wench?" Inuyasha snapped down at her.

Kagome jumped guiltily. "Nothing, Inuyasha. Did you sleep well?"

"Who could, with you snoring like a troll?"

"I don't snore!"

"The fuck you don't!"

"Inuyasha!"

Sesshomaru cut in, the harshness of his borrowed voice at odds with the formality of his speech, "You will refrain from using such language around Rin."

Ignoring him, Inuyasha continued, "You snore so fucking loud they could hear you in the next village."

"Osuwari!" Inuyasha's smirk spread across his face into a wide grin as his brother was thrown to the ground. "Inuyasha, you did that on purpose!" Kagome stomped her foot in anger, then hurried over to Sesshomaru's prone form. She had to stop saying that word; Sesshomaru did not have a sense of humor about the subduing spell, or anything else for that matter.

She kneeled next to the demon lord, worrying her lip with her teeth. This wasn't the first time that Inuyasha had provoked her into sitting his brother; she was sure that he found some kind of perverse pleasure in it. "I'm sorry! I know I say this a lot, but I really mean it." His hanyou ears were flattened against his head, a growl vibrating against the soft soil of the forest floor. "Please don't be angry with me."

Rin sat next to Kagome, peering down at her idol with concern. "My lord, Rin is sure that Kagome-sama did not mean it."

Kagome nodded vigorously and clasped her hands under her chin. "I... I promise I'll make it up to you."

"You may start by removing these beads," he said coldly as he picked himself up off the ground, resisting the urge to wrench the accursed thing from his neck. He'd tried that already and had ended up with burnt palms.

Inuyasha shouted from his perch in the tree, "Ha! I had to wear it, now you gotta!"

Kagome looked up at him pleadingly from her position on the ground. "Now, Sesshomaru-sama, I explained why I can't do that."

"Yes," he said bitterly, "because when we are returned to our bodies, you want the beads to be in place. But we are no closer to a solution than we were two days ago."

"I know," she whispered, staring at her hands in her lap. It was true; she had no idea how to fix this. She still wore the lifeless jewel around her neck; the cold stone against her skin was somehow comforting. Inuyasha had scoffed at her but she just couldn't give it up, not after everything they'd done to get it.

She'd fibbed a little about her reasoning for removing the beads. They were her connection to Inuyasha, and she was afraid that once that link was broken, he really would be lost to her. As long as he wore them, he would come back to her, at least in order for her to take them off. In all fairness, she should take the beads from Sesshomaru and put them on Inuyasha, but she doubted the he'd sit still for that.

"Breakfast!" Sango called out cheerfully from the campfire. Shippo's head appeared from underneath her sleeping bag, blinking sleepily. He spied Rin clambering to her feet to get her porridge and wrinkled his nose, his green eyes flashing. Though he didn't really like the gloppy stuff, he sure wasn't going to let the girl eat it all. With a flick of his puffy read tail, he scampered over to where Sango was scooping porridge into bowls. Inuyasha jumped out of the tree with an undignified whoop. Even Jaken tottered toward the food with a minimal amount of grumbling.

"Won't you join us, Sesshomaru-sama?" Kagome asked quietly as she climbed to her feet.

"I do not eat human food," he replied, turning away from the rambunctious sounds of breakfast being served and eaten.

She sighed heavily. He hadn't eaten or slept since he had joined their group, which was beginning to worry her. Sure, Inuyasha didn't sleep much, but he was always eating. If the demon lord didn't swallow his pride and take care of his body, he would soon find that it wouldn't work like it should. She supposed that she'd have to let him figure it out for himself, but her heart ached to see anyone suffer, even Sesshomaru. "Are you sure?"

He nodded once and walked over to Ah-Un. After a cursory glance over the dragon's wounds, he sneaked a glance at the girl out of the corner of his eyes. Why she would care about whether he ate or not mystified him. He did not consider himself their ally; their current arrangement was by necessity only and when things returned to normal, they would become enemies once again. But she tended to him as if he were a part of their group, one of her friends.

His ears twitched as her voice rose in frustration; Inuyasha was once again upsetting her with idle insults. Recognizing the tone, he knew that she would soon holler out the hated word and humiliate him. This would not do.

His lips curled back in a snarl as he picked up several smooth stones and lobbed one at his brother, eyes glowing with satisfaction when he yelped in pain.

"Ow! Whaddya do that for?" Inuyasha whirled toward his half-brother, rubbing the lump on his head.

"You are provoking the miko. I suggest that you stop."

"Or you'll what?" Inuyasha growled, eyes beginning to bleed red.

Sesshomaru fought against the urge to growl back and answer the challenge with his claws. No wonder his brother was such a violent idiot; his blood was wild. With enormous effort, he kept his heart rate steady and his face expressionless, the only signs of his struggle visible in his pinned ears and clenched fists.

"As much as I hate to say it, he's right, Inuyasha. You've been picking on Kagome for the last two days. Give it a rest, already," Sango wagged the serving spoon at him, one hand planted on her hip.

"Why are you taking his side?" he demanded of the taijiya, awkwardly trying to cross his arms over his chest before he remembered that he only had the one.

"I'm not taking anyone's side, I'm just telling you to lay off. You, too!" she sent a speaking glare to the monk, whose hand had crept uncomfortably close to her rear.

He gave her an innocent look and took a dish from the pile next to her. "My dear Sango, I was merely-"

"Save it."

Inuyasha huffed and plopped down next to Shippo, snatching the kit's bowl and downing the contents. Shippo yowled loudly and ran to Kagome. She cuddled him, and then got him a new bowl of porridge, promising him a piece of candy after breakfast. The little kit dried his tears and finished his breakfast in her lap.

'What has gotten into Inuyasha?' she wondered. He had always been gruff with the kit, but lately he was aggressive and downright mean! He was as bad as when Kouga came around. Was this some kind of male dog thing? She didn't know, but by kami, she was tired of it. As Shippo unwrapped the lollipop she had produced from her backpack, she scooted him off her lap and approached Sesshomaru as he tended to his dragon.

"Uh, Sesshomaru-sama? Thanks for sticking up for me." She scuffed the toe of her shoe in the dirt, her hands clasped behind her back.

"This Sesshomaru does not require gratitude from a human. I simply did not wish you to say that again."

Kagome blushed. Yes, she had been about to say it; Inuyasha made her so mad sometimes! "Well, thanks anyway. Here, let me do that." She knelt next to him, loosening the bandage on the dragon's side, careful to not pull on his scales, and applied ointment to the deep gash in his side. Ah-Un relaxed under her nimble fingers, whuffling when she replaced the bandage and gave him a tender pat. "I think he's well enough to travel."

"Indeed."

"Yep! You'll be just fine, won't you?" she directed this last comment to the head that nudged her arm gently. She grinned and stroked his scaly nose.

"What are they eating?" Sesshomaru asked suddenly.

"Huh?" Kagome followed his gaze to Rin, Shippo, and the lollipop that Rin was pulling out of her mouth and handing back to Shippo. She jumped to her feet and hurried over to them. "Guys, that's not sanitary! Why don't I get you your own lollipop, Rin?"

XxxxxxxxX

Inuyasha stomped at the head of the group, fuming. She had thanked him. Thanked his brother. That had not been his intention! Why couldn't she just shoot at him like she used to? 'Because she's kind-hearted,' his conscious reminded him. 'The same reason she's put up with you for so long.' The fact was that he didn't like Kagome paying attention to any male except him, and that feeling had increased tenfold since he'd been thrown into this body. Even her contact with Shippo bothered him. He wanted to drag the kit away from her, shake him, and make him understand that Kagome was HIS!

Flinching, Inuyasha imagined the sitting he'd receive if Kagome could hear that thought, but he couldn't deny that his blood sang a song of possession when it came to the girl. And to see her attending to his brother, an alpha male who challenged his authority... well, he'd do anything in his power to see him humiliated, even if it meant irritating Kagome. She'd get over it, like she always did.

His mood blackened as his mind wandered to his agreement with Kikyou, yet another betrayal of the girl in his thoughts. She'd promised to look into reversing the spell and had told him to meet her on the night of the new moon, which was now only five days away. At first he'd been hesitant; that was the night that his demon blood receded, leaving him a mere mortal. But he wasn't a hanyou anymore; his brother would be submitted to that particular torture. That thought lightened his heart and he grinned, cracking his knuckles as he pictured his brother as a weak human.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome's quiet voice started him and he glanced down at her. She smiled tentatively.

"Yeah, what is it?" he asked gruffly, secretly pleased that she'd joined him. Walking close to him, she had to hurry to keep up with his long strides and he slowed his pace in deference to her.

"I thought you might want some company. You don't mind, do you?"

"Keh."

"It's just that we haven't been getting along very well lately and, well, you've been acting strangely and I thought we could talk about it."

"I ain't been acting strange. Something's wrong with your brains." Her face fell as soon as the words were out of his mouth and he looked away, mildly ashamed for upsetting her. When he sensed her begin to pull away, he scrambled to smooth things over. Damn girls and their need to talk about everything.

"I'm all... outta sorts. Everything's changed." He huffed, knowing he wasn't making a lot of sense but unable to describe it any better.

Kagome nodded as if she understood. "It's the demon blood, right?" At his nod, she gave him an intensely questioning look. "Do you like it? Being a full demon, I mean?"

"That's a stupid question: of course I like it. I just wish I weren't in that bastard's body," Inuyasha snapped. It was true for the most part: he like the heightened senses, increased strength, and the heady rush of power through his veins. However, he didn't like the foreign instincts with which he didn't know what to do. As a hanyou, his human blood had tempered some of the more animalistic urges.

Kagome was scowling again; she hated being called stupid, even if it was indirectly. Crossing her arms over her chest, she thought of the few tender moments she had had with him and how long it had been since they'd shared one. Which led her mind to the awkwardness at hand: Naraku was dead; the jewel was powerless; once they had returned Inuyasha and Sesshomaru to their proper forms, what then? How could she ever know his feelings if he wouldn't talk to her?

XxxxxxxxX

The sounds of merriment and laughter filtered through the walls of rough wooden hut, reminding the companions of their recent victory, though no one felt like celebrating. Firelight caressed their faces, etching deep lines in Kaede's skin and throwing into sharp relief the cloudiness of her remaining eye. The humans sat around the fire, Shippo curled in Kagome's lap. Inuyasha sat with his back against the wall and his legs crossed, staring wistfully at Tetsusaiga. Normally, the sword would lean against his shoulder but he couldn't touch it; he'd already tried. Sesshomaru stood apart from the group, calmly at ease and feigning disinterest in the conversation but in truth, he listened carefully to ever word said.

"Are you sure?" Kagome asked doubtfully, staring at the empty jewel in her hand. "It looks pretty harmless to me."

"Aye, the fact that it still remains on this earth is proof. The Shikon no Tama is merely dormant and still could pose a threat if brought back to life," Kaede admonished her.

"But Kikyou said that by wishing on it, the jewel would be purified."

"My sister believed that a selfless and pure wish would purify it. Not a careless mistake," she cast a narrow glance at Inuyasha, who snorted and looked away.

"Can it, ya old bag. I don't need you scolding me, too," he grouched back.

"Inuyasha," Kagome protested, twisting around and placing a small hand on his arm. He sulked but quieted. "Kaede, what should we do?"

"I know not, my child, other than to keep it safe. It will not attract demons like before, but if it falls into the wrong hands..." Kagome's eyes widened as the miko trailed off and she hid the jewel in her blouse.

"Could it be used to reverse this travesty?" Sesshomaru spoke from the shadows of the doorway for the first time.

All heads turned toward him and Kaede frowned. "Ye mean wish yourselves back, milord? I suppose, but I doubt that the jewel would grant a second wish from the same person. Ye would have to learn to use the power of the jewel without wishing, and that is a dangerous path indeed."

Sesshomaru crossed his arms over his chest; cold eyes glowing and silver ears flicking in irritation. "Do you dare insinuate that this Sesshomaru is not up to the task?"

Kaede refused to be intimidated, "Milord, I do nothing but warn ye that the jewel's power can be insidious and evil, even when the user has the best of intentions."

"We hear your warning, Lady Kaede, and will take heed. We will use the jewel only as a last resort," Miroku stated solemnly.

"Aren't we getting ahead of ourselves?" Sango asked. "We don't even know how to bring the jewel back to its full power!"

Raising her voice slightly, Kaede moved the subject away from the jewel. "Ye would do well to find the Yama-dera monastery in the highest crags of the northern mountains. The monks there have spent their lives delving the mystery of the soul."

Miroku nodded, "I have considered that place, but wanted to get your opinion first, Lady Kaede, before mentioning it to the group. They do not take kindly to demons, but we may be able to convince them to help us."

"I think it is your best chance to undo this magic."

Silence descended on the hut as each was absorbed into his or her own thoughts. Kagome pressed a hand to her chest over the cold lump of the tama and gazed sadly at Inuyasha, tracing the magenta stripes on his cheek with her eyes. She felt partially responsible for his predicament... if only she hadn't handed him the jewel when she had. There was no reason for him to have had it at that time and she knew he could be careless. She should have given to him right before she left for her own time.

She sighed heavily, remembering their earlier argument about the well. Kagome had wanted to test it to see if had closed. Inuyasha had flat out refused to let her try.

"No fucking way! What if you can't get back?" he'd almost yelled in her face.

"But my family-"

"Can wait! We need you here to fix this!"

"You had no problem letting me go home a week ago," she snapped, then immediately regretted her words. He stared at her, expression clouding with hurt. Finally, he'd turned away, looking off into the distance.

"Keh. You're not going, and that's final."

Kagome hadn't had the heart to argue; who knew that Sesshomaru could have puppy-dog eyes? Maybe it was the hanyou inside that had brought them out. Regardless, he'd been distant with her since and could have given his brother a run for his money in cold stares.

Breaking the silence with a sharp clap of his hands, Miroku stood. "We are missing our own victory celebration. Come, my dear Sango, have a drink with me," he tugged on the taijiya's hand.

"I don't know..." she blushed but allowed him to lead her out of the hut.

Gently nudging Shippo awake, Kagome transferred the kit to her shoulder and got to her feet, dusting off her short pleated skirt and heading toward the door.

"Where do you think you're going, wench?" Inuyasha eyed her narrowly.

"To join the party?" she paused with her hand on the reed mat that served as a door. "You know, the one they're throwing in our honor?"

His glower intensified but he got off the floor, following her to the doorway. "Just don't get any funny ideas about going through the well."

Chapter 3 – The Request

Kagome eyed the bottle in her hand... or was it two bottles? She couldn't be certain; the thing kept blurring and doubling in an almost alarming manner. She did know that it wasn't typical behavior for a bottle of sake. Did Miroku and Sango know that they left her with possessed wine? Where were they, anyway?

She lifted it to her lips and took another long drink, smiling as warmth filled her gut and then abandoning the empty bottle as she tried to stand. It didn't taste possessed; in fact, the more she drank the better it tasted. She'd never really liked sake before, but this stuff was pretty darn good!

The sounds of drums floated up to her on the night air, reminding her of why she was alone on a hill drinking sake in the first place. She had been standing on the fringes of the party when a village boy had swept her into a dance. Reluctant at first, she'd found herself laughing as she stumbled through the moves, learning quickly the intricate steps then exchanging partners with the girl to her right. The women had formed an inner ring, the men encircling them. The circles wove in and out of each other, and then shifted so that everyone had a new dance partner. It was the most fun Kagome had had in a long time until she was unceremoniously yanked out of the arms of a burly young man and against the hard chest of a demon.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" his eyes had blazed down at her, bleeding red as he pulled her away from the revelry.

Already beating hard from her exertion, Kagome's heart had pounded against her chest. "Inuyasha, I was only dancing!"

He'd spun her around, snarling as he'd... sniffed her? His silver hair had brushed against her cheek as he'd scented her skin, his nose dangerously close to her neck. Her eyes had fluttered closed as his breath had tickled her ear, sending tingles spreading through her body. Heat had radiated off of his skin, bathing her face in warmth as his eyelashes danced across her temple.

"Oi, wench, what's wrong with you?" Kagome was snapped out of her daydream as a hand steadied her under her elbow. "Where are Miroku and Sango?" He sniffed at her, "You been drinking?"

"Uhh... they left..." Kagome was having difficulty keeping her balance, especially with Inuyasha so near. Her face exploded into a blush as she staggered against his side. Had he almost kissed her back at the village? The question pounded in her head to the rhythm of her heart.

"Figures. I'll take you back to the village," he glanced down at the top of her dark head, wondering why she was so agitated. Feeling his eyes on her, she let her head fall back, meeting his sunset gaze.

"Inuyasha," she started, wanting to ask him if he'd meant to kiss her when Miroku and Sango had found them. The issue was rapidly becoming an obsession to her, fueled by four years of unrequited love and too much sake.

The smell of her sweat, the high flush of her face was driving him mad, even worse than earlier this evening, when Miroku and Sango had walked in on them. He'd fled, afraid and embarrassed of what he'd been about to do. His instincts had screamed at him to show that impudent village whelp that this female belonged to him and it had taken all of his self-control to not bury his teeth in her neck where his claim could easily be seen and smelled.

Her lips parted slightly as she caught her breath and he tightened his grip on her arm, flaring his nostrils as he inhaled her chamomile scent, tainted with alcohol. The stars reflected in her luminous eyes and he was trapped, just as surely as if he were bound with chains. He could only stand still as she wrapped her arm around his neck, pulling his head to her and pressing her lips against his. He growled against her mouth, tasting sake on her breath. Her body molded against him and he caught her around the waist, pressing her to him as he grazed fangs over her bottom lip, teasing it to part further. She complied with a moan, opening her mouth to allow his exploring tongue, her body wracked with new sensations and a deep, untouchable ache. Thoughts scattered to the wind as his lips moved against her with bruising force.

Nibbling down her jaw to the soft spot on her neck where her blood pounded against his lips, he suckled the tender skin, feeling her shudder against him. His fangs extended, pressing against the flesh he had captured in his mouth. The first drop of her blood sent a jolt through his system and he reared back, despite the urge to drive his teeth further into his neck. She staggered backward, falling heavily now that her support had been removed, her eyes brimming with tears and hurt.

"Wh-what's wrong?" she asked, her voice quavering.

He crouched in front of her, extending his hand toward her but afraid to touch her. He'd made her bleed; how could he have hurt her like that? He'd made it his life's task to protect her but he'd started to bite her! "Kagome, I-," he whispered as his fingertips brushed her neck, capturing the drop of blood that oozed from the tiny puncture.

Her eyes wove to the smear of scarlet, then to his lips, also stained red. "You bit me?" she was having trouble focusing on him, the moon on his forehead blurring and doubling. Sudden confusion hit her and she shook her head frantically. Moon? Had she been kissing Sesshomaru? No, those were Inuyasha's eyes...

He caught her flailing hands against his chest, breathing a sigh of relief when recognition flooded her face. Leaning forward, he kissed her lightly, chastely, and pulled her to her feet. "Come on, wench, let's put you to bed." He blushed furiously, realizing what he'd just said, but Kagome didn't seem to notice. She was leaning against his side, letting him hold her up, eyes drifting closed as she stumbled forward.

XxxxxxxxX

Twilight washed the sky with violet and indigo, the last rays of the setting sun glowing on the underside of distant clouds and setting them ablaze. The dark, glassy surface of a small lake was occasionally broken by fish as they leapt out of the water, snapping at low-flying insects. Crickets tuned their discordant fiddles in the lush grasses; oblivious to the still figure perched on the slight rise overlooking the water.

Sitting as far away from the cheerful group as he could possibly get without prompting a search party, Sesshomaru silently listed the indignities that had been performed on his person in last the week, growling softly in his throat as each replayed in his mind. So far, he had fought along side his brother, been turned into a hanyou, touched by a human, subdued by a human... several times... now, he was a human.

Fortunately for him, his brother's hanyou blood was strong (he had to admit this now because to do otherwise would be to say that this Sesshomaru was weak, and that Would Not Do), so his somewhat dulled senses were not too much of an inconvenience. However, as a human, his head felt like it was wrapped with cotton. His nose was stopped, his eyes blurred and darkened, his limbs felt like dead weights... now he knew why his brother had squalled as an infant when his human nights had come over him. This was miserable.

His few consolations were that the group had left that filthy human village this morning, his brother had wandered off, and Jaken had returned to the Western Lands to keep things in order while he was gone. Mainly, his purpose was to squelch any rumors he might hear about his lord's predicament. The fewer people who saw him like this, the better.

"Sesshomaru-sama? Are you okay?" Kagome called softly, watching his black hair flutter in the light of the stars.

The demon lord turned hanyou turned human kept his back to her. "Leave me be, human."

"I just thought you might be hungry..." she walked up to his back, then tucked her skirt under her legs and sat next to him.

The smell of salty broth hit his weak human nose and his stomach growled in response. Damn this human body and its needs. Without his permission, his eyes slid toward her, locking on the strange container full of noodles.

"Come on, you have to eat something. Just try it?" she coaxed him sweetly, nudging one of his hands with the cup. His stomach rumbled again and she gave him a knowing smile.

Sesshomaru weighed his options carefully. He could either continue to refuse the repelling human food or eat it and assuage the gnawing pit in his stomach. Neither option was very good, but the longer he stared at the noodles the more savory they smelled. Kagome dug a big bite out of the cup with a pair of chopsticks and waggled it at him as if he were a pup. That was the last straw. Snatching the cup and sticks out of her hand, he crammed the wad of noodles into his mouth. He hardly tasted the first bite; he'd swallowed it so fast. By the third bite, he'd decided that it wasn't bad for human food and it felt wonderful in his stomach. It wasn't until he was slurping down the dregs, having abandoned the chopstick as a hindrance to getting the food in his mouth, that he realized the girl was still sitting next to him and watching him intently. He lowered the cup and stared back.

"Umm...are you still hungry? I've got potato chips and Pocky in my bag..."

He nodded curtly and she grinned, hopping to her feet and rushing off. He didn't know what either of those two things was, but if they were anything like those noodles, then he would eat them. She returned moments later and unceremoniously plopped down next to him, her cheeks flushed with exertion.

"The last bag of garlic flavored potato chips, and these are Shippo's favorite!" she exclaimed triumphantly, ripping into a brightly decorated bag. She thrust it into his hands, and then opened a small red box. "Oh, and I brought you some soda." Placing the tip of a transparent container under her shirt, she twisted the top, extending it to him when she had finished. He sniffed at it, surprised when tiny drops of moisture shot out of the top and onto his nose.

"Watch," she said, and then tipped the thing to her lips, baring the creamy expanse of her throat for a long moment. Sesshomaru's gaze was locked onto her pulse point and he cursed the new moon that had taken away his ability to hear her heart beat, smell her blood through her skin. Did she even know what she was doing? That such a simple gesture was an invitation to one of his kind? A tiny puncture marred the perfect skin of her throat and his eyes widened. Had his brother tried to scent-mark her? The stupid fool probably hadn't realized what he was doing; he obviously hadn't succeeded. A tiny spark of satisfaction lit in the pit of his stomach at the thought, but he was too distracted to analyze it.

Her face swam into focus and he realized he'd been staring, and at a human, no less. He took the proffered bottle and set it next to him, directing his gaze toward the dark lake at the bottom of the hill on which he sat.

"Uh, Sesshomaru-sama?" He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "You've got something on your..." she tapped the side of her mouth with a long finger. Cocking his head, he wondered what on earth she was doing. "Here, let me." She gently brushed his cheek with her fingers, then grinned and stood up. With a small wave, she walked back to the small campfire and her friends.

Too surprised to move, he sat frozen in place, the ghost of her fingers still tickling his cheek. A human girl had touched the face of Sesshomaru, Lord of the West, and he... had let her.

XxxxxxxxX

Inuyasha glanced over his shoulder, nervously. 'You're not doing anything wrong,' he told himself. Then why did he feel so guilty? 'It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that you just lied to Kagome about where you were going,' he thought. But there was no way he was going to tell her that he was meeting Kikyou, not after what they'd share the night before. He could still taste her blood on her lips and as much as it terrified him, he wanted more.

"Inuyasha," Kikyou voice drifted to him as she materialized, wrapped in her soul collectors.

Thoughts of Kagome fled as the undead miko glimmered in the twilight, the pale, limpid shine of her demon familiars casting her beauty in an ethereal glow. Untouched by the breeze, her straight black hair hung down her back in a neat tail, contrasting against the snowy white of her haori and crimson of her hakama. Even dressed in miko's clothes, Kagome had never possessed this grace or elegance.

"Inuyasha," she repeated, tired of his staring. He shook himself and walked forward, wrapping his arm around her back and crushing her to him. She adjusted in his embrace to avoid the spikes of his armor, stroking his back with her fingertips. "I have found a way to return you to your body and give you what you really want," she spoke quietly against the smooth silk of his haori. His arm tensed and his breath washed over her face as he pulled away to look down at her questioningly.

She nodded, a soft smile curving her lips. "But you must bring me the jewel."

His eyes widened as his mouth dropped open. "I don't know, Kikyou..."

"Do you want to stay like that forever?" she asked harshly, her dark eyes narrowing at his hesitation, her palms pressing against his chest.

"No, but Kaede mentioned that the Yama-dera monastery might help, and she said that the jewel was too dangerous to use."

"Of course she would," she scoffed. "No one understands the true power of the jewel except for myself and Naraku, and even he did not use it to its fullest extent. And as for the monastery... the monks are not know for their tolerance of youkai. They would sooner shoot you than help you."

"Kagome still has the jewel. Maybe you should explain this to her and ask her for it?" Inuyasha suggested hopefully, almost whining when Kikyou pulled away from him.

"Inuyasha, you know how she begrudges me your love. Do you really think she would give it to me? But she would give it to you..."

He stared at her pleadingly, knowing the truth in his heart. Yes, Kagome resented the undead priestess. Naraku's infant had used that very resentment against her, years ago. He'd tried to twist it into hatred for Kikyou, though Kagome's pure heart had resisted. It had been the day that he'd found out for sure: I'm in love with Inuyasha, she'd screamed, as he'd burst through the wall to rescue her. He'd never acknowledged that desperate cry but had held it close to his heart nonetheless.

The problem was, he loved both women. Just as he'd told Kagome long ago, he would never be able to forget Kikyou or the love they had shared – still shared.

Kikyou watched the emotions flit across his crested face. If events occurred according to her plan, that face would be answer to her tired heart's desires. Inuyasha would be upset, of course, but he loved her, first and foremost. He would forgive her, just as he had forgiven her previous betrayals.

He sighed heavily, dropping his chin to his chest. If he'd had his hanyou ears, they would have drooped morosely. "There's no other way?"

Cool fingertips brushed the stripes on his cheeks, raising the fine hairs on his neck. Curling his fingers around her hand, he pressed her palm to his cheek. "No, this is the only way."

XxxxxxxxX

Kagome stirred restlessly in her sleep as Inuyasha glided into the ring of firelight cast by the dying campfire. He froze mid-step, his amber gaze locked on her face as it contorted in the throws of some dreadful dream. Shippo whimpered and snuggled closer under her chin, instinctively trying to offer what comfort he could, even in his sleep. The scent of her fear spiked just before she bolted awake, blinking up at him with wide, glazed eyes.

"Inuyasha, you're here," she said breathlessly, as if he would evaporate with the dregs of her dream.

"Keh. Where else would I be, wench?" he asked gruffly, pushing away the little voice that reminded him exactly where he had been.

She shook her head, casting away the shadows and doubts instilled by her recurring nightmare. He had promised to protect her, right? She twined her fingers together, letting her frustration strain the joints of each slender digit. "Of course, I'm sorry."

Inuyasha's eyes darkened for a moment; it was not she who should be apologizing. He covered the knot of her fingers with a striped hand, pulling her wrists apart and saving her fingers from distress. "Go back to sleep," he mumbled.

He grunted in surprise as her wrist was wrenched out of his grasp and she flung herself against his chest, pressing her face against the silk of his white haori. He settled his arm around her back, holding her close as he inhaled the fragrance of her hair. Kagome was so precious to him; somehow, being with Kikyou made him forget that, even if just a little.

The jewel poked into his chest uncomfortably and he sighed, knowing that he had to get it from her somehow. He could ask her for it, but she'd want to know why he wanted it, especially after Kaede's warnings. He'd have to lie about bringing it to Kikyou or explain that he'd been meeting Kikyou in secret, neither of which appealed to him. He could take it, but it would shatter her trust in him. Did Kikyou realize what she was asking of him?

This is the only way, Kikyou had said. Maybe... maybe he could wait a while, see if the monks would help them first. If that plan failed, then he would have to get the jewel and Kagome would have to know why, but she would understand.

She relaxed against him, sighing softly as she dozed off. Gently, he settled her back into her sleeping bag, pulling the top under her chin to ward of the night's chill. Two gleaming eyes peered at him over her shoulder, accusation and disappointment shining in their green depths. He scowled at the kit, silently threatening to haul him away from her, and the eyes disappeared into the sleeping bag. Irritated, Inuyasha considered going after him, but that would wake Kagome and lead to questions he didn't want to answer and from the stare the fox child had given him, Inuyasha was fairly sure that he wouldn't have any qualms tattling on him.

With a growl, he sat with his back against the tree closest to Kagome's sleeping form. Glancing over the rest of the campsite, he realized that there was an extra human in their midst leaning against a tree next to Rin... no, it was his brother in human form. How could he have forgotten? Inuyasha grinned, 'I hope that bastard is enjoying himself.'

As if sensing his scrutiny, Sesshomaru's brown eyes slid open and stared back with disgust. Inuyasha snarled, showing a bit of fang, half hoping that he'd challenge him and he could end his miserable life. Of course, he'd be killing his own body, Inuyasha remembered belatedly, which increased his irritation tenfold. Stupid fucking wish.

Sesshomaru continued to stare at him, recrimination weighting his gaze to the point that Inuyasha became uncomfortable. 'Now what's his problem? Is everyone against me tonight?' Inuyasha shifted, refusing to break eye contact first but wishing he'd go the hell away.

Chapter 4 – Broken Chain

"Watch this!" Shippo exclaimed, flourishing a small green leaf then turning into a gigantic pink sphere with googly eyes and spindly limbs.

Rin squealed in delight and clapped her hands. "Shippo is amazing!" The balloon blushed a darker pink and popped back into an embarrassed but pleased fox child.

"Show her the horse," Kagome suggested, earning her a gratified grin from the kit. Fishing a small wooden horse out of his vest as he walked side by side with Rin, he proudly displayed it to her, then transformed into a larger replica of it. He reared back on his haunches, kicking his stubby forelegs in the air and whinnying before he took off down the path. Rin laughed happily and raced after him, waving her tiny hands in the air.

"This is stupid," Inuyasha grouched to Kagome.

"It is not! How long has it been since either of them have had a chance to play with someone their own age?" Kagome admonished him.

"Keh. Shippo ain't her age and he's just showin' off."

Kagome rolled her eyes and fell silent, not willing to continue the argument. Just another day before they reached the base of the mountains, then maybe two more day's climb to the monastery and they could return Inuyasha to his more pleasant hanyou self. She still had no idea why he was so relentlessly cranky, but if this is how he would behave as a full demon, then maybe it was just as well that he didn't get that wish.

Shippo and Rin came tearing back down the path, Shippo still in his horse form and Rin bouncing on his back and laughing. "Faster, Shippo, faster!" The poor horse was already panting heavily, but he obliged her, arching his neck and plowing forward with all the might his four stubby legs could muster.

"Shippo, watch out!" Kagome called to him, dodging out of the way of his frantic charge. The people behind her were not so lucky: Sango and Miroku walked side-by-side, Sango smiling behind her hand and the monk almost whispering in her ear. Sango noticed the danger first, grabbing the Miroku's arm to pull him out of harm's way and crashing to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

Goaded on by the girl on his back who shrieked for more speed as she clung to his mane and squeezed her eyes shut, Shippo skidded around a sandaled foot, kicking up a small dust cloud under his chubby hooves. Ah-Un's nostrils flared as he reared back, pawing the air with his clawed feet and tossing the reins that were wrapped around Sesshomaru hand. Yanking on the reins to control the dragon, his hanyou strength was simply not enough for the task and the dragon did not really recognize him as his master. Ah-Un broke free and lunged at the children, intent on saving his young mistress from the strange horse-beast.

"OSUWARI!" Kagome screamed and Sesshomaru slammed into the ground, narrowly missing being clobbered by the dragon as he launched over his head but receiving a heavy foot in the small of his back. Ah-Un snatched up Rin in his teeth by the back of her kimono and Shippo unceremoniously popped back into his fox form, sliding to a halt mere inches from a very angry pair of golden eyes.

All movement stopped for a moment, except for Rin who swung from Ah-Un's jaws.

"Hentai!" Sango reached around and slapped the monk, blushing furiously when the hand on her bottom only squeezed again.

"Lady Sango, you fell on me," Miroku explained as the taijiya scrambled off of him. "And you weren't complaining the other-" Hiraikotsu slammed into his skull, cutting off the remark as the monk fell backward, unconscious.

"Oh, Shippo," Kagome hurried toward the kitsune and inu-hanyou, face-to-face in the dirt. Ah-Un gently lowered Rin to the ground and she quickly followed. Both girls kneeled in the dirt to survey the damage.

Sesshomaru couldn't help the growl that leaked between his lips. Besides the fact that he had been 'sat', his back was on fire, throbbing fingers of pain radiating from where the dragon had stepped on him and into his limbs. He wanted to throttle the little kit, who quaked in fear, but his arms weren't obeying him. Only his fingers would clench in the dirt, digging up rivulets of soil in his excruciating frustration.

A short, bark erupted in front of him and rumbled into a long, low laugh. Kagome twisted on her knees to glare at Inuyasha, her brown eyes snapping in indignation. "Inuyasha, it's not funny!"

"It's fucking poetic justice if you ask me!" Inuyasha gasped out between laughs.

"Inuyasha no baka, osu-"

"Miko," Sesshomaru warned darkly and with a great effort, wrapped his claws around her ankle.

Kagome's attention snapped back to the demon lord, who was still on the ground even though the subduing spell had worn off. "Sesshomaru-sama, are you hurt?"

Sesshomaru wanted to deny it, especially in the face of his brother who was shamelessly laughing at him, but just stopping the human from subduing him had been a Herculean effort. He settled for growling, which ended in a moan as the miko's hands brushed the small of his back, a pitiful sound even in his ears.

"My lord, Rin is sorry!" The little girl's eyes shimmered with tears as she balled her fists in front of her mouth.

Patting her on the back, Kagome shushed her. "It's not your fault Rin, don't cry. Why don't you help Sango get some water boiling? I think it's time for a break, anyway."

XxxxxxxxX

"Oh, come on. It's nothing I haven't seen before," Kagome fussed with his outer haori, pushing it off of his shoulders and down around his hips, then tugging the inner haori loose as well. Sesshomaru laid stomach-down on her unrolled sleeping bag, snarling at each touch and generally being a very bad sport.

Thankfully, his brother had stopped laughing when Kagome had asked the monk to help her carry Sesshomaru off the path and to a secluded copse, where she'd pulled out her medical kit and sleeping bag. Inuyasha had been furious and had demanded to 'help', but she had chased him off with several barbed comments. For being a human, the girl had gumption.

Sesshomaru hissed as she placed a cold, damp cloth on the enormous bruise on his back. An ugly shade of purple, it was rapidly spreading across his back and down his sides. From his inability to move, Kagome was afraid that the dragon may have done damage to his spine, but the flesh was so swollen that she couldn't see anything. She let the cloth stay until it had warmed, and then spoke softly to the demon, "Now, Sesshomaru-sama, this is going to hurt a bit."

Walking her fingers down the ridge of his spine, she prodded ever so gently to make sure the bones were still aligned. As she approached the bruise, her touches became more insistent, less tender, trying to feel his spine through the inflamed flesh. His body jerked as her fingers danced over the connections and she harrumphed to herself.

"Well," she said as she rinsed the rag in the cold spring water next to her knees and laid it over the swelling on his back, "nothing's out of place and you can still feel everything, but you've got some major muscles knots and probably some tearing." Sesshomaru wondered vaguely how she knew this and was about to ask when she continued. "Once the swelling has gone down, I'll try to work out some of those knots, but in the meantime, we'll keep cold compresses on it. Drink this," she directed, poking a small tube into his mouth.

He didn't have the wherewithal to fight and sucked the warm liquid into his mouth, surprised that it didn't taste all that bad. Sweet, really, like her soda had been, but with a strange, bitter aftertaste. Sighing as the tension and pain eased out of his body, he let his eyes drift closed on the fog that was enveloping his brain.

A new pain dragged him out of the pleasant haze that he'd been wandering through, grinding and stretching the muscles of his back through his skin. He groaned heavily, blinking and squinting against the harsh light of a fire and an acrid, medicinal scent.

"Why d'ya have to touch him like that?" Inuyasha griped from past the fire, obviously irritated about something.

Kagome's soft voice sounded overhead, strained slightly as if she were performing some difficult task. "I've got to work out these muscle knots; he'll heal faster." Of all the schooling she'd done, her correspondence first aid and physical therapy classes were, by far, the most useful. After high school graduation, she signed up for the class on a whim and found that not only did she have a natural aptitude for it, she got a lot of studying done just cleaning up her friends after battles.

"Let him suffer," he grumbled back.

Something soft tickled Sesshomaru's nose and he brushed it away with his hand. At Kagome's happy gasp, he glanced groggily over his shoulder, somewhat startled to know that she was sitting on his butt.

"My lord, we were so worried! You slept for hours..." Rin sat next to him, Shippo dozing in her lap. His red tail flicked in his sleep, swishing across Sesshomaru's nose and making his eyes water.

"That's because you guys made the tea so strong," Kagome pointed out as she kneaded another muscle knot with her thumbs. Seeing Rin's eyes widen, Kagome quickly finished, "and that's okay because he needed the rest to get better."

Sesshomaru felt a warm, sticky substance hit his back, followed by Kagome's deft fingers, rubbing the stuff in and pushing into his sore muscles. Painful, yes, but pleasurable in an aching sort of way. He exhaled deeply as she slid a strong thumb up his spine, his breath returning in a rush with a heady lungful of Kagome's scent.

'Not bad, for a human, not bad at all,' he thought as he drifted through the sea of scents and sounds, the rhythm of her hands on his back the only thing grounding him to his body. To what he had been referring, her scent or her touch, even he didn't know. His eyelids drooped heavily before he could decide, sending him sinking back into oblivion.

XxxxxxxxX

Kagome tensed, fiddling with her bow and arrow as the wind bent the sunburnt grasses and blew her hair into her face. With an impatient hand, she brushed it out of her eyes, scanning for the jewel shards and evil hanyou that she knew lurked out of view.

Stalks of grass quivered as something passes through it, slithering quietly, stealthily toward her. She knew it was coming; she'd been here before, but all she could do was stand still, staring at an empty field. Sighing in relief when she spotted the glowing shards, she let her arrow fly, calling out to her friends to join the battle.

One of Naraku's fleshy tentacles whacked it away, exploding with pulpy splash of sludge and releasing noxious miasma. As if on cue, more tentacles twisted toward her, moving impossibly fast and twining around her ankles and wrists. Numb fingers dropped her bow as she was yanked off balance. She fell back; the wind knocked out of her and stars shooting across the backs of her eyelids. Bid of rock and sharp blades of grass bit into her skin as she was dragged over the rough ground.

"Inuyasha!" she had no breath left in her body, so she screamed in her mind. The tentacles bunched and stretched, slipping further up her legs as the tips caressed her skin like a lover's fingers.

She thrashed wildly, finally finding her voice. "Inuyasha!" she sobbed, arching her back to search for the hanyou. He was running into the woods, oblivious to her predicament. Maybe he didn't care?

Suckers attached to the flesh of her inner thigh, stinging the sensitive skin, and she shrieked, straining against the bonds on her limbs. Spiny black legs uncurled from the hub of tentacles, reaching high into the sky before slamming into the dirt. She could hear laughter, dark, mocking, and quite close.

"Kagome, Kagome!" Shippo patted her cheeks with his tiny paws, frantic to wake her. He sat back on her chest in relief when her eyes flew open, wide and glazed with panic. "You were dreaming again!"

"Oh, Shippo!" she gasped, holding onto the kit as if he were her anchor to sanity. "It was so real." Instinctively, her eyes searched for her protector. "Where's Inuyasha?"

"Uhhh... he's uhhh..." Shippo stammered, not knowing what to tell her. His sharp youkai nose had picked up Kikyou's scent hours ago and had hoped that the idiot hanyou would at least try to hide his liaison, but he didn't want to lie to his adopted mother.

"I understand," she bit out, kicking out of her sleeping bag and making a grab for her backpack.

"Where are you going?" Shippo asked, worry shining in his emerald eyes.

"I...I need a bath," Kagome said, shuddering at the feeling of those horrid tentacles touching her so intimately. She felt dirty, had to wash the memory from her skin. She hurried away from camp, not waiting for Shippo's hesitant reply.

She stumbled blindly up the path, vision blurred with unshed tears. She'd driven him away and into Kikyou's arms. How could she have been so stupid? Sesshomaru was healing quickly from his back injury; she probably could have stopped the massage therapy yesterday, but the book said to continue until even after the pain was gone. It wasn't as if she liked it or something... well... it was kinda nice to have a patient that didn't gripe and complain at her all the time. Since that time Sesshomaru had woken up under the effects of the painkiller, it was almost as if he liked it. In fact, it sounded like he'd been purring the other night...

'I'm so stupid,' Kagome's breath hitched in her chest as hot tears spilled over her cheeks. 'He's jealous. Why didn't I realize that before?' Her hands balled into fists, elbows straightening at her sides. 'He could have just said something.' She scowled at the ground, yelling her thoughts into the forest, "I'm not a mind reader!"

"There is no need to shout, human."

Kagome's head snapped up, her tears drying on her skin as she stared at the hanyou before her: bare-chested, white hair darkened to a deep silver by the water that saturated it. With two strong hands, he squeezed the water out of his long mane, and then flung it over his shoulder.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" she asked, stumbling over her words as her eyes roved his body.

Sesshomaru blinked slowly. "You're ointment has left me smelling... pungent."

Kagome blushed furiously and looked anywhere but him. She hadn't realized that she'd reached the spring; lucky for her that he had finished bathing. This was silly! She'd seen that chest hundreds of times! Sneaking a peak at him under her lashes, she wondered what it was about him that was so different. Was it his posture, his regal bearing, the cool confidence that shown from his yellow eyes? She flushed darker, repeating a mantra she'd heard on television, "Think unsexy thoughts, think unsexy thoughts." Her brain refused to cooperate; instead, it showed her what could be under the hakama, though strangely enough, it included two magenta stripes at each hip. For kami's sake, she was nearly twenty and still a virgin. She had friends who had done everything under the sun (and relished describing it in every lurid detail) and her experience was limited to high school biology! The image in her mind stretched luxuriously, lean, hard muscles flexing under pale skin. 'Think unsexy thoughts!'

Sesshomaru watched her reaction with veiled amusement. She had seen him with out his haori many times, had touched him like no other human had touched him, but now she blushes? He didn't know if it was the cursed human blood in his veins, the memory of her hands on his skin, the scent of her desire that curled through the air, or maybe a combination of all that prompted him to play with his brother's human.

Stalking slowly forward, he caught her gaze and held it, resisting the urge to smirk as she froze like a doe confronted by a wolf. She was an autumn leaf trembling on its stalk, as if his breath would break her free from the earth to tumble away in the wind. 'Does she look at Inuyasha this way? Is she seeing Inuyasha? How could he have not taken her yet?' he mused, stopping less than an arm's length from her.

The scent of stale tears hit him a moment before he saw the silvery tracks on her cheeks and he cursed the odiferous medicine that had handicapped his nose. He eased his stance, releasing her from her trance. Blinking rapidly, she came back to herself with a quick shake of her head.

"Miko, why are you here?"

"Why am I-" her eyes widened, shining briefly with horror, the memory of those tentacles branding her skin, the desperation and panic of being alone and left to her fate by her beloved sliding cold needles through her heart. Without thought, she collapsed against his chest, the sudden need for comfort overwhelming her discernment of where that comfort should come. All she knew was that she was scared and he was there.

This was not what he'd intended with his little game. Not even Rin dared to be so informal with his person. And now he had tears scalding his chest as a slip of a mortal girl sobbed silently against him. Her arms were curling into herself like a dying spider; her shaking not so tantalizing as it was pathetic. He should push her away, remind her of her place, but he didn't, the same compassion that had ferreted its way past his barriers with the coming of Rin was now urging him to place an arm loosely around her back. He obliged reluctantly, knowing that it should be a different chest she cried against, or at least a different soul. That wasn't possible, was it, his brother had gone to visit the undead creature and this poor thing probably knew.

She pulled away abruptly, wiping at her face, and he let his arm fall to his side, his impassive mask carefully in place. "I'm sorry, Sesshomaru-sama, I didn't mean to... Please forgive me."

He nodded once, but the motion was lost on the girl who stared at the ground, abashed and ashamed by her behavior. Where was the tough markswoman who stood up to demons and curses and kami-knew-what? Crying her eyes out over a bad dream on a man who could care less, that's where. She didn't look up until his youki faded into the forest and she was sure she was alone.

'Suck it up, Kagome, you big baby,' she scolded herself, quickly stripping and sinking into the warm water. A faint purple glow lit the water between her breasts, almost faint enough to be a trick played by the moonlight, and she rubbed her eyes, trying to clear the blur from her vision. Even as she watched, the glow was fading and she pulled the source from the water by its silver chain. The jewel: not quite as empty as it should be, a dying ember of sickly purple light vanishing from its core as she watched.

She dropped the thing back into the water, her stomach sinking and twisting with dread. 'This can't be good,' she thought as she hoisted herself out of the water. As much as she wanted a nice, long soak, she had to get back to the others and tell them about this.

She was completely dressed and wrapping her hair in a fluffy yellow towel when occurred to her that Inuyasha would be able to smell Sesshomaru all over her. Not just her hands; her face, her chest, her hair, her back...

"Oh, kami-sama!" Kagome groaned and tore open her backpack, pulling out the floral body wash her mother had given her. There was nothing to be done about her clothes, so she scrubbed at her face and arms frenetically, knowing that the jealous hanyou would assume the worst and not understand. Her heart leapt two feet from her body when Inuyasha spoke above her.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, suspicion lighting his eyes when she jumped and leaned away from him.

"N-nothing," she stammered, hoping against hope that she'd washed away all traces of Sesshomaru's scent. It was a fool's errand; the full demon had a keener nose than the hanyou ever did. Sure enough, he sniffed at her, eyes widening as he rushed forward. Kagome fell backward, cowering a little in his shadow. This Inuyasha frightened her; so much more than he had when she'd first met him, more than when his brother had inhabited the body before her.

"You smell like someone else..." he sniffed her face, ran fingers through her black hair and sniffed the strands. The smell was faint and familiar but he couldn't place it. He knew he was wrong before he said it, but asked it any way, "Kouga?"

"No!"

"Then who?" He was beginning to see red, his full youkai blood screaming at him that someone had touched what was his.

"Inuyasha, I..."

"I always wondered what happened between you two," he goaded, trying to trick it out of her since she obviously didn't want to say.

"Nothing ever happened between Kouga and I!"

The scent of the other male still clung to her skin and he inhaled deeply, letting his youkai instincts unravel the mystery for him. He knew this scent, had smelled it combined with her scent before, just not to this degree... The answer hit in the chest and he bared his fangs and growled, leaning into her so that their faces were inches apart. "But you'll throw yourself at my brother?"

"It wasn't like that!"

"I can fucking smell what it was like!"

Kagome just stared at him, her mouth open. Tears spilled over her cheeks unchecked and her breath hitched in her throat. "I'm s-so s-sorry," she gasped.

The salt of her tears cut through the anger and stung the wound in his heart that the scent had left. "But why my brother, Kagome? Why?" Sesshomaru's voice pleaded with her, the moon crest dangerously close.

"Because I was scared. And he comforted me. You weren't there..." Golden eyes glittered inches from her face, but not the right eyes. She almost swayed as vertigo hit her. Was this the man she loved? Who was she even talking to? "I'm so confused," she admitted, dropping her head and hiding her eyes with her bangs.

Inuyasha's clawed hand caught her chin, forcing her to face him. She squeezed her eyes shut, tears leaking between her sooty lashes and mingling with the spring water. Slowly, his hand slipped down her throat, leaving tiny red lines where his claws grazed against her skin. Shaking, she held still under his touch and he could sense her tumultuous emotions: remorse, self-loathing, uncertainty. Her heart thundered in his ears, her scent an aphrodisiac that calmed yet inflamed his youkai. Leaning forward, he inhaled deeply, his lips almost touching the blue vein that pulsed beneath her skin. His tongue snaked out, tasting the flesh that enticed him.

Moaning quietly, Kagome was wracked with a violent shiver, forcing the tips of his claws to pierce her skin. The aroma of her blood snapped Inuyasha out of the trance he'd fallen into, his eyes falling to the dormant jewel that hung around her neck.

Didn't she know that she belonged to him? Had she let Sesshomaru touch her because he looked him? That must be it... he had no choice, he had to take the jewel so that Kikyou could return him to his body. The monks were still two days away, thanks to his hated brother's injury, and were a doubtful ally. There was no time to loose.

With a flick of his wrist, he grasped the jewel and snapped it's fine silver chain. Kagome gasped and reared back, her hand coming up to cover what was no longer there.

Inuyasha stood, silver hair sweeping over her with a whisper. "He won't protect you," he said quietly, the ice in his voice sending a tremor through her spine. He turned his back and walked into the woods without a backward glance.

"Neither will you," she whispered after him, rubbing her throat where the chain had bit into her skin. An echo stirred in her body, a faint crack that mimicked breaking ice or the links of a chain being sundered. Just a small fracture that starred her heart then spidered over the surface, it shattered the tender muscle as surely as her arrow had splintered the jewel. Kagome's hand clutched her chest as the strength was leached from her bones, turning them to numb jelly. Wheezing and gasping, Kagome fell on her shoulder on the bank of the spring, not noticing that her hand and the side of her face had fallen in the water. Her throat constricted with the force of tears that threatened to flood her but only backed up behind her eyes.

He left you, the trees sighed as the wind danced through their branches. He chose her, an owl hooted as it glided overhead. Gone, gone, gone, the water lamented as it lapped against rocks, her cheek, tangling her hair.

'You knew he would choose her, and yet you stayed,' she reminded herself, her inner voice hollow and mocking. 'You gave him your heart knowing that his had already been claimed. In the end, he got what he wanted: the jewel and Kikyou. Fool.'

So much suffering for such a small bauble... and Kagome knew what it was to suffer.

A/N: Reviews may be sent to Rhiannon.oftheMoon@yahoo.com