InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Silver-Haired Beauty ❯ Stand Off!!! ( Chapter 18 )

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Jaken was happy. As he rode home, he marveled at the things you could learn when two people have a screaming match.

After dropping the bomb and running away, Shippo's presence as well as his own was completely forgotten by the two people having a Mexican standoff.

"Kagome go to bed now." Though low, the force of the hanyou's voice could have broken stone.

"I'm pregnant with twins!?" Likewise, his mate could have shattered glass with the high pitch she hit as she shrieked back.

Ears flattened against the sound, Inuyasha yelled out, "It doesn't matter if it's a litter, go to bed!" before advancing towards the girl in what looked like an attempt to physically place her there. He was brought up short by a shoe to the temple.

Gleaming with murderous intent, Kagome looked at her beloved and hissed, "How long have you fucking known?"

More stunned by the choice of projectile than the actual hit, Inuyasha mumbled, "Kaede told me today…a shoe?" Shaking his head at the realization of how he sounded, he straightened and yelled, "But Shippo told me it was twins. That bastard's known this whole time!!

Not willing to place the blame anywhere else, especially not on her little kitsune, she still screamed the first thing that popped into her head, "Now we'll have to get married!"

"I was planning it anyway you stupid idiot!!!"

Taken back a bit by the admission, she tilted her head in bemusement, "When?"

"Originally right after Sesshomaru got married, but after Kaede told me, I was gonna ask you in the morning." Sitting down on the floor, he shoved his hands up his sleeves and closed his eyes, "I already asked Miroku to perform the ceremony for us. Sango said she'd spread the word and I was going to tell your family and invite everyone we know."

He tried to sound non-chalant, but that natural cockiness kind of spoiled the effect. Inuyasha cracked one eye as he spoke to gauge her reaction, secretly pleased when her hand traveled to her stomach reflexively as she gazed ahead lost in thought.

At the words 'everyone we know' her attention snapped back on him with a fury. Rearranging her grip on the broken rolling pin so it mimicked a weapon, she repeated evenly, "Everyone 'we' know or just you?"

Shit. "Kagome, let me explain about Kuroi." making soothing motions with his hands, Inuyasha rolled slowly to his feet in order to edge closer to her.

A chunk of wood to the head stopped him cold. "Talk. Now." her growl was surprisingly good as she readied the other half of the pin.

With every sense focused on her and the pups she carried, he took a deep breath before starting. "Kuroi is honestly just an old friend."

"Who's almost two hundred years old, still claims to be human and you've been sleeping with since she showed up?! Pull the other one Inuyasha!!!" She cocked her arm but stopped when he hurriedly kept explaining.

"She is human and we never did anything, I swear! We really did just travel around together for ten years or so before I met Kikyo and I've only slept with her twice since she showed up, honest."

Jaken winced and shook his head. The last thing to tell an emotional female was that you had a long relationship with another woman before her and then mention an ex-lover in the same breath. Admitting freely to sleeping with the woman in question right after that? The hanyou must have been insane.

The scream almost brought down the roof.

"WHAT!!??!!"

The next chunk actually knocked the hanyou to the floor. A buzz in the air identified a distinctive miko tinge to the piece flung. 'Probably what gave that piece the strength to knock the bastard down.' Jaken mused as he watched the scene unfold.

"Ow bitch, that piece was enchanted!!" Rubbing at his forehead furiously, Inuyasha glowered and snarled at his mate. "We only slept, nothing else! Kuroi is human. I know that for a fact."

"How do you know baka? You couldn't even tell I was pregnant!!" A rather large chunk of firewood was being readied as the next weapon of choice.

Clearly the last hit had addled Inuyasha's brains because Jaken actually heard him casually toss out, "Because she tastes like one okay?" Realization at what just left his lips dawned on Inuyasha swift and terrible.

Silence, followed by the thin whistle as the log hit him square in the side of the head that time. "SHE WHAT?!" Two more smaller pieces followed the first with deadly accuracy as Kagome envisioned all the circumstances that could lead to a "tasting."

In his defense, the father of her children dug himself even deeper as he screamed, "I HAD to use my mouth so of course I could taste her!" BAM! Chunk to the shoulder. A yelp followed by swearing and a sizzling sound signaled that it had been similarly enchanted.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU TWO DO!?" Completely exhausted from shouting and pouring her magic into the wood, Kagome's chest heaved as she slumped to her knees in tears. "What did you do Inuyasha? Do you love her?" Pain filled eyes looked at him through a film of tears, "Do you love her like you loved Kikyo?" Uncertainty and fatigue drove her to a fresh bout of crying.

Moving faster than the little youkai could have imagined, Inuyasha scooped her up and pulled her close despite her weak protests. "Shh…I just had to suck some poison out of her leg once. That's how I know she's human. Her blood tastes completely human." Stroking her hair, he folded Kagome closer to him and positioned her across his lap. "I didn't tell you because I thought she'd be dead after all this time. I didn't know she was a hundred and fifty when we first met and I never thought to ask while we traveled." Kissing her head gently as her tears dried, he said simply, "I do love her though, but just as a little sister!" he finished quickly as a chunk of wood rose in her hand.

"I was as surprised as you about her being in dad's army. When she told us about getting enlisted after I got bound to the tree, it explained a lot though. Her youkai family I knew about because I met them." He laughed as he smoothed his love's hair, "She has twenty brothers and sisters, did you know that?" He felt Kagome raise her brows at that one. "All youkai. She said they drove her nuts sometimes."

Sniffling and snuggling closer, Kagome asked in a tiny voice that almost broke his heart, "So you guys are really just friends? Good friends?"

With a snort of arrogance, Inuyasha smirked. "Hell yeah, that's what I've been telling everybody! I even have an idea why she hasn't aged. You know my moon cycles? Well she…." he trailed off as he scented the air.

Sidling back behind the table he'd hidden beside, Jaken heard a whisper of cloth and a low growl pointed in his direction. "Inuyasha, what's wrong?" Kagome asked while the retainer tried to sneak unnoticed out the door. A vise-like grip stopped him as he was snatched up to face a pair of amber eyes promising a slow and painful death while a tight voice hissed, "Toad."

Praying to numerous gods and demons alike, the little youkai was surprised that they answered. What saved Jaken from imminent destruction, was a moan that faded to a whimper as Kagome pitched forward unconscious.

"Kagome!" Forgetting the toad even as he dropped him, Inuyasha dashed back to scoop up the fallen girl. Whispering soothing nonsense, he took her towards the bedroom. Not being stupid and seeing his chance to escape unmolested, Jaken took it and raced out the door.

Then got bopped on the head for his trouble. "Ow! Who the…?"

"Oi, Jaken!" While diminutive, the growl he heard had the potential to grow up and be quite impressive. Blocking the doorway by the sheer size of his own energy, Shippo cradled a rather heavy looking stick of wood at the ready in his small hands. Placing the end of it on the older youkai's chest, the kitsune warned softly, "Do not say anything about the pups or I'll kill you myself."

Sneering at the young cub and his threats, Jaken's words were cut off by another surprisingly strong blow across his face. A small hand fisted in the front of his robe and yanked him forward.

For a moment, everything about the kitsune from his posture, ears, growl and promise of death in the narrowed blue eyes, looked exactly like Inuyasha. Shuddering despite himself Jaken could only nod when Shippo shook him and snarled again. "That is my pack and if I so much as hear a whisper about those pups, you won't have to worry about Inu-baka in there. I'll be the one after you, and I can get in the places he can't even dream of. Understand?" He gave a shake to emphasize every word. "Not. One. Word!"

Apparently satisfied that he'd gotten his point across, Shippo gave a familiar 'feh' before bounding inside and closing the door.

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A haunted figure roamed the halls of the inu youkai mansion. Lord Yamatsu. He'd tried, hells knew he'd tried, but nothing seemed to work for him when it came to his sons. Stopping to sooth a maid that Sesshomaru had probably snapped at, he changed his mind. Inuyasha was actually coming around to him, it was the other one who was giving him a headache now.

Moving on when the poor young woman seemed calmer, he made up his mind to have a talk with his eldest child.

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Midori landed by the waterfall and looked around the moonlit banks. A shadow slid from the water, drawing her in. With a happy smile, she followed.

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*giggle* "Stop Inuyasha…that tickles!" *giggle*

*gr-r-r-r…* "…no…" *nip, nip, lick*

*gasp* "Inuyasha!" *moan…*

*murmur* "Thought you'd like that…"

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Shippo covered his ears with a pillow to drown out the various muffled thumps and noises coming from the room Kagome and Inuyasha shared. "Damned hanyou…" he muttered crossly before leaping out the window and skipping off into the surrounding forest. He didn't go far, just a few miles or so until his sensitive ears could hear nothing but the woods around him. A quick tug inside a special log produced a small sleeping bag, kindling, matches and snacks.

Looking ruefully at the dwindling supply, he made a mental note to ask Kagome for some more when she went home to visit. If Inuyasha let her out of his sight for more than a second that is.

The little kitsune giggled. While he might not have approved whole heartedly of Inu-baka, he did protect and make mama Kagome happy. Shippo's expression turn thoughtful as he built a small fire before climbing into the sleeping bag. But the idiot also made her furious, and sometimes really sad. 'Oh well,' he thought with an impossibly wide yawn before falling to sleep, 'as long as they love each other.'

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A figure flitted over the rooftops, pausing to watch the person in the center of the garden. Kuroi studied her intended from the roof and wondered exactly what he was doing. 'He gets calm again so fast it's creepy!', came the sour thought as she munched on a pilfered spring roll. Stuffing another into her mouth, she chastised her choice of snack. 'I can't help it though, I get hungry when I'm horny!'

Silently wishing again that her intended was just a little more impulsive like his brother Inuyasha, she smiled. Thinking about her old friend's expressive face, she munched on another roll. 'I wonder what Sessy's real smile looks like? Would it be like his father's, or his brother's? Maybe it would be purely is own.' Lost in that pleasant thought, she ate another roll.

She'd been lying when she said she would rather have had Inuyasha. He was sweet, sure, but way too much like her baby brother Kiso. Besides, he was heads over heels for Kagome. Leaning on an elbow, Kuroi tipped back her head and gazed at the stars. Kagome was a really good mate for him. Sweet, kind, and just a flash of spunk. They had a match too perfect to tamper with. Popping another roll in her mouth, the girl closed her eyes and chewed thoughtfully. Besides, if she and Inu had ever been meant to be together, Lord knows they'd had plenty of opportunities in the past, but nothing had clicked so nothing had happened.

Rolling on her back against the cool tiles, Kuroi snagged another roll. She didn't like it here. Only Yamatsu's presence and the occasional visits to Inu and Kagome made it slightly bearable. The head servants were snobs and the lower ones weren't risking being overly friendly.

Reaching for another roll, her hand met empty cloth. Surprised, she shook it out and watched the crumbs scatter in disbelief. "Fuck this." she muttered and rolled over to her feet in one fluid motion. She needed to release some energy. She needed to hurt something and get as much tension and sexual frustration out as she could.

The fight with Sesshomaru still had her altering between desire and fury, and the combination was making her dizzy. Surveying the heavy woods around the mansion walls, she spotted a part that looked particularly foreboding. Bounding stealthily from roof to roof, she took the last leap over the wall and landed lightly on the other side.

Sinister energy fairly flowed around her, bringing a delighted smile to her face. As a small swarm of oni and youkai centered in on her, Kuroi laughed wickedly under her breath to greet them, "Come to mama…"

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"Sesshomaru, I need to talk to you now!" thundered Lord Yamatsu. Having searched the halls of his mansion fruitlessly until a retainer directed him to the garden, Lord Yamatsu was in no mood to argue. He wanted to get a few things straight with his eldest, and he felt the boy had damned well better listen.

"I am sick and tired of your constant fighting with your brother Inuyasha. I don't care if he's only a hanyou to you, he's a son to me." Fairly growling with irritation, he continued when silence met his words. "I love that boy just as much as I love you, and it's been seriously pissing me off that the two of you can't seem to be on the same planet without a war breaking out! Hells bells, the only reason I chose a bride for you and not him was because I knew that block head would do everything in his power to avoid the girl if he felt it wasn't his choice.

"But you're not like that, are you? Oh no! Why avoid when you can just do everything in your power to piss them off instead?! And the worst part of it is that you look at them like they're trash under your feet while you do it! If nothing else, you should at least trust my judgment when it comes to picking a wife. I chose Kuroi for you because I saw so much of your mother in her." When even that admission failed to get a response or make Sesshomaru turn around, Lord Yamatsu sighed heavily.

"Look Sesshomaru, Jaken will not find anything out about Kuroi. She doesn't even know everything about herself." Taking a seat on the edge of the board walk, he hung his head between his massive shoulders as he spoke.

"Shinaki didn't find Kuroi in the woods by accident, son. I left her there to be found. In the southern part of my territory, there is a small village of humans who seek the perfect martial arts. They mimic the fighting stances of animals to strengthen themselves and their abilities. A long time ago, they found a way to turn the very animals they mimicked into human women."

Staring off into some hidden point in his past, the inu Lord unwound his tale. "Since they could mate and bear children with their magically created wives, they slowly became more and more powerful in their chosen arts. But if you needed a wife you simple choose the strongest animal you can subdue and change her into one, so of what use could the daughters that were born be? None."

Rubbing a hand across his face, he muttered curses as much against himself as the men he remembered. "So they slaughtered each and every girl born." Rising to his feet, he turned to walk a little closer to his son, "Kuroi's mother was a wild dog, and even changed, she was still a mother. She stole away and gave her infant daughter to me for safe keeping before killing herself. I guess she couldn't take a confined life as a human and would not let her daughter be slain.

"Shinaki was a part of your mother's family so I knew Kuroi would be safe and loved with her. I made sure to leave the baby somewhere that Shinaki would find her because I had a newborn son of my own to take care of back home. Inuyasha." Coming abreast of where Sesshomaru stood, he continued to look ahead. "Inuyasha and Kuroi are so close because they are brother and sister in spirit, having been born on the same day at almost the exact same time!"

"Kuroi is human, but she is more than that. No matter what else she is, you should not let that stop you from at least trying to care about her! No matter what else might have happened between you two since the start of this month, you should realize that your brother is not an obstacle to Kuroi's heart. Do you understand?"

For the first time since he'd stormed into the garden Yamatsu glanced down at his silent son, only to get stunned to his core.

Sesshomaru was crying. Except that the expression on his face was more akin torture. Mouth stretched wide in a silent cry, tears spilled down the pale face as Sesshomaru stared ahead with dead eyes. "…I…do…lo…her…" Chest heaving, a thin choking whine clawed it way out of his strained and tortured throat. Doubling over as though in terrible pain, he squeezed his eyes shut and smashed his head against the ground.

"Sesshomaru!!" Grabbing his son's shoulders, Yamatsu pulled with all his might, but even that couldn't budge the iron hard muscles locking the other to the ground. Puffs of dirt flew up as the young Lord continued to take deep gulping breaths.

"…"

"What?"

"SHE'S IN LOVE WITH INUYASHA!!!!!" the force of the backhand and the waves of enraged youki caught the older man completely off guard, sending him crashing back into the room. Stalking close behind, Sesshomaru flung open his closet door and smashed open a wooden box at the bottom. The stark rage in his son's face kept the old lord still even as he caught sight of the eerily familiar haori.

"She wants that bastard hanyou instead of me." came the sobbing rasp that built to a scream, "ME!! I'll kill them both with my bare hands!!"

Tearing apart his robes in his unthinking rage, Sesshomaru didn't notice the claw marks he made on his own skin as he struggled wildly out of his tattered clothing and into the voluminous robe. "Once they're dead, I'll be free of the both of them. Him with his filthy blood and her with the way she makes me feel!!" Leaping into the open air, he tossed back his head and howled into the night, "I AM LORD SESSHOMARU!!!"

Struggling to rise and stop his insane offspring, Lord Yamatsu collapsed and passed out.

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Unaware of the fate seeking her, the young woman fought on, enraptured in the call of battle. Nimbly dodging a column of acidic poison, Kuroi laughed in delight and put her fist through an oni's head. In her mind, she sang a lilting ditty to herself.

There's a monkey in the middle of the room. Ook ook!

There's a monkey in the middle of the room. Ook ook!

Monkey in the middle, monkey in the middle,

Yes there's a monkey in the middle of the room. Ook ook!'

A glancing whiplash from the tail of a centipede youkai caught her under the chin. Pain flashed bright across her range of vision, but she still managed to kick its head completely off its shoulders. "Love taps, huh? Well, tonight's the perfect night for it." Bracing her hands at her side, she tossed herself back into the fray thinking, 'Man this feels so good!'

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Dancing delightedly down the hall, Jaken made his way to his master's room. Ah, it felt so good to fulfill a job for Lord Sesshomaru. All his Lord had to do was wait until the new moon just a week away and the girl's secret would be revealed before him. Laughing at his good fortune, the little toad was almost tempted to mention the imminent birth of the hanyou's pups as well. The memory of two ice blue fox eyes made him rethink that quickly. Nope, the girl's secret would suffice.

Opening the door before him, he shrieked as his eyes took in the massive destruction. Jaken reserved the wail that brought the rest of the household running towards him for the body of the Lord Yamatsu lying in a pool of blood on the floor.

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Inuyasha cradled Kagome in his arms, completely at peace for what seemed to be the first time in his life. Rubbing a hand over the gentle dips of Kagome's stomach, he felt that same stupid grin pull at his lips. The tiny mewing sound the touch of his hand elicited just made it bigger. He'd heard Shippo leave earlier in the night, so the house was still and quiet. Closing his eyes, he let thoughts of the future and his new family pull him into a deep content slumber.

Then the night split with a scream.

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Wiping the ichor off her arms, Kuroi froze as a cry pierced the night. "That sounds like the little toad.." Frowning in bemusement, she kicked aside a head and looked around for a likely tree. Jumping straight up in the air, she landed on a limb. 'The mansion is…that way.' Bounding through the woods just as Inuyasha had taught her, she ate up the distance between her and the source of that cry. Slipping over the wall, she took her usual route across the roof until she arrived back where she had started that night.

Overlooking the garden by Sesshomaru's room.

The garden was packed with servants and retainers wailing into their hands and the air. Sneering at the noise, Kuroi leapt down to assess the situation. The loudest shrieks pointed her in the right direct, as she heard Jaken say, "Lord Yamatsu!!"

Pushing the wall of bodies aside, she forced her way to the center of their attention. Laying on the floor was Lord Yamatsu. "Oh my god what happened?!" Kneeling beside the massive man, she felt for a pulse. Thready, but there. Whapping Jaken over the head to stop him from screaming in her ear, she turned her fierce gaze to the crowd milling about. "One of you fuckers go get a healer! The Lord's not dead yet!!"

She was about to say more when a hand grabbed hers. Old eyes filled with pain pleaded with her to be silent, "Listen little daughter." Coughing up an alarming amount of blood, his grip tightened unbelievably. "Find Sesshomaru. He's going to kill Inuyasha and Kagome. He's insane, absolutely insane." Straining to speak against his rapidly filling lungs, he managed to say, "He's in love…with you, but thinks you love…" finally succumbing to the pain, Yamatsu passed out again.

The healers came and bundled their Lord away on a stretcher, leaving Kuroi and Jaken alone in stunned silence. "He loves me?" saying it aloud caused her heart to beat joyously within her chest. Groaning as the rest of the Lord's words sank in, she cursed herself. 'That baka thinks I love Inuyasha!'

She rose to leave, "I've got to stop him."

"Poor pups. Now they'll never be born." The mournful statement made her freeze. Eye twitching, she turned in a flash and snatched up the little toad. "What did you say?!"

Weighing the memory of the kitsune with the very real threat before him, Jaken spilled it all. "Kagome is pregnant with twins and if master Sesshomaru has snapped as Lord Yamatsu fears, then the lot of them are doomed!" His last words met empty air, since Kuroi had left just after hearing, 'Kagome is pregnant.'

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Sweating and heaving with a hand pressed against more than a few broken ribs, Inuyasha tried to figure out how tonight had gone so horribly fucking wrong. He'd been asleep, he'd been happy, so why in the hell was his brother in the yard laughing like a madman and dressed exactly like him?

"What the hell do you want Sesshomaru?" lips pulled back to expose lengthened fangs, he drew Tetsuaiga from it's sheath. The speed and ferocity of his brother's first attack had prevented him from doing more than dodge it and fling Kagome to safety. Praying she was all right, he focused on his cackling sibling.

"I tried so hard to do everything right." Pushing a hand slowly through his hair with one hand, Sesshomaru casually flung a wave of energy at his brother with the other. "I was such a good boy. The perfect future Lord. AND IT STILL WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH!!!"

Blocking the next massive wave with his blade, Inuyasha grunted as his abused ribs protested and stole away his breath. "What are you bitching about now fucker? At least you aren't a hanyou! Kaze no Kizu!"

Leaping wildly out of the way, Sesshomaru gave another mad chuckle. "Just a hanyou? Because of me little brother you are the strongest hanyou alive! Dokusou!!"

Pausing to gather Kagome out of the path of the sickly green mist, Inuyasha dropped her off a good distance away. "Run and hide. I'll try to distract him." Pushing her away before she could protest, he turned back to face his brother.

"You didn't make me anything Sesshomaru. I made myself!" Swinging to bring the full force of the Tetsuaiga to bear down on his brother, he was flung back easily. Golden eyes bled red as Sesshomaru's control slipped further away. Grabbing the front of his own white haori on one hand, he screamed out, "I fought you everyday for her, only for her! She wanted her son to be strong, stronger than any youkai he crossed so I fought you to give you that strength. I fought you so that some part of Ukiyo would still be alive!!" The next wave of energy knocked the already stunned hanyou through a line of trees.

Getting to his feet, Inuyasha gasped as a pain signaled more broken ribs. Sobbing reached his ears as his brother stumbled blindly in a circle. "I loved Ukiyo so much. She was a mother to me as much as you Inuyasha, so I made you stronger than you could ever hope to be. And how do you thank me?" Five beams of light speared the half-breed to a tree as the enraged youkai shrieked, "YOU MADE MY WIFE FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU!!"

Inuyasha felt himself being lifted into the air through the glaring pain right before he was slammed mercilessly into the ground. "Wasn't Kagome enough? Hell, wasn't Kikyo enough?! You've had two perfect loves in you life you worthless bastard, SO WHY DID YOU HAVE TO TAKE MINE?!?!"

"Sesshomaru stop, please!" Kagome climbed awkwardly over a fallen tree. "Inuyasha loves her, but only like a sister."

"Don't toy with me bitch!" Light beams cast by the Kousen were flung out towards her. Throwing her arms across her waist, Kgome screamed just as there was a blinding flash. When it cleared, the beams were gone. Looking around for Inuyasha, she stared down at where he lay, unmoving on the ground.

All the way down.

'Why am I floating?' she wondered, even as something powerful pulsed deep within her. It made her gasp at the strength of it. She felt, almost as though she were cocooned in warm light. There was something in it with her. A frown settled between her eyes. No, not something. Someone. Two of them in fact.

Her arms wrapped unbidden around her waist and the sense of other grew. Her children. So tiny, so beautiful. She could envision them within her and knew the source of the glow was from them. 'They're going to be so powerful when they grow up, but they're so helpless right now.' That's what she felt running through the warmth like a chilled breeze. They were powerful, but afraid. Laying her hand over the soft pink glow in her abdomen, she felt something else. Need.

'The babies need me?' At the thought of her children in danger the power flared more deeply and a calm settled over her. "Sesshomaru, I think it's time you left. You are sick and you are dangerous to all that I love." Envisioning a bow and arrow in her hands, Kagome wasn't surprised as they took shape with a white crackling brilliance. Her voice sounded distant to her ears as she stated, "I will not let you hurt them!" before letting it fly.

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Cursing as she flew through the night, Kuroi prayed she was in time. 'Please don't let them be hurt because of my stupid, stupid lie! Please, I'll give you anything, just keep them safe a little longer.'

She stumbled a bit as she rounded a bend, but pushed her protesting legs harder. 'That tussle with those small fry took more out of me than I thought.' As her breath caught at the painful stitch started building in her side, she wept anew. 'No' she pleaded to her frazzled body, 'not now. Gods, just a little further.'

Almost sobbing with relief as the woods grew more familiar around her, she burst into the clearing just in time to take in the sight of a glowing Kagome shooting an arrow of light straight into Sesshomaru's heart.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"