InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Steps ❯ One-Shot

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Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

A/N: Thanks to Animefreak42 and Chiquita_queen for betaing.

Steps

The first time he stepped into her life, she hated him.

“Who is that?” she asked Miroku shortly before the demon in white battled Inuyasha.

“Sesshomaru,” Miroku said. “Inuyasha's brother.”

As the brothers fought, anger brewed in Sango unlike any she had ever known. Her own brother was so dear to her heart, but brotherly ties meant nothing to Sesshomaru. When the fight was over, Sango hoped she'd never have to see such a vile creature again.

The second time he stepped into her life, she vowed to kill him.

Sango wasn't there to witness it when Sesshomaru held Kohaku helpless in his grasp.

“It was part of Naraku's plan,” Kagome told her afterward, “To pit us against each other by having Inuyasha's brother kill yours.”

The blood throbbed so loudly in her head that Sango didn't hear Kagome tell how Sesshomaru had let Kohaku go of his own free will. All Sango knew was that he had dared to threaten her brother. And she silently vowed: If Kohaku's life was ever again in Sesshomaru's hands, she would strike him dead.

The third time he stepped into her life, she hesitated.

Time had passed. Kohaku had been living under Kikyo's protection. But now Kikyo was dead, and he was lost. And when Kagome detected his Shikon shard again, Inuyasha caught scent of a disturbing discovery on the wind.

“He's with… Sesshomaru.”

Sango faltered. For Kohaku to be traveling with Sesshomaru, what did it mean? Could the vile creature actually be protecting him?

The fourth time he stepped into her life, she thanked him.

As Kohaku ran into her arms, she sighed with relief. He was safe, and by her side again. She felt Miroku's familiar gaze upon them, but a second, unsettling gaze as well.

Sesshomaru was there, staring at her in silence. Why did that unnerve her? He turned his back, and left before she said a word. But he'd read the gratitude in her eyes.

The fifth time he stepped into her life, she needed him.

Miroku had lied to her. His wounds went deeper than she ever knew.

They were alone when it happened. The Wind Tunnel began eating away at his body from the inside. Over and over he begged her to run…

By the time she heeded his call, it was too late. The winds were too strong. She screamed, and tore at the grass around her, finding nothing to brace against as the wind dragged her toward the vortex.

Above the howling wind, a clang rang out, and before her stood a blade embedded firmly in the earth. Clutching the handle was an arm clad in white, his body shielding her from the wind and the view she did not want to see.

When the cries of the wind ceased, and the white hair whipping around her face stilled, she collapsed into him, sobbing.

And the last time he stepped into her life, he didn't leave it.