Dealings of the Heart

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~ % ~ IK ~ % ~

Dealings of the Heart
By: ChibiInuTai

~ % ~ IK ~ % ~

Chapter 3: Demon Attack! Part 1

Just like promised, Inuyasha returned from the springs after a few hours of training and a quick bath. He walked into the dining hall to find Ayame and Sesshomaru sitting quietly at the table. He wandered over and occupied an empty seat next to Ayame. "So how was your day?" Inuyasha asked Ayame

"Incredibly..." Ayame put on a look of mock thoughtfulness, "boring! There is absolutely nothing to do around this castle!"

"Well excuse me for not being a psycho activist like my brother," Sesshomaru stated coldly from across the table, "if you wanted something to do I'm sure I could have given you to Nuriko for a good work down."

Ayame's eyebrow twitched as she glared at Sesshomaru, "now why in hell would I want to work for YOU of all people?"

"As long as you're in my castle I can order you around," Sesshomaru smirked at the fuming wolf demoness

"Nah, Sesshy is too soft to actually order those he calls 'lesser beings' around." Inuyasha laughed and threw an arm around Ayame's shoulders, "poor Sesshy is getting picked on!" Sesshomaru's death glare only encouraged him more. Inuyasha turned to Ayame, who was finding hard to contain her laughter, "did you know little Sesshy over there used to sleep with a teddy bear?" Ayame burst into a fit of hysterical giggles at the thought of Sesshomaru sleeping with a teddy bear

"If I remember, so did you." Sesshomaru glared daggers, swords and axes at his brother for the comment

"Yes, but, hehe, Inuyasha's aloud to because...haha...because he's boyishly cute!" Ayame bit out between laughs

"I'm not cute!" Inuyasha pouted but it soon turned into a grin, "I'm dead sexy!"

"Your neither of those," Sesshomaru smirked, "you're an ugly little beast. I mean look at these!" Sesshomaru reached over the table and tweaked the dog-ears on Inuyasha's head, "what are THOSE?"

"Shut up fluffy! You're just jealous!" Inuyasha smirked

"Fluffy?" Ayame repeated and then burst into another fit of hysterical giggles. Sesshomaru's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as he glared at his brother while Inuyasha glared back at Sesshomaru. "Aww don't worry Inuyasha, I think your doggy ears are cute!" Ayame stuck her tongue out at Sesshomaru who glared in return

"I already told you, I'm not cute!" Inuyasha laughed

"Yeah, yeah. You're dead sexy," Ayame finished for him

"Who's dead sexy?" Rin, the supervisor for the kitchens, asked as she entered the room followed by her three cooks, Eri, Yuka and Ayumi. Each of the girls following Rin carried a plate of food for the three sitting patiently at the table. Rin was wearing a snow-white silken kimono with her long black hair tied up in a loose bun. Her hazel eyes softened when they landed on Sesshomaru

"I am!" Inuyasha and Ayame said in unison and Sesshomaru let out a sigh of frustration

"Figures," Rin giggled as she signaled the three cooks to set down the plates of food, "personally, I think Sesshomaru is far sexier than either of you." Sesshomaru tried to hide the blush that was forcing it's way onto his face but a slight pinkish tint covered his cheeks. "Today we have grilled fish with a side of potatoes and a nice green salad for you!" Rin stated proudly, "I hope you enjoy!"

"Sesshomaru always enjoys the food no matter what it is," Inuyasha whispered to Ayame who stifled a giggle

Rin and the three girls turned to leave, "Rin?" Sesshomaru called her

"Yes?" Rin turned around to face him as the three other girls departed for the kitchens

The blush on Sesshomaru's cheeks deepened slightly, "Would you care to sit with us?" he asked her

"I would love to," Rin replied happily as she walked over to the table and sat down next to Sesshomaru. Immediately Rin and Sesshomaru struck up a conversation between themselves

"Happens every time," Inuyasha whispered to Ayame

"They must really like each other," Ayame whispered back, "I mean just look at them."

"Yeah, Sesshomaru's to afraid to ask her to be his mate and he always acts like such a fool when she's around." Inuyasha chuckled

"We have to set them up somehow," Ayame, giggled "we'll make a plan later." Inuyasha nodded and the two of them began to eat their dinner as they talked. Sesshomaru introduced Rin to Ayame and they seemed to get along just fine. The four of them talked and joked over dinner and Sesshomaru, like Inuyasha predicted, made a fool of himself.

~ % ~ IK ~ % ~

Naraku stood up and pulled a black and purple silk robe around his nude body. He tied it with a black belt and turned to face the demon he had just finished creating. The female demon stood before him with pale skin, emotionless black eyes and snowy white hair. She carried a mirror in her delicate, child-like hands and just stood silently, meeting the gaze of her 'father'.

"Your name shall be Kanna," Naraku finally stated and the child bowed slightly in respect but her gaze never left his. "Kanna,"

"Yes, master Naraku," Kanna's voice was child-like yet it held certain maturity and coldness that someone her age should not have. She always remained stoic on the outside but inside no one could tell what she was thinking of feeling, not even herself

"I want you to find some clothes and then meet me back in the throne room," Naraku ordered her and she bowed again in respect. Naraku turned away from Kanna and exited his chambers. 'She will be more obedient without a soul,' Naraku smirked as he made his way into the throne room, 'I shall have to test the extent of her powers.'

Naraku walked up to his throne and sat down, draping one of his legs over an armrest, while he rested his back against the other. He ran his hands through his wavy black hair attempting to find a way to test Kanna's abilities. Suddenly the door of the throne room burst open to reveal a male demon standing in the doorway. Naraku smirked inwardly, 'perfect,' he thought with a low chuckle

The demons name was Haryuomaru, a powerful elemental demon, who controlled the powers of ice and thunder. He wore a blue hakama with a pale yellow haori. Haryuomaru had shock blue hair with two golden streaks in it; his ocean blue eyes watched his master chuckling. "Kukukuku, Haryuomaru. I have a job for you," Naraku smirked as the demon bowed down before returning to his staring gaze

"What is it you wish of me, dark one?" Haryuomaru questioned

"Kukukuku, here is what I want you to do..."

~ % ~ Several Hours Later... ~ % ~

Inuyasha sat cross-legged on his bed with Ayame; they both were making up ways to try and get Rin and Sesshomaru together. So far they had only come up with things that would only be successful in angering Sesshomaru but they kept trying.

"We could lock them in the study together," Ayame suggested

"Nah, Eri tried that one a couple months ago and Rin and I had to save her from getting her head bitten off," Inuyasha flopped back onto his bed, "I don't know of anything that hasn't been tried. Except putting Rin in danger but no one would ever go that far."

"Well damn!" Ayame ruffled her own in frustration, "there has got to be a way!"

"Heh, you sound like Eri now," Inuyasha chuckled, "but seriously I don't think there IS a way without putting Rin in danger and like I said before I'm not going that far." Ayame nodded her head and was about to speak when a large explosion rocked the entire castle. "What the..." Inuyasha jumped to his feet but was quickly knocked down when another explosion shook the castle

Sesshomaru ran into the room carrying two swords and threw one at Inuyasha, who deftly caught it. "Three demons are attacking the castle!" Sesshomaru informed them as the three of them ran down the halls towards the courtyard, "probably Naraku's doing."

"But Naraku wouldn't be stupid as to send only three demons, right?" Ayame ran ahead slightly and opened the courtyard doors so Inuyasha and Sesshomaru could run through unhindered

"Unless they are extremely powerful demons or he's being overconfident," Inuyasha responded, "be on your guard Ayame." Ayame nodded as the three of them ran out into the middle of the courtyard. A crashing sound was heard and they looked to see the main gates being blown of their hinges and bolts. As the dust settled Inuyasha drew his sword and it transformed into a large and deadly looking blade, Sesshomaru readied his sword and Ayame got into fighting stance

When the dust settled down, three demons stood in the broken doorway. The first was a female demon with black hair, red eyes, a red and white kimono and a fan held in front of her face. The second had blue hair with two golden streaks, ocean blue eyes and a blue hakama and pale yellow haori. The third demon had purple tinted white hair, light purple eyes, a white kimono with blue and yellow bobble things on the front (AN-What the hell do you call them? They don't LOOK like buttons,) and a nagatana in hand (you know those staffs with the katana-like blade on top of it.) This demon looked somewhat childlike but it could be seen in his eyes he was a deadly and powerful adversary

"Who are you and what do you want?" Sesshomaru asked

"My name is Kagura, and these are Haryuomaru and Hakudoushi. We are here to kill you. So prepare to die!" Kagura swung her fan at them and yelled, "Fuujin no Mai!" Blades of wind came forth from the fan towards them, which were easily dodged

"Inuyasha you take Hakudoushi! Ayame you take Kagura! I'll take on this Haryuomaru!" Sesshomaru ordered and they each attacked they respected partner in battle

~ % ~ With Inuyasha and Hakudoushi ~ % ~

"You are pathetic," Hakudoushi taunted as Inuyasha ran towards him

"Shut your mouth you snot-nosed little brat!" Inuyasha yelled as he swung his sword sideways at his enemy. Hakudoushi dodged the attack by jumping up and landing on the end of the blade. Inuyasha grunted and flipped his sword into a sweeping arc at Hakudoushi's chest

"Hahaha, is that all you got Inuyasha?" Hakudoushi taunted again as he dodged several more swings from Inuyasha's sword. He swung his naganata and crossed blades with Inuyasha's deadly tetsusaiga. They both tried to push each other backwards but were evenly matched. Hakudoushi jumped back, causing Inuyasha to stumble foreword. Seeing an opening he swung his naganata and slashed open Inuyasha's shoulder. "You truly are pathetic, hanyou!" Hakudoushi chuckled

"Oh yeah?" Inuyasha smirked and dug his claws into his open wound

'What's he up to?' Hakudoushi's eyes narrowed

Inuyasha pulled out his claws, which were now covered in his own blood. He swung his claws towards Hakudoushi and yelled, "Blades of Blood!" Hakudoushi's eyes widened in surprises as blades covered in the smell of blood cut through him like a knife. "Keh! Take that ya brat!" Inuyasha smirked

"It will take more than that to defeat me!" Hakudoushi chuckled as his body slowly began to reform. "Your pathetic attacks are nothing to me!"

Inuyasha stood in shock as his body fully regenerated as if nothing happened, 'h-how do I beat him?'

~ % ~ With Ayame and Kagura ~ % ~

"Fuujin no Mai!" Kagura laughed as more blades of wind flew at the wolf demoness. Ayame was easily dodging the attacks but couldn't get in close enough to make an attack of her own

Ayame back flipped away from the wind demon, 'I can't get close enough!' Ayame dodged another set of wind blades sent her way by rolling to her left

"What's wrong wolf? Is this the best you can do?" Kagura jeered, "your not even a challenge! So quit wasting my time!" Kagura lifted her fan again to make another attack, "Ryuu ja no Mai!" Five miniature tornadoes were sent from the fan, strait at Ayame

'That's it!' Ayame thought triumphantly as she spotted a flaw in her attack. Ayame smirked and ran head on against the 'tornadoes'. With the speed only a wolf demon possessed she dodged the attack and made a flying kick strait at Kagura. "Gotcha!" Ayame yelled as her foot connected with Kagura's chest. Ayame gave another roundhouse kick and ended up kicking Kagura's fan high into the air

"Damnit!" Kagura yelled in frustration when the fan left her hand. Using her demon powers she jumped from the ground up on to the roof of the castle

Ayame caught the falling fan and smirked up at Kagura, "Can't fight without this, can ya?"

"Good thing I came prepared then," Kagura laughed as she pulled out another fan from her kimono. 'I won't let this one out of my hand so easily. I don't have any more after this and I'll have to run if I lose it.' Kagura smirked down at the stunned wolf below her, "Come and get me! Fuujin no Mai!" Kagura taunted as she sent another wave of wind blades at her opponent

'Damn, how many fans does this witch have?' Ayame thought as she dodged the attack sent at her. 'I have to finish this quickly!' Ayame looked down at the fan in her hand, 'Maybe I can use this somehow.' With that thought in mind Ayame took a good leap up onto the roof of the castle. Ayame faced Kagura and bared her fangs while getting back into fighting stance. "You're dead bitch!"

~ % ~ With Sesshomaru and Haryuomaru ~ % ~

Sesshomaru held his sword in front of him as he glared at Haryuomaru. Haryuomaru stood there calmly watching Sesshomaru as he circled the dog demon lord. Both men were waiting for the other to attack first. "What's wrong Sesshomaru, are you afraid to attack?" Haryuomaru taunted his opponent, trying to get him to make his move

"I am not afraid of a lesser demon such as you," Sesshomaru taunted back. Sesshomaru smirked in satisfaction when he saw the flicker of rage in his enemy's eyes. "A lesser demon like you is no match for I, Sesshomaru, lord of the western lands!" An icy wind surrounded Haryuomaru as his rage built up. "You are not worth the effort," Sesshomaru said and turned his back to Haryuomaru

"You bastard!" Haryuomaru yelled as he charged at Sesshomaru's turned back. A ball of ice formed in his hand and he threw it at the demon lord. Sesshomaru calmly turned around and raised his sword to block the attack. The sword pulsed and the attack disintegrated on contact with the sword. Haryuomaru stopped dead in his tracks; nothing had ever stopped one of his ice attacks like that before

"This Tokijin is unaffected by weak power such as yours," Sesshomaru lifted the sword above his head, "let me show you real power!" Sesshomaru swung his sword at Haryuomaru and a brilliant blue light shot forth, engulfing Haryuomaru. "Pathetic..." Sesshomaru muttered as he once again turned his back

Rin stood in the doorway leading into the castle watching the scene unfold. Her keen eyes studied the settling dust where Haryuomaru had been standing when her eyes picked up movement. "Sesshomaru! Look out!" Rin yelled as she spotted Haryuomaru speeding towards Sesshomaru

'Damn girl,' Haryuomaru thought, as he was about to attack. Sesshomaru turned quickly and was about to swing his sword when Haryuomaru sent kick at his hand. The kick hit the hilt of the sword sending it flying from Sesshomaru's hand and above their heads. The sword landed a few feet away from the entrance to the castle where Rin stood

'He survived my attack,' Sesshomaru inwardly smirked, 'this should be an interesting challenge.'

"Let's see how strong you are without your sword!" Haryuomaru laughed

'Oh no, his sword!' Rin stared down at the sword a few feet away. Putting herself in danger she ran towards the sword, 'I must get it back to him!' Rin stopped in front of Tokijin and extended a hand to grip the handle but was stopped by Sesshomaru's voice

"Don't touch it, Rin" Sesshomaru commanded, "If you touch it you will be possessed by the evil within the sword." Rin nodded and backed away from Tokijin

Haryuomaru smirked in triumph, 'His weakness, is the girl!' Before anyone had time to react Haryuomaru ran to Rin and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her off the ground. "If you don't stand down I'll kill her!" Haryuomaru yelled out to Sesshomaru, Ayame and Inuyasha

'Rin!' the three of them thought in unison

"Sesshomaru..." Rin chocked out

~ % ~ Meanwhile... ~ % ~

"Kukukuku," Naraku chuckled as he watched the fight through Kanna's mirror. "How will you deal with this, Sesshomaru?" Kanna, who had stood silent, finally spoke up

"Do not underestimate him, lord Naraku," Kanna advised in her child-like voice, "he is a lot stronger than he appears." Naraku and Kanna continued to watch the fight through the mirror

~ % ~ Back at the castle ~ % ~

Sesshomaru began growling at Haryuomaru in his anger, his vision turning red. "You filthy coward!" Sesshomaru growled, "fight me like a man!" Sesshomaru flexed his claws

"I said, if you don't stand down I'd kill her!" Haryuomaru yelled again and to emphasize his point squeezed Rin's neck harder, cutting off all air to her lungs. "Will you sacrifice her life so you can take mine?" Haryuomaru taunted. Rin chocked out a scream of pain as his claws dug into her neck

"You have no honor," Sesshomaru growled. His body began glowing a red light as his rage intensified. Sesshomaru's eyes widened and they turned blood red. His mouth and fangs extended and then his body was engulfed in the red light. The ball of light shot up into the air and then came back down to earth with a crash

~ % ~ IK ~ % ~

AN - Uh oh! Sesshomaru is transforming!

Don't worry, Inuyasha and Kouga will meet soon. I just wanted to add some goodbye stuff of sorts.

Reviews are welcome!