The Strongest, My Only

Disclaimer: …nope. But read the announcements.

Thoughts – I HAVE UPDATED!!! HU-RAH!!!

Announcements – That ‘song’ within the second (?) chapter was written by me. I’m somewhat of a singer/composer only I don’t show most of my stuff to anyone. I actually wrote that a few years ago in a moment of misery…but no, it was I who wrote it. I write all the ‘songs’ in my fanfictions. I like originality…even when some of the ideas behind my stories aren’t all the way original.

Notes – I put in some humor within this chapter. As fast as things have been moving, I thought it all way too serious.

Help – Anyone know how to put words in here on italics? I’m really sick of doing this ‘’ to emphasize a word…

Revisal’s – I redid chapter one. I was rereading the story so far and found it to be a bit too sappy (I hate that)...and edited the other two chapters. THERE WERE A LOT OF MISTAKES!!!!! Holy crap…and I’ve been making you all suffer…but fear no more because…I have a beta reader – Patricia A. Yey, yey, for us all, right?

Thanks – Thanks to ‘Shadow’. I would have email'd you sooner but your email was hidden. lol. To make it up to you, this chapter is dedicated to you.
To ‘Metis’ – I liked your thoughts. I never really thought about it that way, but hey-how else are they supposed to be together? AND…when did I say they were going to have children? Sesshomaru just thinks he is. Hehe. And I have no idea…I didn’t repost this. I haven’t read anyone else’s fanfiction since last…I think February. I’ve been just a tad busy…so if this was someone else’s idea, I’m sorry…because I consider this idea mine.
To 'ChaoticReverie', I am so sorry to make you wait! I half expected to have my home broken in on in the middle of the night with protesting reviewers! Speaking of which, I expect more reviews!

Chapter 4: Seeing Silver


Compete, don't envy.

~Arabian proverb

She woke up in Inuyasha’s arms to find her face pressed into his neck and him still asleep. But that wasn’t what aggravated her, it was that they were facing directly towards the sun, and it was in her eyes! Blinking, she turned her head away, shielding herself with one of her hands. Shifting slightly, she looked down, and glared at the ground-almost thirty feet below her.

‘God damn it, Inuyasha!’ She thought shaking her head as she leaned back against him. She had no choice…she had to wake him up. After all, she couldn’t very well jump down! She frowned at that. Was that why she was weak? Because she didn’t have demon strength, or fighting abilities, or a great gapping vortex in the palm of her hand?

“Inuyasha.” Her voice cracked slightly and she cleared her throat in embarrassment.

“Uh…Inuyasha…!” The hanyou’s ears twitched but he otherwise remained asleep. Giving a frustrated sigh, she gingerly reached out to shake him. He was wearing only his white shirt, the red fire rat kimono probably at the village in Kaeda’s hut. The tip of her finger accidentally brushed his neck as she tried to wake him and she blushed at the feel of bare skin, as little as it was; she moved her hand down to another part of his shoulder where the shirt covered him. The feel of it had reminded her too much of her dreams…which, wait a minute, she hadn’t had since Inuyasha woke her. And why hadn’t Inuyasha made more of a deal out of it then what he had? And what the HELL had she meant when she had said “My mind wanted it”? For the sake of every person in hell, what was she-what HAD she said that for? She didn’t want it-did she? No. NO she didn’t. Wait a minute…how did she even know that it was Sesshomaru. Her hand slipped sideways so that her hand cupped the side of his neck and, surprised, she jumped to the side. Then she realized something else that completely cleared her mind of all of her other thoughts.

“That’s funny…there isn’t as much pain as yesterday…wow. It must have been that cure that Kaeda gave me…” She said out loud. To her relief, he opened an eye and looked at her as she spoke. Realizing her hand was still on his neck, she blushed and pulled it away.

‘How can he sleep with the bright sun shining down onto his face?’

“What?” His gruff voice was still weighed down with sleep and she giggled, her earlier annoyance vanishing instantly.

“I need to get back…I need more medicine for my injuries.” He opened his other eye and shifted against the tree, consequently bringing her body closer to his. She blushed slightly but said nothing and watched him yawn.

“Humph…I forgot, your weak human body doesn’t heal that fast.” She snapped her head up as if she had been slapped, her eyes widening with hurt. Inuyasha noticed and raised one of his eyebrows at her.

“What? I’m always taking care of you.” The pain still there, she nibbled her bottom lip agitatedly. He was right…he always acted like this when she got hurt…after all it was fairly often. She had a knack of being possessed by people. Hey…it was a gift. Besides, Inuyasha was always making himself out to be a blockhead about her human frailty. Why was she taking it so hard and getting so defensive about it? After all, after four years of this, she had better of gotten used to it! But still…perhaps the reason for her defensiveness was FROM four years of this. And what about her friends? Miroku…Sango….Shippo…Kaeda…they were always treating her wounds, whether physical or emotional. After a while of trying to not inconvenience them, she started to just not tell them that she was hurt. She frowned sadly at the thought.

Yeah…she was always the one everyone was waiting up on. Why couldn’t she reverse that? Well not reverse it…but not be the baby anymore, who always gets hurt? Why couldn’t it be someone else? Her eyes widened at the thought and she mentally slapped herself. That wasn’t a very nice thought at all! She would never wish pain on any of her friends! It was just…well…Kaeda was five times older than her and still she rarely ever needed any kind of treatment because her advanced miko skills-which, unlike hers, that were constantly going on the fritz-were smooth and steady, no hesitation present when fighting an enemy. Shippo…she was five times older than him, in human years but still he managed to stay out of the way of any kind of antibiotic or bandage! Then again he was always hiding…but he had had his fights! Like when he got kidnapped by Souten, the thunder demon, or that giant lizard who had tried to steal the jewel shards! That counted for something! She couldn’t even ‘start’ to compare herself against Miroku, Sango and Kilala. They were all strong…Kilala excluded because of her demon status. Miroku and Sango were both humans like her…but they had their own skills, while ‘she’ could barely ever hit her targets, and had never even been able to even focus her energy into large amounts until the fight with Naraku…

‘I was driven by rage then…but I can’t always be in a rage when I go into battle.’

“Kagome…you’re acting weird again.” She started and gave a small ‘eep!’ when she almost fell out of his arms.

“Would you make sure I’m secure!” She screeched at him, her teeth gritting together as she felt the stitches on her back pull.

“Well if you weren’t so uncoordinated!” She gasped in anger and poked a finger into his chest.

“Don’t you speak to me like that!”

“I’ll speak to you however I feel like it!”

“Don’t yell at me!”

“Then don’t yell at me!”

“Aaaaae!” She let out a yell of frustration.

“What are you complaining about, you started it!”

“HA! Since when do ‘I’ start fights, Mr.-oh look at me, I have the Tetsusaiga! I’m so grand and graceful, and strong!-” Inuyasha rolled his eyes at her.

“At least I can wield a sword. You couldn’t lift one if your life depended on it.” She huffed.

“HEY! Hey, hey, HEY! I pulled that stupid sword from that stupid stone remember! And I’m not exactly King Arthur!” He gave her a blank look.

“Uh…never mind.” She said, beginning to somehow cool herself down…until he spoke.

“Sounds like a guy.”

“HE WAS A GUY!” Inuyasha clamped his hands over his ears to protect them. She began to sulk.

“Whatever.” Holding her securely against him, he jumped easily from the branch to land lightly on the ground. A bolt of jealous envy shot through her at his ease, then kicked herself for it. For the great god’s sakes, she was becoming a horrible person! Not to mention, she was getting even more punchy than normal!

“You look the way you do when you drink one of Kaeda’s potions.” Inuyasha said gruffly as he leapt into the air. She clutched onto him reflexively and sighed sadly, no longer angry at the inu hanyou.

“I feel the same way too.” She said as her eyes looked out around them. There was a silence between them, Inuyasha never really being a morning person to begin with, and her consumed with her not-so-nice thoughts.

“Am I hurting you with my jumping?” He asked as he leapt cleanly over a fallen tree trunk, now all rotted out. Some birds appeared from some of the holes in its bark and flew away, shrieking angrily at the two.

She felt another stab of anger and hurt. Was she just becoming overly sensitive? Had her over-usage of energy sent her emotional state into overdrive?

…Was she getting her period?

“I’m not a piece of pottery!” Kagome said, a little more snidely then she had wanted. He glanced at her and then looked away with a shrug as he began to run through the remainder of the forest. She sweat-dropped. She couldn’t help it! It was just such an embarrassing thing to think with him there!

“That’s the last time I take you out while you’re injured…” He mutter playfully to her but she only glared at him and did as well as she could with crossing her arms across her chest.

‘Wow…that stuff worked REALLY well!’ There wasn’t really any pain left!

She still felt like she had been beaten to a bloody pulp with a baseball bat, but it didn’t feel like she had anything broken anymore. But that was impossible…it had only been four days since they had fought their enemy! And Kaeda had only given her that miracle drought-which tasted absolutely horrid-the previous night. She cursed herself once again for being so incompetent and ineffectual.

They arrived at the hut in a few moments, the pair silent as he placed her in her spot against the wall in Kaeda’s hut. She sighed as his body heat left her and looked around her.

“Inuyasha?”

“Yea?” He crouched down beside her and waited for her to speak.

“Where’s Spartacus?” Inuyasha gave her a look of amazement, his head cocking to the side.

“Spartacus?” His mouth said the word awkwardly, sounding out each syllable. She nodded and gingerly lifted up one corner of her sleeping bag.

“My stuffed pig.” Inuyasha’s eyes widened and he gave a small noise of understanding as he bent down and helped her look. Relieved, she carefully laid back and watched as Inuyasha found it behind one of Kaeda’s pots. Lifting it up, Inuyasha looked at it, dangling it by one plush pink leg as he put his free hand to his chin and stared at it. The picture of it made her laugh and he glanced at her.

“Feh…” He threw it to her side. Dragging it closer to her body, she snuggled it to her chest and relaxed as she waited for sleep. Inuyasha ended up leaving for whatever reason he deemed important, and Kaeda came to give her more of the vile medicine she had been given earlier. A few hours later, she surprised Kaeda by not complaining as she drank the potion…much.

“Ugh…I never thought vegetable soup in a can could be so good compared to this stuff…” She said with a grimace as she pushed Kaeda’s hand away. The old miko gave her a questioning look, which she shook her head.

“It’s uh…kinda like this stuff only better, and it’s stored in metal containers that keep out the germs. They can last for months without spoiling.” She said tiredly. Kaeda gave a look of “Yes-Kagome-whatever-you-say” and put her back to bed, shaking her head back and forth in wonder. Surely all the people within the future were fat? Everything was already done for them!

As Kagome went back to sleep-being as that was all she could really do-Inuyasha came back and saw Kaeda chopping roots. Walking quietly up to her, he sat down on the wood floor and watched Kagome sleep. For a few moments there was silence.

“Hey…old hag?” The hand with the knife stilled and then rose up and came down within an inch of his head. A few stray hairs were considered casualties.

“Gah! Hey, whadcha do that for?!” Kaeda glared at him before un-lodging the knife from the wooden chopping block and continuing to cut.

“Yes, Inuyasha?” He scowled but did not cross the old woman again and sat down a distance away, lest he say something else to bother her.

“Who is…Spartacus?”

*****

‘Honestly, if it takes her THIS long to heal…’

‘You’ve waited…well more like stalled, for all of five days, but-’ He closed his eyes in annoyance.

‘I am not stalling…I am being patient.’

‘Oh ho…so this is patience? No. I think you’re stalling.’ His brows knit together and he shrugged despite knowing she wouldn’t see it. Or maybe she could, he wasn’t sure. The old witch had a million tricks up her sleeve it seemed.

‘I am not a witch!’ She said somewhat defensively.

‘I am a sorceress!’ He grunted, his body shifting against the tree branch he was reclining in.

‘You’re a witch.’ He heard her give an insulted huff and inwardly allowed a small smile.

‘Anyways! Enough of me, what about the girl?’

‘I swear Shikiba, one more word about that girl and I’ll-’

‘Sesshomaru, it will take you a few days to find me again, and by the time you do, whatever torture you would have wanted to inflict on me would have grown stale.’ He didn’t say anything.

‘So much for bravery-you can’t even seek out some young mortal girl!’ His eyes opened slowly and watched a young sparrow hop along a branch on the other end of the tree.

‘If you kill it, I will not be happy.’ Shikiba warned, understanding his intention. A cruel smirk graced his features and he readied his whip to strike out at the defenseless animal when all of a sudden a shout rang through the still morning air.

“HE IS A GUY!” He gave a pause which was equivalent to a start and watched as the surprised bird flew into the air, and out of sight.

‘Well thank goodness for that…’

‘I will find it later.’ Shikiba gasped from within his mental link in his mind.

‘You…don’t you dare! Leave the poor thing out of this! It’s not its fault you haven’t done a thing to-’

“Be still.” He ordered softly.

“You look the way you do when you take one of Kaeda’s potions.”

“Yea, I feel like it too…” Flattening himself against the tree, his sharp eyes watched as his brother, who was holding Kagome, speed past his tree and towards the village.

“She always manages to ruin things for me.” He said darkly, his eyes flashing in the morning light as he leaned forward once again.

‘So…are you going to follow her?’ He tapped two clawed fingers against his forehead in thought. Shikiba began fussing at him again when he didn’t respond and he rolled his eyes.

‘Later…patience remember, is a key concept in the game of the hunt.’ He almost winced at Shikiba’s reply.

‘THE HUNT?! For gods’ sake Sesshomaru, she’s not a hog! You can’t just stick a spear into her and bam! The problem’s solved!’ He glared at the place where his brother and the girl had disappeared.

‘I did not say she was a hog-’

‘A deer then. Frail and tender, wounded badly and left to limp around in the forest until something rips its throat out-’

‘You bother me with your analogies Shikiba.’

‘You bother ‘me’ with your twisted humor! That bird-’

‘Oh forget the bird woman, it was a BIRD.’ He said, allowing his annoyance to break through. She gave a growl of frustration.

‘I’ll turn YOU into a bird if you don’t go and talk with her!’

‘Fine.’

Shikiba who had been about to say something else stopped in surprise.

‘What?’

‘As you wish, I’ll go right now. I will simply walk through the doorway, smiling and tossing my hair, and calmly shake the girl by the back of her neck and ask her how she is worthy of me.’ Shikiba began to screech like a wild owl and he allowed himself a smile as he snapped his mental link closed.

Leaning back against the tree, he closed his eyes and allowed himself a small nap. When he woke up a few hours later, he simply sighed, and nimbly jumped from the tree to land gently upon the ground. As he did so the vision of a hog with Kagome’s head on it jumped into his mind and he laughed softly before he could stop himself. Damn Shikiba and her analogies. Ah…but the thought of Kagome being a deer, injured badly and unable to run…that was an enticing thought. Perhaps when he proved Shikiba wrong, he could get a spell to make Kagome like that. He chuckled again and headed for the village, his strides long and graceful as he leisurely made his way there. Upon arrival, he sniffed out the location of the girl and his brother and went to the doorway, entering the small enclosure just as his brother spoke.

“Who is Spartacus?”

Sesshomaru watched the old woman look around his brother to him and waited with a calm look of blank expression as Inuyasha also turned around to face him.

“Hello, Inuyasha.”

*****

This was a first…he wasn’t here. She was in her dream, and he wasn’t here. Was she relieved? Was she angry, ecstatic? After all, she didn’t like the things that happened here right? Oh no-siry-Bob, she did not. She didn’t even know if Inuyasha’s shout of anger was a welcome sound or not, seeing as he had just sat on the ground in her dream and stared out at nothing.

*****

“YOU! What have you done to Kagome?!”

Sesshomaru could have sworn he was having déjà vu…

He sighed.

“What have you yourself done to her?” He asked back, his eyes scanning the room to find Kagome staring at him with wide eyes from her sleeping bag. He could almost taste her surprise and once again saw the picture of Kagome with a boar’s body. Or a deer…her body was more like a deer’s after all. Supple and soft, with small markings here and there over her body… He shook himself. What was he doing?

“You are making her dream about you!” Inuyasha shouted, pointing a clawed hand at his older brother.

Kagome smacked a hand to her face in incredulity. Inuyasha had never been one for subtlety but still…

Sesshomaru turned from her to look at his brother again.

“Do you know how ridiculous you just sounded?”

Inuyasha sputtered angrily, his hand reaching for the sword at his waist to find it missing. It was over in the corner by Kagome because Kaeda had forbidden him from bringing weapons into her hut.

“I want to talk with her.”

Inuyasha glared at him and shook his head.

“No way!”

Sesshomaru shrugged and turned to begin walking towards her. Sputtering again, Inuyasha blocked his path, refusing to back down. Stilling the thought of rolling his eyes, Sesshomaru reached back and simply punched his brother in the face, knocking him to the floor. Kagome screamed softly, huddling against the wall with her faithful Spartacus nearly split in two, she was grasping him so hard. Sesshomaru walked past his brother to stop at the side of her makeshift bed, staring down at her as if he did not know what to make of her. Inuyasha tried to attack him from behind but Sesshomaru turned to block it, punching him in the gut and knocking him backwards out of the doorway.

Kaeda, who had been watching, stepped forward angrily.

“There will be no fighting with ye both in this home!” She said shaking her finger at the silver dog demon as he towered over her. He gave a short laugh but did not instigate any notion of continuing a fight. Turning back to her, he crouched down and stared her directly in the eye. She gave a small cry of alarm but did not look away from him and as he looked, he found himself remembering her brown eyes vividly. His own eyes narrowed as they looked over the rest of her face, the long black hair, white skin, heart shaped face. It was her…but that didn’t mean she was meat to be with him.

“Pathetic.” He sneered calmly as he began to rise.

Not knowing what to say, she felt her anger taking over.

“You’re one to talk!” She spat at him, her eyes widening in surprise. He narrowed his eyes on her lips and she paused, unsure again of what to say. A warm feeling was beginning to spread through her body and she didn’t know what it was. She was relieved when Inuyasha tackled him from behind-and then not so relieved because Inuyasha had tackled him directly onto HER. Her eyes widened, her arms going out in front of her as if to try and keep him from touching her but it didn’t work, and by some unnatural force of law, her hands got buried within his hair. The air was knocked out of her, a low cry of pain coming from her mouth as she felt the stitches on her back beginning to tear. Tears formed in her eyes with the pain even as the warm feeling began to churn in her gut with his long, lean body on top of her.

“PIG!” Inuyasha yelled, rolling him off of her and onto the wooden floor. Sesshomaru glared at his younger brother and tried to swipe at him but missed as Inuyasha had him pinned to the floor on his belly. Breathing suddenly very hard, Kagome put a hand to her forehead. The moment she had touched him…

“Inu-yasha! Get off of ye brother this instant!” Kaeda said very sternly as she put her hands of her old hips.

A scene of her and Sota as little kids came into Kagome’s mind and she smiled before she could stop herself.

“Little brat.” Sesshomaru said coldly as he struck Inuyasha in the ribs with his elbow. Caught off guard, Inuyasha tumbled backwards and Sesshomaru stood, taking Tokijin from his side in one fluid movement and aiming it at Inuyasha’s neck.

“You will die.” He said, his hand tightening on the sword.

“No!” Before she could think, Kagome launched herself out of her bed to throw her body over Inuyasha’s. Sesshomaru paused as she looked up at him, pain and sadness clouding her eyes.

He frowned.

“Humm…I see you at least put your friends before your pain.” He sheathed Tokijin and Kagome breathed a sigh of relief. But it didn’t last long. She felt Inuyasha’s hand shove her off of his body, making her topple to the ground in a ball.

“Inuyasha! Her injuries!” Kaeda said in surprise from behind him.

Inuyasha glared at the old woman and then looked at Kagome, her eyes filled with hurt and surprise.

“This is a fight for men. Not weak human girls!”

She recoiled as if she had been struck, and felt tears begin to seep from her eyes.

“I’m not weak…” Inuyasha gave her half a glance as he was having a staring war with his brother. She sniffed and brought herself to sit back on her knees.

“I’m not weak…” She said again, her voice still only a whisper.

Sesshomaru gave her a look of interest even as Inuyasha glared at her.

“What! Speak up, Kagome!” Their eyes locked and she drew in a deep breath.

“I am – not - WEAK.” She said, a halo of energy forming around the outer edges of her body. Inuyasha took a step back on impulse but Sesshomaru stayed where he was, interest dominating his entire face.

“Prove it.” His words, while not gentle, were not harsh either and she looked at him, tears sparkling in her eyes as the power fluctuated, growing brighter and brighter around her body until it seemed almost as if they were surrounded by stars - and then it just as suddenly as it had begun - died.

Without a word, she fell to the floor, fainting as her energy became spent.

Somewhat disappointed, Sesshomaru looked back at his brother and felt his eyes widen slightly. Inuyasha was hovering in the air with his arms and legs on either side of him, shackled by pink bands of light around his bare wrists and ankles.

Kaeda looked at it with awe. Inuyasha who was still conscious, looked around, trying to move but finding he couldn’t. When he saw the bands, his eyes widened and he gave an angry shout.

“Sessho-maru! What did you do! Let me go!” Sesshomaru lifted an eyebrow at his brothers’ words and surprised them all when he chuckled softly.

“That girl…she is more unique than I thought.” He said, his mouth coming back into a straight line.

Kaeda stepped forward.

“Sesshomaru-sama?” The said person took a step forward and Inuyasha stilled, waiting for a blow. None came. Instead, Sesshomaru reached out and flicked a claw against the bands. Sparks shot from the place where he had touched them and instantly, he pulled back, staring down at at.

“The nail has been filed down to almost the cuticle…” He said with detached curiosity. A few seconds later the claw regenerated itself and Sesshomaru shook his hand slightly before putting it back at his side. Kaeda took a step forward, placing a hand against the constraints. Nothing happened except that the bands brightened and then dimmed back into their original light.

“Tis priestess energy…but I have never seen such a thing.”

Sesshomaru nodded slightly.

“I doubt you would.”

Kaeda looked at him, but he did not enlighten her. Instead, he tried touching the bands again but had only the same reaction.

‘Why do they not hurt the hanyou?’ He thought with a frown.

“Well? GET THEM OFF!”

Kaeda shook her head, one knurled hand tapping her jaw in thought.

“I cannot undo that which I have not done to ye, Inuyasha.”

“Well then wake Kagome up!” Kaeda turned but was stopped by Sesshomaru.

“Do not bother. The hanyou will only attack me once he is free.”

“YOU BASTARD!” Struggling valiantly against his bonds, Inuyasha cursed him in three different languages - all taught to him ironically enough by Kagome - making his brother and healer look at him with surprise.

“Expect me back…and keep her comfortable, lest she take longer to regain her strength.”

Kaeda nodded and went to Kagome.

As Sesshomaru began to pass his brother, he turned his head to him with irony flaming in his eyes.

“Who is weak now?”

Inuyasha gritted his teeth, trying a fresh new bought of struggling. Sesshomaru only continued by and materialized once outside the door.


Notes – Review please. I know all of you are ready to kill me for taking so long. Hey-voice your opinions. You will be heard…trust me.

alakeshadow