A/N: Yeah, I'm shocked too! It's a new chapter! I hope you'll all enjoy it and feel free to leave a review. Only three chapters left o.O
And of course, let me know your thoughts; I love to hear from you. Also, I would like to thank all of you who do leave me a review; your thoughts and ideas make me so happy. They so often help me when I'm stuck or ever so often someone will mention something they would like and then I'm like; 'Oh my God, that would work so fucking well' and I really am so grateful. To my guest reviewers, even if I can't send you personal words of gratitude, know that I'm very thankful!

On another note: I have started the first preparations of alternative Chiharu/Inuyasha fic and I expect to start posting them at the beginning of the new year (I have to find a point from where I will deviate from this story, but perhaps I'll start a story that could be read as a follow up on this but with a different ending; you'll have to ignore the epilogue to this story then, I guess)

Anyway, enjoy!

o.O.o

Chapter Forty-Six, Those who kill

Arterial blood sprayed out in a glittering scarlet arc as she severed a long snake-like yōkai into two with her katana. The pieces of flesh made a wet smack when they hit the already scarlet ground and Chiharu jumped away, avoiding her next opponent. She landed heavily on a rough boulder, and seated her sword, notching an arrow on her longbow and aimed at the large horde of yōkai that spit out opponents like a volcano spit out lava. Her spiritual power illuminated the sky a dark pink, peeling through the horde of the yōkai and left little parts of gore raining down on them.

The fight was going wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong. Another one of Naraku's reincarnation had attacked them, Mouryoumaru. Working together with the white-child Hakudoshi, they'd been a force to be reckoned with. The group of shard hunters fought hard, but Naraku had planned this attack thoroughly, sending the Saimoyosho at Mirōku, the wind-with Kagura at Sango and snapped Kagome's longbow seconds in the battle leaving Inuyasha to protect her every step of the way. The horde of yōkai was keeping her busy while Sesshōmaru had engaged Mouryoumaru in a fight. Mouryoumaru was the most horrific thing she'd ever seen. Cobbled together was an armoured mass of yōkai remains, with immense power coming off him in waves, but seemed to be emanating the most from his shoulder. Sharp, large quills protruded from it, while encasing a large part of the Shikon-no-tama. Sesshōmaru knew that too and after dodging a sharp tentacle, he brought Tokijin down in a sharp arc onto Mouryoumaru's shoulder.

The sword rippled with dark flames of Youki, unfurling and spreading and even as Chiharu caught poor Shippo when he was hit by a surviving minor-yōkai it grew and grew. It had surrounded, paired with Sesshōmaru's youki and hurled his hair around. Made out of pure energy, a gigantic bluish dragon, roared and Chiharu had never seen that particular move.

"What's he doing?" Shippo whispered in awe and Chiharu shook her head, notching another arrow and disintegrated a large number of Saimyosho (Miroku smiled gratefully at her). Sesshōmaru's dragon towered above everyone.

"SOURYUUHA!"

The enormous reptile roared and lunged, slamming into Mouryoumaru's shoulder. The carnage that followed, the explosion, crashed the yōkai into the mountainside. The ground shook and trembled and a massive cloud of dust rose under the force of his assault. Chiharu had never seen that attack before but had little time to reflect on it. More yōkai had gathered and Chiharu wondered where Naraku got all those beasts from. It almost seemed he had a never-ending jar full of them.

"What the hell was that?" Shippō whispered and I felt him tight to evade a large snake-like yōkai. "I don't think—"

"I doubt we've seen every move he has— Shippō-chan, I need you to take Rin and Ah-Un as far away from the fight as possible."

"What?" He whispered fearfully and she landed behind Inuyasha. The Wind Scar thundered through the horde and I settled the small fox-yōkai on one of the boulders.

"Shippō-chan!"

"Okay, okay," the child muttered and bounded away. With a snarl, Chiharu turned to the fight again. The hems of her hakama swished around her knees as she landed to the ground and extended the point of her blade to Hakudoshi's chest and forced as much of her mixed holy energy into it. The widening of the White child's eyes was the only facial change before reiki blew into him. He surged away, landing on the other end of the battlefield and she cheated her katana again.

"Good shot," Inuyasha commented.

"Yeah, thanks. There are too many of him." She whispered back and winced slightly when Mouryoumaru rose up from the rumble. "And that one— that one is a problem."

"His armour—" Inuyasha muttered, his eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, difficult to penetrate." Chiharu nodded, eyes flitting up to Hakudoshi soaring overhead on his fiery steed (a horse that flew and sniffed with fury every time someone came close to it) as he rightened himself up, healing quickly. "Go help him— I'll deal with that irritable kid-Naraku."

"You want me to fight with—"

"Yup!" She agreed and with that, she jerked away from him, the scent of blood and rubble strong in the air and jumped up into the air.

"The Miko—" he whispered chillingly.

"Yeah, I remember you too," Chiharu hissed back, her heart pressing painfully against her rib cage. Naraku and his reincarnations were not known for fighting fair. Hakudoshi didn't either and suddenly, sharply moved forward, wielding his weapon down. Chiharu dodged, moving in that flowingly way, Sesshōmaru had taught her, parrying every attack before catching his Naginata inches from her face.

He realised his mistake a moment later when Reiki shot from my fingertips and wound their way up like electric currents. Up the shaft of his Naginata and his arm, creating veins of pure destructive energy crawling beneath his skin like a wayward of veins. Chiharu wasn't sure how best to define her power anymore. It still looked like Reiki, but, as destructive, as poisonous as it was, it was probably truly something between Reiki and Youki. To a yōkai as destructive as Reiki and as dangerous as Youki. Whatever it was, it seemed to have made a shortcut with Hakudoshi's energy and as he yanked his weapon sharply down, free from her tight grip and sent them both flying.

Landing softly, Chiharu slid down the slope of shadowy, yellowing grass before twisting her feet, snatching clumps of grass to still her descend. It was almost a graceful landing. Hakudoshi, on the other hand, landed on the other side, breathing heavily. Holy energy flickering along his right shoulder, the skin sizzling, interrupted in their healing. Inhaling deeply, Chiharu took a forceful, deep breath, fastened her longbow back in place along her shoulder and gripped the handle of her katana hard. Sometimes, an attack was the best defence and with that thought in mind, she shot across the grass, fast and far more graceful than before.

Hakudōshi's eyes widened in what Chiharu thought might have been worry and with a furious cry, he slashed his Naginata to my right, his aim so far off, her eyes curiously followed the line of his attack, only to widen when she noticed Rin's horrified face.

Sending an attack at Rin and Shippō, who didn't seem aware as he wasn't looking their way, Chiharu moved as fast as she could jumping in front of her in the nick of time, but not in time enough to stop the white-child slicing open her shoulder and bicep. Her breath left her in a hiss and she turned mid-air, relaying one of her arrows so fast it blurred before her eyes. Bright and cackling it shot from her fingers and missed Hakudoshi only with a hairsbreadth, but rammed into Mouryoumaru's shoulder. The explosion of reiki was grand but Mouryoumaru's roar was greater. Sesshōmaru reacted quickly, forcing his sword further down the diagonal cut and Mouryoumaru's scream was almost deafening.

Curling her fingers around the handle of her katana again, she swatted it harshly at Hakudoshi. The fang's power sizzled when it hit Hakudoshi's midriff and she channelled as much reiki as she could before forcing him back. The child yōkai's eyes widened, veins of energy spreading out over his neck and right arm, his skin cracking and he howled before swerving back, taking down a large part of the mountain.

Chiharu didn't wait for him to emerge from the rubble again and speeded away, snatched Rin and Shippō from the edge of the mountain and moved back towards the line of trees until they were standing beneath the covers of a tall copse of oaks, grown so closely together, their roots and trunks were intertwined. Rin's wide brown eyes had brightened considerably and Chiharu's chest burned with righteous, furious fury at the frightened expression that had buried on her otherwise bright face.

"Shippō, take Rin and get her to safety," she instructed firmly, nubbin any discussion right in the bud. "Now, Shippō-chan. Stay with Kōga—"

For Chiharu expected Kirara had already brought him to safety and she moved back to the fight. She just landed at the edge of the clearing to see Hakudōshi bring up his shield to fend off Inuyasha's wind scar, leaving the hanyō's back completely open.

"Inuyasha!" Chiharu howled, moving as fast as she could but she was too late. Mouryoumaru the tentacle pierced his chest and he fell to the ground, hard. Sesshōmaru blocked the next attack, intercepting the second tentacle before it reached the fallen brother and Chiharu skidded to her knees next to him, rolling Inuyasha's trembling body on his back.

"Fuck!" He hissed and she peeled off the bloody material from his body and carefully peered at his bare chest. There was a huge bloody gash starting at his shoulder and stopping mere inches above his belly button. It was a small miracle it wasn't through and through and she bit at the inside of her cheek. Pulling her bag closer, she pulled her first aid kit out and pressed a wet towel to the wound. As soon as she applied the wet towel to his shoulder, Inuyasha inhaled sharply.

Inuyasha's eyes were drooping, gold clouded irises stared unseeingly up and she pushed the ragged sides of the wound together. After all of this time in Sengoku Jidai, she should think about becoming a doctor.

"Chiharu-chan?" Sangō landed beside her, her armour streaked with blood and gore and she looked tired.

"He's okay—"

He wasn't—

"We need to retreat," Sangō gasped, sending a powered stink bomb to a new crowd of yōkai gathering in the air and Chiharu flicked her wrist harshly sending up a shield of her own.

"Sesshōmaru!" Her voice sounded odd, even to her ears. "There's too many of them, we need to retreat."

And they had to. Near the edge, surrounded by rocky boulders, Kagome and Mirōku fought. He'd opened his wind tunnel again and blood was seeping from his nose and ears. Saimyōshō swirled around him evilly. Inuyasha was badly wounded and Sangō might have been one of the best fighters she knew, she was also a human and pushed to her limits.

"We will not retreat." He snapped and Chiharu let out an annoyed sigh before jamming her sword in the ground, whispering a preyer before creating a stronger barrier around them. The wound on Inuyasha's torso was still seeping blood and she turned to the taijiya beside her.

"Can you take over, Sango-chan?"

"Yes, of course, Chiharu-chan!"

Sesshōmaru had turned towards Mouryoumaru again and Chiharu thought he might have pushed the daiyōkai quite a lot for the fierce, furious expression on Sesshōmaru's face made her feel a bit scared. Crawling out from under the protective field of her kekkai, Chiharu notched an arrow on her bow and let it fly straight at the horde yōkai, reiki glimmering the point a bright white before cutting through the insects like a knife through butter. Her spiritual power illuminated the sky a dark pink, little parts of gore raining down on them and Mirōku collapsed to his knees, Kagome trying to hold up most of his weight.

"Kagome-nee, we have to get them out— Sesshōmaru doesn't want to—"

Her breath was wrenched away from her when Mouryoumaru launched a blinding attack on them. Chiharu pushed her sister away, dodging the blow narrowly when someone burrowed its hand in the collar of her haori. Her feet left the dirt a moment later and Hakudoshi cackled madly, snapping her right arm when she tried to wrench her elbow into his face.

She gasped, her arm falling uselessly beside her and Chiharu sneered at him even as he smirked at her.

"Hello again!"

Using his fiery steed, a horse with a mane of fire, he'd yanked her up using his momentum and her confusion. Childlike fingers had grabbed a handful of her hair, baring her neck and pressing the blade of his Naginata against her throat, harsh enough to draw blood. His hand followed her collarbone until chubby fingers found the Shikon necklace and he yanked it away.

"You've been a pain."

"I—it was a pleasure." She returned, the bones of her broken arm realigning and snapping into place. However, it proved to be too late for as she pushed her foot against the horse's calf to swirl around, he smirked, the weapon moving so fast her eyes couldn't follow, but the sudden pure flare of pain radiating from her chest— and she understood.

Her breath was stolen away from her, as was the strength in her arms and blood filled her lungs, filled her oesophagus and spluttered from her mouth. She tried to say something, a mangled, gurgling noise escaping instead of words. Hakudoshi's Naginata had pierced straight through her heart and graced her left lung. Even while she felt her body pushing itself to heal the damage, she also felt her torn heart quiver, before it ceased its beating…

I-I. ⌡. Γ┐

He felt her heartbeat stutter before the air became heavy with her scent. The scent of her blood. A shimmer of a phantom pain welled up in his chest where his heart was and he stiffened. Amber eyes peered across the clearing until they landed on Chiharu Higurashi's quickly paling face. Blood, too much to be healthy for such a small woman spilt along her front and coated her pale chin and cheeks scarlet. He saw it the moment the light left her eyes and rage— a rage so hot, that had been unknown to him, surged through his blood. Sesshōmaru had always managed to control his emotions, it was one of the reasons why he fought so well, but now an uncontrollable urge rose up in his throat, to swing his sword. Rose up through his bloodstream and his youki violently swirled around him.

"You little pest—"

In the distance, Inuyasha's howls cut through the air and he watched the wind scar tear through the ground. It had been an unconscious move, but he swung his left arm back violently, moving up in a straight arc and— his youki did the rest. The destruction was absolute; poisonous green tore through youkai flesh and with a howl both reincarnations fell back. Perhaps it had been a feat partly in Inuyasha's name, but in the face of so much hostile energy, Naraku's minions fled. A large part of Sesshōmaru wished to pursue them, the sword in his hand pulsed with the need for vengeance, but the hollow phantom pain in his chest stopped him.

Inuyasha had fallen to his knees beside the girl, snatching her unmoving body from the ground and pressing her to his chest as the girl's sister stared unseeingly at the scene. Her face so familiar, so like her sister's, yet, her eyes so different. Sesshōmaru wasn't sure what thought was more shocking to her. That her sister— his mate— was death or that his half-breed brother fancied the girl who was probably what she cherished most.

"Inuyasha—" He spoke calmly, a true contrast to how he felt.

"She's dead, Sesshōmaru." He whispered, rocking her cooling body like a newborn in his arms. "She's— oh fuck she's dead!"

He understood that. He noticed the lack of her heartbeat or the absence of the warmth to her cheeks. He knew she'd died, he even understood the flutter of pure, undiluted fear that had never before surged through his bloodstream.

"Inuyasha put her to the ground—"

"That's right, the monk voiced up, his voice strained, his face pale and bloody. "Sesshōmaru-sama possesses Tenseiga.

Inuyasha's shoulders locked and he lowered her slowly, looking up at Sesshōmaru with a tearstained face while Sesshomaru's impassive mask remained in place. It was pure weakness his younger brother was showing him, but for once, he didn't comment on it. Thrusting Tōkijin into the earth, he unsheathed Tenseiga, holding the blade in front of him as it pulsed through the air.

And he waited—

His cold, flinty gaze fleeted over her limp body, but the beings of the next world didn't appear. Didn't flit over her with their small hands and beady little eyes and—

His blood ran cold—

If he didn't see them, there was nothing to cut down.

Then she couldn't be resurrected—

To be continued…

A/N: I feel bad, leaving you all with this cliff hanger. Although, I never claimed this story would have a happy ending, did I? But— of course, the story is not done! This chapter was so hard for me, for I only have two (three if you count the epilogue) left. Somehow, I felt as if writing this would make the conclusion to this story reality and although I'm planning an altered storyline with an Inuyasha/Chiharu ending, it feels really strange. However, I've made all of you wait so long, and I am sorry! Know that I try!

Either way, any thoughts why Tenseiga did not work? Or what will happen now, obviously, Sesshōmaru is not going to leave Naraku alone after this (knowing how possessive he is)—

In short, please leave a review. I know it's not an obligation (because it's definitely not), but know, I love all of your thoughts and ideas. They are such treats and they always get me into writing (although, sometimes the writer's block is stronger -.-)

Inuyasha still doesn't belong to me—