Chapter 4

A little over an hour had passed since the attack of the Youkai, Hitogoroshi. InuYasha, Sesshoumaru, and Kirara had returned to their normal state of mind, having no memory past their transformations. Kagome had begun to dress the wounds of Sango and Miroku, bandaging Sango's ribs and her fore head. Miroku had several cuts along his right arm, the Youkai's energy alone had cut him. InuYasha had begun to worry about Kagome. For some reason, she was being very quiet, and she seemed very timid, as if she were afraid of her own shadow, yet she wouldn't tell InuYasha, or any of the others what was the matter with her, or what had happened and why Hitogoroshi hadn't harmed her. Kagome was in the middle of wrapping up Sango's shoulder in bandages, after having applied antibiotics to the wounds that had been left by Hitogoroshi's claws.

InuYasha approached her and was about to ask her to take a short walk with him, when the group's attention was directed towards the frantic tone of the voice of Jaken. Jaken was frantically pulling Aun and Uun towards the group, with Rin sprawled out upon the two-headed Youkai's back. Sesshoumaru immediately ran to Rin and lifted her off of the back of the twin-headed Youkai, holding her in his arms. Jaken was rambling on in a panicky tone, but Sesshoumaru wasn't listening. He was becoming more and more enraged as he detected the unfamiliar scent of another Youkai. It was the same scent and feel that he got right before the appearance of Hitogoroshi. What had he done to her? Sesshoumaru couldn't make out any distinguishing claw-marks or scratches on her, none that hadn't already been there from Rin's constant running about through bushes and what not. And yet the very scent of that Youkai upon Rin, was enough to make Sesshoumaru's blood boil, and his stomach turn.

Sesshoumaru turned and grabbed Jaken, lifting him up with one hand while he cradled Rin in his other arm. "Jaken, what happened to Rin, what did that Youkai do to her!?" Jaken gasped and squirmed within Sesshoumaru's Iron-Clad grip, trembling as he spoke. "Th-th-the Youkai, H-he took her into the forest, she was screaming, I found her laying unconscious upon the ground, her body was laid out in a most compromising situation, Milord! Do you think the Youkai may have…violated her?" Sesshoumaru snarled and threw Jaken away from himself, hurling him to the ground. Sesshoumaru slowly sat himself down, cradling the trembling little girl who was whimpering in his arms. Kagome sighed, lowering her head in shame, and then turning to look at InuYasha. She placed her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly, clinging to him as she buried her face into his chest and began to sob quietly. "I-InuYasha. H-He said that h-he was going t-to rape me!" She hugged him tighter, squeezing as she continued to sob and tell him everything. "He grabbed me, a-and he said he w-was going to use the Tetsusaiga and the Tenseiga for some plan! Then he…. He….kissed me…!"

InuYasha wrapped his arms around Kagome and hugged her tightly, shushing her calmly as he held her in his embrace. "It's ok Kagome….I'm not going to let him hurt you again…I swear it, I will kill him with my bare hands!" Sesshoumaru stood, keeping Rin in his arms, and walked over to InuYasha and Kagome. He placed his hand to the shoulder of his younger brother and looked sternly towards him. "…InuYasha…We cannot continue to fight amongst ourselves… We're going to have to trust each other and work together, if we want to extract our revenge upon this, 'Hitogoroshi', as he calls himself." InuYasha only nodded in response, still hugging Kagome tightly as she sobbed heavily in his arms. "Yeah…I know.." InuYasha said solemnly as he ran his claws over Kagome's hair in an attempt to try and comfort her.

A few hours later, the group had begun walking towards the western lands, and towards Sesshoumaru's home. Partially, because Sesshoumaru insisted that Rin be taken back to the castle for safety, and partially because they would need a "base of operations," if they intended to take on this new threat, Hitogoroshi. Sesshoumaru had ordered several servants to tend to Rin and take her to her room, then ordered a number of others to prepare food for the group. Kagome, InuYasha, and the others were in awe of the size, and appearance of Sesshoumaru's palace. It was over twice the size of Kagome's school, and it was decorated with quite a high-class look. The walls were decorated with beautiful paintings of plants, mountains, forest scenery, and many other things. Kagome looked at the paintings as the group walked past them, stopping for a moment as she saw a painting of what looked like a very beautiful Kijo (Demoness), who she could only assume was Sesshoumaru's mother.

Sesshoumaru had noticed Kagome starring at the picture, and had stopped to wait for her to finish gawking at it. "Tell me, Kagome. Do you find my mother that attractive..?" Kagome blinked a bit, then blushed as she realized she had been starring for the past minute or so. She lowered her head a bit, saying in a quiet, slightly embarrassed voice. "Um, sorry, we can keep going, now." Sesshoumaru only nodded, then turned and continued to walk. He stopped in front of a particularly decorated door, and slid it open. He walked into the room, motioning for the others to follow him, and to sit down. Sesshoumaru sat at the head of the room and waited for the others to seat themselves upon the floor around him, before beginning to speak. "This room is normally reserved for war council and economic meetings, but for a situation as grave as this, I think it is only appropriate that it be used." The others nodded and awaited for Sesshoumaru to continue. Sango had sat herself between Kagome and Miroku, InuYasha was at the right side of Kagome, leaving Sango to Kagome's left, and Miroku to Sango's left. Shippou and Kirara had gone with Sesshoumaru's servants to Rin's room, having volunteered to watch over her with Jaken.

Sesshoumaru was silent for a moment, then began to speak once more. "We need to learn all that we can about this Hitogoroshi, before we can make any attempt to attack him. And even after we have gathered enough information, there is still the matter of how we will go about attacking him. With out the Tetsusaiga, InuYasha, you are at a great disadvantage, and are a liability. At the slightest sign of danger to your life, you will almost certainly become a Full Youkai, which could do us more damage than good." InuYasha lowered his head a bit, nodding some. "Yeah, I know that. But even if I had the Tetsusaiga, some how, he can still control us, but how? We need to figure out how he got you, myself, and Kirara under his control, with out us knowing it!" Sesshoumaru and the others nodded, then were silent once more, before Kagome spoke up. "Maybe it's because you're both Youkai…or at least part Youkai. It looked like it was harder for him to control you, InuYasha, than it was for him to control Sesshoumaru and Kirara. Maybe it's because of the Human half of you."

Sesshoumaru looked towards Kagome, perking an eye brow at the perception of the young human girl. "Yes, she is right. I couldn't sense the change in you while I was being affected, InuYasha. It must have been harder for him to take control of you, because you are a hanyou." Miroku turned towards InuYasha and looked at him for a moment, then looked over to Sesshoumaru and spoke. "Then their must be a way to use that to our advantage, don't you think so?" Sesshoumaru nodded slightly, then stood and cleared his throat. "Well, we know one thing for certain, and that is that InuYasha and myself cannot defeat this Youkai on our own. We will need allies, InuYasha. Even if that means working with others that we do not necessarily get along with." InuYasha growled quietly and muttered through clenched fangs. "Don't….say it…!" Kagome sighed and placed her hand to InuYasha's shoulder before speaking quietly. "It means, InuYasha, that you will have to try to get along with Kouga…We may need his help… As well as Kikyou's help…" 'Which means that I'll have to try to get along with Kikyou.' Kagome thought to herself.

After a moment of silence, Sesshoumaru said the one thing that all of them had begun to think about, but none of them were willing to admit. "..We also might want to….enlist the help of….Naraku, and his…allies." The group cringed with spite at the thought of having to work with that despicable hanyou. Sesshoumaru closed his eyes for a moment, then walked towards the door, stopping in front of it. He turned his head and looked back at the others. "Well, we'll deal with that issue when it arises…in the mean time, I think it would be best if we all had something to eat, and get some sleep." The others nodded, then stood up and followed Sesshoumaru out of the room and back down the hall way.

A little over an hour later, the group had all eaten their dinner. Sesshoumaru had given them a brief tour of the palace, showing them the fairly-large, man-made hot springs that were in the rear of the palace. The palace also contained a small garden area, which was large enough for a person to walk around freely in. It consisted of small banzai tree's, Sakura tree's, small man-made creeks and streams and a small pond filled with various fishes, tiger lilies, and a small foot bridge which crossed over the pond and stream. Sango and Kirara seemed to take great interest in this area of the palace, and had decided they would stay there for a while. Miroku, how ever, was quite fascinated with the large library that Sesshoumaru had, which was filled with books and scrolls of all varieties. Miroku had soon found himself reading a book upon other religions aside from his own, which was of Buddha. He was particularly interested in the Christianity and Catholic religions, which he had only heard of from villages that were being visited by the Europeans.

Sesshoumaru had shown them one last part of his palace. A larger out-door garden, which was similar to the one he had shown to them before, but it was much larger. It contained full sized tree's, Sakura tree's and various others as well, the garden was surrounded and enclosed by large, decorative stone walls, which were lit by candles and lanterns which hung from the sides of the walls. The base of the walls were lined with shrubs and flowering plants. There was a fairly large, yet calm stream, which flowed through the center of the garden, and a foot bridge had been built over it for easier crossing ability. Sesshoumaru had decided it would be best it he left his brother and Kagome alone with one another for a while, and let them figure things out about what had happened, on their own. There was no roof to cover the large garden, which let the light of the stars, and the dim, bluish white light of the waning moon.

Kagome and InuYasha stood in the dim glow of the night, leaning against the side-railing of the foot bridge and looking into the water of the stream, watching as the fish swam quietly through the water, snapping at insects that would land on top of the water on occasion. InuYasha folded his arms atop the railing and leaned forwards, supporting his chest against his arms while Kagome stood grasping the railing with her hands. InuYasha could feel the tension that had settled on Kagome, he could practically hear her trembling from what had happened to her. He wanted more than anything to be able to take her fear away, but he didn't know what he could do. He sighed quietly and stood a bit straighter. He looked over to Kagome, who turned her head slightly to avoid eye contact, something InuYasha had noticed she had made a point of doing lately. 'What is she afraid of ?' InuYasha wondered, 'She doesn't think….she doesn't think I'm mad at her, does she?' he reached over and placed his hand over hers, gently closing his hand over her own, and spoke quietly to her. "Kagome… You don't have to try and avoid me. I'm not angry at you for anything." Kagome lowered her head slightly and glanced over at InuYasha's hand. She gently closed her hand, giving his fingers a small squeeze" "You…You're not?" She said in a shaky voice as she turned her head and looked at him.

InuYasha shook his head and smiled faintly to her. "Of course I'm not… I could never be mad at you, you….you mean everything to me, Kagome." Kagome felt her face begin to warm, her cheeks were turning a faint shade of red, which she was hoping wouldn't be noticeable through the dim glow of the star and moonlight. "InuYasha…I-" She was cut off when InuYasha wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him. Her eyes widened slightly as her head was pressed to InuYasha's chest, and she tightly clenched his red haori top, squeezing it as she closed her eyes and nuzzled her head into his chest. InuYasha ran his claws slowly over her hair, sifting the raven-black locks of hair through his fingers and claws as he held her against him. "Kagome, you mean every thing to me, I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you. I would do anything to be able to go back and stop myself from transforming." InuYasha's voice had begun to tremble, and his eyes had begun to water as he hugged her tighter to himself. "I don't want to lose you Kagome, I'm afraid of you getting you hurt, and I might not be able to protect you." Kagome closed her eyes and sighed softly before tilting her head up and looking at InuYasha. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw that InuYasha had tears running down his cheeks, he wasn't sobbing, but he was crying, InuYasha was actually crying, and he wasn't trying to hide it from her.

Kagome slowly reached her hand up and brushed a tear from his cheek with her finger tips. "InuYasha…" She smiled faintly and raised herself onto the tips of her feet and pressed her lips to his cheek then slowly pulled back and smiled at him. "I love you, InuYasha.." InuYasha smiled and brushed his hand over her cheek before lowering his head towards Kagome's. Kagome raised herself slowly, closing her eyes and tilting her head as her lips met with InuYasha's, bringing them together in the bond of a passionate, and loving kiss.