"Hah... Hah... Hah..." Jaken panted as he ran up the mountain. "Ohhh, what does Sesshoumaru-sama always leave me behind for... Hm?" He saw Sesshoumaru with his blade stabbed into Mouryoumaru's armored shell. "Sesshoumaru-sama!?"
"Kukuku... It's so unlike you, Sesshoumaru..." Mouryoumaru said. "I can sense it through your sword... your loss of composure..."
"Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha yelled. "Can't you hear me, Sesshoumaru! I'm telling you to pull your sword out!"
'It's no use... He won't listen to anyone right now...!' Katsumi thought with a furrowed brow. She was angry too, but she didn't realize Kagura meant so much to Sesshoumaru.
"But, Inuyasha... the tip of Sesshoumaru's blade... it's found the shikon fragment... It can almost reach it!" Kagome said.
"It smells like it's burning!" Inuyasha said. "If he keeps pushing it, Sesshoumaru's blade will..."
"Huh?" Kagome said.
'He's right,' Katsumi thought. 'The sword is definitely going to break if he keeps this up...'
'Sesshoumaru should notice something like that...' Inuyasha thought.
'Has he really lost his composure so much that he hasn't noticed... or does he simply not care...?' Katsumi wondered, concerned.
"Kukuku, Sesshoumaru... you don't actually have compassion for Kagura, do you?" Mouryoumaru asked.
"Ridiculous..." Sesshoumaru said.
"If that's the case, why sacrifice your sword?" Mouryoumaru asked. "You seriously thought that you could pry my armored shell open by force? If you had Katsumi help you, you might have stood a chance, but..."
CRACK!
Tokijin snapped in half.
'Oh no!' Katsumi thought.
"Ah...!" Kagome said.
"Wha... Th... That's..." Jaken said, shocked.
"Sesshoumaru's sword..." Miroku said.
'Tokijin broke!' he, Sango, and Shippo thought.
"Kukuku..." Mouryoumaru laughed. He shot his adamant tentacles at Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru dodged, flying to evade them. "You can't get away!" He fired a barrage of adamant spears at him. Sesshoumaru furrowed his brow when one pierced his armor.
"!" Katsumi and Kagome said, shocked. In that instant, Sesshoumaru was trapped inside the adamant tentacles.
"Sesshoumaru!" Katsumi exclaimed with wide eyes.
"Se... Sesshoumaru-samaa!" Jaken yelled with tears in his eyes. Katsumi gritted her teeth and ran up to the adamant tentacles using her special boots. She tried to slash them with her sword, but she couldn't make a scratch, not even when she channeled more of her youki into the blade.
'I'll have to do this one at a time, then,' she thought. "Selective Strike!" she sliced clean through one of the tentacles, but it quickly grew back again.
'There's that strange attack again...!' Mouryoumaru thought. He furrowed his brow and fired a barrage of adamant spears at her. Katsumi ducked and dodged and withdrew to a safe distance while she tried to think of something else. Inuyasha held Tessaiga in front of him and it became covered in scales.
"Inuyasha..." Kagome said.
"He's using the dragon-scaled Tessaiga!?" Miroku asked.
"It's still no good, Inuyasha!" Shippo said. "The regurgitation of youki will really injure you again!"
"Keh! If I don't use it now, when am I supposed to use it!" Inuyasha said. 'Besides... Sesshoumaru was crushed with my stolen Kongōsōha... and I don't want that on my conscience!' "Daaaahh!!" he yelled, striking Mouryoumaru's adamant arm with Tessaiga. "!"
'The youki has overflowed!' Kagome thought. Inuyasha's hands burned
"Gah...!" Inuyasha said, gritting his teeth. "!" He was surprised to be blown back.
"Ah..." Kagome said. 'It threw him back!'
'What is Inuyasha trying to do!?' Katsumi wondered. Inuyasha landed roughly on the ground, sliding to a stop.
"Gah..." he groaned.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled, running over to him.
"I'm okay!" he said, picking himself back up. He stood and faced Mouryoumaru again.
"You bastard, now you're absorbing my youki, are you?" Mouryoumaru said.
"And next, I'll slice you apart!" Inuyasha said.
"He can't kill Mouryoumaru with the dragon-scaled Tessaiga now!" Miroku said. "There's too much youki!"
"Kukuku... It doesn't hurt me at all," Mouryoumaru said. "Compared to that, the way you look..."
"Inuyasha!" Kagome said.
"You can barely stand, huh?" Mouryoumaru said mockingly.
"Ah, shut up! Let's go!" Inuyasha said.
"Rabbit's Hole!" Katsumi said. She cut a doorway and came out the other end right by Mouryou's shoulder. She sliced off the same part of his shell again as before.
"You...!" Mouryoumaru said.
"Rabbit's Hole!" Katsumi said, quickly making her escape. A purifying arrow hit Mouryoumaru's exposed shoulder, blowing a huge hole in it.
'A purifying arrow!?' Kagome thought. They all looked to see who had fired it.
'Kikyo!' Mouryoumaru thought, glaring at her.
"Ki-Kikyou...!" Inuyasha said.
"Slay him! Inuyasha!" Kikyo yelled. Mouryoumaru tried to regenerate the armored shell, but her arrow wouldn't let it close completely.
"Damn you, Kikyo!" Mouryoumaru said, turning to fire adamant spears at her.
"Mouryoumaru! I'm your enemy, you bastard!" Inuyasha yelled.
"You fool... To think I can be slain by the likes of your sword..." Mouryoumaru sneered. "Even in this state, I—" Inuyasha slammed his sword down right on the exposed part.
"But he'll be blown back by the counter-blast of youki again, won't he?!" Shippo said anxiously.
"Gnh..." Inuyasha grunted. His hands were burning again.
"Kukuku... I told you, didn't I... even now..." Mouryoumaru said, stopping short when he realized Tessaiga was having an effect. "!" The rest of his armor began to crack.
"Cracks...!?" Kagome said. Cracks appeared in the adamant arm as well.
"It's not just the armored shell, but the arm, too..." Miroku said.
"The dragon-scaled Tessaiga is cutting through it," Sango said.
"Inuyasha! Won't you hurry up and save Sesshoumaru-sama!" Jaken cried.
"Hm!?" Miroku said, looking down at him in surprise.
"It's Jaken," Shippo said. They looked back at the tentacles clutching Sesshoumaru. Only parts of his mokomoko could be seen.
"It might already be too late... for him to be like that is just too horrible," Jaken cried.
"He can't... actually be dead, can he?" Shippo asked.
"You fool! He's being squashed by the adamant arm," Jaken snapped. He fell to the ground weeping. "He might even be squished like a ripe persimmon. Oh, no. I'm sure of it."
"Jaken, if you keep talking like that, I'm going to get angry!" Katsumi said.
"Why? You know it's true!" Jaken said.
"No, I do not!" Katsumi said. "He isn't dead! I know it!" There was movement inside the tentacles.
"He's moving!?" Miroku said.
"See, Jaken!" Katsumi said.
"!" Kagome said. Something was shining. 'A light!?' The tentacle opened a bit more, and they could see Sesshoumaru was holding a shining Tenseiga. Sesshoumaru used Tenseiga's barrier to push the tentacles open.
"!" Inuyasha said.
"He's broken out!" Shippo said.
"Yes!" Katsumi cheered. 'Gotta love that sword!'
"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Jaken cried.
"That's Tenseiga's barrier..." Kagome said.
"The sword's barrier was protecting him?" Miroku said.
'It's come out to the surface... the shikon shard that was inside of the armored shell!' Kikyo thought. She drew another arrow.
"Miasma!" Kagome said as it started to pour out of mouryoumaru.
"Dah!!" Shippo exclaimed as he and Jaken scooted away from it. Kikyo fired her arrow.
"Damn!" Mouryoumaru said. He quickly dodged the attack, knocking Inuyasha off of him in the process.
"!" Inuyasha said. Mouryoumaru took the to sky and flew away.
"Kukuku... It won't be like this next time..." Mouryoumaru said.
"Promises, promises," Katsumi said.
"Damnit!" Inuyasha growled.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome said, running over to him. "Are you all right!?"
"Yeah," Inuyasha said. He was surprised when he looked at Tessaiga. It had reverted to its dormant form. "The..."
"There's no regurgitation of youki," Miroku said.
"Inuyasha, you've mastered the dragon-scaled Tessaiga already!?" Shippo asked.
"It's not like that at all," Inuyasha said, sheathing his sword. He looked up at the last spot he saw Kikyo. She was gone. 'Kikyo... She's left already...? Kikyo's arrow had purified Mouryoumaru's youki... If it hadn't been for that.' He looked at his burned hand. 'These wounds probably would have been much worse...'
'Inuyasha... You're thinking of Kikyo, aren't you...' Kagome thought, watching him.
'Kohaku... He's with Kikyo...?' Sango thought.
"I'm so glad you're all right," Katsumi told Sesshoumaru with a relieved smile.
"Se... Sesshoumaru-samaaa!" Jaken said. "Thank goodness you're safe!"
"Hmph... Did you think I would killed by the likes of Mouryoumaru...?" Sesshoumaru asked.
"No, but it looked painful," Katsumi said.
"He's covered with wounds," Kagome said.
"It would be better to treat them, wouldn't it?" Shippo said. Sesshoumaru glared at them. They both hid behind Inuyasha.
"Yikes, he's glaring at us," Kagome said.
"We're just worried, though," Shippo said.
'I'll take care of those wounds later...' Katsumi thought, smiling wryly.
"Are you people foolish!" Jaken yelled. "It wasn't as if Mouryoumaru could do anything to Sesshoumaru-sama!"
"What!" Shippo yelled back. "The one who was saying he was so sure that Sesshoumaru was being squished like a ripe persimmon, it was you, Jaken! Katsumi was the one who believed in him!"
"Wha... You idiot," Jaken said. "I did not..." He turned to talk to Sesshoumaru and saw that he was already leaving him in his dust. "... Ah, Sesshoumaru-sama..."
'He's in a bad mood...' Katsumi thought.
"Hold it, Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha said. Sesshoumaru paused. "Tokijin... Are you leaving it?" he asked, holding up half the broken blade.
"I have no attachment to any such broken sword..." Sesshoumaru said. "I'll go as far as searching for a replacement..."
"Bye," Katsumi told the others, waving as she followed Sesshoumaru. Jaken rushed to catch up.
"..." Inuyasha said.
"Sesshoumaru..." Kagome said.
'A new sword... is that all...?' Inuyasha thought. 'Your sword... Tenseiga isn't a weapon.'
"Say, Jaken-sama," Rin said, watching from a distance while Katsumi healed Sesshoumaru. Somehow she had talked him into letting her. "How come Sesshoumaru-sama got hurt?"
"Huh?" Jaken said. He looked at Sesshoumaru. His wounds had just finished healing. Katsumi put her sword away. "What are you talking about. He's perfectly alive and well, isn't he?"
"But he was all covered with wounds. And his armor had a hole in it," Rin said.
"Shut up, you stupid fool!" Jaken told her. 'Besides being squashed by Mouryoumaru, that the tentacle was originally Inuyasha's Kongōsōha... probably doubles Sesshoumaru-sama's humiliation.'
"It's a good thing Katsumi-nee treated him," Rin said.
"Even though he insisted himself that he wasn't wounded," Jaken said. "Ooh, just look at his mood."
"Mood?" Rin asked.
"What I'm saying is, go along with him pretending it didn't hurt," Jaken said.
"Ah! He stood up," Rin said.
"His hearing is that sharp!?" Jaken exclaimed. He quickly threw himself on the ground. "I... I didn't say anything! That offensive blabbering was all Rin's..."
"Me...?" Rin said.
"Don't worry, we know it wasn't you," Katsumi told her. Sesshoumaru wasn't even paying attention. He was looking up at a dark cloud. Katsumi looked up too when she caught Totosai's scent.
"He's not even listening," Rin said.
"Hm?" Jaken said, picking his head up. Totosai's three-eyed cow landed on the ground a relatively safe distance away.
"Hey," he greeted them.
"To... Totosai!?" Jaken said.
"... What's your business?" Sesshoumaru asked.
"Is something wrong?" Katsumi asked.
"Oh-ho... I'd thought something was lacking, and Tokijin is gone, is it?" Totosai said. "So it broke, huh?"
"Even without a sword, I could simply slash you to shreds with my claws," Sesshoumaru said, holding his hand up.
"I figured you'd say something like that," Totosai said, squinting at him. "I had to come, though. Tenseiga called to me."
"Tenseiga did...?" Sesshoumaru asked.
"Don't ignore it, Sesshoumaru," Totosai said. "You've noticed it, I'm sure, that Tenseiga was restless."
'So that's what it was...' Katsumi thought. She could tell something was different about the sword, but she didn't know what it was about.
'It was calling to Totosai, then?' Sesshoumaru thought.
"Somehow... It seems that where there was a lacking in your heart, something has been born from it," Totosai said.
"What do you mean, 'lacking'! Sesshoumaru-sama's heart is perfect," Jaken said.
"It's strong and kind, right?" Rin said.
"I don't know of any kindness," Jaken said with tears in his eyes.
"Don't cry, Jaken-sama," Rin said.
"Is there? Something that comes to mind," Totsai said. Sesshoumaru thought of Kagura's death and the way Mouryoumaru had mocked it.
'That time... huh?' Sesshoumaru thought.
'When got angry on Kagura's behalf, huh?' Katsumi thought.
"Well, I don't know what happened, though," Totosai said. "The point is that Tenseiga reacted to your change of heart It's probably that... it wasn't for yourself, but for some else's sake. Your heart was angered—and had sorrow."
'Wait a minute... if it's only just reacting like that now... does that mean he didn't feel anything about me getting my wings ripped out...!?' Katsumi wondered. She had gotten the impression that he was upset about that at least to some degree, but... She was suddenly in a really bad mood.
"So then, you gonna hand over Tenseiga?" Totosai asked, holding out his hand.
"What...?" Sesshoumaru said.
"I've come to reforge it. To be a weapon," Totosai said. Sesshoumaru was surprised.
"Ugh, to be in this kind of place..." Jaken said. They had wandered into a dark land where Youkais and apparitions were flying around.
"Yikes!" Rin said when one of the youkais came after her. Katsumi shredded it with one swipe of her claws before Jaken even had a chance to react.
'No to mention, this one's been in a mood about something since Totosai showed up...' Jaken thought about Katsumi. "Sesshoumaru-sama! It's already the third day. There's no doubt about it, even though he said he would reforge it, that Totosai just ran away with Tenseiga!"
"Hey," Totosai said, landing with one of his cow's hooves planted in Jaken's back.
"Ah, Totosai-sama," Rin said. Sesshoumaru stopped and looked at him.
"I've brought back Tenseiga," Totosai said, holding it out. "Draw the sword, Sesshoumaru. I wonder, can you master it?"
"Hmph, Toto-sai, if you've done a poor job with Tenseiga, I'd think your life is over," Sesshoumaru said, drawing the blade.
"... Your personality hasn't change, has it," Totosai said.
"Now what are you saying," Jaken said. That last thing he needed was him stirring up more trouble. Sesshoumaru walked over to a spot where the ground was being pushed up from underneath. A giant oni burst forth from beneath the dirt.
"Yikes! It's an oni!" Rin said.
"It came here being drawn to the sword's youki?" Jaken asked.
'You're taking a deliberate test, Sesshoumaru,' Totosai thought. 'The sword's path... Tenseiga will give guidance.' Sesshoumaru held the sword out in front of him, building up energy.
"A light from the sword..." Rin said. The oni lunged forward. Sesshoumaru ran to meet it. He slashed the oni with Tenseiga.
"Did it work!?" Rin asked. The oni appeared to be unharmed.
"Wha... It didn't kill it!?" Jaken said.
"What's that!?" Rin asked. "Above the oni. A crescent shaped cut appeared in the sky behind the oni.
'So then, the path of darkness has opened," Totosai said.
"Path of darkness!?" Jaken asked.
'Inside the crescent... it looks like outer space,' Katsumi thought. Suddenly a crescent-shaped hole appeared in the oni, and his head and shoulders were severed from the rest of his body. The crescent in the sky closed.
"It vanished," Rin said.
"What on earth was that?" Jaken asked.
"Was that another dimension?" Katsumi asked.
"You saw it with your own eyes," Totosai said. "The oni's body was taken into the next world, you see..."
"Next world?" Jaken asked.
"The fissure is still the shape of a crescent moon," Totosai said. "As you gain strength, it will be more like a full circle... at which point, the enemy's entire body will be sent to the next world."
"An ability that cuts open a path of darkness, huh...?" Sesshoumaru said.
"Tenseiga began as... a sword that joined this world to the next, after all," Totosai said. "Because the person who carries Tenseiga can see the pall-bearers of the next world, by slaying them, it's possible for that person to bring the dead back to the world of the living."
"Wow," Rin said.
"Hey... You were the first one that he revived, weren't you," Jaken reminded her.
"Conversely, the way to the next world... a path of darkness is cut. And through it, the enemy is literally sent to the realm of the dead. That's Tenseiga's fighting method. So then, what you just used before was... Meidou Zangetsuha." Sesshoumaru looked at him. 'Although that Sesshoumaru mastered it pretty damn suddenly. Spiteful brat... Well, since Tenseiga gave its approval, it can't be helped...'
"Wow... amazing... all that from Kagura's death," Katsumi muttered. "I guess having my wings ripped out wasn't a major event..." 'Though Mouryoumaru mocking her made me angry, too...'
"Is that why you've been acting so scary?" Totosai asked her. "It's a hell of a lot easier to get angry and feel sorrow for someone you care for than it is for someone who isn't close to you. Tenseiga wouldn't call me for that."
"... Oh," Katsumi said. "Is that so...?" she blushed a little, rubbing the back of her neck, smiling again.
'She is way too easy to please...' Totosai thought. Sesshoumaru's blood still boiled when he thought about what Naraku did to Katsumi, but she was alive and looking to avenge herself. He thought again how Mouryoumaru had claimed Kagura's death was in vain because none of them could kill him.
'Whether or not her death was in vain... is for me to decide,' Sesshoumaru thought, furrowing his brow slightly. "Totosai."
"Huh?" Totosai said.
"The fighting Tenseiga—I will certainly take it," Sesshoumaru said. The wind swept across the clearing, ruffling their hair.
"The wind," Rin said.
"We're going," Sesshoumaru said.
"Amazing, so Sesshoumaru-sama can cut straight to the next life," Rin said as they were walking.
"If it's cutting a whole in the fabric of spacetime to connect to another dimension, it must be really powerful," Katsumi said.
"Trying to make up for that bad mood you were in?" Jaken asked her.
"What?" Katsumi said.
"Don't play innocent! You've been difficult for three days! That's why you're flattering him now, aren't you?" Jaken said.
"Is it flattery if it's true?" Katsumi asked dubiously.
"Y-You...!" Jaken said. 'How sly!'
"I am sorry if I was difficult, though," Katsumi said. "Since it was just my own misunderstanding..."
"As long as you understand," Sesshoumaru said.
"I'm glad you're not scary anymore, Katsumi-nee," Rin said brightly.
"Eh? Was I that scary?" Katsumi asked, sweat-dropping.
"I knew you wouldn't hurt me, but Jaken-sama was really stressed out," Rin said.
"Seriously? You were stressed out because I was in a bad mood?" Katsumi asked him. "I thought you relished my pain."
'Normally, I would...' Jaken thought. "When you're difficult, it causes problems for everyone."
"Everyone being you?" Katsumi said.
"And Sesshoumaru-sama!" Jaken said indignantly.
'The only changes in my behavior that could have affected him were me talking to him less and not sitting next to him...' Katsumi thought. She didn't see how that would make a huge impact, since Sesshoumaru normally liked to keep to himself anyway. 'It's not like I was uncooperative.'
The fire was burning low. Rin and Jaken had just fallen asleep, so Katsumi stirred it and added some more fuel.
"Katsumi," Sesshoumaru said.
"Hm?" Katsumi said, turning to look at him.
"Come here," he said. She got up and sat next to him. He pulled her close, making her blush. She was a little surprised. "Don't do that again."
'Do what again?' Katsumi wondered, she was about to ask that question, when she answered it for herself. The way he had her sit next to him... and the way he pulled her closer... was it because he didn't like that she had distanced herself from him? Katsumi smiled and closed her eyes as she leaned on him.