"Haah..." Jaken sighed. They were walking with Sesshoumaru in the lead, followed by Katsumi, with Jaken holding Ah-Un's reins while Rin rode on his back and Kohaku walked beside her.
"What's the matter, Jaken-sama?" Rin asked.
"You don't feel anything?" Jaken said. 'With just one incident in hell, the meidou widened, but it wasn't a perfect circle. And Sesshoumaru-sama's heart hasn't lightened, either... more like he's electrically charged... It's scary...' They could see a young boy standing up ahead. He didn't have eyes. He stared at them with empty sockets. Sesshoumaru stopped.
"Sesshoumaru-sama. Would you like to learn the secret of what Tenseiga is lacking?" the boy asked.
"Wha?!" Jaken said.
"The secret of what Tenseiga lacks... you say?" Sesshoumaru said.
"Doesn't it bother you?" the boy asked. "Tenseiga's meidou can't have formed a circle yet."
"Hey, who are you!? Why do you know such a thing!?" Jaken asked.
"Silence, Jaken," Sesshoumaru said.
"I didn't say anything," Jaken said.
"Why do you always tell that lie?" Rin asked. The no-eyed boy turned away from them.
"If you wish to know, then follow after me," he said and started walking.
"Sesshoumaru-sama..." Jaken said.
"What do you want to do?" Katsumi asked. Sesshoumaru started following the boy.
The boy led them over a natural archway of stone as if it were a bridge.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, do you know that strange child?" Jaken asked.
"I don't," Sesshoumaru said.
"Umm, so couldn't this be a trap?" Jaken asked. "They could be luring you out with Tenseiga's secret in order to kill you... or something."
"Seems likely," Katsumi agreed.
"In that case... I'll just slice them apart," Sesshoumaru said.
"Ah..." Kohaku said.
"Hm?" Jaken said. He followed Kohaku's gaze back to the front. "The child disappeared...!?"
"Oh, yeah. It's definitely a trap," Katsumi said.
"!" Sesshoumaru said when he sensed trouble.
"Incoming!" Katsumi said, Kohaku hopped onto Ah-Un with Rin, and they all dodged the swift attack of purple energy that destroyed the arch. Except for Jaken, who fell. Katsumi was going to get him, but Kohaku threw the chain on his scythe, and it wrapped around Jaken, saving her the trouble. Sesshoumaru could smell the enemy. He looked around for them and saw two silhouettes standing at the top of the cliff before them.
'Above me?' he thought. 'Meidou Zangetsuha!' He slashed his sword and a huge meidou appeared in the cliffside and took a chunk out of it. The meidou cut all the way through the cliff, but the cliff didn't collapse.
"Th... That's why I said it was a trap!" Jaken said.
"Jaken-sama, are you okay!?" Rin asked.
"Did you aim below me on purpose?" the taller silhouette asked. Looking closer, Sesshoumaru could see that the speaker was a youkai who appeared to be about his age and wore a mask over half his face. He also held a staff with a moon-shaped blade on one end and a circle with a moon in it on the other. The other silhouette was the boy who had guided them there. "Since the enemy has come this far... I suppose you want to know the secret of Tenseiga. Sesshoumaru..." Sesshoumaru sheathed Tenseiga.
"Who... Who are you!?" Jaken asked as he was helped aboard Ah-Un.
"I don't care who he is... why do you know of Tenseiga?" Sesshoumaru asked.
"In the past, I fought against that sword," the masked man said.
"What?" Sesshoumaru said, furrowing his brow.
"Although back when I fought your father, that sword did not have that form..." the masked man said.
'With father!?' Sesshoumaru thought.
'Inu-Papa!?' Katsumi thought.
"An enemy of Sesshoumaru-sama's father...!?" Kohaku said.
"Damn you, pretending to be young!" Jaken said.
'It has a different form!? Is that what he's saying...' Sesshoumaru thought.
'I've got a bad feeling about those words...' Katsumi thought. 'He's not going to want me interfering with this fight.' Sesshoumaru leaped to the top of the cliff, attacking with his claws. The cliff crumbled and split, but the masked man jumped out of the way to stand on another rock formation. The boy floated in the air.
"In order to know the sword's secret, you intend to fight me without it?" the masked man said. "Don't make light of Shishinki!" He swung his staff and fired off another energy attack at Sesshoumaru, who quickly jumped out the way.
"Whoa!" Jaken exclaimed when it nearly hit the rest of them, too.
"That was close..." Katsumi said. A round meidou formed in the cliff behind them. "!"
'!' Sesshoumaru thought, furrowing his brow and gritting his teeth. His eyes widened as he realized that not only was it a mediou, but it was a complete meidou. 'The meidou!?'
"It isn't as big as Sesshoumaru-sama's though..." Jaken said.
"However... It's a complete meidou," Kohaku said.
'That bad feeling is getting worse...' Katsumi thought.
"Hmph. In the beginning, Meidou Zangetsuha was my technique," Shishinki said, jumping down to stand on the rubble from Sesshoumaru's attack on the cliff. "Sesshoumaru... your father stole it from me... as well as... my face..." He removed his mask, revealing that he was missing almost half of his head.
'The cut is round... was he hit by a meidou?' Katsumi wondered. 'I'm amazed he's still alive... I guess some youkais only need half a brain to function.'
"..." Sesshoumaru stared at him with his brow furrowed. "Hmph, if you want me to shut up and listen... So your technique was stolen and face was broken... Did you call me out here just to whine at me?"
"Heh, Meidou Zangetsuha is my technique..." Shishinki repeated. "A technique does not need two users." He swung his staff again. "Especially by some incomplete sword like Tenseiga!"
'Incomplete!?' Sesshoumaru thought, the crease in his brow deepening.
'What does that mean!?' Katsumi thought, furrowing her brow. The more this Shishinki guy talked, the worse that feeling in her gut got.
"Ah, Watch out!" Jaken called.
"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin said. Seshoumaru stepped to the side and dodged the attack. A round meidou formed in the rock formation behind him.
'His reaction time was slower than usual... What that guy just said must really be bothering him...' Katsumi thought, concerned.
'Tenseiga is... incomplete!?' Sesshoumaru thought. "You bastard... what do you know?"
"You want to know?" Shishinki asked. "Even though you'll be a dead man soon."
"Hmph... with that attitude, it looks like you have no interest in answering me," Sesshoumaru said. "In that case, I have no use for you!" He drew Tenseiga and attacked in one fluid motion, creating a giant meidou in the shape of a gibbous moon above Shishinki's head.
"!" Inuyasha said as he and his friends drew close. "That's...!"
"Sesshoumaru's Meidou Zangetsuha!?" Kagome said.
"It's gotten bigger since the last time I saw it!" Inuyasha said.
"Sesshoumaru, your meidou is merely pointlessly large..." Shishinki said. "However, it will never form a perfect circle!" Shishinki created a new meidou right on top of Sesshoumaru's. Shishinki's meidou began pulling in his meidou until it was completely absorbed.
"!" Sesshoumaru said.
"Wha!" Jaken said.
"Sesshoumaru-sama's meidou was absorbed by Shishinki's meidou!?" Kohaku said.
"It appears a complete circle is more stable...!" Katsumi said.
"!" Inuyasha said, watching from the broken arch with the rest of his group.
'Inuyasha...' Sesshoumaru thought.
'I wonder what they're doing here? I hope this doesn't complicate things...' Katsumi thought.
"!" Sango said when she noticed her brother on Ah-Un. "Kohaku...!"
"Ane-ue..." Kohaku said.
"That's Shishinki!" Myouga said, hopping on Inuyasha's shoulder.
"Myouga-jii-chan," Kagome said.
"He was still there," Shippo said.
"Who's that?" Inuyasha asked myouga.
"Long ago, he was a youkai who fought your and Sesshoumaru's father and lost," Myouga said. "But that he's still alive...!" 'This is bad...!' he thought, sweating nervously. 'If Sesshoumaru-sama learns of Tenseiga's secret...'
"That's..." Shishinki said, looking at Inuyasha's group. He swung his staff, firing an attack at them. Inuyasha grabbed Kagome and jumped out of the way, while the others quickly moved aside.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Inuyasha yelled, drawing Tessaiga. "Kaze no Kizu!" The attack demolished everything in its path and finally brought the sturdy cliff crashing down.
"Tessaiga... huh," Shishinki said. "I'd hear that he'd had two sons. And the younger brother was given Tessaiga... interesting..."
"Hey, Sesshoumaru, what's going on here!?" Inuyasha asked.
"..." Sesshoumaru said.
"What does that mean, Sesshoumaru? Doesn't it seem natural that you as elder brother should have inherited Tessaiga?" Shishinki said with a smirk. Sesshoumaru glared at him.
"Ohh, that bastard, bringing up Sesshoumaru-sama's biggest grievance..." Jaken said. "It goes without saying that Sesshoumaru-sama tried to steal Tessaiga many times, and in the end he lost his left arm to Tessaiga... so that meant he gave up and decided to train Tenseiga instead..."
"Jaken-sama, while that's easy to understand..." Kohaku said.
"If Sesshoumaru-sama was near you and heard that, he'd hit you for sure," Rin said.
"He'd knock you out cold and leave you behind," Katsumi agreed.
"So did you call me out here to fight?" Sesshoumaru asked Shishinki. "In that case... we don't need anymore useless chatter!" Sesshoumaru fired off another meidou.
"Hmph!" Shishink said, doing the same. Once again, Sesshoumaru's meidou was consumed by Shishinki's.
"Aah, it was absorbed again!" Jaken said.
"That man is also using Meidou Zangetsuha... but it's counteracting Sesshoumaru's meidou..." Kagome said.
"Naturally," Myouga said, hopping up and down on her shoulder.
"Myouga-jii-chan," Kagomes said.
"Meidou Zangetsuha was originally Shishinki's technique," Myouga said.
"Myouga-sama, so you didn't go with Inuyasha?" Miroku asked.
"Guess he abandoned him," Shippo said.
"Even thought Inuyasha-sama's father fought him and stole the technique, Sesshoumaru has yet to perfect it," myouga explained.
'He stole it...?' Miroku thought. "So then, Myouga-sama, Sesshoumaru's Tenseiga, like Inuyasha's Tessaiga, has the power to take an opponent's weapon's powers?" Myouga gupled.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, did you know? How your Tenseiga was born?" Shishinki asked.
"What...?" Sesshoumaru said.
'Ohh, I've got a super bad feeling about this!' Katsumi thought.
"I told you when I fought your father, Tenseiga did not have that form... No, Tenseiga didn't even exist."
"!?" Katsumi and Miroku said.
"What I actually fought was... Tessaiga," Shishinki said.
"!" Inuyasha said. "He fought Tessaiga and... lost?" Inuyasha said.
'But that would mean Tessaiga would have Meidou Zangetsuha... Unless...!' Katsumi thought, eyes widening. 'I see... Tenseiga didn't exist then, so...' She glanced at Sesshoumaru. 'This is bad...!'
'Tenseiga is... It can't be...' Sesshoumaru thought, frowning.
'Shishinki fought against Tessaiga in the past!?' Kagome thought. "He lost against Tessaiga, so his own technique, the Meidou Zangetsuha, was stolen...?"
"And at that time... Tenseiga didn't even exist...?" Miroku said.
"That's right, Sesshoumaru," Shishinki said. "Your Tenseiga is Tessaiga's..."
"Silence!" Sesshoumaru yelled. He fired a meidou at Shishinki, but he countered with one of his own. Sesshoumaru's was absorbed.
"Aah, again...!" Jaken said.
"Sesshoumaru-sama's meidou was absorbed!" Kohaku said.
"Hmph," Shishinki fired another meidou at Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru dodged.
"Your father was the one who stole Meidou Zangetsuha from me... I wonder if it was too much for him," Shishinki said.
"What does this mean, Myouga-jii-chan?" Kagome asked.
"W-Well... Meidou Zangetsuha is..." Myouga said, hopping on her shoulder. "A dangerous and ominous technique to cut open a meidou and dispatch your enemy directly into hell. C-Certainly the master had thought about what to do with this technique."
"So therefore... it was cast off of Tessaiga," Shishinki said. "And that which inherited that unneeded technique... Was your Tenseiga, Sesshoumaru."
"Tenseiga was... cast off Tessaiga...?" Inuyasha said.
'So it's an unwanted piece!?' Sesshoumaru thought, the crease in his brow deepening.
"So Tessaiga and Tenseiga... were originally the same sword!?" Kagome said.
'Why...!' Sesshoumaru thought, glaring.
"I don't accept that!" Katsumi said. "If it's unneeded, then why make it into a sword? Why not just destroy it!?"
"!" Sesshoumaru said. But... even if that was true... the fact remained that his father had left Tessaiga to Inuyasha instead of entrusting to him.
"Katsumi-chan...!" Kagome said.
"Hmph," Shishinki decided to ignore her. "On top of that, the younger brother who received Tessaiga... has human scent about him. So, a mere hanyou was given the original sword..." Inuyasha glared at him.
'I was rejected by Tessaiga's barrier, forbidden from even touching it,' Sesshoumaru thought. 'And rather than a weapon, I was given the Tenseiga, a healing sword... But the technique I gained, Meidou Zangetsuha is...'
"Sesshoumaru, it looks like... you've been completely shunned by your father," Shishinki said. "So you understand now? What means for Tenseiga to be an incomplete sword... Since Tenseiga is merely a castoff piece of Tessaiga, it cannot fire a complete Meidou Zangetsuha. No matter how much you train it!" He fired another attack at Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru made no indication of dodging.
"Ah!" Kagome gasped.
"Sesshoumaru!" Katsumi yelled.
"Look out, Sesshoumaru-sama!" Jaken said.
"Kaze no Kizu!" Inuyasha said, launching a counter attack, stopping Shishink's meidou from forming.
"Hmph. Hanyou... do you intend to assist your brother?" Shishinki asked. "After I take my time finishing Sesshoumaru, I'll deal with you."
"Shut up! Just be quiet and watch!" Inuyasha said. "!" Sesshoumaru suddenly came at him. Sesshoumaru punched Inuyasha.
"Aaah!" Kagome gasped.
"You bastard, what was that for!?" Inuyasha asked.
"I won't let you interfere," Sesshoumaru said.
'I thought so...' Katsumi thought.
"Hmph," Shishinki said.
"He's pissed off now," Shippo said.
"However... If what was just said is true, it just seems too cruel," Miroku said.
"But like Katsumi-chan said... If it really was an unnecessary technique, isn't there a better way to get rid of it?" Kagome said. 'But then he'd just leave an object called Tenseiga, and given it to Sesshoumaru...'
'I have no idea what the master had in mind when he gave Sesshoumaru-sama Tenseiga...' Myouga thought. 'But if these were his true intentions... Sesshoumaru-sama cannot possibly be made to accept them.' Sesshoumaru flexed his claws and charged.
"Hmph. Lost the will to use Tenseiga, huh?" Shishinki said. "Off with you to hell!" He fired another meidou at Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru dodged.
"He intends to fight unarmed!?" Sango said.
'I want to tell him to draw Tenseiga, but...' Katsumi thought.
"Shishinki's meidou is small but powerful," Miroku said. "If he even gets too close to it...!"
"Kukuku..." Shishinki laughed.
"!?" Inuyasha said. Shishinki waved his staff and sent meidou after meidou at Sesshoumaru.
"!" Sesshoumaru said as he dodged repeatedly.
"Wha!?" Inuyasha said.
"Aah!?" Kagome gasped.
"He can shoot more than one at once!?" Katsumi said.
"Stop, Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha yelled. 'If you get hit... You're a goner for sure!'
'Tenseiga was cast off Tessaiga, an unneeded piece...' Sesshoumaru thought, furrowing his brow. 'Why, Chichi-ue... Why would you go that far... just to slight me!' He charged at Shishinki.
"Kukuku, so you're so desperate that you'd charge at me without a plan, huh..." Shishinki said. "How amateurish, Sesshoumaru!" He sent another volley of meidous at Sesshoumaru.
"Watch out!" Katsumi and Kagome yelled.
"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Jaken yelled. A meidou hit the rock formation right behind him, Kohaku, Rin, and Ah-Un, not so far from his head. "Geh!"
"Don't let your guard down!" Katsumi told them. Sesshoumaru slashed at Shishinki with his claws, demolishing part of the rock formation he was standing on.
"Kukuku..." Shishinki laughed as he jumped through the air. "You fool!" He waved his staff again sending more meidous at Sesshoumaru. "You think you can defeat Shishinki with your mere claws!?" Sesshoumaru dodged the meidous.
'Sesshoumaru!' Inuyasha thought. "You idiot!"
"This is bad... at this rate, Sesshoumaru-sama must be informed of the master's true intent..." Myouga said. "Ah, but there's no way to get near him. Oh well, that's that, then. Hn?!" Miroku picked up Myouga.
"I'll lend you a hand," Miroku told the flea.
"Eh!?" Myouga said. Miroku put Myouga on an o-fuda and sent him flying away on it.
"Get over there now!" Miroku said.
"Noooo!" Myouga cried.
"Kukuku, how long can you run?" Shishinki asked Sesshoumaru.
"You lowlife... This Sesshoumaru has said nothing of running away," Sesshoumaru said, glaring at him.
"Inuyasha-sama!" Myouga said, jumping from the o-fuda to the hanyou's shoulder.
"Myouga-jijii," Inuyasha said.
"Sesshoumaru-sama! Please listen to what I have to say!" Myouga said earnestly.
"That voice... the old flea, myouga, huh...?" Shishinki said.
"I got here as fast as I could without hesitating!" Myouga said. Not that he'd had much choice.
"Ohh?" Inuyasha said.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, your father... entrusted you with Tenseiga because of who you are!" Myouga said. "Meidou Zangetsuha is a technique that dispatches an enemy directly to hell. It is not a technique just anyone can handle."
"Hmph, that's for sure," Shishinki said. "A hanyou like the little brother likely wouldn't be able to withstand the jyaki from hell."
"..." Inuyasha said.
"Your father counted on your strength as a full youkai!" Myouga said. "He intended for you to one day acquire the Meidou Zangetsuha and learn to weild it fully... therefore..."
"For that purpose, he intentionally cast Tenseiga off of Tessaiga? Sesshoumaru said.
"Heh?" Myouga said.
"Hmph, what an amusing story," Shishinki said. "Then wouldn't it have been better to simply grant Sesshoumaru the Tessaiga that already had the Meidou Zangetsuha? I'm sure that's what Sesshoumaru is thinking."
"Gulp..." Myouga said. "Well, if you look at it that way..."
"Hey. So were you just belittling him?" Inuyasha asked, squeezing him between his fingers.
"Somehow you seem to feel for Sesshoumaru-sama as well," Myouga said.
"Get back, Myouga," Sesshoumaru said. He lunged forward again. 'There's nothing more to discuss.'
"Wait! Wasn't Tessaiga given to Inuyasha to keep his youkai blood under control? Isn't that why!?" Katsumi said. But it was too late, Sesshoumaru was no longer listening. Shishinki sent another volley of meidous at Sesshoumaru. He dodged most of them, but one took off the left sleeve of his kimono.
"!" Katsumi gasped at how close it came.
"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Jaken yelled.
"Tch, just one arm, huh?" Shishinki said.
'I've been missing this left arm from the start. All because Chichi-ue left Tessaiga to Inuyasha,' Sesshoumaru thought. 'However!" He reached forward and crushed the mask over Shishinki's face, damaging his face further. Shishinki was sent flying back. He landed harshly on the ground and skidded to a halt.
"Aah!" Kagome said.
'All right! If he can just keep that up without taking further damage, then...!' Katsumi thought, clenching her fist.
'I don't feel bitter about it,' Sesshoumaru thought. 'In the end it's allowed me to exceed in battle.'
"Hmph..." Shishinki said, looking up at him.
"Tenseiga's secret... huh," Sesshoumaru said. "I don't need to hear whatever vile obscenities would spew from your mouth. I would just hear drivel."
"Kukuku... You having regrets...?" Shishinki asked, picking himself up. "But... you're too late."
"His face... and he's not dead?" Kagome said. He was missing half his head!
"Get back, Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha said, rushing over.
"I told you not to interfere!" Sesshoumaru snapped.
"Like I can do that!" Inuyasha said. "Kongōsōha!" Inuyasha fired adamant spears at Shishinki.
"How amusing! I'll send you to hell as brothers in arms!" Shishinki said, sending an overwhelming amount of meidous at the two brothers. The adamant spears were sucked up into the meidous.
"Kongōsōha was absorbed!" Sango said.
"Run, Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled.
"Oh no, there's too many of them!" Miroku said.
"Sesshoumaru!" Katsumi yelled. Her eyes widened slightly when she felt something. Tenseiga was pulsing with power at Sesshoumaru's side.
'Tenseiga!?' Sesshoumaru thought.
"!" Inuyasha said when Tessaiga pulsed too.
'Tenseiga and Tessaiga are... resonating!' the two brother's thought.
"Draw Tenseiga!" Katsumi shouted.
"Draw it, Sesshoumaru! Something will probably happen!" Inuyasha said.
'Is it telling me to fight!? Alongside Inuyasha!?' Sesshoumaru thought. 'No, only in order to save Inuyasha and Tessaiga... In order to get rid of the undesirable Meidou Zangetsuha, Tenseiga was cast off of Tessaiga, and that Tenseiga was given to me just so... I'd save Inuyasha...'
"Kukuku... Sesshoumaru... Lost even the will to fight now?" Shishinki asked. "It's no matter. You've already run out of moves."
"Sesshoumaru, please!" Katsumi yelled as the meidous drew closer.
"To hell with you! Take care of your father's memento while you're there!" Shishinki yelled.
"Father's memento... huh..." Sesshoumaru said. He drew Tenseiga. 'Whatever Chichi-ue was thinking when he gave me Tenseiga, I don't care anymore. However, Shishinki...' He slashed Tenseiga at Shishinki. "A piece of filth like you has no reason to live!" A gigantic, round Meidou appeared behind Shishinki. Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru braced themselves as Shishinki's smaller meidous were sucked up into it.
"Sesshoumaru-sama's meidou became a perfect circle...!" Jaken said.
"It's absorbing Shishinki's meidou!" Kohaku said.
"All right!" Katsumi cheered.
"Wha... Impossible!" Shishinki cried as he was sucked up off the ground. 'Tenseiga was supposed to be incomplete...' He stared down at the two brothers. 'I see... It's because Tessaiga was nearby...' "How pitiful, Sesshoumaru, that your father did such an utterly cruel thing!" With those final words, he disappeared into the meidou.
'What...? What he just said... worries me,' Katsumi thought. She didn't understand by what he meant but 'cruel', but she had a strong feeling the circular meidou Sesshoumaru produced had something to do with Tessaiga. 'Even though he produced a complete Meidou Zangetsuha... Sesshoumaru doesn't look happy...'
"A... Amazing..." Kagome said.
"But... that was close," Miroku said.
"..." Sesshoumaru stared at Tenseiga.
"Hey, Sesshoumaru, you just... wasn't that a complete Meidou Zangetsuha?" Inuyasha asked. Sesshoumaru sheathed Tenseiga and started walking away. "Wait, Sesshoumaru! So now you've... you're mastered Tenseiga! Shouldn't you be happy about that!? By the time I had the capacity for judgement, our dad had already died. So I don't know what he was thinking. But what that Shishinki guy said... that Tenseiga was an unneeded piece of Tessaiga, and incomplete sword... That was just a mean way of saying that Dad at least recognized you and gave you Tenseiga." A transformed Shippo floated up to where they were standing, and Kagome hopped off.
'Inuyasha...' she thought.
"Why... do you think that?" Sesshoumaru asked.
"Keh, because I've decided that I'm not gonna let you resent your sword just because of a misunderstanding," Inuyasha said. "I'm gonna show you that Tenseiga really is Dad's memento right here and now!"
"Inuyasha is paying respect to Tenseiga..." Miroku said.
"I wonder if he's trying to encourage Sesshoumaru..." Kagome said.
"I wonder if it'll work," Shippo said.
'I hope it does, otherwise he may start going after Tessaiga again...' Katsumi thought.
"Hmph... Inuyasha, your eyes are empty sockets..." Sesshoumaru said.
"Wha..." Inuyasha said.
'Tenseiga's ability to render a perfectly circular meidou... was simply because of resonating with Tessaiga nearby...' Sesshoumaru thought. 'That's ample proof that Tessaiga is the master, Tenseiga the servant. And even before that...' He recalled Shishinki's last words. He looked back at Inuyasha. "Inuyasha, something for you to remember. You and I... are destined to fight until we die."
"!?" Inuyasha and Katsumi said.
"Hey..." Inuyasah said, but Sesshoumaru was done talking.
"Wait for us, Sesshoumaru-sama!" Jaken said as they flew on Ah-Un to catch up, and Katsumi ran alongside them.
"Kohaku..." Sango said, looking up at him.
"Kohaku, you sure you don't want to go say 'hi' to your sister?" Rin asked.
"..." Kohaku stared down at Sango. "Yeah... Let's follow after Sesshoumaru-sama."
"Kohaku..." Sango said, watching him fly away.
Byakuya flew over the area where Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha fought Shishinki on his paper crane.
"Looks like there was quite a commotion here," he said, looking around at all the holes in the rocks caused by meidous. He landed and tapped the ground with his sword. Caterpillar-like creatures made of rock formed on the surface. "Rock insects, what happened here? Tell me everything you saw and heard."
"Hey, Jaken-sama, where did Sesshoumaru-sama go?" Rin asked. She was sitting by the fire with Kohaku, who was tending it, while Katsumi hunted for their next meal.
"Haah..." Jaken sighed. 'Sesshoumaru-sama... I wonder how badly he's hurt...'
'Sesshoumaru must have been badly hurt by Shishinki's words about Inu-Papa...' Katsumi thought. He just left without telling them anything about where he was going. 'Not to mention how much time and effort he put into making Tenseiga stronger...'
'The Tenseiga which he has raised and cared for... is nothing more than a piece of Tessaiga which was given to Inuyasha...' Jaken thought. 'Though where Sesshoumaru-sama would go because of that, I suppose I could guess.'
'He's probably gone to see Totosai-ojii-san... I hope he lets him live,' Katsumi thought, a bead of sweat sliding down her face.
Back at Totosai's place, the old youkai was nailing a note to the front of his house. It said 'I've moved'.
"There," Totosai said. He grabbed his pack full of sword and sword-making materials and tools and turned to his three-eyed cow. "Now then, let's go." A huge circular meidou appeared inches from their heads, taking part of the skull that made up the entrance to Totosai's home with it. "Eeeh, my house..." he said with tears in his eyes.
"Totosai... You thought you could escape?" Sesshoumaru asked, holding Tenseiga at the ready for another attack.
"Hi, Sesshoumaru," Totosai said, squinting at him. "I thought you'd show up sooner or later." The fact that Sesshoumaru didn't bring Katsumi with him made Totosai extra wary. "And with that attitude, I suppose you've learned Tenseiga's secret."
"Totosai, you knew everything from the beginning, didn't you?" Sesshoumaru said, furrowing his brow.
"Well, yeah," Totosai admitted. "The one who sheared Tenseiga from Tessaiga... and reforged Tenseiga as a weapon was me, after all. So, what of it? You gonna kill me right here?" Sesshoumaru raised his sword. "Wait," Totosai said, holding a hand up. "You met Shishinki, right? Honestly. I don't know what ideas Shishinki put into your head, but... in the end, you got Meidou Zangetsuha, right? That attack you fired at me before was a perfect circle. That means your father had no doubt... that you would be able to pull that off."
"Hmph, Totosai... did you think that I wouldn't realize what was to happen after that?" Sesshoumaru asked, sheathing Tenseiga.
"After that...?" Totosai said.
"Tessaiga is a sword that can take the power of the enemy's weapon it battles against... but this Tenseiga has no such ability," Sesshoumaru said. "Chichi-ue's true intention... was to have me perfect the Meidou Zangetsuha... and then have Tenseiga reabsorbed by Tessaiga. That's what that means."
"Oh," Totosai said. "Well, darn." He patted slapped his knee. "You saw that far, huh?" Sesshoumaru glared at him. "Like you said, your father intended to one day give the Meidou Zangetsuha to Inuyasha as well. Don't like that?"
"Hmph, do you think..." Sesshoumaru said, drawing Tenseiga again. "That I would be slain by the likes of Inuyasha's Tessaiga!?"
"Whoa there," Totosai said, immediately slamming his hammer into the ground before Sesshoumaru could swing his sword, surrounding him in a circle of flames and lava.
"!" Sesshoumaru said.
"Hey, Sesshoumaru. Why do you think your father crafted the swords in such a way?" Totosai's voice asked. Sesshoumaru could hear him, and his smell lingered, but he couldn't see him. "Did you honestly think that he would allow you to force... Inuyasha into such a poor lot in life? Well, you're being unreasonable right now. While you're fussing over your father's memento Tessaiga, maybe you should consider his thoughts beyond that..."
"Silence!" Sesshoumaru said, swinging Tenseiga. He created another meidou over Totosai's home. 'His thoughts beyond that, you say!?'
"Throw it all away, Sesshoumaru... your attachment to your sword, your hatred for Inuyasha... when that happens, Sesshoumaru, you will have surpassed your father." Sesshoumaru turned and left. "I thought... I was gonna die...!" Totosai admitted to his cow, hiding behind what was left of a stone ridge. Sesshoumaru's last meidou almost took off his head!
"He's late, he's late, Sesshoumaru-sama..." Rin sang.
"Just be quiet!" Jaken said. "And the hundred times you said it before, too..."
'What is it?' Katsumi wondered, tensing up. 'I just suddenly got a really terrible feeling... Something's about to happen!' She stood up with her hand on her sword, looking around.
"What is it, Katsumi-nee?" Rin asked.
"!" Kohaku said when he felt a change in the shikon shard in his neck. 'What is this horrible feeling...' He looked around too.
"What's wrong, Kohaku?" Rin asked.
'The shikon shard... is being contaminated... Something evil is closing in!' Kohaku thought.
"Kohaku?" Katsumi said. She could also had the feeling of something evil approaching. Something familiar. She smelled Naraku and gritted her teeth.
"Run, you two!" Kohaku told Rin and Jaken as he stood up, ready to fight.
"Eh!?" Rin and Jaken said.
"Kukuku... Kohaku... It's been a while..." Naraku said, appearing right behind him.
"!" Kohaku gasped. "Naraku..." Katsumi jumped between them and slashed at Naraku's barrier. Her sword passed through the barrier, but it didn't break it. "Katsumi... I see you have a new weapon. What happened to the spear?"
"That was only a temporary loan," Katsumi said, glaring at him.
"Kukuku, Kohaku... do you think Katsumi can protect you?" Naraku asked.
"Naraku... Did you come to take my shikon shard!?" Kohaku asked, turning around to face him.
"What other reason is there?" Katsumi said, glaring at Naraku, keeping herself between him and Kohaku.
"It's the last one... With your shard, the shikon no tama will be complete," Naraku said. "Though Kikyo protected and purified your shard, she is already dead."
'Kikyo-sama...' Kohaku thought. 'I wasn't able to be with Kikyo-sama... in her final moments.'
"Now, Kohaku... you can't run anymore," Naraku said, reaching out to him.
"Endless Bloom!" Katsumi said as she sliced off Naraku's hand. "Get back, Kohaku!" Kohaku turned to move away, and before either he or Katsumi could move, tentacles shot out of Naraku's wrist where his hand used to be. Two tried to stab Katsumi in the heart and stomach, while several others converged on Kohaku's neck.
"Katsumi-nee! Kohaku!" Rin yelled. Katsumi's armor stopped the tentacles without taking a dent, and she spun around to slice off the tentacles, wondering why it was taking Endless Bloom so long to activate, two things happened simultaneously the instant Naraku touched Kohaku's shard. Katsumi's attack activated, and a purifying energy flowed through Naraku's tentacles, and Naraku was enveloped in what appeared to be blue flames as his tentacles bulged and swelled with tumors that spread up to his arm in seconds. Narau quickly removed that arm before the effect could spread further.
'What was that...!?' he wondered. He looked at Kohaku, then at Katsumi. His eyes fell on the hand she had cut off earlier. It was now a tumorous mess as well. 'So the physical attack was from Katsumi, but the purifying energy was...!?'
'What was that!? That light before...' Kohaku thought. 'Even though Naraku's tentacles touched me... the shard's jyaki is weakening!? It's like it was purified...'
"Kohaku! Katsumi-nee, hurry!" Rin called, ready to fly away with them on Ah-Un. Katsumi considered their options. If they separated, he would ignore her and go straight for the kids. If they ran together, she would have a harder time protecting them. They had to stand and fight.
'Kikyo... so this is your trick...' Naraku thought. 'That point of light that Kikyo left in my shikon no tama... purified Kohaku's shard, huh...'
'Even though my shard became corrupted just by Naraku being nearby... a pure light flowed through it,' Kohaku thought.
"It's Naraku's scent!" Inuyasha said as at that very moment, he and the rest of his group drew closer.
"Looks like Kohaku-kun is there, too. I sense a shikon shard..." Kagome said.
"What!?" Sango said.
"Shouldn't Kohaku be with Sesshoumaru and Katsumi?" Shippo asked.
"And even knowing that, Naraku attacked!?" Miroku asked.
"Katsumi is there, but I don't smell Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha said. "Is that bastard not there!?"
"Let's hurry!" Miroku said. "At any rate, this means Naraku has come to take the last shard that Kohaku holds!"
"Right!" Sango said.
"Everyone, stand close to Rin," Katsumi said.
"Eh?" They said, surprised.
"Aren't we running?" Jaken asked.
"I won't be able to defend you as well if we run, and if you go without me, he'll just ignore me and go after you," Katsumi said. 'Rin's barrier should be big enough to protect all of them if they stand close to her.'
"Kukuku, that's right," Naraku said. "Kohaku... What do you think Kikyo was aiming for?"
"!?" Kohaku said.
"What are you talking about?" Katsumi asked.
"Kohaku, that woman purified your shikon shard to the point there wasn't a bit of corruption left," Naraku said. "It was so that your pure shard could fuse with my shikon no tama, and purify me along with the jewel to destroy me. So even though Kikyo died, she could still threaten my life."
'So that light that flowed into me before... it really was Kikyo-sama's...' Kohaku thought. 'If by touching my shard, Naraku is tormented by pure light... does that mean that my shard... has now become the weapon to defeat Naraku!?'
"Kukuku, however, Kohaku... There is a way for me to reclaim your shard without touching it," Naraku said.
"!?" Kohaku gasped when tentacles shot out of Naraku's shoulder where his arm used to be and headed straight for him. Katsumi cut them down before they could reach him.
"Endless bloom!" she said as she sliced the tentacles. For a moment, there was no reaction, but then the tentacles she cut off and the ones still attached to his body exploded with tumorous growths.
"!" Naraku said, quickly detaching the tentacles before the cancer could spread beyond his arm. While he was still recovering from that, Katsumi launched herself at Naraku.
"Selective Strike!" she said, slicing open his barrier.
"!?" Naraku gasped. Without hesitating, Katsumi attacked again.
"Selective Strike!" she said, passing through his shoulder, heading for his heart.
"!?" Naraku exclaimed and quickly tried to grab her blade with his remaining hand, but her blade passed through it, so he immediately removed his whole body from the area just as she was a hair away from his heart. 'I should've brought that knife...!' he thought, wanting to end her.
"Tch!" Katsumi said with a furrowed brow, frowning. Before she could attack again, Naraku released miasma from his body. Everything around them began to die.
"!" Rin gasped and her barrier activated, but Katsumi knew it wouldn't last long.
"I smell Naraku's miasma!" Inuyasha said. From their higher vantage point, they could see the dead spot in the forest created by the misama. "!" he said as huge, thorny vines burst up out of the ground right in front of them.
"Hey, long time no see," Byakuya said, standing on one of them. "It would be problematic for you to go on ahead. Naraku will get mad at me."
"Byakuya of the Dreams..." Inuyasha said. He drew Tessaiga. "I don't have time to deal with you!"
"Same here. I don't intend to hold you up that long," Byakuya said. 'Naraku's business will soon be complete, after all.'
Rin's barrier flickered and died.
'Damn... It's corrupting again...' Kohaku thought. A bead of sweat slid down the side of his face.
'Damn! Rin and Kohaku won't be able to withstand the misama!' Katsumi thought. She sheathed her sword and ran over to them, putting up her own barrier.
'Ah, I can breathe again...' Jaken thought.
'The air is so clean... Katsumi-sama is doing this?' Kohaku thought, surprised. The corruption of his shard halted. She was completely blocking Naraku's energy.
"Kukuku... Katsumi... How long can you keep that up?" Naraku asked mockingly. He seemed to have recovered from the scare she gave him.
Meanwhile, Inuyasha was dealing with an impenetrable wall of thorny vines.
"Keh, for this sort of thing... Kaze no Kizu!" Inuyasha yelled, unleashing his attack upon the vines. The attack destroyed the vines, but miasma came flooding out of them.
"Miasma!" Kagome said.
"Hmph," Byakuya said, watching from above in his paper crane.
"Everyone, get back! With one more shot of the Kaze no Kize, I'll blow this miasma away!" Inuyasha said.
"Can't let you do that," Byakuya said. More vines grew up in front of Inuyasha.
"Those same vines again...!" Sango said.
"Even if he cuts through them with the Kaze no Kizu, the miasma will only get worse!" Shippo said.
"Stand back, Inuyasha!" Miroku said, running forward.
"Miroku!" Inuyasha said.
"Kazaana!" Miroku said as he unsealed his wind tunnel, sucking in the miasma.
"Hmph, what a fool," Byakuya said. "If you suck up this much miasma, you won't live." He was startled when one of Kagome's purifying arrows almost hit him. "!"
"Sango-chan, hurry up and go to Kohaku!" Kagome said, firing another one, which took off the wing of Byakuya's crane.
"Kirara!" Sango said, flying away on her.
"Byakuya, prepare yourself!" Inuyasha said. It was his turn now.
"!" Byakuya said. "No thanks," he said, holding a lotus flower. Inuyasha swung Tessaiga, but the Byakuya he cut through was a fake. The real thing was already gone.
Sango flew on Kirara toward the dead spot in the forest.
'I wonder if Houshi-sama is all right...' Sango thought. 'He sucked up a lot of miasma...'
"Miroku-sama, you're not in pain!?" Kagome asked.
"Yeah. Let's follow after Sango," Miroku said, resealing his hand.
"..." Inuyasha stared at him. 'That Miroku... his expression hasn't changed a bit... He really has become unable to feel any pain. However... I'm sure the miasma wound has spread again.'
"Kukuku..." Naraku was laughing now, beating away at Katsumi's barrier with his tentacles. It was holding, for now, but the more he attacked, the more energy she had to put in to keep it together.
'What should I do...!?' Kohaku wondered. 'If we weren't here, Katsumi-sama would be able to fight freely... I must help her!'
'Waah, what should I do...' Jaken thought nervously. 'If Rin gets involved in this and dies, Sesshoumaru-sama will kill me!'
"Jaken-sama, please get away from me, and take Rin and escape!" Kohaku said.
"Kohaku!?" Rin and Katsumi said.
"Wha... That's... It's okay!?" Jaken asked.
"We can't, Jaken-sama!" Rin said.
"Everyone stays together!" Katsumi said. 'If Rin tries to escape now, Naraku would just catch her and threaten her life to get me to hand over Kohaku.'
"Kukuku, you think you have time to worry about other people?" Naraku asked as plant-like tentacles came out of his shoulders to touch Katsumi's barrier.
"Ah!" they all gasped when the tentacles began to dissolve the barrier. Katsumi tried to hold it, but the miasma was already leaking in.
"Rin, this is a gas mask," Kohaku told Rin as he put it over her face. "You must not take it off!" Katsumi's barrier was gone. She drew her sword again. She furrowed her brow. Naraku wasn't making any move to come closer. He seemed to want to keep his distance. Kohaku's eyes widened as he felt the terrible sensation of his shard being corrupted strengthen. 'The shikon shard's corruption has gotten horrible...'
"Kohaku... are you all right?" Rin asked when she saw how he was suffering.
"Get away from me!" Kohaku said, pushing her away.
"Aah...!" Rin cried as she was knocked down. Kohaku stood up and took hold of his scythe.
"R... Run away... Rin... Katsumi-sama..." Kohaku said, struggling for every word.
"Ko... Kohaku..." Rin said, concerned.
"What is it, Kohaku?" Katsumi asked.
"Kukuku, are you afraid, Kohaku...?" Naraku asked. "Under the control of my miasma... having you kill that girl and Katsumi would be..."
"Naraku..." Kohaku said.
"Just like when you killed your father and companions with your own hands..." Naraku said.
"Eh...!?" Rin gasped.
'He did that to Kohaku...!?' Katsumi thought, getting angry.
"Don't worry, Kohaku... You won't have those painful feelings much longer," Naraku said as he made Kohaku hold the scythe to his own neck.
"Kohaku!" Rin cried.
"Kukuku, thanks to Kikyo's trick, I can't touch your shard," Naraku said. "However, I will be able to reclaim it. Inside of your neck..." Katsumi turned around and grabbed the scythe, pulling it from his hands while being careful not to hurt him.
"As if I'd let that happen!" Katsumi said. Naraku made Kohaku turn on Katsumi. Katsumi didn't know what Naraku thought he was going to accomplish by making Kohaku fight her barehanded, but... she had a feeling it was a distraction while he came up with something nastier. Kohaku suddenly turned toward Rin. Katsumi's eyes widened.
It was then that Kirara and Sango swooped in. Kirara pinned Kohaku under one of her paws to prevent him from moving, while Sango hopped off of Kirara to face Naraku.
"Naraku!" Sango said, glaring at him.
"Kohaku!" Rin said.
"Ane-ue..." Kohaku said.
"Hey, Sango," Katsumi said.
"Thanks for looking after Kohaku," Sango told her.
"Sango... all by yourself..." Naraku said.
"She's not all by herself," Katsumi said, standing next to her.
"If you care about your brother, then relieve him of his life right here," Naraku told Sango. "Give him peace..."
"Don't jerk me around!" Sango said angrily. "!" Something was different about Hiraikotsu. 'Something is... coming out of Hiraikotsu...!?'
'Do I smell poison coming from her weapon?' Katsumi wondered.
"Don't you understand, Sango?" Naraku said. "Aside from death, there is no way to save Kohaku's heart."
"What bullshit are you spouting now?" Katsumi asked, furrowing her brow.
"Think about it. Even if he were to escape my curse and return to himself, you two still wouldn't be able to exist as siblings," Naraku said. "And why is that? Because Kohaku has been avoiding you, his sister, all on his own. It's not unreasonable. Sango, you were there... You saw everything that happened. The moment that Kohaku killed your father and companions... Therefore, Sango, your very presence is dragging Kohaku back to his horrific past.
"Kohaku is avoiding me...? So what of it?" Sango said. "I knew that much."
'Ane-ue...' Kohaku thought.
'Kohaku, you left me... and kept yourself close to Kikyo. And then after Kikyo died, now you are with Sesshoumaru and Katsumi...' Sango thought. "Naraku, even if he was being manipulated by you, the fact is that Kohaku is the one who killed our father." The truth of her words hurt Kohaku. "I haven't forgotten what happened that day. I'm sure Kohaku is the same. We feel hurt and shame about what we did. And therefore... We will not die! Until Kohaku's pain is overcome... Naraku, I will fight you!"
"Well said!" Katsumi said.
"Kukuku, it's useless," Naraku said. Kohaku felt his shard being defiled further.
'Ugh... the jyaki again...' he thought, furrowing his brow and gritting his teeth.
"The Jyaki had gotten stronger!" Miroku said.
"Hurry, Inuyasha! Kohaku-kun's shard... is getting more corrupted," Kagome said urgently.
"A... Ane-ue!" Kohaku said, struggling to keep control of himself.
'Kohaku!?' Sango and Katsumi thought, glancing back at him when they heard the pain in his voice. Sango was just barely in time to block Kohaku's attack with his scythe.
'When did he get that again!?' Katsumi wondered.
"Ane... ue..." Kohaku said.
"Oh... Even though you're being controlled by my jyaki, you can still speak?" Naraku asked. "How interesting. You retain your sense, even though my will is controlling your body. As long as that shikon shard is in your body... What will you do, Sango? How will you save Kohaku like this?"
"Naraku! I'm tired of hearing your nonsense!" Sango said as she threw Hiraikotsu.
"Sango-chan!" Kagome said as she and the others arrived on the scene.
"Sango!" Miroku said.
"Hmph," Naraku said. "You think something like Hiraikotsu could defeat me now..." Hiraikotsu cut him in half. "!"
"Ah..." Miroku said. Hiraikotsu spun through the air.
"Hiraikotsu is..." Kagome said.
"It's drawing in Naraku's jyaki!?" Miroku said.
'Impossible... I who am a mass of jyaki was broken by jyaki!?' Naraku thought. 'No, that's... not just my jyaki... There is... some other poison...' Hiraikotsu came back around and cut what was left of him in half again. "Khh...!" 'My body won't reform!?' Sango caught Hiraikotsu. Naraku flew away in a swirl of miasma.
"Naraku!" Sango yelled. Katsumi gritted her teeth and swung Faerie Fang, sending a sharp slice of concentrated youki after him. It hit, but she didn't know how much damage she might have caused, because it didn't stop him from escaping.
"He got away!" Shippo said.
'Hiraikotsu...' Sango thought, looking at her weapon with strong feelings appreciation.
"Sango-chan... Katsumi-chan..." Kagome said.
"Are you all right?" Miroku asked them.
"Everyone..." Sango said.
"Yeah, thanks for asking," Katsumi said. "And thanks for the assist," she told Sango.
"Wasn't that awesome, Sango?" Shippo asked. "Has Hiraikotsu gotten stronger!?"
"Yeah... I was surprised, too..." Sango said, looking at her weapon again.
"I smell Yakurōdokusen's sake," Inuyasha said.
"I... see..." Sango said. She recalled how Yakurōdokusen had told her that Hiraikotsu had been infused with his poison and medicine and that he wouldn't know how it had changed until she did battle. 'Hiraikotsu draws in and destroys Jyaki... huh.' "I'm grateful. It looks like it's an even match for Naraku."
"Is Rin safe?" Jaken asked a little weakly.
"Huh?" Inuyasha said. He realized he was standing on something. "Jaken, why are you stuck to my foot?"
"You stepped on me," the imp retorted.
"Rin is fine," Katsumi said. "It's Kohaku-kun I'm worried about." The others followed her gaze and saw that Kohaku was lying face down on the ground.
"Kohaku, hang in there," Rin said with concern, kneeling beside him.
"Kohaku-kun can't move!?" Kagome asked.
"Kohaku..." Sango said.
"It's because the shikon shard is so corrupted," Kagome said.
'Kohaku...' Sango thought, concerned.