The Prodigal Son by Minerva_one

Prologue

A/N:  Firstly, thanks for taking the time to read this fic.  I have to say before we begin I have absolutely no idea where it's going or what will happen, so we'll all be in for a surprise, lol. 

Secondly - I am a slow updater, for the record.  But I tend to prefer quality over speed - just so you know ahead of time. ;)

Thanks go out to Imanewme and ElegantPaws for looking over this story, and especially ElegantPaws for harassing me for a full year to finally start writing it. It's all her fault! XD

Thirdly - You should make sure you have read through the end of the manga, since I am diverging from canon towards the end of the story. And if you haven't read the end of the manga, then stop reading right now and go to adinuyasha[dot]thebrokenconsole[dot]com.  Trust me on this one.  XD (Oh, and for the record, since RT didn't write the third movie, it doesn't count in my book or this story.  But it's a cool movie anyway, lol.)

And lastly - all rights to InuYasha reside with Rumiko Takahashi, and I make no profit or otherwise from this story. 

Enjoy! 

Prodigal Son - Prologue

It is never too late to become what you might have been. -George Eliot.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Sesshoumaru had never feared his own death.

When he was young and foolish, he had often dreamed of going out in a blaze of awe-inducing destruction and power - a mighty sword in his hand and the bodies of the weak at his feet - as great songs and tales were told far and wide of his strength and valor.  It was his honor to perish in battle instead of rotting a slow death at the hands of time.  There was no need to deal with such trifling things such as compassion...or happiness.  From the moment he emerged into this world with the blood of his father coursing through his veins, there had only ever been one destiny for him - to live and die by the sword.

Yet never in any of those childish fantasies, did he imagine there would be so much pain.  And so much...fear.  And so much...relief.

As in most things, the dream was quite different from the actual experience. 

It was not glorious. 

It was not beautiful. 

It was a pair of tentacles bursting through his chest, pulling and tugging his bones apart as they twisted in gaping wounds.  It was the taste of his own blood filling his mouth, thick and coppery - so much blood.  It was the taste of bile rising in his throat.  It was the refusal of his limbs to move as commanded, only responding with a feeble shake and twitch.  It was the sound of air rushing out of his punctured lungs. It was the sound of his heart stuttering on its way to a full stop. 

The process of dying gloriously, he decided, was highly overrated. 

On instinct he tried to draw a breath, but his deflated chest refused to rise and fall - the burn for air spreading through his heart.  This is really...the end?  And the thought did not bother him. 

He had envied Kagura when she died - so happy and relieved - that somewhere in the depths of his mind he had often wondered if a smile would grace his face when the end finally found him.  No more fighting.  No more swords.  No more of the have to's and must's.  No more legacy.  No more.

No more...

Blackness seeped into his vision as the burn in his chest spread through down through his legs.  With one final frenzied beat, his heart hitched against his ribs and lay silent.  I have failed...and it never mattered at all...  Golden eyes rolled back and striped lids fluttered shut as a flash of warm blue light enveloped him, caressing against his cheek.

* * *

Silence.

Heavy and comforting and peaceful against the memory of a broken body and shattered spirit.  Perhaps the afterlife would not be so terrible after all.  Fleeting flashes of thought skittered in and out of the haze, yet he was content in letting them go where they may.  Nothing mattered anymore. 

"Sesshoumaru.  Open your eyes."

Cold shivers flooded down his spine.  That voice...no...it can't be...surely it is a dream...

His eyelids were heavier than he ever remembered them being.  Bit by bit Sesshoumaru worked them open, catching fleeting glimpses of somethi-  his breath caught in his throat as he blinked at the vision in white before him - looking exactly like the last time they had met - mounds of pristine fur and hair beneath yards of white silk, smelling of nothing but absolute power and strength that always set his instincts on edge. "...Father..." he choked out, feeling all of 5 years old once again.

But...something wasn't quite right, now that his eyes were fully open and his brain was beginning to function once again. It took him a moment to place what was wrong.

The great and terrible Inu No Taisho was smiling at him.

And now Sesshoumaru was absolutely certain he was dead.  His Father had never smiled unless he was getting ready to kill something...which now that he stopped to think about it, may be exactly what he planned in return for the entire hanyou debacle.  Well, he thought, too bad I'm already dead. One more disappointment to add to the list.  He tensed, waiting for the inevitable strike to occur. 

Father and son stared at each other through the gulf of death and time; the silence full of unanswered questions that hung between them and around them.  There were so many running through his mind, and Sesshoumaru didn't know where to start first. Why aren't you killing me yet? Why did you hate me?  What did I do wrong?  Why did you love the hanyou more...why why why why why.  Faster and faster they came but none came out until they all whirled into one - emerging with entirely too much emotion for his liking.

"Father...why?"

Sesshoumaru waited for a response, his eyes idly focusing on features so familiar yet so distant - remembering every line on his father's face, every minute passing of emotion in his eyes; everything was so sharp and real against the hazy bank of worn memories he had replayed so many times in his mind.  Yet now his father was here in front of his once again - a twinge of something tightened in his throat, and it was so unsettling and uncomfortable to look into those kind golden eyes.  The lack of anger left room for so many other things that he didn't want to think about, so many things he tried to push aside, and the ripple of regret slowly worked its cold fingers farther into his chest.

Sesshoumaru would have liked to meet his father with a hero's welcome and finally smell the fear of his son's power rolling off of him in waves.  But this...he swallowed hard and cursed himself once again for not being strong enough.  He had thought he left his mortal life with no regrets.  Apparently he was mistaken.

Seikan closed his eyes briefly and let out a small sigh before meeting his gaze.  "Because...," he hesitated, finding his words, "I believed in who you could become, or rather ... what I knew you would become -  if you would only believe in what is here," he said, placing his hand over Sesshoumaru's heart. 

His eyes flicked down to the hand on his chest, wondering idly why it had not pierced through his chest yet instead of calmly laying there as if it had always belonged.  "But...I failed," Sesshoumaru whispered, his voice sounding vaguely childlike to his own ears as he looked back up at those eyes that were too gentle belong to the terrible Inu No Taisho.  The strange heat and gentle pressure of his father's palm seeped through his heavy silk haori - and it felt as if his very touch was breaking something inside of his chest...as if his father had reached in and tugged on his heart and placed it back in the wrong spot. 

"No, you haven't failed, my son. I am so very proud of your strength, yet this is just the beginning of something much greater," his father said, pressing harder against his sternum with eyes growing brighter despite the darkness threatening to suffocate them.  A soft glow of white light began to emanate from Seikan's body, and Sesshoumaru found he couldn't look away.  "Forget the hate," he continued softly.  "Forget all of it. I have been down that road and it only leads to pain.  Listen only to this..." he said with another forceful push as the heat and pain in his chest intensified, starting to burn against the inside of his ribs. Sesshoumaru's eyes tightened in pain, wondering in the back of his mind his father planned to melt him from the inside.

"I...don't understand."

Golden eyes softened and that damned unfamiliar smile was ever present.  "Sesshoumaru, you are destined to be a great leader one day.  But being powerful and being great are two very different things.  True greatness only comes with compassion and respect - not fear."  Seikan paused for a long moment.  "Through my mistakes and our shared destiny to be born into this family, you have spent your life yearning for power without paying the price of it," he said and his smile began to falter and his voiced dropped down low and forceful as his eyes hardened - finally resembling how his father was supposed to look.  "Sesshoumaru, there are many battles and dark days ahead in your life...you will be tested to your limits, but you must always remember the price you have paid - and will have to pay."

Confusion spread in his mind.  Battles ahead?  Are there battles in the afterlife?  Wait - why did he say 'in my life?' "But am I not...dead?" he questioned. 

Seikan laughed loud and clear, his smile back once again and golden eyes glowing in mirth, and it was quite disconcerting.  The moment held and grew serious when the mask slipped back on.  "You can't die yet, for no son of mine will leave a battle unfinished," he stated, reaching out for the remainder of Sesshoumaru's left arm.  "Balance, Sesshoumaru," he said.  "Always remember your balance."  Sharp claws dug deep into the end of the stump of arm, and the heat that had been centered in his chest streaked down the stump, building in intensity as the blue light increased and sending both sets of silver hair alight with the rising power.  "Oh, and one more thing...," Seikan said, "Don't let your brother get too soft," he said with a wink and a smirk.  

White hot pain rushed in a circuit from the stump of his arm to his father's palm still on his chest.  It hurt, as if his blood had been replaced by molten lava and his flesh was being torn to shreds from the inside out.  Sesshoumaru struggled against the pain, fighting it.  There could be no weakness - not here, not now, not in front of Fath-

A pulse of energy exploded within his chest, and he was sure his eyeballs had exploded from their sockets and his brain had surely reached a boiling point.  And he roared with the pain. 

The power overflowed and unleashed from him like a broken dam - energy that should have been inside him was now channeling down his left arm, feeding into itself and rushing through every vein and vessel with electricity. 

"Now!" Seikan yelled above the roar of pain and power.  "Swing it, Sesshoumaru!"

His eyes were shut tight and -  oh god it hurts - and Sesshoumaru swung blindly out into the darkness.

* * *

"Wait, what?" Kagome asked.  Her brain still felt sticky and fuzzy from the forced sleep of Magatsuhi; it was like trying to think through a heavy fog - nothing made much sense and it hurt to even try.  She blinked several times as her tired brain tried to connect the pieces back together. "So you're saying that Sesshoumaru took two giant spears through his lungs...and almost died...but then grew his arm back...with a sword in it?"

Miroku nodded and kneeled against the wooden floor, prodding the fire back to life.  "Yes.  I've never seen or heard of anything like it before, in all of my travels."  Sango nodded in agreement.  "Totosai said the sword was forged in his very soul."

Somewhere deep in the reaches of her brain that were not thick with fog she knew she should either be very impressed or incredibly scared.  Who knew when Sesshoumaru would decide to unleash his new power against InuYasha once again?  But, a tired "wow" was all the only coherent response she could come up with.  Ugh. good one, Kagome, she thought. The heat of the fire made the hut unbearably warm, aggravating the massive weight behind her eyes.  It was stifling and felt like she was going to suffocate under the heaviness.  "I'll be back in a bit," she promised, carefully picking her way over sleeping kits and children and kappas - heading towards the promise of cooler night air and maybe some clearer thoughts.

The village was silent, with only the distant sounds of croaking frogs from the rice paddies.  The night air felt good against her skin, giving her chills when it met the sweat on the back of her neck.  They had been chasing Naraku for what felt like years, and after countless battles, only one shard now remained.  One day very soon the final battle would be fought - and her life would change completely whether she wanted it to or not.  There would be no more journeys, no more traveling through time, no more InuYasha...InuYasha...hurt sprang unbidden through her chest at the thought of his name.  Once, not so very long ago his name only brought a quiet thrill and Kagome had spent many nights dreaming of the possibilities for life - when she finally got through his thick skull and he finally quit thinking about Kikyou and realized how much she loved him.  Then...it would be perfect and they would have a large frilly wedding and live happily ever af-

She's dead, isn't she.  The woman you loved most in all the world.  You'd wish to die ju-  Kaou's words flashed in her mind.  Stop it, Kagome.  Just stop it, she thought, shaking her head against the unwanted memories of InuYasha's tears of blood.  It's funny how things like that get overlooked in the day to day, she mused.  Here she had wandered all of Japan with this brash hanyou, fighting by his side - thinking she knew him, thinking she had understood him.  Thinking she had loved him.  And thinking he just might love her back.  A few well placed words and the vision of the heart's deepest desire had shattered steadfast illusions of love.  She wasn't Kikyou.  She wasn't the one who was first in his heart.  Kagome looked up and saw InuYasha's silhouette perched on top of the roof, his back to her and face to the moon - lost in his own memories.  Want and hurt blossomed in her throat at the sight of something she knew she would never have - could never have.

Blinking away unshed tears, she turned quickly on her heels and marched over to her backpack.  Ugh.  Aspirin.  Please, now.  It has to be here somewhere, she thought, rummaging deep into the bag. Kagome found her battered medicine box and fumbled with the bent lid.  It suddenly gave way with a scrape of metal, sending supplies scattering across the yard.  Cursing silently in her mind, she sighed deep in frustration and wondered when anything would ever be simple or easy for her.  Just once...can something go right when I need it to?

Pain pounded in her temples as she knelt down in the dirt.  Bandages, aspirin, painkillers, antibiotics, gauze, and butterfly stitches lay everywhere. Her supplies were running dangerously low; she would more than likely need to fight for a trip home tomorrow to restock, especially on first-aid supplies.  I should have Mom get three boxes of bandag-

She paused on the ground, a handful of band aids clenched in her fist as realization of the situation sunk in.  There was only going to be one more battle.  There was no more need for multiple boxes of bandages to get them through months of searching for shards that had already been found and stolen and found again.  Only one shard was left.  And there was only one battle left.  They would either live or they would die.  Her hands began to shake as she stared blankly into space.  There was only one battle left. 

The reality of how little time she had left seeped down her spine.  Only a few more weeks, at best. Three, if she was lucky.  Three weeks to spend the rest of her life saying goodbye to her feudal-era family.  Three weeks to live a lifetime.  Three weeks to love someone who could never love her back.

InuYasha landed with a hard thump directly at her feet; his angry golden eyes inches away from hers.  "Are you all right?" he asked, sniffing around her neck, his hot breath trailing against her skin.

Kagome was startled out of her pitiful epiphany when the white of his hair flashed in the moonlight, and she let out a small scream as the bandages and box went flying from her hands once again.  "Gah!  Don't sneak up on me like that!" she yelled, adrenaline spiking through her back and sending her heart racing into her throat as she scrambled backwards.  He looked so much like...that spirit...just for a moment...the hair and eyes...  She had to blink several times to make sure that it was InuYasha; the resemblance to Magatsuhi only increased as the scowl deepened across his face, and somewhere in the depths she felt her defenses try and spark to life against the crushing weight of the seal on her powers. 

"Keh," he mumbled, hurt spreading across his face.  "See if I ever ask how you're doing again," he said, turning and jumping back up to the roof - but not before his feet kicked dirt up in her direction when he took off. Kagome's hands clenched into fists as she wiped the dirt from her face.  Stupid dumb dog demons.  Stupid InuYasha.  Stupid me. Stupid stupid me.

She sighed and closed her eyes.  The shock and attempt of her powers to emerge had only made her headache worse - opening up a vein and sending sharp spikes of pain into the deepest reaches of her brain.  It thudded against the backs of her eyes - prompting Kagome to resume her desperate search for aspirin. She almost squealed with happiness when her fingers finally touched on the plastic bottle.  Shaking out two aspirin, she paused to consider the magnitude of her headache - then thinking better of it, shook out one more.

* * *

Later, after an hour of blessed silence, a fresh bottle of water, and numerous aspirin kicking in - she was finally beginning to feel somewhat normal again. Kagome splashed the little bit remaining water from her bottle against her face and decided to make her way back to her companions.

"Ah, Kagome.  Good to see you are feeling better," Totosai said from the small clearing in front of Kaede's home.  He sat in front of a small fire, quietly working on something as Mou-Mou stood silently behind him, munching on grass.  "Those binding spells always work a number on your brain."

"Yeah, tell me about it," she said, plopping down in the cool grass beside him and propping her hands on her fists.  There was an assortment of tools and wood scattered around his makeshift work station, and he had a large section of a freshly sliced branch in his hands. "What is that?"

Totosai held it up against the moonlight and eyed its straightness.  "What's what?"

Irritation grated against the remainder of the dull headache that seemed untouchable by modern medicine.  But she took a deep breath and tried to remember her manners, although she really wanted to yank on that stringy mustache until he stopped playing his games.  She was getting tired of being nice.  "That thing in your hand.  What is it?"

Those large eyes wandered down, looking slightly surprised to find something there.  "Oh, this you mean?" he asked,  rocking it slightly in his hands.

Breathe deep, Kagome.  Breathe.... "What else would I be talking about?" she murmured, her eyes narrowing at him. 

"This is a branch from the great Goshinbuko, and soon it will become a sheath for Sesshoumaru's Bakusaiga," he said matter-of-factly, as if it were no more destined to become a wooden spoon. 

She blinked.  Bakusaiga...the word rippled deep in her mind, and a strange sense of deja-vu settled in, as if the memory of a dream was just below the surface waiting to be remembered.   Bakusaiga...Sesshoumaru's sword. Was he still here in the village? Surely not.  Hanging out in a human settlement was certainly not something she had ever pictured Sesshoumaru lowering himself to do, but her eyes scanned the darkness anyway - and was surprised to see a large lump of white silk under a nearby tree. 

Huh.  That's unexpected, she mused while watching Totosai's steadfast hands strip the bark away from the branch. Yet Sesshoumaru had always done the unexpected, she thought.  Not be satisfied with his inheritance?  Steal his brother's.  Announce to the world how much he detests humans?  Pick up a human stray.  Threaten his brother with death repeatedly?  Make excuses for not killing him.  Send the Wind Scar in Kagome's direction?  Turn around and save her from Mukotsu. 

Sesshoumaru had always seemed at odds between actions and words. And now...now he had two arms and a sword of his own - free to go off an conquer at his leisure, but yet he stayed on the outskirts of a human settlement and waited patiently for a simple sheath.  

"So you're saying that Sesshoumaru took two giant spears through his lungs...and almost died...but then grew his arm back...with a sword in it?"  And it was one more piece of the puzzle that didn't fit.  So much raw power held in check by the mere shell of a form - not even his true form at that - and the thought of him dying at the hands of Magatsuhi sent shivers of fear down into her toes.  The resemblance....

"Say, Totosai," Kagome asked.  "That detachment that we fought today...did you happen to see it? And don't play dumb with me, I'm not in the mood."

Totosai eyed her carefully, making a few long passes with his carving tool along the grain of the wood and smoothing out the imperfections.  "I saw it."

She paused for a moment, caught off guard that he actually answered her question. And she was quite sure the next one was going to sound just as ridiculous out loud as it did in her head. "Did it...did it look like a dog youkai to you?" she whispered, hoping InuYasha and Sesshoumaru weren't paying attention.

He didn't stop his work, answering absently.  "Of course it would.  That spirit used to have a body that was once a dog youkai, after all."  Totosai's impossibly large eyes frolled over to where Sesshoumaru sat silent in the shadows.  "Isn't that right, Sesshoumaru?" he said softly, knowing it would be heard.  "You recognized it, didn't you?"

Kagome looked in surprise, seeing those hard golden eyes staring at her from the forest. "Wait - are you saying that both of you know who it was?"  One of these days, I am going to brain Totosai, she thought.

A low growl cut through the night and scattered all of her gleeful fantasies of torturing the sword smith.  Kagome felt her powers blindly rising against its cage in response to the massive youki, and the ever present twinge of fear that always accompanied the flare of rising energy.  The brush rustled, and the pure white vision of Sesshoumaru stepped out into the moonlight.  He looks pissed.  As usual.

Totosai scratched the back of his neck, seeming to take no notice of the demon, and went back to his work.  "Of course I recognize it!  How could you not?" he asked in amazement.

Her temper had always been short anyway, and the headache had not helped.  Kagome clenched her fists to keep from grabbing the branch from his bony hands and beating his shiny bald head with it. "How about enlightening those of us who aren't from this time?" she hissed.

He looked at her, eyes widening in fear at the sight of her hovering over him and glaring.  "Ah. Yes, that's right, haha, you wouldn't know him," he stammered, running his hand across his forehead.   When she didn't back down, he gave a resigned shrug and laid the half-finished sheath down - out of her reach, she noted - and looked up at the moon.  After a few moments, he spoke. "His name was Hakujoumaru."

Whispers of silk sliding against silk broke the silence as Sesshoumaru sat down gracefully next to her and proceeded to give Totosai an icy glare.  She tensed unconsciously at the feel of his turbulent youki brushing against her weakened spiritual powers.  His golden eyes were bright against the orange glow of the fire, and he looked like some sort of fallen angel, broken and destined to spend eternity walking through the dark shadow of the mortal world.  It was so hard to focus her eyes on anywhere else but him - and surreptitiously, Kagome glanced over and noticed his hand - his new hand with very sharp claws, she noted - laying gently on his knee.  The sight of her own nails caught her eye - ragged with chipped pink nail polish Ayumi had made her put on after Kagome had confessed she thought InuYasha was interested in someone else. But the nail polish, along with the makeup and hair, had gone unnoticed.  She curled her fingers into her fists, away from the light, and suddenly felt very plain sitting next to Sesshoumaru.

With a supreme struggle she focused her attention back to the fire and let her brain catch up with the conversation.  "Wait - what do you mean used to be?" she asked. Don't look over.  Don't look over.  Don't look over.

"I mean just what I said - that was the name he went by before going mad with power and selling his soul to the Master of Hell," Totosai said as he pulled out a new carving tool and focused on marking out the design.  "He was one of the most powerful demons to ever walk the earth, laying waste to the land and rising to power in the West.  But, his greed got the best of him, and he became a monster in the end."

"Watch your tongue, you doddering old fool," Sesshoumaru bit out, and Kagome jumped in her skin at his sudden harshness.  He had his hand on the hilt of Bakusaiga which lay carelessly across his lap.  The new steel glinted red in the light of the fire, catching off of the intricate and delicate carvings etched into the blade.  It hummed with so much power that even she could feel it from where she sat.  What would it be like to hold that much power in one's hands?  Her own power was something strange and foreign, and always left her shaking and scared when the adrenaline wore down.  It wasn't hers, it was simply Kikyou's on loan.

"Well, it is the truth, and no manner of threatening me will change the fact that yo-"  Totosai, who was suddenly very angry, was interrupted once again with a loud snarl from Sesshoumaru.  This will only end badly, she thought.  Ugh, he is the one demon that really needs a subduing rosary.  Come on Kagome, find a distraction.  Quick!

"Wait!" Kagome practically shouted, waving her hands between the two., resembling some injured goose.  "Totosai, did you say he rose to power in the West?"  A startled and embarrassed silence hung in the air as all sets of eyes landed on her, and she was sure her mouth had just gotten her in trouble once again. But at least the fight stopped...

Glancing over - quit looking over there, Kagome - Sesshoumaru leveled his cold glare in her direction.  And it wasn't a pleasant feeling.  Kagome gulped and gave him a small smile, hoping he would take pity on her.  He huffed and turned away to stare into the darkness of the forest. 

Totosai let out the breath he had been holding in and picked up the unfinished sheath, intent on going back to his project.  She waited, but he obviously wasn't going to answer her question, so she cleared her throat.  Silence.  So she cleared her throat a louder louder once again.  Silence.  Arrrggghhhhh - "Totosai."

"Eh?" he said.

She rolled her eyes and wondered how this youkai had managed to survive with no one lopping his head off in frustration.  "You were saying?" she ventured.

"Saying what?"

Kagome growled in frustration and began in earnest to look for something sharp and pointy to jab him with.  "Ooooo...will you quit playing dumb for once and just finish the story?  This is our enemy you're talking about, so just spill it already!"

"Huh?" he said.  "Oh, right.  Hakujoumaru. Weellll, as I was saying, he rose to power in the Western lands, and was father to Seikan and Muhijimaru ... and grandfather to Sesshoumaru and InuYasha."

Kagome stopped in her search for a sharp stick - completely sure she had heard simply him wrong - perhaps her tired brain had just given up and had resorted to making up some random babbling about Magatsuhi being InuYasha's grandfather.  Yes...that had to be it.  She had just heard him wro-

Red wool smacked into her face, nearly knocking her into the fire as InuYasha grabbed Totosai by the collar and hauled him to his feet.  "What the fuck did you just say, old man?" InuYasha barked at the smith.  Unperturbed even while being lifted off of the ground, Totosai reached up, stuck his finger in his mouth - and promptly shoved it in InuYasha's ear, wiggling it around.  "You should clean these things out more often if you can't hear anything."

"Goddammit!" InuYasha bellowed, and proceeded to add several lumps to the smith's head before tossing him across the clearing.  He took the end of his sleeve and wiped out his ear, staring at Totosai in disbelief.  "I don't believe you just fucking did that." 

In the privacy of her mind, Kagome decided that Totosai was, perhaps, almost cool to give InuYasha a wet willy, and a giggle almost broke out across her face - that is, until she caught Sesshoumaru's eyes.  He wasn't looking at her or them, but rather staring blankly into the fire; his mind a million miles away.  Her breath caught in her throat.  When did he ever look worn out?  Kagome bit her bottom lip and leaned slightly in his direction.  "Is is true, Sesshoumaru?  Was that thing your grandfather?" she whispered, knowing he would hear her over the clash of the bickering hanyou and fire demon.

Sesshoumaru looked up, and held her gaze, his face always unreadable, but answered her after a long pause. "He speaks the truth," he said quietly. Their eyes held until InuYasha bounded in front of them, breaking the quiet truce.

"There ain't no way in hell I am related to that thing!" he spat out, pacing back and forth between the two of them, his hands shoved deep into the arms of his haori.  Kagome gave him a look of apology and shrugged her shoulders.

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and sighed deeply.  "Quit your barking, InuYasha."

The hanyou whirled around to face him.  "Why didn't you say something earlier, you bastard!"

"And have you acting like even more of an idiot than you are now?  Unlikely.  Open your eyes, InuYasha - it was a shell meant to distract those weak enough to fall for it."

But was it a mere shell? Kagome wondered. Didn't Totosai say Hakujoumaru had sold his soul to the Master of Hell...what if...what if Magatsuhi was just the concentrated version of InuYasha's...grandfather...Gah...this was just entirely too weird.

Totosai had managed to dust himself off and settle back down next to her, rubbing his head and moaning under his breath.  Yet the curiosity had chased away the tiredness behind her eyes, and she had to know.  "Totosai, will you tell us about him?"  she asked. InuYasha stopped pacing behind her and waited, impatiently tapping his foot.

The sword smith's bulbous eyes swung towards her as he dug the end of his pinky finger into his ear.  "Eh?  Tell you about who?"

She narrowed her eyes at his act.   "About Hakujoumaru, whom else?" she hissed.  What is it with him and playing the fool?

Totosai's eyes flicked up at Sesshoumaru as he rubbed his head.  "I was never any good at storytellin'.  I think that flea demon is running around here somewhere, why don't you go find him?" he said, looking back down with intense concentration to the sheath in his hands.  "I've got work to do."

That does it.  "Look, I know what game you are playing at," she said, her voice and blood rising in anger. "And if you don't start spilling what you know right now, Sesshoumaru will be the least of your worries!" 

Totosai looked between the angry female and the cold youkai, and decided to take his chances with the youkai.