Shittai

Fault

"Watanuki!" A pool of crimson encircled around him and slowly spread about the ground. His face was a sickly pale and his azure eyes grew distant. A second later, his body gave out and slumped down. Before his face reached the blood-stained ground, Yuuko gently caught him. A brief sign of concern struck her face as she slowly rose back up. Mokona stood on her shoulder as it gazed out in worry.

"What the hell happened to the kid?" Inuyasha asked as he focused his eyes elsewhere. He was looking around distractedly at the tiled clear glass that wrapped around them. The midnight blue of the ocean enclosed them from all sides. Despite the fact that they seemed to be at the bottom of the ocean, there was a faint glow of light coming up from the high ceiling above. "And what is this place?"

"This is an underwater estate that was built by Clow Reed centuries ago."

"An underwater estate…"Kagome mumbled to herself.

"So why are we here now?" Inuyasha asked impatiently.

"To give payment for the key of heart," Yuuko answered simply.

"Don't you have enough stuff already woman?" Inuyasha blurted out rudely.

"This isn't for me."

"That's a surprise," Inuyasha muttered under his breath.

"This payment is for Naraku's alliance Fei Wong Reed," Yuuko continued.

"WHAT THE FUCK?"

"It is the only way to pass." Yuuko said flatly.

"Keh. I'm not giving that bastard ANYTHING. You hear me?" Inuyasha pouted stubbornly.

"You don't have to give up any possession you are currently holding. The same thing goes for the rest of you." Yuuko's words were met with stunned looks.

"So what do we have to give up?" Sango muttered irately.

"You'll find out once you get there," Yuuko answered. For a minute, everyone gave each other reluctant stares. Finally, Inuyasha spoke up.

"Keh," he growled, "So how the hell do we do this?"

"There are five rooms," Yuuko said, "Each person will enter an individual room alone. That person must then face the challenge in that room. After that is dealt with, that person will enter the next room where the key of heart is located." Everyone silently nodded their heads in consent.

"Shippou-chan," Yuuko said, "Please watch over Watanuki. Mokona and Mugetsu should help you.

"What about you Yuuko-san?" Shippou asked.

"I'm going into one of the rooms." Her words were met with silence.

"Hurry up," Yuuko said impatiently, "We don't have much time left."

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Inuyasha stared at the glass door standing in front of him. He tried to peer inside the room through the door. The room was completely dark.

"Keh." Inuyasha turned the crystal doorknob and stepped inside. The door closed behind him and left him in complete darkness. It was as if he was standing alone in the middle of a field on a moonless night.

All of a sudden he felt something prick the back of his neck. He abruptly turned around. There was nothing there of course. Even if there was something he wouldn't know about it.

"Dammit." Inuyasha drew out Tessaiga as a precaution. He felt extremely stupid just holding it out in front of him with no opponent in sight but he kept his stance nevertheless.

Inuyasha soon felt something claw at his right shoulder a second later. In response, he furiously swung Tessaiga and watched it slice the air. "Dammit." To make matters worse, he could feel the blood from his would slowly slither its way down his arm.

He soon felt numerous blows surround him from all sides. Inuyasha continued to wave Tessaiga around but it was completely useless. He couldn't use Kaze no Kizu or Bakuryhha in this darkness. The last thing he needed was a way to accidentally injure himself.

"Think," Inuyasha thought to himself, "What do I need to do?" Inuyasha felt his attacks slowly increase in blindness and recklessness. As much as he hated to admit it, this whole atmosphere made him feel kind of uncomfortable. He knew that he needed to think of something quickly before he panicked and did something stupid.

What he needed more than anything was to see what the hell was attacking him. It was too dark to see anything. What he needed to see… was light. That was it. Finally, it took him long enough.

Now the question was how to get light. Inuyasha decided to run forward in hopes of eventually running into a door and opening it to get some light. Well he did run into the wall. There was just one problem. There was no doorknob to open. He swore quietly to himself and furiously tried to search for another door.

Inuyasha stopped after his third attempt. Or more accurately, he decided to stop before he gave himself a concussion from slamming into all those walls. There must be a way to see those bastards. A way that wouldn't result in anymore stupid injuries hopefully.

He pondered his options frantically as he tried to fend off his unknown attackers. What could he do? Inuyasha tried to think of ways to get light. Well Kagome had brought this weird thing from her time called a flashlight but he didn't happen to have one on hand. What else?

Well in this time, he mostly got light from the sun. But there was no way to get any sunlight in this room, was there? Inuyasha looked up. There was definitely a ceiling up there somewhere. If he could cut part of the ceiling he could get some light from another room. It should work. This room was on a lower level from what he last remembered.

Inuyasha jumped up and cut what seemed like a circle from the ceiling. As he jumped away from the path of the falling part of the ceiling, he could finally make out what was standing below him. A bunch of demons with a small physique were looking up fearfully at him.

"Light sure makes a hell lot of a difference, doesn't it you cowards?" Inuyasha taunted as he flew down to snare his prey with a grin on his face, "KAZE NO KISU!" With one yellow beam, the demons were instantly engulfed in a light of death. Inuyasha landed gracefully and slowly tilted his head up to the ceiling. The cutout light from the ceiling gave him an impression of the moon.

"It's better if the moon is always shining," Inuyasha said haughtily as he walked to the now visible exit.

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Kagome swallowed as she approached the glass door in front of her. It had been a while since she had last remembered being alone. The prospect of facing something that could potentially send her to her death didn't help with matters either. She could feel her hands shaking as she was about to turn the crystal doorknob. She stopped and took a deep breath.

"I need to stop this. Everyone else is also facing this alone. I need to be brave for everyone's sake. I can't let anyone down."

Kagome quickly turned the doorknob and threw the door open. Standing in front of her was a gigantic red demon. Its bloodshot red eyes were permanently narrowed into a piercing glare. It had a large and muscular physique that could easily snap her in half.

Its fingernails were the longest that she had seen in her life; they appeared to be the length of a standard metric ruler. Equally disturbing was the foot long silver horn that struck out from the back of the demon's head. Blood stains topped the tip of the horn in the same way red icing would.

"Mmmm," growled the demon as it eyed Kagome.

Kagome took out her bow and arrow and fired at the demon. Her aim was a little off due to her nerves but she predicted the arrow's path would still strike the demon. Unfortunately, her prediction was inaccurate due to the fact that the arrow went straight through the demon and didn't cause any damage whatsoever. What the…?

"Too bad little girl," the demon smirked as it drew an enormous half ring in front of itself with its hand flat and nails perfectly poised to rip out its target, "That's a pretty powerful purifying arrow actually. Too bad it didn't work."

Kagome was barely to doge the demon's claws. "What should I do? My arrows won't work on him. There's no other way for me to attack him! What am I going to do?!"

Kagome tried to race for the exit but she couldn't see any. Desperately, she tried to reach for the entrance but the glass door seemed to have disappeared. She could feel all the panic and fear explode from inside her. Like a gas bomb, the poisons decided to spread out and fill up all the space they could find. Pretty soon, it would be impossible to breathe.

"Got you," the demon smirked as one of its hands grabbed one of the arrows and pierced her stomach to the wall. As Kagome winced with pain, she noticed that the demons free hand seemed to be blocking something from view. Whatever it was, it was something that the demon didn't want her finding out about. The demon walked to the right of Kagome and tried to grab one of Kagome's arrows. In essence, it forgot to block the view of its secret. Kagome peered as the object discreetly as she could and saw that that it was some type of metal object shaped into a hexagon. Kagome decided to shoot at it nevertheless. If it was precious to the demon, it was precious to her.

"No!" the demon screamed as it saw Kagome fire at the metal object. Luckily for the demon, the arrow missed. A sigh of relief filled the air.

"See little girl," it whispered tauntingly in her ear, "You can't even beat an illusion." It grabbed one of her arrows and held it above her shoulder, poised for the kill.

"NO!" Kagome screamed furiously. With that, she wrestled the arrow from the demon's hand and fired quickly at the metal object. This time, the arrow reached the center of the object. Kagome turned her head. The demon was gone.

Kagome reluctantly pulled out the arrow her stomach as she tired to ignore the searing pain. " If I didn't panic before, none of this would have happened." She sighed and made her way to the now visible glass door.

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Miroku's face was perfectly composed as he entered the room. Calm…fierce…solemn…That was the visage of a warrior awaiting his next battle. Everything else must be disposed of elsewhere.

What was awaiting in the room was a spider that bore the impression of someone massive, hairy, and intimidating. It smirked devilishly as it watched Miroku enter the room.

"How nice," it crooned, "To have my snack finally come."

Miroku chose to remain silent as he prepared to open up his Kazanna.

"Now, now…" the spider crooned. "Don't be so impatient. I have a little something to show you first. With that, the spider opened its mouth as wide as it could. The spider unleashed some hole that's wind pulled everything towards an everlasting oblivion…just like Miroku's Kazanna.

"What the hell," Miroku swore under his breath as he looked around for a steady object to cling onto. There was none. Desperately, he tried to thrust his staff onto the floor and cling onto it. However, it didn't work due to the fact the staff was reluctantly gliding in the air's direction.

"Dammit," Miroku thought to himself, "I'm finished. I just hate having everything end up like this…"

However, as the light faded from view, Miroku thought he saw Inuyasha for a second.

"Don't die on me, monk!" Inuyasha growled. Miroku smiled as he felt himself being dragged into the spider's mouth. Inuyasha had just reminded of him some very important points. As Miroku formulated a plan in his mind, the spider closed its mouth and swallowed.

"What will you do now, monk?" the spider boomed haughtily. A second later, it started feeling queasy in its stomach. Two seconds later, the spider saw the monk came out of its stomach holding his staff out to the front. The last thing the spider saw was a glimpse of the ofuada the monk had attached to the top of his staff.

"I'll blow your guts out," Miroku muttered as he looked down at the scattered limbs of the spider. He sighed in relief. That he had been way too close. He shouldn't have lost control like that. Sighing again, he made his way to the next room.

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Sango was in an all-out war with herself as she entered into the room. One part of her was telling her to calm down and trust what the Dimension Witch said. The other part of her was telling her to find that Dimension Witch and slice her in two. Sango halted and tried to clear her mind. Her father had said an overemotional tajiya was a bad tajiya.

Sango slammed the door open in any case.

Inside the room awaited a gigantic snake. Like so many other demons she faced, it hovered over her with an inflated amount of arrogance. Sango was relieved as she examined the snake. It was just another weak demon.

"So I'm just another weak demon?" a voice growled inside Sango's head.

"What the…"

"That's right," the voice continued, "I read minds and I talk through my opponents' minds. There's nothing you can hide from me including that brother of yours."

"Kohaku…"

"Yes, that boy will die soon you know."

"No he won't. I won't let it happen!" Sango screamed as she charged at the demon. However, it seemed as if she was moving much more slowly than usual. Indeed, the snake was able to easily dodge her attack. She tried releasing hiraikotsu from her hand. However, she was unable to do so due to her slowed arm and wrist movement.

"Dammit, what's going on?" Sango muttered.

"I won't tell you," the snake hissed at her, "You're already been deeply trapped under the spell. Only when you figure what's going on will be when the spell will break."

Sango stopped and closed her eyes to think. What was this spell? She felt the snake wrap around her. In the state that she was in, this was inevitable. It would be better to just break the spell first.

She tried to guess what the spell was…She realized a second later that she had no idea. She decided to try a different method as she felt the snake wrap around her stomach. What happened before this all happened?

She had been arguing about Kohaku. What did that have to do with anything? Kohaku was just her brother. A brother that meant the whole world to her…A brother who she couldn't let go of…A brother who always made her go emotionally insane…The snake was wrapping around her neck…

Wait a minute, this was it. The spell brought out her emotions. It was just as her father said. When people lose control of their emotions it hurts them. This was it.

"Dammit," the snake hissed. The spell was broken.

"You know what?" Sango choked, "I'm tired of you. Hiraikotsu!" With a swift motion of her hiraikotsu, the snake was cut apart into two. Sango smiled and slung her hiraikotsu on her back. She decided that she needed to remember her father's proverbs more often.

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"Dammit," the bird demon cursed as it lay dying on the ground. Some creepy woman had just came in the room a minute ago. The bird demon had charged straight at her along with a thousand other demons, just as they had been told. However, the woman was unaffected by their attacks.

The woman stood perfectly in place with no expression at all. Her eyes locked onto theirs. They wondered when she would attack.

"Look behind you," the woman uttered in response. They looked behind them to see a bunch of spirits rise up and strike them. Most of them perished instantly on the spot. He had not. Instead, he had got to listen to the woman in his last moments. He heard the woman thank the spirits. She said something about this incident settling their debts and hers…He wasn't sure. He didn't care. He just wanted to die as soon as possible. At least that would make him forget about his pain. This was his last thought that floated in his mind as he watched the woman walk away to the next room.

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The key of heart was laid out in the center of the room. With an elevated crystal podium, it was impossible to miss the golden sparkle of the heart shaped key.

Within ten minutes, everyone had arrived in the rooms from the five different entrances. The group stared up at the key of heart with a hesitant look. Everyone except for Yuuko of course.

"Well aren't you going to take the key?" Yuuko asked.

"I thought there was some kind of stupid price or something," Inuyasha muttered.

"You've already paid it," Yuuko answered, "We all did.

"Are you sure?" Kagome blurted out. "I don't remember paying anything."

'So you didn't realize it…" Yuuko muttered softly as she took the key in her hand, "Well then…I'll just tell you this. There are others watching." Yuuko turned and walked out of the room with the key in hand.

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Fei Wong Reed smirked as he observed this dramatic scene. It amused him to see the Dimension Witch act so calm when they both knew the drastic price they had all just paid. The price was a more than befitting exchange for the key of heart, at least in his opinion. Naraku wouldn't like it but it's not as if he was going to let Naraku find about his secret plan. Besides, he would get rid of Naraku soon enough. After all, Fei Wong Reed had just gained information on the weakness of those five people, rare information that he doubted Naraku knew. An advantage over two enemy parties indeed….

Through the surveillance of those five rooms, Fei Wong Reed had been able to easily discover the weakness of his enemies. First off, that hanyou Inuyasha was afraid of the darkness and the unknown. A common fear. Nevertheless, it would be much more vital in his plans later. Fei Wong Reed also had a guess that Inuyasha turned human on the new moon. He knew that all hanyous turned full human once a month. It made perfect sense. From Inuyasha's fear of darkness to him saying that its better if the moon was always shining…It fit perfectly.

Next was that human girl. She seemed like a weak person at first. A weak person who lacked confidence. Another common fear that was easy to play with. However, Fei Wong Reed had learned to not underestimate this girl. When she gained confidence, he discovered she much more capable than a glimpse's first impression gave.

The monk and the tajiya weren't much of a threat to him. Nevertheless, he still had to observe them as a measure of precaution. The monk apparently had something powerful in his right hand. From the monk's shimmer of recognition when he saw the wind tunnel, Fei Wong Reed guessed the monk had a wind tunnel in his hand or something. However, it would be easy to defeat the monk. It seemed as if the monk was afraid of having everything around him sucked up. It was obvious. He was afraid of loneliness. It was funny how most humans had the same simplistic faults, wasn't it?

The tajiya was a slightly different case. She seemed to be emotional during battles as demonstrated by the spider's powers. Once again, a common weakness in humans. That was extremely easy to take advantage of. All he had to do was to devise a situation where she would lose it. For that he would need the boy Kohaku. During the battle, Fei Wong Reed had convenient access to her thoughts and was thus able to delve deep into her mind for information. Apparently, this Kohaku had the last Shikon shard. How convenient. All he had to do was remove the shard when that tajiya was around. As he liked to call it, he eliminated two enemies with one swipe.

The witch's case was the strongest. Her price wasn't even delivered in the battle room. It was delivered right before when that spirit-magnet boy had been poisoned and fainted. Fei Wong Reed noticed that the Dimension Witch was the one to catch him before he fell face-flat into his own blood. He also noticed that she seemed to be in a hurry to pay the price in order to save his life. It was way too obvious to him. The Dimension Witch cared about this boy. Whether she viewed this boy as a son, friend, or lover it was all the same. All these relationships were products of love and love was one of the greatest weaknesses in human nature. Love was what made people weak. Love was what made the Dimension Witch weak.

Fei Wong Reed smirked as he replayed the weakness in his mind. The unknown, the lack of confidence, the feeling of loneliness, the lost control of emotions and love…They were all common traits of weakness. They were what separated him from them. They were what would grant him victory.

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Oh noes! It looks like a broke a new record in the latest update. Anyways, I hope this chapter didn't end up becoming the first four letters of the chapter title Shittai. I have to admit, this chapter was difficult to write. I almost gave up this whole fic at one point due to a decline in interest. However, I pulled myself together and came up with this. Yayies for me.

So what's up with that "I'll blow your guts out?" Actually, I think that phrase is trademarked. I'm not sure. Anyways, this is the battle phrase often used by Tokiko Tsumara from the series Busou Renkin. You know, that girl with that huge scar across her nose. Anyways, this series was created by none other than Nobuhiro Watsuki (Rurouni Kenshin anyone?) and is awesome but underrated. It also leads to next my next note that….

I am currently working on new Busou Renkin fic called Cosmic Eyes. It's set to premiere in five weeks…right after episode 26 (the finale). That is if fanfiction dot net ever listens to me and makes a freakin section. Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah…I'm currently excited about this fic and I have to admit I'm currently enjoying working on this one the most. I'm also kind of nervous because of the miniscule fanbase for Busou Renkin so I would like to shamelessly advertise it. Go check it out! Now to my second to last point…

So what's going to happen to this fic? Well originally this was planned for a trilogy. This was going to be the first part, and the other two were to be double sided sequels (think xxxHOLiC and Tsubasa). Well scratch that. I cannot handle the Tsubasa/Inuyasha crossover that was supposed to happen afterwards. I'm sorry, I just can't handle it. As for the other sequel, I'm just turning it into a stand-alone xxxHOLiC fic called yuuwaku BUTTERFLY. It should come out after this fic is finished. If this fic ever finishes.

Lastly, I want to wish my dear friend Greenfairyhime a speedy recovery ). Everyone's been sick lately (including me) so we should all know how it feels…Anyways, gotta go now! Ja ne!