Ok, I don't know about you people, but I thought my last chapter was just a nessicary filler with a lot of fluff. I had to have it in there, though. This chapter should have a lot more action. And possibly more fluff. So, have fun with it! And I must say I am much happier with the number of reviews I got this chapter. Thanx a lot! And sorry for the wait. Things have been pretty rough on me. Thanx for sticking with me. Sometimes my reviews are the only thing that keeps me up.

Disclaimer: I still don't own and don't want to own Sesshy or Inu 'cuz the hott guy at my school is giving me this really weird look and I like it… LOL

Jingleby- Am I still taking too long to update? I think I am… I have way too much homework this year. And I'm getting all preoccupied with my friends and my crush and family issues… I'll do my best though! You'll like this chapter!

StarlitxSkY- I know this is a weird couple. I like Sango and Miroku, too. But I woke up one morning and thought "I feel like making a story with a weird couple… How about Sango and Sesshomaru!" And now I'm here. Sadly, that's very accurate…

Bubblefox473- I'm never writing fluff again… I'm definitely not going to stick to that of course. AND YOU REVIEWED ON HIS B-DAY! YAY! And if you're this hyper for no reason, you know we're not taking you trick-or-treating… LMFAONESS

Micayasha- Ok, I sorta get what you're saying with the rebellious thing. But she sorta blames herself for making the bet. And as for them being OOC, I think that gets better as the story goes on. Hope you like this chapter!

Liz- I'm trying to update faster! But I am a horrible juggler in the figurative sense and the literal sense. I'll try my best though! Just please don't give up on me. I need reviewers to make me update sooner! Well, enjoy the chappie!

Abra Peacock- Actually, I originally didn't plan on having so many twists… It just sorta turned out that way… And you are right, there are quite a few more twists coming your way. And it all starts now! Enjoy the twist-filled chappie!

Hope in the Darkness- I SHALL TYPE A MILE A MINUTE UNTIL MY FINGERS FALL OFF FOR THE GREAT SAKE OF THE BELOVED PUFFY PANTS! Lol. That is one of my odd obsessions… And I hope you know I'm a psycho… in some sense… Enjoy the chappie!

Tajiya85- I like cookies! Is it chocolate chip? Peanut butter? SUGAR! I choose that one… And they will be getting into one SERIOUS fight this chappie. And all 'cause Sesshy is an idiot. I've noticed that a synonym for idiot is man. And pig. They all mean the same thing…

Gwenivear Greenleaf- Yup, I've been writing this thing for… let's see… HOLY CRAP! In two weeks is that one year anniversary of my story! That is scary… But kinda kewel! And is interesting good? It is to me, but I have no clue about other people… I'm so clueless…

Joanna- YAY! That is always my goal. I have to make imaginable in my mind before I post it. I don't think this would ever happen in the real Inuyasha episodes though… But let's just say it's possible! After all, we're always told anything's possible! That must be true in this case…

KeKe-Kikyos-Daughter- YAY! I like killing people with my stories… I think I've got about three charges of manslaughter on my record now… Lol. I'm so glad you like this story! It makes me feel somewhat accomplished with my life… Enjoy yet another chappie!

RECAP:

"Are you Kagura?" Shizuka asked bitterly.

"Hai, I am Kagura of the wind. And you are that mischievous demon with a strong infatuation with the houshi."

Shizuka grew angry immediately. She wavered for a moment on the worm whose head she was standing on. It was fiercely trying to bite her leg. At that moment, the other yokai dived at there comrade and Shizuka and she leapt at Kagura.

Time for the action! On with the show indeed!

"My bed!" Sango said as she threw herself onto the pillows.

Sesshomaru couldn't repress a small smile at her utter Rin-ishness. He sat in a chair watching her obliterate the display of pillows that had been perfectly arranged for her return. She seemed to grow tired or bored after about ten minutes and flopped down onto the squishy material with a happy sigh, glancing around the room at the array of scattered cushions, knowing it was her doing of course.

"So, Sesshomaru, you still haven't told me how you found out about you having a piece of my soul in you," she said very seriously, contradicting her own rather blank expression that would commonly be suited for a three month old puppy.

Sesshomaru's insides squirmed as he recalled his deal with Naraku, but he quickly shook it off, less Sango would notice anything, and said, "It was in old journal of my Father's. I found it in the library."

Sango sat up looking at him eagerly. "A journal of your Father's? Really? That's so cool! Can I see it?"

Sesshomaru got up and headed towards the door with Sango at his heals. They walked down the many identical hallways that Sango had finally managed to navigate and stopped in front of a vast, oak door. Sesshomaru turned the knob, and they walked inside. Sango looked around as though she had never seen the room before despite her many visits.

"Man, I've missed this place…" she said slowly, turning and staring at the high ceiling. Sesshomaru grabbed his Father's journal from his desk and handed it to Sango. He sat down in a chair and gestured for Sango to join him. She sat on his lap, and he wrapped an arm tightly and protectively around her waist as she opened the book with curiosity. She skimmed through the pages while Sesshomaru read vaguely over her shoulder, staring bitterly at some parts. She finally reached the last page. Her mouth fell slightly open. She skimmed a dark red stain with her fingers.

"This was the night he died, wasn't it?" she asked, looking back at him.

"Yes." He didn't seem willing to talk and was staring more bitterly than ever at the stain and the words written over it. Sango didn't speak. Sesshomaru continued to glare at the page, and the longer he stared, the more tense his arm around Sango's waist grew. She sensed this and closed the book.

"Let's do something else," she suggested. An idea suddenly struck her as though someone had said it in her head. "How about we take a walk?"

Sesshomaru nodded curtly and stood up. They walked in complete silence until they reached the northern gate. At that point, Sesshomaru suddenly grabbed Sango's wrist, whirled her around, and embraced her. Sango, somewhat surprised, melted into his arms. Sesshomaru ran a claw through her unnaturally soft hair. It did not have the silky texture of yokai hair such as his, but it was much closer than most humans.

"I love you. You know that right?" Sesshomaru asked with a hint of anxiety and despair in his usual languid voice.

"Of course. And I love you, too," she said as she wondered what had brought on this strange behavior. But another emotion coursed through her veins at the same time, an inexplicable emotion: anger. It was as though another personality was trying take over her, but she quieted the strange feeling.

Sesshomaru was feeling rather guilty as the left the grounds. He had not told Sango of his deal and as it affected her greatly, he felt he was being very unfair. But he knew how she would react if she knew. She would demand that the shard be removed and perhaps, that they be separated forever. He would not be able to deal with that. But he loved Sango. He knew he had to be honest with her no matter how much it hurt him. He slowed and eventually stopped in the middle of the path. Sango walked for a few feet, realized he was behind, and looked back at him curiously.

"What's wrong?" she questioned with not nearly as much worry as Sesshomaru thought there should be.

"I… haven't been telling the truth," Sesshomaru stated distantly. She looked at him with more curiosity and a trace of concern. "I didn't get that jewel shard from a yokai. I got it from-"

He was cut off as Sango took a deep breathe. It sounded almost painful. Something was clearly wrong. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she started to tremble violently. Sesshomaru quickly approached her and grabbed her shoulders. She stopped jerking and returned to normal as she grabbed the front of his kimono.

There was one difference that Sesshomaru didn't notice. Her eyes were empty. They held no glint of emotion or feeling, not even anger or hate. She loosened her grip on his kimono and pressed down on a small lever hidden by her sleeve. It revealed a hidden blade. As a taijiya, she had been taught to be prepared for any situation. She wrapped her arms around his back slowly rested the blade against his neck.

He felt the cold metal pressed against his flesh. He let go of her and slowly backed away. She followed increasing the pressure ever so slightly against his throat. He looked into her blank eyes and realized what a mistake he made. This had been Naraku's plan all along. He had been so stupid not to have seen. He swallowed.

Sango heard a voice in her head again. It had made her suggest taking a walk, it had made her angry her when she embraced Sesshomaru, and now it was making her do this. 'Kill him…' it repeated over and over. A much smaller, almost inaudible voice in the back of her mind told her to stop, but she didn't know why. All she knew was that she was a taijiya and this man was a yokai. She had no other thoughts.

She backed him into a tree and said harshly, "Don't move."

"Miroku," Shizuka said as she winced, clutching a deep gash in her shoulder from Kagura's Dance of Blades, "you have to get to Sango. I can hold her off until you can get by."

"But what about you? You're already wounded," Miroku said worriedly.

"I'll be fine! You have to get to Sango! I haven't met this Naraku, but from what I've heard, we need to stop before he hurts her." Miroku still looked skeptical. "Listen, you must understand that Sango is one of my only friends. I'm willing to die for her, and if that should happen, I would just like to have some peace knowing she's safe."

Miroku looked at her with his eyes glazed over. Shizuka couldn't look away. Her skin began to crawl. Miroku looked away back up to Kagura who was laughing at them, clearly sure she was about to win.

"Ok, I'll go to Sango, but how will you distract her?" Miroku asked, looking back to Shizuka.

Shizuka thought for a moment and said, "Pretend to draw the saimyosho into your wind tunnel. Kagura will think you're helpless and will turn her full attention to me."

"Are you-?"

"Just do it! And hurry! The castle is only half a mile through the forest. I don't know how much time we have…"

Miroku nodded and they both turned to face Kagura who was still laughing.

"Are you so sure of victory, Kagura?" Miroku called convincingly. "You've forgotten one thing!" He removed the prayer beads from his hand everything suddenly looked as though there was a powerful wind gathering towards his palm.

"Foolish man! That will cost you your life!" Kagura shouted struggling to stay airborne. She was saved her trouble as half a dozen insects the size of a human head surfaced from apparently nowhere and flew directly at Miroku.

His expression intensified. He closed his fist just as the insects came within inches of his outstretched arm. He quickly and discretely sliced them with his staff and kneeled onto the ground letting out moans and winces, pretending to be in severe pain. Kagura laughed even more and apparently decided she would be able to defeat them from the ground for she landed a few yards away from them. Shizuka pretended to look back at Miroku anxiously and turned to face Kagura with a determined look.

"Humans and weak demons are so pathetic. You should just accept your death now!" Kagura yelled, firing another cascade of silver discs. Expecting this, Shizuka jumped as high as she could over Kagura so her attention was now faced away from Miroku.

"What is Naraku planning? What is he going to do to Sango?" Shizuka shouted as a cover so Miroku could slip into the trees.

"How should I know? Naraku doesn't trust me and he shouldn't! I hope he kills that taijiya for stealing Sesshomaru! I don't care what happens to her!"

"Hm… So you like Sesshomaru then?"

"Why should I care if you know about it, you'll be dead soon!" Kagura made to send another round of blades, but-

"Hang on! How do you know Naraku isn't planning to hurt Sesshomaru?"

Kagura's eyes widened a bit and she paused her attack. "Hurt… Sesshomaru?" She suddenly clutched at her chest and her face became contorted with pain. Naraku was clearly telling her to finish the job. "As you can see I don't have a choice in the matter," she hissed through gritted teeth. "The only thing I can do now is kill you! Dance of the Dragon!"

Nearly a dozen twisters descended from the clouds. Shizuka had to jump back and forth as the ground she had been previously standing on was torn to pieces. At last everything cleared and Shizuka was nowhere to be found.

"I guess she was torn apart. How sad," Kagura said insincerely as she smiled satisfyingly. She turned.

"Think again!" Shizuka yelled from the branch of a nearby tree. She leapt from the tree and dropkicked Kagura.

Miroku was sprinting through the forest as fast as he could not knowing he was being watched. Naraku sat safely in his castle with Kanna at his side.

"So Kagura let the houshi escape," he said amusedly. "No doubt it was on purpose. No matter. I shall just have Sango complete her task more quickly so she can kill the houshi, too."

"Sango, wake up," Sesshomaru said with a hint of a plea in his voice as she held her blade to his throat still. "Don't do this. You don't want to. It is Naraku and you have to come out of it."

She looked at him with an entirely blank expression. He had no idea that a completely different battle was raging within her. 'Kill him…' the cold voice continued to say. 'But why?' a voice more like her own argued. 'Kill him…' the other voice said again. 'Why should I kill this man?' said her own voice. 'I don't know who he is. He has done nothing to hurt me.' 'Kill him!' the voice shouted more insistently. By instinct, she raised her hand to strike, but paused half-way down. 'That look in his eyes…' A sudden feeling of elation and sorrow filled her body as though she was being inflated like a balloon. 'What am I doing? This is Sesshomaru! I love him!'

"Sesshomaru!" She withdrew the knife back into her sleeve and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm so sorry," she said through thick tears. "I don't know what made me do it. It was like someone in my head was telling me to and I couldn't refuse," she sobbed.

He hesitantly hugged her back, not sure if this was another trap, stood, and said, "No, it's not your fault. It's mine."

"Yours?" she asked looking up at him with too many emotions in her eyes to count. "How could it be your fault?"

"I tried to tell you. I lied. I got that jewel shard from Naraku."

She stared at him with an open mouth for a few seconds. "Take it out! Get this tainted shard out of me!" She withdrew the knife again and attempted to plunge it into herself, but Sesshomaru stopped her.

"I'll take it out." Her hand was shaking as she tried to overpower him, whereas he, being a powerful yokai, was having very little trouble. When she finally gave up, he repeated, "I'll take it out."

She sighed in defeat and gave him a small nod and look that clearly told him to hurry. Sango took in a sharp breath and bit her tongue as he carefully inserted a claw over the jewel shard and pulled it out. The shard was black. Tears clouded Sango's eyes as she stared at the tainted fragment. She turned as she blinked them away. She didn't want him to see.

"Sango, I'm sorry," he said putting a hand on her shoulder. She rolled it forward making him draw back. He stood at a loss for what to say. She then mumbled something so softly that not even Sesshomaru could hear, but he knew it couldn't be good. "What?" he asked breathlessly.

"I said I have to leave!" she yelled making birds flee their peaceful perches in the trees around them, and with that, she ran into the woods, Sesshomaru knowing it was best not to follow. He slowly walked inside and gathered her weapons, leaving them at the gate.

Kagome rubbed her thumb nervously against the back of Inuyasha's hand. He made no response. It seemed he had finally fallen asleep after Kagome had held his hand for nearly half an hour. This is the moment she had been waiting for. She needed to leave, and she needed him not to stop her.

"Shippo, Rin," Kagome called quietly.

"Yes ma'am?" they said together saluting her.

"Inuyasha's finally asleep. Take care of him."

"Where are you going?" Rin asked, dropping her hand.

"I need to help Sango. Something's wrong."

Rin pressed her hand to her forehead again, and Kagome took that to mean that they would do it. She gathered her bow and arrows and situated them comfortably on her back. She walked from the cave as softly as she could on the echoing stone so Inuyasha would not wake.

Ok, I know that's kinda short. I'm like two thirds of what I usually am, but I felt like I needed to give you guys something. But it's like I said, life's been pretty cruel to me lately. It's all on my profile. Check it out if you want. In short, I just experienced my first heartbreak. I'll let you guys review now.

Language Guide: (Do I need to do this still? Tell me yes or no in your review.)

Hai- yes

Houshi- monk

Yokai- demon

Taijiya- demon slayer

Saimyosho- Naraku's poisonous insects of Hell