Author's Note: Yes, after more than five years, I am continuing this story and if I can find the original documents may at some point edit the older chapters and polish them up. It was not mentioned because I forgot to do so, but the demon was wearing armor the night he was caught and it was stowed away with his clothes. I had neglected to mention it, just fyi before anyone decides to point out the discrepancy. I tried to make it painfully obvious from the beginning that the demon is not Sesshomaru, but judging from the feedback apparently it was not obvious enough.

The demon's steps were slowing now as he tried to drag himself up the last few steps; he couldn't stop now but with any number of drugs still working their way out of his body and a lack of actual sleep, his body simply wasn't holding out much longer. He'd traveled gods only knew how many miles away from the hospital and the busy city here to the outskirts where activity was a bit less and the air not quite as repulsive. He was fast losing strength due to the lingering effects of the drugs and virus he'd been infected with and all he wanted to do was lay down and rest, but he could not be sure it was safe to. His feet had led him to this place, the old Shinto gateway at the base of the steps a sign of a possible temple of some kind, perhaps a place he could hide for awhile. The air around this place was somewhat fresher, he could smell trees, see the dark outline of them at the top, the very feel of this place familiar somehow. He was all but crawling up the steps now, his breath coming in pants as he struggled to stay conscious just a bit longer with the effort of forcing his body against its will. He reached the top of the steps, collapsing to his knees, his eyes gazing around him in a vain attempt to identify his surroundings but in the dismal darkness of night made darker by sinister rain clouds and pounding rain even his demon sight couldn't see much. With a last exhale of breath, his body crumpled to the ground unable to remain upright and conscious any longer, and his eyes slid shut though his mind protested against it. That's how they found him….

Kagome's frantic mumbling woke Inu Yasha from a sound slumber as her footsteps pounded through the house; stupid girl was probably late for that school place she was always whining about. He sat up and stretched, a foot reaching up to sleepily scratch one of his dog-like ears as his friend did indeed hurry about in the frenzied rush of a teenager who'd overslept and was dangerously close to being late for school. She oughta just forget about it, they had jewel shards to find and not much more time to find them before Naraku possibly beat them there. Surely those were more important than the nonsensical equations Inu Yasha couldn't make heads or tails of in her books, far as he was concerned anything someone had to be paid to teach you to figure out wasn't worth knowing. He barely heard her call good-bye to him as she raced out the door followed by something about him going back through the well without her, like that was going to happen. But the scream that came a few minutes later was picked by his sensitive dog ears and sent him instantly rushing out the door after her and to her side where she stood looking down at something, no, someone lying at the top of the steps.

"Kagome! What the-?" he began as he stopped right beside her and his golden eyes saw what she was staring at.

It was the demon from the research facility, Inu Yasha knew it by the scent even though he was no longer dressed in a flimsy hospital gown, but a blue and white haori covered by armor much like Sesshomaru's except the spiked plates partially covered his arms. His back was covered by some kind of off-white, double-tailed pelt, his wrists and forearms protected by gauntlets, his hair now tied back by a purple tie, the lower half of his face was still covered by the muzzle.

Kagome was kneeling beside the unconscious demon and was trying to roll him over onto his back, not an easy task for a human to turn over such a tall demon built of lean muscle and covered by thick demon-bone armor. She at least managed to get his torso turned over so she could reach over and undo the clasps that held the muzzle in place before pulling it free from his face. The moment that pressure was removed, the demon drew in a deep breath, his eyes fluttering open briefly before again falling closed. She looked over his perfect, handsome face, wondering who this demon could be with features that were so masculine and looked like both Sesshomaru and Inu Yasha at the same time. She gasped when her eyes landed on the stripes gracing his cheeks, purple and jagged, so much like those on Inu Yasha's face when he transformed.

"I-Inu Yasha…" she got out, her voice hushed, unsure of what to say or how to say it.

"Hn? What is it?" he asked.

"We have to get him in the house," she said, "He's soaked to the skin and he feels warm. We need to get him inside."

Which was no easy task, even Inu Yasha with his half-demon strength was hard pressed to support the weight of a demon that had to be close to six feet tall and seriously muscled, and by the time they managed to get him inside and dropped rather unceremoniously on the couch, they were both breathing hard. Kagome went off to call out of school, doing her best to make herself actually sound ill, while Inu Yasha did his best to get the bulky spiked armor off the demon. He'd expected the demon to feel warm to Kagome, their bodies were naturally higher in temperature than humans, but this one did feel unusually warm and even though he'd looked after himself most of his life, the half-breed had no idea how to take care of someone with a fever, especially not a full-fledged demon.

"Kagome," he called to her, "I'm gonna go back. I got something I need to do."

"Like what, Inu Yasha?" she asked, wondering how she was supposed to look after a sick demon by herself.

"Keh! Ain't any of your business!" he snapped as he turned to head out.

"Fine! If you're gonna be a jerk about it, then go!"

Inu Yasha turned and left Kagome to ponder over the strange demon on the couch, wondering why she was bothering to help the damn thing when chances were it'd attack her once it woke up, a thought that made him stop and rethink his decision to leave. Glancing back at the house, he changed his mind and leapt up into a tree to spend the day there instead and wait for the moment she needed him to rescue her.

He had a fever and his clothes were soaked, maybe he'd been caught in the rain last night, obviously she needed to do something about that and get him out of his soggy clothing before his fever worsened or he became hypothermic. So Kagome set about carefully removing his haori and the deep red kosode underneath, pulling them loose from the waist of his hakama, pausing as she pondered over what to do about those. A blush spread over her cheeks as she gazed at the white silk, almost transparent from the water soaking them, realizing he wore nothing underneath them before looking away and gathering haori and kosode in her arms to hang them to dry. As she dashed outside, she grabbed the pelt from where it had been dropped on the floor when Inu Yasha had removed it with the armor to hang that up as well. Inu Yasha looked down at her as he heard her footsteps approaching, noticing her pink cheeks and the embarrassment in her scent, wondering what had her all flustered as she hung the wet garments and fluff on a line to dry in the sun.

"What's your problem?" he called down to her, making her jump.

"Oh, good you're still here," she replied, looking up at him.

"Figured I'd stick around," he said, jumping down from his branch, "After all, that demon's gonna wake up and you're gonna need my protection."

"I'm not that helpless," she muttered, narrowing her eyes.

"Well, you left your arrows back in Kaede's village," he remarked, "What are you gonna do if he comes after you? Hit him with a frying pan?"

"Maybe I will!" she huffed.

"Uh huh. So what's your problem?"

"Well...umm..." she twiddled her fingers, "Do me a favor?"

"What's the favor?"

"Ineedyoutotakehispantsoff!" she spat out.

"Huh?"

She took a deep breath, "I need you to get his pants off."

"Why can't you do it?"

"He's got no underwear on!"

"So?"

"Inu Yasha! He's naked under there!"

"It really ain't a big deal. But fine, since yer a little chicken," Inu Yasha headed back in the house.

"I don't wanna see that!"

"Like I do?"

"You have that! At least it's nothing you've never seen before!"

"You saw me buck-ass naked before, remember?"

Like she wanted to, but she certainly remembered the time he'd followed her home and Sota had brought him into the shower only for Inu Yasha to come back into Kagome's room completely nude, griping about what she didn't remember. She'd been too horrified at the sight of a naked male half-demon in her room, a fact that clearly hadn't bothered him at all, leaving her to wonder if demons had any kind of modesty.

"Just get his pants off!" she snapped, shoving him into the living room.

Narrowing his eyes after her as she ran off to get a blanket to cover the demon, he walked over and quickly untied the sash holding the hakama in place and stripped them off, grabbing the blanket Kagome held out to him and throwing it over the still demon.

That taken care of, she straightened out the blanket shrouding the well-toned physique, quietly marveling over the apparent lack of any fat on the demon whatsoever, she padded into the kitchen to get some tea ready and grab a damp cloth to lay on his brow. Sitting on the edge of the couch beside him and lifting his head to slip a pillow underneath him, she brushed his waving bangs aside to set the cloth on his forehead, pausing as she caught sight of the dark bluish crescent moon in the center. Laying the cloth over it to help reduce his fever, she studied his face as she pondered over who this strange demon could possibly be, idly lifting one of his large hands and studying the long claws tipping his fingers. Clearly this was not Sesshomaru, Inu Yasha would've recognized that scent in a heartbeat, and even though the red marking his eyelids and the crescent moon were eerily similar to those of the Demon Lord, the stripes gracing his cheeks were different, his hair a darker silver. Was he somehow related to Sesshomaru? The large demon certainly bore a strong resemblance to her friend's homicidal brother, though his features lacked the soft, delicate nature that made up Sesshomaru's beauty, looking closer to Inu Yasha's own features albeit older and full demon. Not to mention the stripes gracing his cheeks... She stroked one of them with a thumb, noting the subtle shift of the face and a barely audible moan from the demon, thinking what a shame it was Sango couldn't come through the well. Inu Yasha may be half-demon himself, but she often wondered how much he truly knew about that half of him, it's not as though he'd ever had anyone to teach him about his demon side, Sango being a slayer seemed to know more.

A sharp whistle broke through the fog of unconsciousness, one eye cracking open as he felt a weight that had been beside him shift away and footsteps walking toward the whistling that sounded like it may be a teapot. Glancing around with the one eye that had been willing to open, he saw that he was somewhere inside, laying on a soft, comfortable surface under a warm blanket and naked as the day he was born...? Wait, what? Willing his other eye open, he lifted a corner of the blanket and saw that his sense was indeed correct, he had no clothes on, a fact that mildly irritated him and left him wondering if he'd been robbed. Then again, why would he be robbed of his clothing (and what use would any human have for demon-bone armor?) and then laid up on their couch in what he assumed was a home of some kind? Lifting a clawed hand to his head, he was surprised to find a damp cloth on his brow, leaving him wondering what sort of thief stole heavy armor and silk clothing only to take him in and treat him. Unless he'd been robbed of his armor and clothing and someone else had found him afterward and taken him home, but this was Japan, surely no robber would've robbed a man of the clothes on his back from the steps of a sacred shrine!

"Oh!" a gasp pulled him from his thoughts, "You're awake!"

His sensitive nose recognized the scent of the girl from the previous day, his eyes shifting to see her peering down at him, a tray in her hands, doe-brown eyes watching him with concern, waving black hair falling past her shoulders, a bluish tint to the strands in the light.

"My armor," he got out, wincing at the hoarse tone of his voice, "My clothes, explain."

"Your clothes are outside drying," she replied, setting the tray on a table beside the couch he laid on, "They were soaked, so relax. I didn't think you'd wanna get any sicker than you already are."

"Where am I?" he asked.

"My family's shrine," she said, pouring a cup of tea from the teapot she'd been carrying on the tray and picking up a couple of little pills, holding both out to him, "Take these, they'll help reduce the fever."

She helped him sit up, repositioning the pillow behind him so it supported his weight as he leaned back against it, his body shaking with the exertion.

"If I find you are lying to me, you will live to regret it," he muttered, eying the pills suspiciously before popping them in his mouth.

"Least you wouldn't kill me," she returned, narrowing her eyes.

"Oh no," he returned after taking a sip of tea to wash down the medicine, "I would kill you, just very very slowly."

Definitely related to Sesshomaru, she thought as he took another sip of tea and letting out a pleased sigh, savoring the pleasing taste of the warm beverage.

There was a hint of his tone that was very similar to Sesshomaru's, sounding almost identical to the lethal taiyoukai at the moment, though the sound was deeper and a bit hoarse perhaps from whatever was ailing him. He'd been wary of the pills she'd given him, familiar with the tiny things that contained medicine having been given a variety of them during his stay at the lab while they were conducting research. The ones she'd offered did not, however, look like anything that had been forced down his throat, so he had allowed her the benefit of the doubt since she seemed to want to help him. He paused, his cup lifted part way to his lips and looked at her, unnerved by the way she seemed to be staring at him, studying him, quirking a thick black brow. She glanced away from the molten intensity of his gaze, noting the golden orbs much like Inu Yasha's and Sesshomaru's, but lacking the guardedness of her friend or the cold of his brother's. They were intense and calculating, but warm and expressive, she couldn't help but look back at him when he continued watching her with the intensity of an animal that didn't know what to make of her, trying to decide if she was a threat or not.

"Do you have a name?" she asked, busying herself with pouring her own cup of tea.

"Yes," he replied, "Is there a reason you keep staring at me so intently?"

"Yeah," she said, "Most people would offer their name when asked."

"You didn't ask for my name," he returned, "You asked if I had one. You're not explaining your reason for staring."

"You didn't ask for an explanation," she shot back, "You asked if there was a reason."

"Like what you see?" he smirked.

"No!" she snapped, blushing.

"Oh?" he teased, "How strange. Usually the females of the species find me quite appealing. I assumed such was the case. Pity."

"Aren't we full of ourselves?" she quipped, then sighed, "You look a lot like a couple of demons I know."

"So you are familiar with our kind," he remarked, "So you should know that we can smell deceit. And you're blush begged to differ with your words, by the way."

"You still haven't answered my question."

"You haven't asked one."

"Yes, I did! About your name, remember?"

"If I had one. Asked and answered."

"Ugh! Fine if you're gonna be difficult..."

"So who are these demons I resemble?"

". . ."

"Oh, come now. The silent treatment? Really? Answer my question and I will give you my name."

"Fine, but only after you tell me."

"Very well, if you will tell me yours. Introductions after all. Oh, and staring's rude."

"Kagome Higurashi."

"I am called Inu Taisho, Taisho will do."

"You're called, huh? So is that your actual name?"

"It is the one you are getting. Now these two demons...?"

"One's actually half-demon, he's Inu Yasha. The other is his full demon brother, sorry, half-brother, Sesshomaru."

His eyes widened, recalling the half-demon scent he'd caught the night before, one he could smell now in this room, a mix of his own scent and his mate's now that he examined it, his mind flashing back to his last night on the mortal plane. The night his younger son had been born, a son he'd called... Inu Yasha...

"You're related to them, aren't you?" she asked reading the look on his face, "Those markings aren't a coincidence."

"Indeed," he nodded, "They are in fact... my sons."