Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

CHAPTER 1: THE LAST STRAW

Sesshoumaru patrolled the edges of his territory, checking for any sign of intrusion worthy of notice. The moonlight filtered down to him, and the quiet comforted him in ways that companions never could. He checked a final time, and satisfied that the borders were safe, he started to head to his place.

His place was a small, protected area, with wards so powerful that no human or demon could even hope to shatter them. Only he could enter and leave. He was the place he went to calm himself, where he could freely be without worry about who saw and who did not. It was as close to home as he knew.

"Halt, demon!" The sound of a human voice shattered the silence. A human stood before him, a houshi by the robes he wore. "Surrender to my power."

Sesshoumaru barely spared the man a glance. "You stand in my way. Move."

"I will not move until you are banished from this Earth!" The houshi shouted. He pulled out a scroll and sent it flying at Sesshoumaru.

But he was no longer there. The houshi stared in confusion, before pain rippled through him. He barely had time to register the pain before he died, the poison whip having cut through him in an instant.

Sesshoumaru walked on, his thoughts on getting to his secret place.

 The Palace of the Gods 

The doors to the forum burst open, and a very angry human looking woman entered. "Inugami*!" She shouted, sparks of power flying off of her.

The giant white wolf licked his lips nervously. "Why, Amaterasu! What brings you to the Demonic Forum?"

"You know very well what!" Amaterasu screamed. "Sesshoumaru! I thought I told you to take care of him!"

"I did!" Inugami insisted, ignoring the looks of contempt from the other gods. "I've visited him in dreams, I've sent him helpers, and I've even written the message out in stone! He just won't listen to me!"

"Do you know what he's done this time, Inugami?" Amaterasu shouted, stomping up to the giant dog. "He killed another houshi. The one I finally found to replace the reincarnation of the replacement of the reincarnation of the houshi that he killed two hundred years ago. The one who was supposed to father Houshigami's reincarnation!"

Inugami winced. He was still in the doghouse for that slipup of Sesshoumaru's. "I'm very sorry, Amaterasu-sama. I'll make sure that it won't happen again."

"No, it won't happen again." Her eyes blazed as she spoke, causing all the assembled to shrink back. "Assemble the Demonic Court."

Sesshoumaru

When had this village grown here? Sesshoumaru had come this way just a few weeks ago, and it had not been here.

Oh wait. He hadn't been checking for humans. No wonder he'd missed it. Not that it really mattered anyway.

"Demon!"

"Oh kami, it's a demon!"

"Run for your lives!"

"Women and children first!"

"Assemble the guard!"

Sesshoumaru nearly rolled his eyes as he walked forward. They were all the same: panicky weaklings who thought the world should revolve around them.

He stopped only when a line of armed humans stood in his way. "You stand in my way. Move."

"Stand ready men!" A human shouted. "Don't back down."

Sesshoumaru smirked as the bloodbath began.

Palaceof the Gods

"This just proves my point!" Amaterasu shouted, pointing to the globe that showed them Sesshoumaru's deeds. "It's not just that he's doing this. It's that he's enjoying it as well. There's no point!"

The four major gods (the gods of the canines, felines, birds, and fish), a representative of the lesser gods (insects and rodents), and InuTaisho looked into the globe as well. And even InuTaisho couldn't argue as he had done every other time.

"I agree that something must be done." He admitted. The others nodded in agreement.

"I want to be the one to administer justice." Amaterasu continued.

"Wait! Hold up a second!" Inugami shouted. "He's an inuyoukai. That means he's under my jurisdiction."

"And what have you done about him thus far?" Amaterasu demanded. He looked down guiltily.

Politics still played a major part in the Demon Forum. Nekogami* hated Inugami, and so sided with Amaterasu. Torigami* thought Inugami was too lax, and so sided with Amaterasu. Sakanagami* hated Torigami, and so sided with Inugami. InuTaisho knew that someone responsible needed to take care of Sesshoumaru, but felt that Inugami wouldn't do anything correctly, so he sided with Amaterasu. Shitappagami* wanted to get on Amaterasu's good side, so he sided with her.

"Final count: 5 for Amaterasu, 2 for Inugami. Jurisdiction goes to Amaterasu."

 Sesshoumaru 

The fighters had quickly been decimated, and Sesshoumaru drank in the sights and sounds. The remaining women and children started to flee.

Sesshoumaru chased after them, going after every last remnant of the humans who dared to challenge him. Each woman's scream resounded in his ears like a symphony of joy. His smile widened after each kill.

"Stop!"

"Please!"

"Have mercy!"

"My children!"

He listened to their pleas only enough to add to the symphony. No begging could touch his heart.

And then the women were gone, and only the children remained. But children were easily disposed of, and not worth his time.

"You evil demon!" A stone smashed into him, and Sesshoumaru turned. One of the girls had gathered the courage to attempt to strike him? Sesshoumaru growled. No one would strike a taiyoukai and live to tell the tale.

The Palace of the Gods

"That rotten dog!" Amaterasu shouted. "Start the spell. NOW!"

"What about you?" Inugami whined.

"I have children to protect!"

Sesshoumaru

Sesshoumaru enjoyed the way the life seeped from the little girl. She struggled for breath even as her eyes glassed over, and she slowly drifted away. . .

"Drop her, Sesshoumaru." Sesshoumaru turned and saw a human woman standing before him.

Sesshoumaru smirked. "No mere onna* will order this Sesshoumaru." He dropped the child and charged at the human.

Amaterasu shook her head at his foolishness. With a casual flick of her hand, the ground below Sesshoumaru glowed, and he froze in mid step. "You should be careful who you attack, Sesshoumaru." Her eyes glowed with power, and the air around her crackled. "Especially when attacking a group of child who have called upon their Goddess."

Sesshoumaru's mind raced. It couldn't be that he had just attacked a god. . . could it? He tried to speak, but found he could not even move his mouth to speak. "You'll be dealt with soon enough, pup." Amaterasu continued, ignoring his growls. "For now, you can stand there and think about what you've done."

How dare the woman treat him like an errant puppy? When he broke free, he'd devise a slow and pain filled death for her.

Amaterasu walked up to the children slowly. "Come here, my kodonos." She crooned. The children ran to her, and she embraced each as best she could. She whispered her words of comfort softly as the day became night, and each one cried themselves to sleep. She set them down carefully, and checked to make sure they did not awaken. Then she began to chant.

"Memories will die away to nothing
Hurts will heal and scars will fade
The lives lived here will be but a dream
New lives await thee in this night."

Each of the children dissolved into small balls of light and shot away into different directions. In the morning, they would awaken with new families, new memories, and the pain of this day and their old life would fade to become a mere dream. "Be safe, and be happy, kodonos." Amaterasu whispered. "Live your new lives."

She turned and watched as the ground around Sesshoumaru began to glow. A beam of light shone down on him, and he began to slowly disintegrate. "You better pray, and pray hard, Sesshoumaru." She whispered. "Because I am not so forgiving as my brother."

InuYasha's Group

"Kagome! Wake up!" InuYasha shouted, standing over her angrily. She opened her eyes sleepily, then saw who it was.

"Ten more minutes." She rolled over, intent on ignoring him.

It had been three years since the defeat of Naraku, and Kagome had already given up any chance of a life in the future. She'd felt more at home in the past anyway. She'd said good-bye to her family and came through the well for the last time. The village now knew her as Lady Kagome, Lady Kaede's young apprentice.

InuYasha still hung around, much to the surprise of everyone. He had kept his promise to Kikyo, or at least tried to. But something had gone wrong while she was dragging him to hell.

"Kagome! It's already an hour after dawn. Get up!" InuYasha shouted. He tried to shake her, scowling as his hand went through her. He concentrated hard, and managed to push her a little bit.

Kagome sat up with a glare. "InuYasha. It's my day off. Let me sleep, or I'll seal you into a tree again!" Then she fell back down and muttered sleepily. "Stupid ghost waking me up every morning."

InuYasha grinned. Knowing how weird it made people feel when he touched them without making himself solid, he stuck his hand through Kagome's head. She sat up with a yell. "InuYasha! Sit!"

InuYasha slammed towards the ground, and went through the floor. For reasons no one understood, the subjugation necklace still worked tremendously well.

But by now, Kagome was too awake to sleep. "Thanks a lot, InuYasha." She grumbled. "Now I have to get up."

"Serves you right for sticking me through the floorboards." InuYasha muttered.

Kagome glared but said nothing. Instead, she stood and grabbed her clothes. "Get out. I'm changing."

InuYasha fled, muttering something about not wanting to go blind. Kagome scowled, but let it go. "And don't be terrorizing the village again, InuYasha." Kagome warned.

InuYasha had made it his favorite past time to cause trouble in the village. Only those who could sense power were able to see him, which meant that the villagers didn't know that InuYasha's spirit still lingered in the world. He had tremendous fun freaking out villagers. Even more fun was helping Miroku with his false exorcisms.

Kagome emerged from her hut after a quick kiss for Shippou, who still managed to sleep in his little corner. She headed to Kaede's, ready for another day of training.

She never made it.

 Amaterasu 

She watched in amusement as Sesshoumaru continued to check the strength of his restraints. She had to admit, he impressed her with his ability to remain calm despite being summoned before Gods. Asking for evidence of his crimes. That's a new one. Hopefully, her plan would work. If not, there was always plan B.

Five figures shimmered to life in front of the council: a kitsune cub, three humans, and a ghost. Shippou, Miroku, Sango, Kagome, and InuYasha.

"Where the hell are we?" InuYasha shouted. Then he spotted Sesshoumaru chained inside a small iron box. "You bastard! What the hell do you-"

"Sit boy." Kagome said quietly. InuYasha plummeted down. Kagome turned to the council and bowed. "What an honor to meet you, Amaterasu-sama."

"It is an honor to be recognized, young miko." Amaterasu said kindly. "I'm happy to meet you, and your friends."

"Who the hell are you?" InuYasha demanded, only to be sat once more.

"Forgive our ignorance, Amaterasu-sama." Miroku said calmly, standing slightly in front of Sango (who was now his wife. They got married after Naraku's death. Miroku no longer has the kazanna.) "But you are the Amaterasu, goddess of humanity?"

"Yes, houshi." Amaterasu said with a small smile. She gestured to her left. "This is Inugami, and Torigami. To my right are Sakanagami, Shitappagami, and InuTaisho."

The humans and kitsune bowed in respect, while InuYasha continued to swear profanities. Amaterasu started to react, but was beat to the punch by InuTaisho. "InuYasha, if you don't shut your mouth this second, I will beat your behind until it's as red as the haori! Obviously, your mother forgot discipline!"

InuYasha shut up, though he continued to glare.

"As wonderful as all this is," Inugami interjected, "We should probably get back to the issue at hand."

Amaterasu glared, but nodded. "Very well." She turned to InuYasha and the others. "Sesshoumaru is here on trial."

InuYasha stared. "Huh?"

"We've been watching him for a while, and the simple fact is that he's crossed one too many lines." Amaterasu explained. "Something has to be done, and quickly." She glanced over at Sesshoumaru. "However, we have allowed that we should receive the opinions of others before we make our decision."

InuYasha stepped forward. "Ask me! Ask me!"

Amaterasu rolled her eyes. "All of you have had encounters with Sesshoumaru in the past. We ask that you step into the circle in front of us. It will show us what we need to know."

InuYasha stepped forward immediately. "Anything to help get rid of Sesshoumaru." He said cheerfully. The rest of them followed a bit more warily, but were encouraged by the soft smile the Goddess of Humanity sent them.

For the humans, the flow of memories was hard to follow. It seemed to be a barrage of images, disjointed from one another in every way possible. But the general theme seemed to be images where Sesshoumaru had threatened them in some way. Most of them seemed to be from InuYasha's point of view, very understandably.

Sesshoumaru watched disgustedly. How could it possibly be that the people who knew the most of him were his half-brother and his companions? Surely he wasn't that anti-social!

Amaterasu watched the flow of memories, and her face darkened. Perhaps they had already acted too late. Maybe he couldn't be saved. . . she shook her head. He'd be saved if it killed her. . . or a certain kind hearted woman.

"I've seen enough." Amaterasu said. The circle stopped glowing, and Sesshoumaru's cage was brought forward. "As executor of this court, I, Amaterasu of Humanity, give your sentence." She looked down at Sesshoumaru, and allowed every bit of the disgust she felt for him show. "Your punishment is death."

--------------------Author's Rant--------------------

Obsessive_Goddess: Well, I've finally done it. I've posted the first chapter of Crime and Punishment.

InuYasha: Sesshoumaru's in shock. He didn't think you had the guts!

Kagome: I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you before Sesshoumaru gets the chance!

Sesshoumaru: Too late! [throws poison whip at Obsessive_Goddess]

Obsessive_Goddess: Author Powers! Shield! [purple shield surrounds her] Try killing me now!

Kagome: Sesshoumaru! We need to team up to outsmart her!

Sesshoumaru: [glances at Obsessive_Goddess, who is currently trying to open a water bottle] I don't think it will be that hard.

--------------------Author's Rant--------------------

*
Inugami: Dog god
Houshigami: Monk god
Nekogami: Cat god
Torigami: Bird god
Sakanagami: Fish God
Shitappagami: Underling god.
Onna: woman