Walking along towards the mountain, following Narakus acrid smell, the dai-yokai allowed his mind to wander back to thoughts of Noro.

That woman was so reckless. She even ran ahead of himself while they were retrieving Rin from the dead mercenaries. A mortal like herself should know better than to fight the undead. And her hair...

It mattered nothing to him what the length of her hair was, truly. He just hadn't... understood why she'd wanted to shorten her locks to begin with. But now, only after the woman had been severely injured, and yet still found the strength to comfort and reassure his ward, did he realize her intent.

Sesshomaru scoffed quietly, his face emotionless. Humans. So reckless. She'd do anything for Rin, including not only self sacrifice, but giving up her dignity as a woman. It was almost, well, admirable.

The demon lord caught himself then, blinking once. Him, admire a human? Not a chance. She was just a human, a pitiable, cursed, mortal human, even worse off in life than his own ward, Rin.

His lips twitched minusculely in wryness. No, she be indeed be cursed, but pitiable? Norowareta the human was anything but.

To be certain, there were some aspects of hers that reminded this Sesshomaru of his annoying and obnoxious half-brother. They were both boneheaded. The gall that possessed her to fight this one when they had first met, though half dead she was, was something that she and Inuyasha shared.

But then, of course, Noro was far-

The dai-yokai thoughts were interrupted by Narakus voice from up ahead.

"...so fate, in a never ending circle," Naraku monologued. "Your meeting with Kanske was not a coincidence. The frail old man wanted a place to die, and was all too easy to manipulate. I spread the rumors of Mount Hakure, and thus the two of you met. I lured you here Kikyo!"

Kikyo. The woman that his half blood brother was so infatuated with over 50 years ago. Sesshomaru had run into the undead priestess more than once, and still did not understand his brothers continued interest in the spirit. Her heart was cold and full of hatred. She was no longer human. And yet Inuyasha continued to chase after her, no matter how she eluded him, all because he loved her when she was alive. In the end, he was sealed to a sacred tree for his troubles, and even after he was fortunate enough to be released, he chased after her, all because he loved her. And now...

"I am in control of what you humans call destiny or fate."

Inuyasha love was facing his enemy alone, and where was he?

"Sometimes, you aren't around," Noros voice echoed inside his head.

Preposterous.

"You're rambling Naraku," Kikyo replied.

"That's right. You wanted to know my true purpose here. Then, I shall show you!"

Sesshomaru heard the sound of shattering clay, and a gasp of shock and pain from the priestess. Naraku had wounded her, badly.

The abomination laughed cruelty. "I forgot! An imatation body like yours doesn't even bleed!"

"Curse you Naraku!"

"It's your own fault Kikyo. You underestimated my power."

She was silent, and Naraku spoke up again, gloating.

"You came here, oh so confident in my former inability to kill you, just so long as I had that worthless Onigumos heart. But now? I feel nothing but bliss."

Perhaps then the priestess had glanced around, looking for a way to escape, because the demon lord heard Naraku say, "a river of my miasma froths at the bottom of that chasm. Your body wouldn't last a minute in its depths. This is where you die!"

With one blow, Naraku fling the dead priestess into the abyss, and as the half demon stood gloating, Sesshomaru approached from behind.

"Now do you understand, you wretched priestess. The body I have so longed for, is now mine!"

The half blood was all together too arrogant. He took down a priestess that wasn't even alive to begin with. Sesshomaru despised Narakus arrogance.

"All this plotting, just to kill one human," Sesshomaru mocked coolly.

The half demon turned towards Sesshomaru, clearly having already been aware of the dai-yokais presence.

"Well hello there, Sesshomaru. Tell me, am I really so interesting to you, that you would track me all the way here? That nose of yours must be sharp indeed."

The demon lord ignored Narakus empty chit chat.

"You are stronger now," he asked.

Naraku smirked knowingly. The action irked Sesshomaru.

"Draw your sword, and we'll find out," Naraku taunted.

The abominations air of confidence bothered Sesshomaru. What was the bastard planning, and why did he want this one to strike at him? Only one way to find out.

In a flash, Sesshomaru drew Tokijin, a blade forged from one of Narakus own off-spring, and commanded the Dragon Strike.

The lightning attack streaked towards Naraku, but suddenly, the half demon erected a barrier, protecting his body from being destroyed, and laughed haughtily. "Watch now as I reverse your own attack back onto you!"

Sesshomaru's own lightning reversed its course, and the demon lord swung his blade, blocking the rebounding attack, though its force pushed him backwards. And Sesshomaru could not attribute its strength solely to himself. It seems that the half demon had gotten a little stronger. But not strong enough.

With a few deft movements, Sesshomaru dissipated the strike, and sliced through Naraku.

But, even as Naraku began his unsurprising retreat, his body had already begun to rapidly rejuvenate, and the spider demon cackled triumphantly.

"Attacking me is fruitless Sesshomaru; I will never die! You should worry more about your companions. Leaving them alone with such a weak and tortured soul. Who knows what could happen?"

And with those final, ominous words, Narakus miasma swirled about him, and he disappeared.

The creature had an unfounded audacity. He had merely wished to test his new form and then proceeded to taunt this ones person while fleeing? Nonsense.

Sesshomaru's thoughts were once again interrupted as he put away his sword. It seemed that his half brother had finally showed up. Sesshomaru recognized his footsteps.

Halting a few yards away, Inuyasha stood, panting. The half demon was covered in blood and sweat, reeking of Naraku. He had evidence of a nasty fight covering his body, and Sesshomaru wondered mildly if if his half brother had killed the one he had engaged in combat.

"Sesshomaru," Inuyasha growled, and the dai-yokai grew annoyed.

"So, you're alive after all," he replied.

It appeared his brother was not in the mood, cutting to the point in a level voice. "What are you doing here?"

The answer to that was obvious, so Sesshomaru ignored the question instead, turning his gaze to the dead priestess's broken bow.

He filled in his half brother. "Narakus aims here were not to kill you or I, but the clay priestess."

Inuyasha gasped. "Kikyos bow! No..." He ran over to the now useless scraps of wood and string, picking up one of the snapped pieces in his hands.

His half brother seemed to be quite confused and worried. That was not unwholly out of character for Inuyasha however. Sesshomaru suspected that he would go through his entire life in a mild state of confusion. But the worry...

"Worry about your companions, leaving them with such a weak and tortured soul. Who knows what could happen?" As if. This one was much stronger than Inuyasha. He had no need to worry.

"No, I failed you, Kikyo," Inuyasha spoke, undoubtedly forgetting of Sesshomaru's presence, and revealed a rare moment of honesty to the demon lord. "I wasn't there for you Kikyo, and because of that, you died alone."

Well, at least the whelp was aware of his failings. Sesshomaru turned to walk away, unexpectedly eager to leave the area. He attributed this to the pungent miasma that permeated the air, smelling of rotting flesh.

"Hey Sesshomaru!"

It seemed his half brothers guilt had transformed into anger. Sesshomaru stopped.

His brother was trembling with emotion, waves of convoluted guilt, fear, and rage emanated from him. His eyes, the same shade that both he and Sesshomaru shared with their father, glared.

"Did you just stand by and watch her get killed," he demanded. "Why didn't you do anything Sesshomaru!"

"I don't care about your relationship with that dead woman Inuyasha. The only one responsible for her death is Naraku."

"And," he said softly, "if you cared for her, you should've been there for her, so blame yourself, not me."

He turned to walk away. "Rather than lose your life here, to me, you should go after Naraku."

He could hear Inuyasha whines of anguish as he left the mountain. Perhaps it would've been kinder to relieve Inuyasha of his troubles then and there, but Sesshomaru was not kind, and he didn't care about his half brother. Inuyasha wouldn't be able to run from his own shortcomings anymore. This time, he would deal with his failures in full.

The dog demons mind turned towards his entourage. Though he had indeed been present, he was not the one who had actually saved Rin. That act belonged to Noro, and the price of the little orphans life had cost her.

Though this one was loath to admit it, even in his own mind, he had been quite powerless to do anything more than watch, while dodging the serpentine strikes of the other mercenarys weapon.

That thought irked him greatly. Had those soldiers for hire been true flesh and blood, then Sesshomaru could've easily dispatched the ingrates. But their souls had been sustained by those insidious Sacred Jewel Shards that Naraku still possessed, and thus, were most infallible to attacks that would fell any mortal. In the end, it was Noros own stubborn will to survive that saved her. That was human, so human of her, that stubbornness. Even now, his mind said treacherously, he could do nothing but rely on that hardheadedness to heal her.

He exhaled sharply through his nose. Enough, this was ridiculous, he thought. He need not rely on anyone. However, it was true nonetheless. He could do nothing to heal her.

*****

Hey everybody! How you doing!

I hope that you like this chapter; I put a lot of work into trying to make The Killing Perfections thought process seem real and natural to his character.

Now, we get into some more 😈😈😈*cackles* excellent plot lines. Oh all the sweet sweet angst and Greek tragedy of it all, hoo hoo!

Ciao!