Aikouka

001: Skillful turned a Hindrance

Inuyasha does not belong to me, nor do any of the references
to the writings of Sun Tzu that are contained within.

---

Hence that general is skilful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend;
and he is skilful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.

---

'My Lord Sesshomaru'

Her search was fruitless, as she had hoped. No trace of her Lord could be found in the heaps of bodies and stench of poisoned blood. Ah and Un trailed behind her, keeping a wary watch for any demons who might approach to partake in a feast on both alive and dead flesh.

She came upon a large fissure in the earth, most likely made by her Lord's half-brother. She peered down to the bottom, and wrinkled her nose at the smell of blood. The fissure had enabled the blood of the demons and humans to mingle at the bottom, and soon it would be overflowing.

Ah and Un nudged her side and looked across the stream of blood pointedly. She followed their gaze, and sprang across in one quick leap, just missing the edge and scrambling up the side before she landed in the river of blood. Her Lord's retainer, Jaken, lay in a bloody heap along with two decapitated demons and a human with the top of his skull ripped off.

She prodded him gently in hopes of rousing the demon, but to no avail. She was a smart girl, and though her Lord had not allowed her to come near the battle ground when he could, she still knew what a dead being looked like.

No cry came in her sadness, and the silence remained as she gathered up the demon's crushed body in her arms and she walked back to Ah and Un, taking the long way around. They knelt on their knees as she approached, allowing her to place his body on their back. She gave a weak smile, and hoped that her Lord could revive him, as he had done so many times before.

A twig snapped, and she turned around quickly. A startled shout escaped her lips as eyes widened in fear. The fur was matted with blood, saliva flowing in a steady stream from the bared fangs. Snout fixed into a snarl, incoherent mumblings reached her ears as it's eyes darted from her to Ah and Un, and back again.

It wanted fresh meat, and in turn, wanted her.

Ah and Un nudged her away from the fissure, keeping a wary eye on their new opponent. She made no move to resist, thoughts frantic and panicky. If her Lord was here, the wolf demon would be dead by now, and she would be safe.

Jaken's lifeless form falling off of the dragon's back brought her back to her senses, and she ran away from the fissure, hoping that the demon would follow her and give Ah and Un an advantage to attack. A scream of pain reached her ears, but she did not stop. There was no time to turn back and see who was winning the battle, only time to find her Lord so that he may protect and revive his loyal subjects.

She dodged the piles of war casualties, and slipped on puddles of blood. The right shoulder of her clothing was torn off completely, showing the deep gash that had been made when she had fallen on a sword in one of her stumbles. Her shoulder throbbed as blood rose from the wound, and her senses were in turn dulled. That might have been the reason when she fell that last time, she did not get back up on her own.

She lay motionless for a while, the call thunder makes to lightening rumbling above her. The first drops of rain fell heavy on her form, cleansing the earth of the death that had been scarring it for so long. Her tears mingled with the blood and ground under her, and she prayed for her Lord to rescue her, to come and save her like he had done so many times before.

"My, what do we have here?" A familiar voice spoke from above her, causing her to tremble in fear. This was not how it was supposed to end, a voice in her head screamed, this was not how she was supposed to die.

She was supposed to be with her Lord Sesshomaru.

---

Simulated disorder postulates perfect discipline;
simulated fear postulates courage;
simulated weakness postulates strength.

---

He was supposed to be with Rin right now.

There was no sight of that pathetic half demon anywhere, though his legions of undead demons and humans keep seeping out of the castle. Toukijin was put to good use on this night, though the thought of Rin was always in his mind. I do not worry about humans, he had often told himself. I only keep the girl out of curiosity, he would continue.

And then when the truth of the matter would come and hit him upside the head, he ignored it.

So now here he was, with his bastard half-brother and his group of miscreant humans and demons trying to find Naraku in this mess so they could kill him once and for all. After all, he had to get back to Rin and make sure she was all right.

The demon slayer and that monk were off to the side, not paying attention to the carnage around them. The slayer's brother had fallen in battle, and she was sobbing over his death while the monk made an attempt at comforting her. The display of affection... no, weakness, caused him to once again be disgustedwith the human race.

He turned his attention to the task at hand, keeping watch for the next wave of demons. If he had it his way, he would have attacked the castle and be done with it, but Inuyasha had plead that he not do so, that both females he held dear to his heart were inside and held captive by Naraku.

No proper reason came into his mind as to why he actually complied with his brother's request, so he left it alone and focused on his senses. The smell of their opponents blood was think in the air, so he had to rely more on sight than anything else. It was hard to pick out one scent from that stench, no matter how powerful a demon lord you are.

The gates to the palace were kept open, and bodies littered the courtyard as far as the eye could see. Naraku had left it open to taunt them into entering, but once the first few had passed the gates, the traps made themselves known, and no one ventured past. That demon cat of the Slayer's had run inside in a foolish burst of bravery, and lay dead on the front steps.

A blur of white jumped over the fence from the east, and was quickly inside. He was not surprised with this development, and was glad that the final battle would start soon so he could get back to Rin.

"Sesshomaru, what was that thing?" Apparently his brother was surprised.

His gaze never wavered from the palace, an odd sensation sweeping through his mind. "I do not know, brother."

"You are supposed to be keeping watch! How can you not know, unless you weren't doing your job?" Inuyasha growled, his hand grasping the hilt of Tessaiga as his eyes narrowed.

Sesshomaru did not bother to feel threatened, and ignored the growls of his brother. "I am doing what you asked, so I suggest you do not cause me to... rethink my choices." His cold gaze was moved to the sputtering half demon, and a slight smile grazed his lips.

"Are you demons quite finished?"

At the door stood three Narakus, two copies in the Baboon pelt garb and the real one. Before the two copies stood Kagome and Kikyou, and before the true Naraku...

Before the true Naraku stood a terrified Rin.

---

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.
If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.
If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

---

His eyes were cold as he saw her there, in the grasp of the enemy. Perhaps she should have been glad with that, being as she was supposed to be used as bait. Maybe her Lord would kill her to get to the villain behind her, and not revive her as punishment. It would be a fitting end, to die at the hands of her Lord.

"So glad you all could make it." Naraku said behind her, his sword digging into her back. If she so much as leaned back just a small bit, it would run through her heart. Or at least, that was what he had told her.

"Time for you to hand over the rest of the jewel before all three of these lovely ladies are killed." She closed her eyes to hold back the tears, then opened them to find her lord staring at her. Not at Naraku, at her. The feeling of dread filled her to the top, and she gasped as the sword dug in a little deeper. "You don't want your precious human to die, do you Sesshomaru?"

Panic settled in her mind as she heard those words. If her lord was hurt, she could never forgive herself. His eyes betrayed no emotion, though his hand began to flex on the hilt of Toukijin. Perhaps there was still hope...

The sword slid easily through her body, piercing the heart and coming out in her chest. Her breaths became ragged, and the strength left her legs as she fell to her knees, the sword pulling out. "You stupid girl!" Naraku cried, glancing between her bloody form and her Lord Sesshomaru. "You leaned back on the sword!"

No emotion was found on her Lord's face, and she took that as a good sign. She offered him a weak smile as she ignored the choked sobs of the two Priestess’ on either side of her. "I have eliminated any advantage he might have had over you, my lord. You can now kill him with no repercussions."

She fell to her side, still gazing upon the face of her Lord. Father, Protector, Friend, and Lover, she had to do this for him, and there will be no regrets when she left the earth plain. As her vision faded into nothing, a change came over her lord's eyes which might have worried her, if she were not dead.

Sesshomaru's eyes glowed red. His hand drew Toukijin as Tenseiga pulsed. And he charged at Naraku with rage coursing through his veins.

'My Lady Rin'

---

If our soldiers are not overburdened with money, it is not because they have a distaste for riches;
if their lives are not unduly long, it is not because they are disinclined to longevity.