Till The End Of Time [Inuyasha Fanfiction ]
Chapter 15's

Akihiko raised his head staring at the blue sky above. The leaves of the sakura trees around him have yellowed and fallen with the wind. It is autumn, and soon it will be winter, where the snow will fall. And then, after that, spring will come. The season in which cherry blossoms will bloom so beautifully again. A season where he can remember Rin vividly.

His sharp ears and sense of smell suddenly caught the sound and smell of someone approaching him. A small smile splashed across his face, he knew who it was - Shura. Slowly, he turned his head to look at the inuyoukai that was now behind him. "You've made headlines in this palace now, Shura. Who's that little hanyou you brought with you?"

Shura did not answer. He just kept silent a thousand languages. Akihiko then turned his head around staring at the inuyoukai. "I don't really care. But, for Tsubasa's sake, I hope you'll stay in the palace for the winter rather than wander around training yourself."

Shura still did not answer. However, he knew what Akihiko meant. She still remembered Tsubasa's facial expression when she saw him in early spring, full of tears and also relief when he saw himself coming home after venturing to train alone all winter without giving the slightest news. Although Tsubasa and herself had no blood relation, the Southern Land Ruler's Concubine had always been affectionate and treated Shura well as if she was her own child. And in Shura's deepest heart, she herself also had great respect for him, though she could never consider the youkai as her mother.

Akihiko just smiled looking at Shura's expression that remained flat. Although it looked like it didn't care, she knew, Shura would consider what she said. One more year Shura was in the South had made herself quite able to read that flat expression, although also the same as the two people who drained blood on her, sometimes her decision was always unexpected.

"Quite the bases," Shura said suddenly as she pulled out the sword that was on her waist, "Take out your sword, Akihiko-sama."

Akihiko immediately laughed seeing Shura's actions. It is unpredictable. The Inuyoukai in front of him was truly a youkai that had a very unique and rare personality. Since the autumn of last year, Shura started leaving the Southern Land Palace and shepherded training herself alone. He could have taken the opportunity while shepherding back to the West if he wanted to, however, the inuyoukai never did. Never had Shura left the Southern Land and set foot into the West. He always returned to the Southern Palace looking for her as he felt himself to have become stronger, challenged her and lost. After that he will go back and train again with confidence someday he will definitely be able to beat him.

Their unwritten agreement, Shura will only return west to meet Sesshoumaru if he has managed to defeat him, Akihiko the Ruler of the Southern Land.

Akihiko could only smile at Shura's attitude. Never give up, always hold the promise he has made, always think positive, really the nature he inherited from the woman. Akihiko's hand then moved to pull out the sword that was on his waist. "Come, show me what you got during the shepherd this time."

....xoxOx....

"Shiro! Waitaminute! Don't run that fast!" shouted Mamoru, Aya and Maya who were sitting on Kirara's back loudly.

However, Shiro did not care about it, he continued to run quickly following the smell of Sakura that captured his nose. He could smell the sakura as well as the youkai left behind. However, most importantly, he could smell Sakura's blood. Sakura's hurt. He's sure of it. The youkai who was with his sister right now was definitely not a kind-hearted youkai like the few youkai he knew.

"Awaits Sakura. Brother will definitely help you and beat up anyone who dares to hurt you." Shiro murmured softly with a face full of anxiety mixed with anger.

....xoxOx....

Tsubasa looked at the red kimono Sakura had in her hand. The kimono was made of a very step material, and was not easy to find, namely fire rat fur. Tsubasa then turned her eyes to look at Sakura who was sleeping on the futon in her room. A smile flashed across his face. He knew now, why Sakura's face felt familiar to him, and also the reason why Shura was so concerned about it.

"Sir Shura.." Sakura who was sleeping suddenly muttered while moving her steps, as if looking for Shura. Tsubasa immediately moved closer to that hanyou, trying to calm him down. However, before he managed to do that, Sakura's two golden eyes had opened.

"Are you awake, Sakura-chan?" ask Tsubasa gently.

Seeing Tsubasa's face, Sakura immediately turned her head to the left-right full of heat. The Southern Land Ruler's concubine smiled, she knew this hanyou in front of her must be looking for Shura. "Shura-sama is meeting Akihiko-sama, the Southern Land Ruler."

"Eh?" sakura was surprised.

"Do you want to see him? I'll be happy to take you there?"

Tsubasa's offer was actually a very confusing one for Sakura. He wanted to accept the offer, however, he was also hesitant. The one in front of him right now was a youkai. And he had been taught by both his parents not to carelessly trust youkai or strangers he met.

Tsubasa laughed at Sakura's facial expression. He knew what was thinking in front of him, and he agreed with it, because after all, he was not just an ordinary person. He is the son of the miko and also the strongest hanyou he has ever met. "No need to worry, I promise, I will take you to Shura-sama."

Tsubasa's laughter actually made Sakura even more confused and hesitant. However, at the thought of meeting Shura. He also decided to accept the offer. He did not want to be alone in this foreign place, he wanted to be by Shura's side. Shura is indeed a youkai, and she also just got to know him. But, he was confident that with all his confidence, he could believe it. Nah! He had trusted the boy from the very beginning he had met him.

Sakura walked after Tsubasa, her eyes fixed on the surroundings with great vigilance. The servants and soldiers who were all youkai bowed respectfully to Tsubasa as the youkai bird walked past. The little Hanyou knew, the youkai that was in front of him must have a high status. However, she also knew, she was not the Madam of this palace, proof of that, she summoned Shura who was the Heir of the Southern Land with the title of 'Sama' full of honor. This Youkai must be the Consort of the South Land Regent.

Sakura could also see all the youkai she passed by staring at her. It actually made him very scared. Can feel the fear in the little hanyou's heart, Tsubasa smiled slightly and reached out to hold her small hand. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan. No one would dare hurt you. They were staring at you because you were the first person Shura-sama cared about all this time."

"Eh? Meanin?" sakura asked puzzled while accepting the helping hand.

Sakura did not fully understand Tsubasa's words, but did not know why, her face flushed red. He suddenly felt very embarrassed and also excited at the same time. Tsubasa who saw the little hanyou reaction could only laugh. Inevitably, looking back at the innocence of little hanyou in front of him, he recalled back to this charming human girl who was also innocent like this. Perhaps, indirectly, Shura saw a little shadow of the human girl that was so precious to her on this little hanyou self. Yes, their smell is also quite similar. The human girl smelled of spring which was always warm and pleasant, while Sakura smelled of cherry blossoms—spring flowers. They are quite similar.

As they entered the garden in the Southern Land Palace. A very loud noise suddenly sounded. Panic filled Sakura's heart, she could feel there were two extremely strong youkai fighting. However, Tsubasa who was clasping her hands remained calm and guided her walk closer to the source of the commotion.

Sakura's eyes immediately widened as she looked at who was fighting. With a body full of wounds, Shura ran while unsheathing a sword at a youkai in front of her. However, the youkai he was fighting off easily withstood his attack. Then, with a grinning smile, Shura's opponent's sword suddenly shook and exuded an extremely powerful youki. Shura tried to hold him back, but he failed. His body immediately crashed backwards into a sakura tree.

"Sister Shura!" sakura shouted in fear. Not caring about his surroundings anymore, he immediately ran towards Shura and hugged her tightly, as if trying to make himself a shield for the youkai.

Sakura's attitude keeps everything there confused, especially Shura. He could clearly see the small body trembling violently in fear. He could also smell her little tears. Sighing, Shura then released the sword in her hand and hugged the small body tightly, trying to calm her down.

Sakura kept her face away from Shura's chest as she felt the embrace and stared at the inuyoukai face in front of her. Her tears flowed more and more as she looked at the blood flowing down from a sword on Shura's cheek. When his hand was sliced by a knife while helping his mother cook, he cried. The magnitude of the wound on his hand back then was simply not comparable to the magnitude of the wound on Shura's cheek right now. That wound must have hurt a lot. Therefore, without wasting any time, he immediately brought his face closer to Shura's face, popped out his tongue and licked it gently.

What Sakura did, really made Shura, Akihiko and Tsubasa shocked. However, the concerned did not realize it. During this time, whenever he was injured, his Father or Brother would definitely lick him, and he learned that their saliva was an excellent remedy for such wounds.

Although surprised, Shura quickly regained her composure. Looking at Sakura's face so close to her, felt her breath and tongue still licking her wounds. Slowly he raised his hand to touch the little hanyou cheek. Sakura immediately stopped and looked at Shura's face.

"I'm fine. This wound is nothing." Said Shura slowly while looking straight at Sakura's golden eyes. Hearing Shura's reply, Sakura immediately raised her hand touching the hand on her cheek, pressing it firmly, burying her cheek on that palm. "Yes.. Yes, Sakura knows.."

Akihiko who saw the interjection between Shura and Sakura was very stunned. This gentle attitude of Shura was not at all similar to the Shura she knew. However, a moment later, a smile adorned his face. This hanyou girl in front of him must be the only one who is making headlines in his palace right now. Hanyou who managed to scatter the ice in Shura's heart.

"Akihiko-sama, do you feel familiar with that little hanyou face?" tsubasa asked suddenly from beside Akihiko. The ruler of the Southern Land was closely observing Sakura's face, and like Tsubasa, that face was no stranger to her. He knew, half the youkai blood that flowed within Sakura's body was inuyoukai like Shura.

"The red kimono that Sakura-chan wore earlier was made from a very step material, Akihiko-sama, that is fire rat fur." Tsubasa continued again with a smile.

Akihiko's eyes immediately widened, he again observed Sakura's staring face, and suddenly, he laughed out loud. "That's it, huh? It's just worth it."

Shura who was not far from Akihiko and Tsubasa could hear the conversation of the two of them clearly. He was actually quite curious as to who Sakura really was. It seemed, the two of them knew who hanyou really was. Only, he decided to look for the answer later, because his main priority now was to stop the tears from the golden eyes in front of him. Slowly, he moved his hand to wipe away the tears, "Don't cry anymore."

Sakura nodded her head. Her small mouth opened to reply to Shura. However, before that happened just suddenly from beside them, an attack in the form of a red-colored air sword shot towards Shura.

"Hijinkes!"

The sudden attack surprised Shura. He immediately dodged the attack while hugging Sakura's waist. However, from the side, suddenly a pair of moving hands pulled Sakura's arms firmly until Shura's embrace came off.

Shura's eyes widened. The moment he landed on the ground, he turned his head around staring at who had attacked him just now, anger instantly filling his heart. A young man of about fourteen years old with silver hair like himself and Sakura, stared furiously at him with a pair of golden eyeballs that also resembled him. Shura knew, the red-rimonoed young man in front of her was hanyou, because, the dog ears above her head had proved it. However, what really made Shura's eyes wide was a pair of hands that tightly hugged Sakura. Anger filled his heart, his golden eyes immediately turned blood red. Whoever was in front of him, he dared to snatch Sakura from him!

With an extremely incredible speed, Shura suddenly moved forward. His long-nailed right hand immediately moved to attack the red kimono hanyou in front of him. Hanyou in front of him was quite surprised by Shura's sudden speed and attack, he tried to dodge while hugging Sakura. However, Shura's hand, which was first in the attacking position, suddenly changed and pulled Sakura's small body. Hanyou who was fighting Shura was very surprised, and not yet ended the shock he felt, Shura's left hand suddenly moved against his chest. An extremely strong Youki suddenly gushed out from the small Inuyoukai palm and threw his opponent into a back.

When the red kimono hanyou got up again, his two eyes immediately widened. In front of him, Shura stood up while tightly hugging Sakura. His blood-red eyes widened, his mouth opened with a grin showing his canine teeth and the blue line on his cheeks darkened. Anger was clearly visible on his face now. However, what made the two eyes were wide was not actually Shura's anger, but Shura's face. "Uncle Sesshoumaru?" call hanyou slowly with stammering.

Shura's blood-red eyes immediately turned back to gold upon hearing Hanyou's words in her face. That Hanyou in front of him knew his father? And not only that, he just called his father, 'Uncle'?

Unanswered by her confusion, Sakura who was in her arms suddenly turned her head to stare at the red kimono. Happiness and tears instantly filled her beautiful face. "Sister Shiro!" he shouted while trying to free himself from Shura's embrace. However, Shura's hand that tightly hugged her body did not want to let go, instead her embrace was getting tighter. Confusion she raised her face looking at Shura who was still staring at her Brother's face with an expression she did not understand, a facial expression full of possessiveness towards her.

Unable to understand what was happening, Sakura turned her face back to look at Shiro who was still staring at Shrura with a look of disbelief. He seemed to have forgotten what had just happened. However, what shocked her the most was that her brother's mouth suddenly opened and said something. "That's impossible.. You, Shura?"

....xoxOx....