Hi all! I know it has been an EXTREMELY long time since I updated. But I'm back and I hope to stick around. For all who are wondering, Drago : A Rare Bond will be undergoing some major overhaul and restructuring before I post further chapters. I am also thinking of expanding the one-shot, My Lord, My Servant. As mentioned, it was something that was meant to be a one-shot, hence the time sequence was a little abrupt. So I'm hoping to go through and fix the glitches in the stories one by one. Bear with me and please do review and I will try to upload more frequently.
So! For my first story in ages, it's still a work in progress, but I hope you guys will be supportive and review!
Disclaimer: All the Inuyasha characters do not belong to me, they are the exclusive property of their creator. However, I do own the original ideas and characters invented.
Chapter One - Shin Kaihou
"Chiriko! Chiriko! Let her go!"
In the centre of the room, bound by invisible chains, a slight figure hung. Her radiance, a pure white against the stark darkness of the room highlighted the shadow of bruises and cuts on her swollen face.
But in the depths of her hazel eyes, fire burned. It was the fire that kept her from being truly harmed and from being broken by the cruel torture she had to endure.
She had been enjoying a quiet dinner with her husband when Shadows had swarmed her home. She had tried everything in her power to protect the both of them; revealing her true nature to Matsushiro. But ultimately, she had been worn down by the onslaught and succumbed to exhaustion.
When she finally came to, she found herself in a dark and damp cell, suspended from the ceiling by unseen bonds. They had come to question her and when all they received was silence, they had thought they would extract he information from her with torture.
They had used her as a punching bag, ripped into her soft flesh with whips and knives. But still, they got no answer. Her power buffered her from true death and kept healing her broken bones and wounds. But now, even that was nearly non-existent as her strength was severely depleted. But she would not break.
Now, as a last resort, they had brought Matsushiro in. Seeing the horror in his eyes, she knew the damage was bad. But it would have been a lot worse if they had brought him in a day earlier when they had used knives to carve into patches of her skin. Her power had healed most of the damage, but she was still badly disfigured.
When she heard him scream for her release, she knew in her heart that he still loved her despite now knowing what she was and that gave her peace.
"What do you want from us? Why did you do that to Chiriko?" Matsushiro sobbed, falling to his knees even as his captor held a firm grip on his bound arms.
"Chiriko..." The voice that called her name made her skin crawl and forced her to drag her gaze from Matsushiro to face it once again.
"You will never get what you want from me," she ground out, glaring in defiance.
"Now, Chiriko, don't be hasty... You wouldn't want anything to Matsushiro, would you? He doesn't have your power... Nor is he aware of the true horrors that we are capable of. Would you really want him to suffer the same treatment we have been giving you?"
"You leave him alone! He has nothing to do with this!" Chiriko glanced in horror at Matsushiro, afraid for his welfare.
"You made him a part of this when you refused to speak. Now, tell me what I need to know or he will bear the wrath instead!"
"Chiriko... What is he talking about? What does he want to know?" Matsushiro asked, his worried glance meeting Chiriko's and seeing the emptiness that was never there before.
"Nothing, Matsushiro... He needs to know nothing," Chiriko whispered, closing her eyes. She knew there was nothing more she could do. She only had a little power left and there was only one last thing she could do to ensure that Matsushiro got out alive.
"Chiriko... Please, talk to me... What are you thinking?! Don't tell them anything! I don't care what happens to me!" Matsushiro begged; he had seen the resignation in her beautiful hazel eyes.
He could not bear to look anywhere else, not with the damage they had inflicted on her. He never knew that she had power... They had told him things about her, seeking to poison his mind and his love for her. But they were wrong. Chiriko would never betray anyone and in front of him now was proof of her unwavering loyalty to whatever she was protecting.
"Matsushiro... I'm sorry. I would have been glad to grow old with you but now, it looks like it won't happen..." Chiriko whispered, tears pooling in her eyes for the first time since she had been captured.
"What are you doing?" Matsushiro demanded, hysterical as the glow around Chiriko's body intensified.
"NO! Stop her! She is the one I've been looking for! She is the First Seal!"
With a blast of power, Chiriko immobilised everything in the room and intoned with a melodious voice that belied her current condition.
"I am Chiriko, fifth level Honoko, seventh daughter of the seventh daughter. In me, resides the power of my six sisters, all who gave their life so that I could be born to be the Seventh. As Seventh, I am the First Seal of Akuma no Kagami. I offer my life and those of my sisters to relinquish the responsibility of First Seal to another Seventh in return for our safety. SHIN KAIHOU!"
A blinding white flash engulfed the room and when it cleared, a sobbing Matsushiro clutched Chiriko's unresponsive body on the snowy grounds in front of their home; an enraged "no" echoed into the night, brought along by Chiriko's teleportation.
As Matsushiro wept, a small bundle landed beside him. For a moment, all was silent. Then the bundle hiccupped and loud wails erupted, startling Matsushiro out of his grief.
Gently, he laid Chirko's lifeless body onto the snowy ground before turning to the small bundle beside him. Removing the swaddling, he revealed a baby.
Matsushiro stared in surprise, wondering where the baby had come from, when he saw Chiriko's outline, leaning over the baby in his arms.
"Chiriko... Where..."
"She is ours. Growing inside me all this time... I was going to tell you tonight," Chiriko whispered, tears rolling down her face as she clutched her abdomen as Matsushiro's eyes widened in horror.
"But how?"
"She is the seventh of the seventh. She has her own power. Take care of her, Anata... She is a special child. Naraku must never know she exists or that she is the seventh daughter. Bring her to my Sisters in Edo, they will look for you and explain everything. They know what has happened tonight..." Chiriko said, her voice distant as she looked up at the sky, the bright stars twinkling vibrantly, as if unaware of the horrors that had occurred.
"Chiriko..." Matsushiro whispered, his voice trembling as fresh tears coursed down his face as he looked up at the fading visage of his love.
"I love you, Matsushiro... And I would love to have grown old with you. I will wait for you in the afterlife... Tell our daughter that I love her and I would have wanted to be there to see her grow up," Chiriko said as she pressed a kiss to his lips.
Feeling the phantom brush of lips as Chiriko vanished, Matsushiro began sobbing anew, clutching his newborn daughter to his chest as Chiriko's last words hung in the air.
"Name her, Kikyo..."