Summary: The love of a man and a woman knows no boundaries. Be it time or place, the heart will not be swayed. When two souls meet and recognize their other half, nothing can separate the two. So it has been; so it is; and so it will always be.
Inuyasha Original Japanese Version © Takahashi Rumiko Shonen Sunday Sunrise Studios
All Fanfics created by Chiruken (me) were written for the sole purpose of shared entertainment and not intended for publication or sale.
Hidden Layers
By: Chiruken
Chapter 1
"Everything is corroded, broken, dismantled; everything is covered with hardened layers of accumulated insensitivity, deafness, entrenched routine."
-Boris Pasternak-
The large form moved with surprising grace and speed through the forest. Small animals scurried out of its way as the trees quivered, their leaves shivering in the wind formed by the quick passing. The figure emerged from the trees into a wide expanse of grassy openness, the sun reflecting off its silvery coat of silken fur, the wind ruffling it and lifting the strands before they lay flat again only to rise once more in another gust.
Blood red eyes squinted in a rare showing of happiness, tongue losing out the side of its mouth as pure joy engulfed the creature's being.
Sesshoumaru enjoyed these rare moments of blissful freedom. As his responsibilities grew, his time for such frivolous acts had dwindled. It had been over five decades since he'd last indulged in his desire to run free beneath the sky with the wind ruffling his fur.
There were moments when he cursed his heritage and the constraints it placed on him. There had been many times he'd longed to turn his back and simply walk away from the tedium his birth-right offered him. It was in those moments he truly envied his younger half-brother.
Coming to a stop he scented the air and if he'd been in his humanoid form he'd have almost smiled in satisfaction. The air was sweet, untainted by the smells of other youkai or of humans. His sensitive sense of smell was too often bombarded by the malodorous scents of unwashed bodies. It was enough to almost make him gag. Youkai were just as bad as humans if not worse. The musk secreted through their glands was often overpowering enough to make his eyes water. He often wondered if they had a revulsion towards water. Neko youkai he could understand this aversion in, but what of the others? Even humans didn't stink as bad as some of the representatives sent to him by other powerful…and not so powerful…youkai.
Sesshoumaru lowered his large frame to the ground and rolled in the grass, reveling in the feeling of bliss the green blades gave him and the scent now clinging to his fur. Pollen recently settled on the grass floated around him as his vigorous rolling disturbed its resting place accompanied by clouds of dust, tickling his nose. His eyes squinted and he huffed for a moment before giving in to the impossible to resist urge and sneezed, his whole body shaking from the violent expulsion of air as he rolled to his stomach.
Folding his forepaws before him, he lowered his head and gently licked the newly regenerated left paw, ears flicking back and forth, listening for sounds of a possible intrusion into his brief moment of privacy.
Flexing the claws on the paw he was grooming he growled deep in his chest. He was still furious with Inuyasha for causing such a great hurt to his body, one that had taken nearly four years to repair and tremendous amounts of restorative energy. If it would have been a finger or an ear, an eye even, it would have taken a few months to repair the damage. An entire arm had been taken every ounce of concentration and power he possessed. He snorted, sending a cloud of dust up from the ground and blinked his eyes rapidly as the annoying tickle began again. After another fierce sneeze he grunted and sighed. As much as he'd like to give his younger half-brother an equally debilitating blow, he would refrain. As a hanyou, his regenerative abilities were greatly reduced in comparison to a full-blooded youkai. As much as Inuyasha deserved what he got, he wouldn't be the one responsible for causing his brother such a grievous injury that would leave him disabled in the world they lived in. It would be too cruel of a fate to leave him alive, but lame.
He sighed again and closed his eyes, basking in the warmth of the sun. He wanted nothing more than to forget the duties awaiting him. There were times when he truly wished he were some lowly youkai with nothing better to do than terrorize the humans in their small villages. Of course, he never did understand why they even bothered. Though humans were obviously beneath him, he never went out of his way to kill them needlessly. If they were foolish enough to cross his path without showing the proper respect his status as Lord of the Western Lands demanded, he wouldn't ignore the insult.
The hour was steadily growing late, he noticed. He would have to return to his family's ancient stronghold. Jaken would be ready for relief from Rin's exuberant antics soon. His young charge had more energy than his retainer could handle most of the time. She was in constant need of supervision lest that same exuberance lead her into dangerous ground. Living as she was with him, a full-blooded youkai, she was no longer welcome amongst her own kind. Humans, he'd discovered, were fickle creatures. However, it was her humanity that created the threat with the other youkai. Their fear kept them at bay, which was why he never left Rin unguarded for long. His presence kept the other youkai in line and the human pup safe.
Not for the first time he wondered if he'd blundered in taking Rin as his ward. If she were among her own kind the other youkai would be disinterested in her. As she was now, she was a target for every youkai with a vendetta against him or his family. As much as he derived pleasure from her presence, he felt it would be best if she were raised not by youkai but by humans. The only problem was that, as much as he hated to admit it, he was attached to the pup. If he gave over custody of her wellbeing to humans, there was no possible way of seeing her again, a prospect that left him feeling cold inside. The thought of being permanently separated from his Rin-pup was almost painful to him. He was torn between his need to protect her and his desire to keep her near. If only there were humans who felt no fear or hatred towards his kind. It would allow him to appease both his needs and his desires. But were there such humans who existed? Humans worthy of the raising of his Rin-pup?
A sudden image of his half-brother entered his mind…along with the humans he traveled with. He stood and shook the grass from his body. Those humans were different. They traveled with his brother, a hanyou, and a kitsune youkai kit. The taijiya had a neko youkai with her. He sat on his haunches and stared thoughtfully into the distance. The miko, though untrained, could still produce powerful purifying arrows. The hoshi, however, was a lecher. He didn't want Rin exposed to such behaviour. However, from his observation, the taijiya and the miko kept him in line and curbed his lecherous ways remarkably well. These were humans worthy of raising Rin. Unfortunately, they were also in a similar predicament as he was. They were forced into battle often during their search for the remaining shards of the Shikon no Tama. And though that made them unsuitable for guardianship for the young human pup, they may know of other humans with similar views towards his kind that would take Rin in and still allow him to see her. As much as he disliked asking Inuyasha for anything, he would make the exception where Rin was concerned. Having decided, he stood and turned in the direction of his home. He still had some time left to himself before he was expected back and he intended to enjoy more of the freedom he was denied so often. He would search for Inuyasha and his human companions two sunrises from this day.