Demon Intrigue
Written by: Madness
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A/N: I know, I KNOW I went a little further in than I was supposed to, considering I started out writing on how Tasukete was introduced (story called "Watashi wa Hiru Tasukete Konami!") and then all of a sudden I plunged into somewhere in the middle of the series. Well, I wrote this story long before I wrote "Watashi wa Hiru Tasukete Konami!", and I HOPE I get good reviews. Oh, and I would also like some suggestions! ^_~
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Naraku cast his eye upon the orange-haired youkai, Tasukete. Though his human part, Onigumo, was deeply in love with the miko priestess Kikyo, Naraku could not help but feel the same emotion towards the stubborn demon. Quietly he watched her from his safest place, savoring every moment she lived on. Such feelings, he told himself, are that of weak humans - and though he desperately desired to rid himself of these emotions, it would be difficult. Perhaps the only way would be to kill both Kikyo, Onigumo's love, and Tasukete, his own love. He knew he could easily do away with Kikyo, since now his being was formed by that of many youkai, which overpowered Onigumo's soul -- but what about Tasukete? Even the demons within himself found themselves drawn to her existance.
What to do, what to do...
Naraku paused. The woman he was watching had paused as well, as though she had sensed someone's presence. But even if she knew he was watching her, it would do her no good. She would never catch him unless he wanted to be caught. And that would be very soon.
Tasukete felt something staring at her. Or maybe she was just being paranoid, but...she couldn't shake off the nagging feeling.
"What is it...." she thought aloud, and continued to walk. Maybe just another youkai. She sighed and pulled out her sword, finally realizing that she was being followed by an unwanted visitor.
"Is that you...Naraku?"
Upon hearing a soft laugh from behind, her suspicions were confirmed and she spun around to see Naraku no farther than 10 feet in front of her.
"Why are you following me?" Tasukete hissed through clenched teeth. Ever since that terrible experience....the night when he had captured her, tortured her friends with fearful visions - and that was not the worst of it all. That night, she knew he wanted to take advantage of her inner power. She feared her inner power, knowing that if it were to take full control of her body, she would probably not be able to control herself, since she was not very experienced. Still, Naraku wanted that power for himself...and soon, she realized, he was rapidly growing attracted to her.
"I just wanted to see you again." he told her, the dark tone evident in his voice.
"Hmph. One-sided, I guess." she responded bluntly, gripping her sword even more tightly. "I told you that if you keep watching me like this, I'll KILL you!"
Naraku enjoyed talking to Tasukete like this; he knew she was a bit tense everytime he confronted her. What he enjoyed the most was seeing her fume in complete anger and threaten to kill him for just being in her presence...it pleased him greatly knowing that he could arouse such deep emotion in the usually cheery female with just his appearance or his words.
He *loved* it.
"Why shouldn't I follow you like this? Aren't you a 'professional spy-youkai'?"
"I AM. But that means that **I** follow someone suspicious and monitor their activities, not YOU."
"Then why don't you follow me?" he smirked at seeing her clench her fist.
"CUZ I don't have a reason to, and besides!"
"What?"
"You're too afraid to face Inuyasha or Sesshoumaru by yourself, since you always put out decoys and whatnot...and I can't follow you if you don't travel around like Sesshoumaru."
'Sesshoumaru....' Naraku frowned at his name. He knew very well that Tasukete had feelings for Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha's older brother, the lord of the western lands. Naraku hated him just as much as he hated Inuyasha, since they both took the ones he loved - Inuyasha with Kikyo, Sesshoumaru with Tasukete. Though he was successful in breaking up the bond between Inuyasha and Kikyo 50 years ago, Tasukete would be less convincing in switching from love to hatred for Sesshoumaru as Kikyo did for Inuyasha.
"Sesshoumaru....then you must love him very much?" Naraku knew very well that Tasukete was stubborn about it.
She blushed furiously upon hearing the words 'Sesshoumaru' and 'love' in the same sentence. "Feh!" she gripped her sword and dove towards Naraku, raising her sword above her head. "Shi ne, kisama!"
The sword nearly pierced Naraku's clothing, but he quickly vanished from her sight. She tightened her claws around the sword and looked around furiously.
"Chikuso....where are you, Naraku?" she growled, her eyes surveying her surroundings carefully. "Chikuso! Where!?"
Naraku knew it was best to keep out of sight, but he just had to see her face to face like that. It was beautiful, those bright golden eyes that stared back at him filled his soul with excited content. But for now, he would just watch her.
"Or...maybe I should speak to her a bit more...of course, when she's a bit more calm..." he grinned at this.
Swiftly, he raised his hand and put a spell on the branches of a youkai tree.
Tasukete put her sword away, thinking Naraku had left her. "This is getting crazy...maybe I should just hurry up and find Sesshoumaru before Naraku can...." her thought was cut short once the roots of a nearby tree intertwined with her legs and pulled her down so that she fell on her back.
"Naraku, I knew it!!" she yelped, reaching for her sword, but by then she realized the tree's branches had grabbed her arms as well, leaving her helpless. "What the hell...*is* this..!"
The tree, of course, didn't stop engulfing her. It slowly surrounded her form and lifted her from the ground, which then suspended her in midair. Soon, the tree stopped moving, leaving her frozen in midair, unable to struggle or barely even move an inch. She hissed at the branches. "Ridiculous conniving bastard...have you no DECENCY!?"
"The only way, of course, to calm you down." Naraku appeared in front of her casually, crossing his arms to show that he had no intention of fighting her personally. "Now, now...are you willing to come with me and..."
"I already *repeatedly* refused your ever-so-kind offer for that so-called 'infinite' and 'ultimate' power. I already repeatedly refused to go with you at all. Why the hell can't you accept it?" she shook her head, almost pitying him. "Oh Naraku...why can't you accept life as is?"
"Shut up." he growled at her. Sometimes he wished he didn't like her at all, or maybe a part of him didn't. Besides, his Onigumo side loved Kikyo entirely, but Tasukete hates Kikyo with every fiber of her being...so of course Onigumo would hate Tasukete for that. But...Naraku's demon side...the side that dominated his form....loved Tasukete and hated Kikyo. It seemed like an everlasting dispute. "Perhaps I'm not asking you politely anymore."
"Oh? Fine! But I'll still refuse you."
"Very well." he glanced at the tree, which brought Tasukete a little closer to the ground, a little closer to Naraku. "Then I hope you don't mind that I just borrow you for a while..."
"Aw, hell no. No is no, unless you come from a place where everything is totally opposite - therefore, I should not say anything else to you. You hanyou."
Naraku glared at her evenly for an uncomfortable amount of time. 'This woman...I can't help but hate her and love her this much. I can't kill her as easily as I would be able to kill Kikyo....but she could pose as a weakness of mine. I can't eliminate her...but I know someone who *can*...' he smirked at Tasukete, who merely blinked in confusion.
"Nani...?" she asked uncertainly, and Naraku placed his hand on her forehead.
"Shh." his eyes glowed an eerie red shade as the white miasma thickened around their form. Tasukete yelped as the tree youkai's branches tightening around her with a circulation-cutting grip, and Naraku almost laughed at her pain.
Within moments, the branches completely covered her body from the neck down, almost as if they were absorbing her very being. To Tasukete, the world seemed to spin.
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A/N: Just one thing – suggestions please!!!