The Fragile
Chapter 7 – Underneath the Skin
"Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha's voice rang loudly in my ears. He charged up the steps straight at Sesshoumaru. I was afraid. If I had known this would happen, I would have subdued Inuyasha. They had been coexisting well enough until they started to talk! Inuyasha didn't listen to me at all. Sesshoumaru's skin was drained of its color and he looked like he shouldn't have even been standing! This would not be a fair fight!
"Inuyasha don't!" I screamed as loud as I could, but it fell on deaf ears. Sesshoumaru's Tokijin and Tetsusaiga collided with a force that forced both participants back, but Inuyasha was able to push Sesshoumaru further. Now Inuyasha was also standing on the platform, rather than the steps. There was fierceness in his eyes. Did he know something that I didn't?
"Sesshoumaru, if you think for one minute that I'm going to fall for what ever you're putting me up to, you are sadly mistaken!" I had expected Inuyasha to follow up with a slash of Tetsusaiga, but instead he flung the sword to the side, taking Tokijin's blade to the side as well and he slammed his knee into Sesshoumaru's gut. Sesshoumaru slid back on the tile, but didn't drop to the ground. His face barely even reflected the pain he must have felt from the blow! 'What's going on?' I wondered to myself.
Sesshoumaru lifted Tokijin in front of him, once more. He was persistent. I give him that. The bandages that we had wrapped were already soaked through with blood from his reopened wound. What was he thinking? There was no way he couldn't be delirious!
"Raise that blade to me Sesshoumaru! I'm challenging you!"
'No Inuyasha! Don't challenge him! Something's wrong!' I thought, but refrained from speaking. Inuyasha wouldn't listen to me anyway.
Inuyasha lifted Tetsusaiga high in the air and I knew what he was going to do. He was sniffing out the Wind Scar. There was no way Sesshoumaru would be able to defend against the Wind Scar in his state! And Rin had Tenseiga, so it couldn't protect him! I threw my hands over my mouth and my breathing stopped when he slashed through the air. The blasts that flowed off Tetsusaiga all collided with Sesshoumaru and Tokijin couldn't stand up to the force. Sesshoumaru hit the tile, cracking the very foundation. I couldn't take it any more. I unlatched myself from Rin and began to run toward him.
"Stop Kagome." Inuyasha growled, holding out his arm to stop me.
"Why are you doing this!? You're going to kill him at this rate!"
"No, I wont. Now step back!" He said, pushing me away from him and back toward my place next to Rin. I breathed in shortly when Sesshoumaru picked himself up. 'He shouldn't be standing!' But he was. Tokijin had not left his grip.
"Lord Sesshoumaru!" Rin cried, and I held her to me. If she ran out into their fray she would be hurt.
"You think you're clever…" Inuyasha mumbled. He dashed toward Sesshoumaru who had not yet even recovered from the last attack. All the demon lord could do was raise Tokijin in defense of himself. Inuyasha seemed to take that into account and forced Tetsusaiga down on Tokijin. They struggled against each other. Blade verses blade. Inuyasha pulled his sword back. I was concerned for why he would relent to Sesshoumaru's strength, but he swung again and when Tokijin's blade trembled I knew what he was doing.
He was going to break Tokijin.
"That's it Sesshoumaru. Keep coming at me." Inuyasha jumped back and circled his brother. This seemed too surreal. Inuyasha seemed like a shark surrounding his prey. This was all so wrong. Inuyasha never had the upper hand to start. Why was Sesshoumaru taking this so passively? He lunged at Sesshoumaru again. This time his swing came at full strength. The blade connected with Tokijin and the opposing sword could not take the pressure.
Tokijin cracked.
Sesshoumaru's eyes widened and that look of realization passed over his face before settling back into a mask of indifference. The rest of the broken sword was thrown from his hand and to my surprise Inuyasha dropped Tetsusaiga. Tetsusaiga reverted to its smaller size and Inuyasha went straight at Sesshoumaru with his claws. Blood splattered the tile and Rin's shrieking cries echoed through the land.
Inuyasha's claws dug into Sesshoumaru's already made wound and the demon lord could do nothing but gasp at the sudden attack. Inuyasha's free hand gripped Sesshoumaru's forearm and he ripped his claws free of his brother's abdomen. His hand was covered in the dark blood and his fist was clenched tightly. Sesshoumaru slumped in Inuyasha's grip. He appeared to no longer be able to hold himself up.
"Naraku thinks he's one smart bastard, doesn't he?' Inuyasha let out an indignant chuckle. "Well, he's got another thing coming!" Inuyasha snorted at me and opened his hand to reveal what appeared to be a jewel shard. But wait…wouldn't I have felt the presence of a jewel shard? …Unless it was a fake! "Naraku was already trying to control Sesshoumaru. That 'seed' was a decoy."
"How did you know Inuyasha?" I asked, running toward them. It finally seemed safe to approach.
"I knew it the moment he drew Tokijin, but I suspected it when he started talking. What he said might have been true, but Sesshoumaru would never speak so openly to me, of all people. Naraku doesn't think I know Sesshoumaru well enough."
"Well, he was wrong this time." I nodded, kneeling to come face to face with Sesshoumaru. He was only held in a vertical position because of Inuyasha's hold on his arm. His eyes were blank and I was sure he was unable to respond. "We need to get him help Inuyasha!"
Inuyasha turned to Rin, who was sniffling. "Go find the Imp, Jaken. Get him to find us some help." Rin nodded fiercely and ran into the castle as quickly as her legs seemed to be able to take her.
Inuyasha let go of Sesshoumaru and we moved him flat on the tile. I started stripping off the bandages, but I didn't need to remove them to see that the poison had spread. It looked bad, but at least he source of the poison was gone. If he could fight out the poison he would be okay. 'Sesshoumaru is probably going to have a fit over this.' I thought to myself.
"Damn it…" Inuyasha's voice trailed on the breeze that seemed to pick up, "This means Naraku knows where we are…I wonder how long before he finds us?"
"Hopefully not too soon." I replied, pulling the robes, given to me by Sesshoumaru, from my shoulders to place over the bleeding wound.
"Well, he's lost his tracking item." The half demon snorted. I looked up to watch his close his fist over the fake shard and crush it into powder. "He's going to have to do better than that. Feh, like Sesshoumaru would seriously ever beg me to kill him. He'd rather kill himself, if I know the bastard."
"But if that's the case, Inuyasha, then Naraku's puppetry is much more powerful than before! If he can control the living without a golem…it makes me wonder why he didn't try to simply control all of us?" I looked up at him and he wrinkled his nose in the same consideration. He turned to pick Tetsusaiga up and re sheath it.
"That's a good damn question."
"Perhaps," spoke a voice from an unseen source. "It is because of my lord's demon blood?" Out from the shadows stepped that man from before. The one who bore a similar appearance to Sesshoumaru, save for the single long strand of bluish black hair that I had not noticed before.
Inuyasha growled and lifted Tetsusaiga to point at the demon, "don't sneak up on me like that, damn it! I'm on edge already!"
"Many apologies, Lord Inuyasha." The demon half bowed with a smirk beneath the long strand of hair crowding his face. Inuyasha stepped back at the use of such an honorary term. "I merely wished to express my concern. I saw what happened. My lord needs attention immediately!" His eyes looked back to Inuyasha and the half demon nodded without a thought. He could ask him why he didn't make his presence known sooner, but at a later time. For the moment, his brother was half dead on the front steps of his own castle. Talk about poor luck.
I recalled Sesshoumaru's words, "I do not appreciate luck. Because luck runs out…" Inuyasha slid Tetsusaiga back into place, and I'm sure he was feeling a little relieved that Tokijin was in broken fragments. Tokijin posed a huge threat in Sesshoumaru's hands, but now it was nothing more than pieces of metal scattered on the ground.I watched Inuyasha and the other guy, Koumaijii, lifted the unconscious demon into a vertical position. Each took a side and they walked him into the castle. I hesitantly picked the Tenseiga from the floor after Rin had abandoned it to find Jaken. I ran after them. I was a little concerned whether or not it was a good idea to go into the castle, when there was no assurance of a sound alert system for if Naraku were to come through.
"What was your name again?" Inuyasha's voice echoed in the closed corridor that was leading into a clearly larger courtyard area.
"I am Koumaijii, Lord Inuyasha."
"Hey, would ya stop calling me 'lord'. I'm not Sesshoumaru."
"Very well then," Koumaijii's voice trailed and he could never add on to his statement, for Jaken and Rin appeared down the hall once more.
"I have gathered Lord's Sesshoumaru's attendants!" Jaken called, "They will attend to him in his personal quarters!" The green imp's tone wavered in his concern for his lord.
"Very well, we'll take him there." Koumaijii nodded and turned to Inuyasha for approval. Inuyasha looked at him stupidly, as if he wasn't sure why he was being consulted. He nodded as well and they continued, following Jaken. Something seemed very odd about Koumaijii. He was so painfully loyal, it made me wonder just how many of Sesshoumaru's supporters were as devoted. I already knew Rin and Jaken were.
Speaking of Rin, she trailed behind them to walk next to me. She took my hand, still trembling a little from the growing trail of blood that passed just between us. She hadn't been expecting what had just taken place and neither had I. In fact, I was still shaking a little myself. I kept thinking of how little effort it took for Naraku to get even a slight hold on a powerful individual like Sesshoumaru; powerful enough to repress Goshinki's hatred that had overwhelmed the Tokijin.
We walked into the main corridor of the castle, or at least that side of the castle. There were several demons scattered about, some of them were even in a panic. Two of them immediately took Sesshoumaru from the graph of Inuyasha and Koumaijii. The two stood dumbfounded. Within instants, they had taken Sesshoumaru and were already gone with him. One man stayed behind to assure them he would be taken care of and they would be informed when he was stable. Their quick attention was impressive. No wonder Sesshoumaru was such an influential figure in the demon world. He had more loyalties than anything I'd ever seen!
Inuyasha scowled. I assumed it was because he felt like they were throwing him under the bridge now that Sesshoumaru was back in their hands. I was glad that they hadn't assumed that Inuyasha was the one to put him in that state. I'm sure if Koumaijii hadn't liked Inuyasha it would have been very easy to pin the blame and have every demon in that fortress after Inuyasha's head.
"Now what do we do? Waiting around for permission to see if my brother isn't dead is going to kill me."
"You never cared before, Inuyasha." I smirked with a lighthearted taunt.
"Oh shut up!" He flattened his ears and looked away form me. Whether he liked to admit it or not, he didn't hate his brother as much as he said. He showed signs of that many times. If anything, I think Sesshoumaru was to thank for Inuyasha getting stronger so quickly. Of course, I bet that would eat Sesshoumaru alive to know it was half his own fault that Inuyasha had beaten him so many times.
"I can find places for you to rest yourselves up, if you'd like." Koumaijii offered.
"That would be nice."
"Inuyasha, I don't want to be split up from you while I'm here." I whispered, tugging on his sleeve. "I'm human and I'm not related to Sesshoumaru…so they would have no problem with eating me…"
"I assure you, young lady, we don't eat humans here…well…entirely too often, at any rate." He smiled, but I couldn't help the chilled wave that crawled up my spine. The 'too often' didn't help me feel any better, whatsoever.
"Yeah…that's comforting," I chuckled nervously, clutching tighter to Inuyasha. I hadn't felt afraid when we were on the outside, but now surrounded by so many demons…I had a little more to fear. What with being a human that hadn't been 'guarded' by Sesshoumaru.
"Kagome can stay with Rin!" The cheerful girl squeaked next to me. "Rin would like that very much!" She held fast to my hand and I slowly released the red cloth of Inuyasha's sleeve. If I had Rin with me, I was sure no one would touch me. As it stood, I could only imagine what Sesshoumaru would do to the demon that hurt Rin in any way.
"Okay…" I replied slowly. "I could stay with you Rin."
"Very well then. Lady Rin can take you to where you will be." He nodded. Rin skipped around him, pulling me with her. I felt so weird just leaving Inuyasha's side like that, but I knew I had no reason to worry. I guessed I was just being paranoid after what happened at the castle's entrance.
We turned the corner and Inuyasha was out of sight. I had to shake myself free of this dreadful feeling. In all that had happened in that short period of time, I had still yet to collect the thoughts and put things together. The basics were all I was concrete with. I had still so many questions needing of answers. Like what was Naraku actually planning? If he had all these powers, why didn't he just attack us outright? How did he get that much more of the Jewel? Why had Kagura been following us? And why didn't either Inuyasha or Sesshoumaru make any indication that they had seen her? I knew they had picked up on her scent. Even I could smell the scent of death on the wind that followed her.
"Lady Kagome? What's wrong?" Rin asked, stopping and turning around to look up at me with large innocent eyes. If this is what Sesshoumaru saw everyday, I had to wonder how he hadn't managed to melt into a puddle and hug her constantly. He must really have been made of ice.
"Oh nothing Rin, I'm just thinking. A lot has happened, hasn't it?" I smiled and a thought occurred to me. "Hey Rin, what happened before you and Lord Sesshoumaru found us by the well?"
Rin blinked, "Lord Sesshoumaru, Master Jaken, and I were traveling! Naraku appeared and asked Lord Sesshoumaru to join him against Inuyasha! Lord Sesshoumaru called him a 'bastard' and told him 'no'!" She said with her little fist clenched. "Naraku attacked us with the long branches that came from his arms! Lord Sesshoumaru grabbed me and jumped from the cliff, leaving Jaken behind! That's how my lord's armor broke!"
"So Sesshoumaru was approached by Naraku? Did he say anything else other than that Rin?"
"He said something, but I can't remember. I'll try to think! If I can remember I will tell you right away!"
"That's okay Rin," I laughed, "I was just curious. So," I started to change subjects, "where are you taking me Rin?"
"Oh! I want to show you where my lord lets me stay! Rin has clothing for a grown girl that you could wear!"
"Oh that's sweet of you! I wouldn't mind getting out of these dirty clothes!" I laughed. I was dirty, sun burnt, and splotched with blood.
Rin looked back at me and stopped. She slid a door open and pulled me through the doorway. I was led into a large opening, a bedroom of sorts. There was a large open door that led out to a small garden area littered with flowers and a small spring to the far end. "This is the place Lord Sesshoumaru gave me! He said it would be perfect for me, because it has a garden with flowers! I planted this these in the spring!" She pointed to some very lovely river lotuses. I was not surprised at the variety of flowers. I was sure that Sesshoumaru had the power to get her any exotic item or living thing that she wanted had she asked.
"Wow, they're lovely!"
"Take one! I put them in my hair!" Rin grinned ear to ear and pulled a little flower and lifted it to me. I took it and she only seemed to get happier. I pushed the flower behind my ear and adjusted it a little. I felt a little giddy. I hadn't been used to acting like a girl. I was kind of nice. I turned to find Rin already rooting through something else in a large Chinese looking chest.
"What are you looking for?"
She lifted out several large blankets and set them on the floor, "I found them!" She lifted, from the chest, a kimono. It was a simple kimono, but the designed were beautifully detailed and it looked like it had been treasured. It was obviously a demon's kimono, so it would be relatively convenient should a battle take place. Which reminded me I would have to acquire a bow and quiver of arrows very soon. "These are the kimonos Lord Sesshoumaru told me to hold on to until I can fit them! Master Jaken was supposed to bring these to you when lord Sesshoumaru asked him to bring new clothing for you!"
"These belonged to Sesshoumaru, then?" I asked with an eyebrow raised. These were very clearly women's kimonos. I couldn't even fathom the idea of the great demon lord cross dressing in them. He had a feminine appearance already, these would make him the next most nominated demon bride of the year, had he ever gotten the crazy idea to actually wear them. I almost giggled at the very thought of that.
"He didn't tell me where he got them. But he brought them to me to keep safe! He said they were very important!"
I had to wonder about that. Why would these kimonos be so important? Unless they were worn by someone important to him. Or perhaps, that person who had worn them no longer did. 'Maybe he had a girlfriend.' I thought, holding the soft material in my arms. 'Oh that's ridiculous! Demons don't have girlfriends! Especially not Sesshoumaru!' I couldn't help but want to know whose they were. I would have felt very strange wearing clothes that might have belonged to a past mate of his. That very idea made me feel like Kikyo all over again. When I wore her clothes, I was immediately compared to her and really…he'd never stopped comparing me to her. I grimaced.
"He won't mind if I wear these…will he, Rin?"
"Oh, no, Lady Kagome! He wouldn't mind, I'm sure of it!" She assured, but I still felt a little odd about it. I guess we would have to see. Eventually he would recover and if he was severely angry about it then I could always remove them. "Oh! Lady Kagome! I remember what else Naraku said!" She gasped, catching my attention more strongly than before. "I just remembered! He said it in a low voice but I heard him say; 'You belong to me, dog demon.' I cant' remember the rest…"
"That's okay Rin, thank you for telling me." A patted her shoulders. I smiled, but now I was seriously concerned. This meant that Naraku had another ulterior motive.
To be continued…
Leo: Sorry for the delay, to be honest, I forgot about this story (and a few others) due to other pressing matters. Didn't mean to hold out on you. Many thanks to those who've read so far. I'm going to say it one more time before I continue: this story will not follow the original to a T. As far as this goes. I'm writing it to what I want. And I won't alter my original plan. If you don't like it. You don't like it, and I'm okay with that.
