Chapter 7
Refraction
"Hanyou"
Inuyasha came to attention at the sound of Shinokiri's voice. "Return to your mother. It is not safe here."
The pup stumbled away from her through the field until his footing became sure and turned into a gait. He couldn't exactly leave though he knew why she wanted him to leave. It was his brother, a complete gap in his knowledge of himself a part of a series of other gaps…all debilitating. Inuyasha found himself up a tree, as far as he could muster, clinging onto a branch hoping for a prospect of activity.
From the cover of darkness stepped Sesshomaru, all that was glimmering and impressive.
"You would truly show them so much attention? Those responsible for my father's downfall."
Sesshomaru's eyes flickered in the direction of the pup precariously balanced on a branch. He fixed his sight on him, willing the half-breed to know he knew he was there. Distracted by fear, Inuyasha slipped and luckily was able to dig his claws into the bark, sliding back into a steadier position. He barely was able to muffle a cry of distress but bit down on his lip goading bravery from within himself.
Shinkokiri tittered, "You should have been his demise had you seen it fit at the time."
"Do you dare ridicule this Sesshomaru?"
A heft crept through the atmosphere. "It has been years now Shinokiri. Inu no Taisho's body cannot be found. You know where it is…"
Shinokiri looked as if pondering to herself, squinting to the sky. "I may know something, but I'm limited in what I can tell you. Inu no Taisho would not have wanted it"
"You are mine. I take precedence. Tell me the location of my father's grave"
Sesshomaru tried fervently to not let his anger be shown, he would not let her know his desperation.
"Seeing, but never seen; protected, yet never known to its protector." Shinokiri let out the ghost of a laugh. "That is what your father told me to tell you."
Shinokiri reached above her high ponytail to an ornament in her long grey hair. Acting as an enchanted scabbard sheathing an awesomely gargantuan naginata which had been pulled out just in time to block Sesshomaru's poison whip.
He charged at her with a barrage of lethal light but her great weapon kept him at a distance.
"I have no time for this my lord. The sooner I meet my obligations the sooner I am exclusively useful to you."
"You were never such a thing as useful"
Shinokiri took in a mammoth breath and from out her nostrils poured a cascade of mist obscuring the young lord's vision as to leave his final thrust of his whip empty and his mate departed.
Once she was directly below Inuyasha, she gave a swift kick to the tree and watched as he plummeted down with a satisfying bounce off the ground at the end, right into her clutches. Inuyasha hollered, but mercilessly Shinokiri held him to her face by his sensitive furry ears.
"Never defy me again."
Inuyasha sucked air through his fangs and let frustration vibrate from his throat.
"Does she have to bang at it like that?!"
Rin's face drooped in distress, "But Aiko-sensei said I have to practice!"
"Never mind that idiot. He's just upset because he doesn't know how to do anything besides be stupid."
Shippou jeered irreverently at Inuyasha while hiding behind Kagome. He had returned in an interim of his training.
"Its fine Rin, keep playing, you're getting much better. He's just being a grumpy old mutt"
Kagome smiled at Rin before her eyes narrowed at her husband in warning. She masked her threat with bristling sweetness, "Why don't you go outside and keep Kiri-chan company…" Her voice became low and staccato'd, "because the next outburst you have will be one you'll regret."
Shinokiri caught the breeze in as she inhaled, and felt as if she'd be spirited away on the wind. She wasn't herself her, not here. Feeble and dependent. Soft. She eased into this role but felt as though the trueness of her being was dying. She had not seen Sesshomaru for over a month. She had been here for over a month, and still could only imagine to recover enough as to be able to sit on a bench unassisted.
"Shinokiri-san"
She looked up at the hanyou clad in red and gave a gentle nod. He cotched on the bnech beside her. They sat with each other, looking out, but something wriggled around in the silence.
Shippou stuck his head out of the doorway to point and laugh at Inuyasha.
"You're such a loser…sitting in time out," he stuck out his tongue and chortled.
Shinokiri shot a fertile glare at the young fox demon, "Remove yourself and stop being a nuisance." Shippou's body seemed to scatter in order to get away from her. He was not willing to test her patience like he did Inuyasha's. There was no history of sincere comradery there for such allowances. He returned to Kagome's side pouting.
The hanyou swallowed a lump in his throat and let out a question that had been digging at him.
"Hey, how did you get away with keeping dad's grave from Sesshomaru?"
"He knew he'd have to kill me if he pressed the issue."
Inuyasha arched a brow.
"It's gauche to break one's own toys, I suppose. He seems to have gotten over it."
"And me? You never told me."
"Don't be simple…that would be counter-intuitive"
Izayoi was soaked through with sweat. She was crouched with her newborn in a cavern. It was still too soon, too fresh to return to her family. Trying to soothe him during his feeding, rocking back and forth in a jerky excitable fashion, still, days later; paranoid from running in a night lit by fire. Her beloved's final words to her still echoed around her—inside of her.
Izayoi...you must live. Live a long life. Live long and well, with Inuyasha.
"Izayoi-hime"
The sound cut through like a knife. She was startled and shaking looking up to her relief at the familiar personage of Shinokiri.
"I know you…I've seen you before."
"Do not be afraid onna. I am here on behalf of Inu no Taisho's dying wish."
"Oh"
"What is its name?"
"Inu no Taisho named him Inuyasha"
Shinokiri gave a sharp nodded, "Stay still." With her command, she followed by bending over and taking firm hold of the trembling woman with one hand. Izayoi shrieked in helpless terror.
"Be quiet. I will not harm either of you.'
Shinokiri took her thumb and index finger, carefully using her claws to pry open one of the newborn's eye, quickly letting go of Izayoi, she pulled the black pearl from the sleeve of the kimono of her occupied hand and dropped it in the boy's eye.
"What have you done to him?! What did you do to my child?!"
"Everything will be fine. Go back to those you belong to…for his sake."
She sauntered off slowly, and yet in an instant, the demoness was gone.
"Sesshomaru was going to kill me over that damn thing. He'd kill me over anything, really."
"He likes to give off that impression, but he wouldn't, at least, I doubt he'd actually ever do it"
Inuyasha wrinkled his nose in disgust at Shinokiri, "You really don't give a shit about what happened to me after you left, don't you?"
"Stop your nonsense."
She had learnt in her years alive, albeit rather slowly, that what she could not bring herself to accomplish in manner towards someone else, she could usually remedy with touch. It was less of a hassle than all of the words others seemed to need. She reached out for Inuyasha's shoulder, stroking it gently.
Contrary to the notions and protestations of many, demons were very much capable of tender feelings. However, they lived in a way as to make those feelings far more likely to compromise them. As such, the stubbornly denied themselves any indulgence in them, as best as they could. Inu no Taisho had a great respect for compassion, though, and from him, she had learnt to at least show it in whatever small form she could.
Inuyasha's shoulders relaxed at her touch and much to her bemusement his head dropped to lean on her shoulder. It was mutually uncomfortable, but still mutually appreciated. An uneasy symbiosis. Neither felt that this was their forte, but it was the only way either of them could come to any sort of understanding with anyone. They'd both be perpetually uncomfortable in this way, in all of their interactions with the ones they cared for.
"The animosity between you two seems to have blown over."
It was more of a question than it sounded.
"I guess."
"Then all that was before ceases to matter now."
"Is it like that with you guys?"
Shinokiri's neck bent back with the weight of her head as if she'd prefer it to just fall right off.
"We're fine."
"Heh. Hardly. You two are fucked."
In the background, Kaede's quiet breathing could be heard. The dilapidation of old age showed in this respect, as she could not hide the rattling of weary flesh as air passed into her lungs. Kagome hummed over it as the older priestess observed her work.
What it must've been like to oversee one's dead sister's reincarnation.
Yes, Inuyasha had loved them both. Love.
Shinokiri struggled with the concept. There was a holiness to his fixation. To love one soul consistently from life to life. Was that the model of love? It seemed oppressive.
Rin seemed to habitually play noted sharp of what they were meant to be…never flat. Rin Perhaps, Rin would keep appearing, from vessel to vessel, the same soul capturing the attentions of the demon lord again and again. Did he love her like Inuyasha loved Kiyou and then Kagome…or was it more like Kagome's affinity for the young fox? Giving love to a foundling as if it were her own.
There was blood in the snow. It reflected the light metallically. Sesshomaru dully looked into the droplets in mass ahead of him, trailing to perhaps the stupidest situation he had ever encountered. He hadn't moved since his father left hours ago, but he knew it was all over.
"You followed him all the way out here?"
Shinokiri's voice sat on his head.
"As did you."
They were both hurt and disappointed by Inu no Taisho's choice, on this, they could agree. They'd never say it, but they knew each other well enough to know that that was the case.
"He was going to die regardless…obviously, so would you really have been as dishonorable as to kill him and claim that you had surpassed him in power?"
"I didn't."
"You were thinking about it."
"Hn."
"I can see how it would be tempting, but if you made that claim then really one could argue that Ryukotsusei has all right to usurp these lands…should he ever come to."
Shinokiri's pride certainly was accompanied by a fall. Sesshomaru grabbed her by her hair, punishing her hubris in thinking she could get away with such a comment. He tugged roughly at her hair, wrapping it tightly around his wrist. The demoness did not shrink, though, "Lord Ryukotsusei of the Western Lands," her voice sang.
Sesshomaru pulled her head back eliciting a tortured moan from his mate's mouth. She gritted her teeth in defiance. He was impotent in this way. They both knew he'd do nothing. Mostly because he needed there to be a perception that he was more in control of his emotions than he actually was. Killing kin or allies in anger, he knew, would seem to be the brash and untrustworthy actions of a volatile young upstart. A barbarous self-important pretender that didn't deserve his position in life. Even if there was some truth in that assessment he would actively work against it. How others saw him meant more to him than everything, in a very real sense. The wrong image could mean his death, his father's legacy gone—his chance at power forever interrupted.
Shinokiri did not struggle, she challenged him directly, straining her gaze to catch his in that awkward position. In a deadlock, they stood trying to menace each other with dueling growls to no avail. The demon lord searched his mind as to how to proceed. This was all a distraction from the real weight of their reality anyway. They were procrastinating on the uncertainty of their futures, especially his, the new Lord of the Western Lands.
"Lord Sesshomaru"
Shinokiri struggled to get the words out, whimpering. There was the threat that he would end up snapping her neck in this moment, even if she believed it would be unintentional.
He repeated the words in his head. Lord Sesshomaru. That was who he was now. He could collapse in the immensity of it. Yet, to hear it spread a warmth throughout his entire body. A distraction…yes, they both needed a distraction. He relaxed his grip on her head, bringing her face to his, commandeering her mouth with his own, never fully releasing her hair from his grasp. Her eyes closed as an invitation to continue as she surrendered to him.
He would take her there as a consecration…a coronation. They both gasped for air, panting before rushing to continue. His hands moved across her waist and back, eventually beginning to work on loosening her obi. Her back arched in such a way as to require a firm grip on the spiked shoulder pieces of his armor, cutting her hands, but she did not care to notice. Stumbling backwards in tandem , they made the silent consensus to rip at each other's clothes, not bothering with any wasteful actions.
This was a time so bursting with confliction, so daunting with impending repercussions that the preciousness of this moment could not be squandered. Growling with passion, they could not control themselves and unwittingly sprung into their true forms. Sesshomaru would mount her thus. There would be time to worry about it later.
