Falling Rain

Chapter 9


Small taps, a quick succession of noise, reigned over the senses of those occupying the halls in the armory. Frantic breaths filled with confusion and determination followed in the wake of the strange noise.

"Where is he?!"

The oddity of the sounds, of the question that fell quietly from distracted lips was not so odd any longer.

Time and time again, the young priestess ran through the halls of the holds in the citadel in search for one that would not be found. For months now, whenever the Lord was out, she would scour the grounds in a frenzied search for him, though the General knew well that she could tell his aura was not within the city. Over and over, her calls would seize the attentions of all that heard her, pity and understanding colorful in their eyes for her.

He would not come even if called, not for her.

The young priestess radiated a powerful aura, distress and confusion coloring it ugly and dark. She had grown much over the months since her arrival at the citadel, broken and weak, a human through and through.

Their Lord and master had taken an interest in her plight, as he did with most in his loyal entourage. Each member that their Lord held closest to him was either enemy or project; he found them, saved them, salvaged what was left of them, gave them purpose, and built them into the position that best suited them.

The General held reservations with this one though; hers was to be the first adult human quandary that their Lord undertook and he could not yet determine if that were to be good or bad, the consequences still unknown.

Kaikimaru looked away again, knowing where she was going, knowing that she would not stop to ask for assistance, knowing that she would not find her end today. Their Lord was on patrol again, a nuisance rankling against the wards of the citadel taking him from her side once more. Why he kept the nature of his leave from her was unknown to the General, but he did not question his Lord.

It simply was not his business.

*FR*

Kagome stood on the slope of a bridge that connected the inner city to the housing and market district within the citadel. Soft, silken slippers hung loose from her hand at her side, the feel of them dragging her mind into a world of luxury and privilege. The stone beneath her bare feet was hard, cool to the touch, a mark of sensation with which to anchor her emotions and reality to one veritable point.

This was not the first time that Sesshoumaru had left the city without informing her; in fact, he did so often. She felt it though, every time he would leave, and her mind would run circles around itself trying to find him, her instincts screaming at her to be near him, to touch him, to know that his existence, his reality, was within her grasp.

A huff of air left her lips, irritation warring against reason deep within her thoughts, a swirl of dissension cascading through her. He did not have to tell her where he was going. He owed her nothing and she owed him everything. Her instincts were being ridiculous; she could not demand of him his time, his presence, his anything.

And yet she stood at the river crossing into the inner city, a debate on her lips, a thought in her mind, to search for him in even the most unlikely of places. Her need to see him, to feel him, was that great.

She tipped her head back and closed her eyes, the heat of the noon day sun warming her skin in the cool autumn winds. Winter was close, too close, and her mission had not yet started. Nerves, frayed and tender from misuse and fear, shook beneath her skin, made her crawl inside herself with anticipation, with burning determination.

Inuyasha was out there still, havoc treading deep wounds in his wake; she knew that he had caused damage to things, to people, in ways that she could never hope to mend. These things would be her regrets, her answering reflection in the request of truth for his blasphemy. She had set the beast free and hidden away in the safety of the west while the world died around her.

Terror, anger, disgrace, illness…all these things and more gripped at her, turned within her like the tides of the turbulent seas. Guilt was a terrible and loud thing.

"Kagome!"

She turned around, her eyes searching for the voice of the one that made her safe, made her comfortable, gave her peace. There was something about the woman that held her favor so well that Kagome just could not get enough of, addiction feeding her, making her weak with want and strong with conviction.

"I came to tell you that young Rin has requested your presence."

Kagome's ears perked up at the sound of the girl's name, knowing that her time within the city had been appropriated away and her visits to the young girl were made scarce because of it. Still more captivating was the need the girl had for her to be near as often as possible. Kagome was the only human within the city besides little Rin; as such, the girl had practically flocked to her and melded like a second skin to her hip. It was endearing really.

"Take me to her please"

Kagome followed behind Takara, watching the way her body floated over the changing terrain, melding with it like water over a bed of rocks. She felt clumsy and awkward in comparison, wondering not for the first time what it was that this female saw in her.

"You're staring again"

A small giggle hidden behind long sleeves chimed around them, soft and amused.

"I'm caught"

Her smile grew at the flush she could see wrapping it's long, rosy fingers over the skin of her lover.

They walked through the city, each caught within the sizzling heat of their forbidden attraction, neither of them noticing any others around them. It would be a lesson they would not soon forget.

*FR*

Sesshoumaru landed in the courtyard before his house, power and irritation emanating from him in dark waves. The muscles under his broken sode-jirushi bunched and relaxed, the threads of his shitagi moving within and around the newest hole in his shoulder, uncomfortable and bothersome.

His eyes slid to the side to find his General walking towards him, an air of urgency washing through his aura, though his steps were slow, unhurried in their trek to reach him with whatever news he felt was urgent enough to bring at such a time. The trouble in his eyes was damning; it spoke of things best not said aloud, things that stirred the witch's heat, the gaze of the courts that mocked and mediated.

"My Lord"

The length of his bow, the depth of it, gave Sesshoumaru reason to believe that the small, innocent looking missive being held out for him was anything but. A nod of acceptance, of understanding and acknowledgment…and words that chilled his blood, heated his ire, smothered inside his ears in quiet whispers.

"My soul for this secret"

Amber eyes darkened with realization, with inhibition, with anger; something happened while he was away and the General knew to keep it secret, but it was not something the General could take care of on his own. Apparently it was enough of a secret that his General had bound himself to its keeping, which did not bode well for any master.

A low growl slipped from his tightened jaw, shook the earth beneath his boots before he leapt away. His balcony suffered his wrath more, the shake of foundation pulling rock and dust from the walls to fall away carelessly, uncaringly.

Armor fell to the ground, torn and broken, useless anymore, clattering with the echoes of his irritation. Clothes lost to the pyre with blood and unmerciful pain burned and tried his sensitive senses.

The missive that bore such harrowing things as to shake his first General sat idly on the low table in front of his fires while he soaked off the damages from his latest escapade. These trips were getting longer, taking more time, more effort, and there was naught that he could do about it…not without her. But she was not ready yet.

He preferred not to think on her too often, already plagued by the honeysuckle scents of her existence, the ruminations that led him to meddlesome conclusions, truths he'd rather leave hidden in the cold, dark places no one touched.

He did not care about her, and yet he had to tell his own thoughts to bother with better things. His own beast raged against the cage he'd finally locked it inside once more, it's tranquility with her presence the key to his victory over the beast.

He did not want to want her the way he so obviously did.

Sesshoumaru walked through his personal chambers to settle in front of the fire and sip his tea with hands dried of the steams of his bathing, a light pair of hakama for easy resting riding low on his waist. It was comfortable, and yet he found no comfort.

The skin over his wounds had long since healed, though he knew that the damage beneath the skin was still being mended, stitched together with centuries-long practice where none could see his flaws, his failures. He reached out and opened the note, the heavy oppression of it fogging his mind with ideas, possibilities, thoughts of intrusion and damaging outcries.

Amber eyes slid across well scripted encoding, lines and curves slashing in dark waves across his vision, damning and truthful. A question, a curiosity posed, a threat underlying the most damning of circumstances; he held his composure well and cast the paper to the fires, the only evidence of its existence his memory and that of the general that swore his soul to keep its secret.

Gratitude, thick and unwanted, rose and fell within him, a tide of unbidden emotion that she brought out in him.

His heart beat irregularly, the drum of it drowning out perceptions. Time and place existed, he moved through them; he knew this and yet he could not acknowledge such things.

This would need addressed, it would have to stop; his hand would execute her only real connection to sanity. He knew this and yet in some ways he wanted it. Her attentions were stolen and he was glad to end such distractions. He was irked with her courtesies being cast aside to another.

And still he would not admit why, would not finish that thought, would not allow himself to fall that far. He hated that he knew it anyhow, the truth that he refused even to think of in the dark of the night. He hated that she made him feel…anything.

Oh how he hated her.

*FR*

Kagome rose from her place on the floor, her night clothes twisted and wrinkled, barely staying on with a single tie. She didn't care for clothing when her lover visited; the heat from her fiery touch and that of the fireplace were more than enough to warm her bower.

But just as every night was met with passion, every day was met with truth, with the cold reality of her position, the aching honesty that seeped through her skin, ate at her soul, and thrummed with her heart. They were forbidden; they could not stay together, not even for a whole night. The few moments they found that they could be together were dangerous, beautiful moments filled with poisonous honesty.

The longer they met together, the more dreadful their futures were. Takara was bound to the laws of demon society; Kagome was also bound by these laws, but not as strictly, not yet, perhaps not even ever. But the truth was still there, still a tormenting shadow in the footsteps of their passion, their 'could have been'.

They could be executed if they were found out.

A rush of cold air washed around her, pulled her closer into herself, made her body sing with keen awareness. Her windows were closed, her fires were lit, her Lord…was finally back!

Quick and concise, her clothing was shed and new day clothes were dawned; faster still, her feet carried her to the place she felt him the most. She stood in front of his doors, nerves, indecision, anticipation, a war of emotion plagued her.

"Enter"

She jumped in surprise, chiding herself for her ridiculousness afterwards before slowly opening his door. These were his personal chambers and while he walked easily into hers, she could not so easily convince herself to do the same.

"Priestess"

"Right, coming"

He seemed agitated, or perhaps annoyed was better; either way she had this strange urge suddenly to run the other way. She stepped inside instead and closed the door quietly behind her back.

Stormy eyes slid from one side to the next, the magnificence of his sitting room casting her into a state of awe. Darkness swirled around her in grays and reds, white accents breaking the rhythm every so often.

She found herself staring at the most prominent of them all, the one that captured her eyes, her thoughts, her dreams. His energy was crackling in discontent, razing her aura and ravaging her senses. He was angry, so angry, and it seemed that it was she that had caused it. Was he mad that she had come here so early this morning?

She ran forward and fell to her knees, her hands fiddling with the ends of her sleeves as her eyes begged him to understand, to have mercy, to be forgiving and look past her humanity this once.

"I'm sorry for bothering you… you were gone so long…"

"You will not see Takara"

"Eh?"

Confusion, thick and rigid, slid across her consciousness.

"Do you understand what happens to her if someone were to even think that she was in your bed?"

Kagome nodded, fear trickling down her senses like cold water, the heat of it causing her to squirm in her impromptu seiza.

"Do you really?"

"Beatings…exhile…death. She's told me about it"

His voice rumbled then, wordless and strange, strong and irritating; though he spoke no words, she understood them anyway.

"She has been told already. Do I need to reassign her?"

Kagome blinked, her eyes searching for his in the dark of his room, wary excitement building beneath the surface of her mind, twitching at the edges of her fingers.

"I thought you would make me give her up"

"Make no mistake, priestess, your days with her are done! It is your choice if she is assigned to another Lady or if you can exhibit a modicum of self-control and keep your hands to yourself."

Kagome took in air, a slow intake of cold, damning oxygen. The truth was laid before her, they had been caught and they were being given a second chance. She wished she could thank whoever had caught them, but to do so would mean admitting their guilt, casting off the generous offer of one to look away and accepting the horrid fate that such things held, the punishments they foreshadowed.

She swallowed then, her mouth dry and her throat thick with the cries of a forbidden lover; who would comfort her now?

"I understand"

"Takara is aware of the situation and will act accordingly. You will not try to tempt her with your feminine wiles. Your hands will stay on your own person. Your desires for her are to be locked away. If you find the need for release, then do so yourself or find a male companion…as is proper!"

Kagome nodded, her embarrassment turning her skin to colors unseen in the dark.

"Get out of my room"

Shame lurched within her gut, heavy and real and loud. She ran from his chambers with tears flowing behind her, too quiet and too quick to notice.

It would be several days before she left her own chambers, but such was necessary to find her center again, to find peace within her own comfort, to bury the truth under molds of skin and ice and anger.

But some time during her self-imposed imprisonment, a visitor came to her and spoke to her of things that were kept deep within the forbidden world she had been captured by.

"We can still see each other. I can't give you up…not yet"

"He'll know. I can't lie to him"

"It's not a lie, Kagome, it's a secret…keep a secret with me"

*FR*

Author's Note: Hey there kiddies; hang with me a little longer for some Kagome / Sesshoumaru time. Inuyasha's going to make an appearance in about 2 chapters as well. Lovely lovely plotting fun.

See you soon! ;)