Between Heaven and Earth
Disclaimer: Inuyasha isn't mine. But he doesn't really appear in this chapter or even this fanfic much besides in omakes. But it's also the name of the series so by saying 'I don't own Inuyasha' I'm implying that I don't own any other character from the series. Thus covering my rear.
So close to the end. It's so emotionally draining writing this stuff at times. I hope you enjoy.
~*~*~*~ "I can't stand it!" A voice echoed through the forest, startling various flocks of birds out of their nests.
"Can't stand what?" Ginta and Hakkaku tilted their head in unison as they replied to their leader.
Kouga was beyond frazzled. He had barely slept the previous night. His insides felt twisted with over-thinking. There was already a worn path around the campsite from his pacing. Kouga ran his hand through his bangs. He needed an answer.
"Ginta. Hakkaku. I need you to go to Kagura's camp."
"WHAT!" Hakkaku yelled as he and Ginta clung to each other.
"Heck no! She'll slice us up and grind our bones to make her dumplings!" Ginta complained.
"You might be brave enough to challenge her every day but even you don't win. How can you send us against her?" Hakkaku insisted.
"Because I need to talk to her! Don't be scaredy cats! She won't hurt you. At least, probably not." Kouga continued to pace back and forth, frustrated. "I would get her but Sesshoumaru might be there and though I'm not scared of him, you know how awkward that would be. Then again she isn't his kin yet that I know..."
"SESSHOUMARU!" they squealed in unison
"You mean Inuyasha's big, scary brother?"
"The one that will kill you as soon as look at you?"
"You don't think I can take him on?" Kouga growled at his underlings.
"No, oh no! Of course you can take him on," his henchmen tried to reassure the wolf lord that they didn't doubt his abilities against anyone. Kouga's ego was one that could stand no challenge but the two beta males loved their alpha male enough that they didn't want him shredded into itsy bitsy pieces.
Hesitantly, the two wolf youkai left, leaving Kouga to pace the hour away. Not that he noticed the passage of time as the sun climbed in the sky. He was too obsessed with the answer she just had to give him.
Maybe she realized that her feelings mirrored his own? Or maybe he had over- stepped the line just a bit? Is so, then how much? Would it change with time? Or maybe she was disgusted with him?
"Or maybe she was just amused and going to hold my feelings over my head forever? That does kinda sound like her," Kouga thought to himself. Just then he froze mid pace as he felt someone's stare stab into the back of his head.
"So you're here already?"
"Stay away," Sesshoumaru stated flatly.
"It's not your business," Kouga said carefully and braced himself but didn't turn around. Kouga knew this wasn't going to fight with Inu-kuro where a majority of it was just masculine posturing and maybe a couple punches thrown in to dissipate some adolescent tension. Then again, Inuyasha was Kouga's rival and occasional ally. Though both of them would hate to admit it, they did share a kind of friendship and camaraderie. Kouga didn't have any illusions that Sesshoumaru considered no one his ally, even his own kin, and usually fought to the death.
"You overstep your bounds, Wolf. These are my lands. I'll be the one to say what's my business or not," Sesshoumaru watched the wolf, waiting for him to dare cross the line. In fact, hoping he would.
Kouga turned around to face Sesshoumaru slowly. Despite his style of straightforward confrontation, Kouga wasn't suicidal. "I don't have a problem with you. This is between me and Kagura. Let me settle this with her and I'll leave your lands."
"Who are you to dictate conditions to me?" Sesshoumaru frowned.
Kouga locked eyes with Sesshoumaru, searching for a way that both could leave this situation without losing face. What he found there in Sesshoumaru's golden eyes was that it would take something to leave this situation without losing his life...
~*~*~
"It's a good day to die," Hakkaku said solemnly as they peeked over the hill at the campsite where a giggling young girl ran away from a short, toad-like youkai that seemed to have a painted moustache and black eye since his nap. Their target laughed at the scene while the squat minion of Sesshoumaru complained that their target was a bad influence on the child.
"Sacrificing ourselves fulfilling our tribal leader's orders is the most honorable thing to do," Ginta resigned himself to his fate. "I'm still scared."
"Me too," The two young youkai paused to steel themselves. But their nerves were broken by heavy breathing behind them. Startled, they scrambled over the hill. Looking back, the pair saw Sesshoumaru's burden beast, Ah-Uh, docilely ambling along. Looking up, they saw that they were at the feet of the demoness that had easily decimated a whole confederation of tribes.
Ginta and Hakkaku cowered before Kagura. The only person that they had met scarier was Sesshoumaru and his threat was represented right behind Kagura, in the form of his two followers. Worse yet, they knew one of them, the young girl, Rin, had a grudge against them for their tribe slaying her.
"They sound just like me," Rin muttered, peeking from behind Kagura's skirt, in reference to their trademark high pitched squeal of 'Save us, Kouga!'
"What do you want?" Kagura asked, though she already knew the answer. Kouga wanted her answer to the big question. He had never really stated a concrete question but the heated yearning of his actions had led Kagura to believe that he wanted to know if she would go with him.
"They want to meet their maker!' Jaken narrowed his eyes, on guard against the vile wolves. Though they were technically canine youkai, they were not fit to be the dust under his Great Sesshoumaru-sama's feet. For Sesshoumaru- sama, Jaken would lay down his life and make sure they didn't finish the job they once started on Rin.
"Kouga wants to see you," Hakkaku blurted out.
"Please don't hurt us!" Ginta yelped, begging on his knees.
"Er, okay," Kagura said awkwardly at the sign of extreme submission.
Kagura momentarily worried her lip in concentration. Everything was so confusing to her, as if the kiss Kouga gave her had rattled her whole world. She didn't know which was more memorable: the warm press of his lips or the look of wounded hope shining in his eyes.
Then there was this morning and the simmering emotion that seemed to hide behind Sesshoumaru's eyes. How would she categorize that? Was it mere fancy that she had caught some type of betrayed anger? If it was, then what did that exactly mean? Then again, the fact that Sesshoumaru was nearly completely unrufflable made even the slightest sour mood of his stark in comparison.
She had once heard that eyes were a window into a person's soul. But her only real long-term experiences were with the empty, mysterious, and haunted eyes of Kanna, Naraku, Kohaku, respectively. How could she tell if that was poetic nonsense or not?
For that matter, was the strangely pleasant feeling of having the wind sucked out of her during Kouga's kiss due to inexperience? Then what about breathless, tingling feelings she had when Sesshoumaru accidentally touched even her shoulder?
"I'm going to go to Kouga," Kagura took a few steps then noticed her two new shadows, namely Ginta and Hakkaku, following. "Alone," She clarified. This was going to be a tense situation and privacy was needed.
"Where are we to go?" Hakkaku asked.
"Stay here," Kagura shrugged as she pulled out her feather.
"But what if Sesshoumaru shows up?" Ginta glanced around frightened, as if just saying the Great Dog Lord's name would summon him.
"Then get on Rin's good side!" Kagura yelled as her feather took off into the sky.
The two wolves looked at each other then looked back at the small child trying to duck behind the even shorter youkai-minion.
Rin hesitantly peeked around Jaken, and was surprised at the looks of extreme terror the two youkai gave her.
~*~*~
Kouga's eyes nervously flicked over the two swords at Sesshoumaru's hip and then at the sword his own hip. Sesshoumaru wasn't one to have a sword for the childish reason of vanity. They had to be youkai-made, finely wrought swords with powers that Sesshoumaru knew how to use and control. Unlike Inuyasha, who was satisfied to brutely swing his birthright around, Sesshoumaru was one that innately demanded perfection from everything around him, including himself.
This was a problem for Kouga since he was a hand to hand fighter. He only had a sword because one of his men commented that it looked good on him. In his fights with Inuyasha, his speed was his only advantage.
As if reading his mind, Sesshoumaru's lip quirked and he cracked the joints in his fingers as if reassuring Kouga that he wouldn't pull his sword. His one clawed hand was more than good enough to take Kouga on.
If you had asked either opponent later, they would have told you that the fight was inevitable. It had been brewing for far longer than the indiscretion of the kiss the previous day. But the moment, as they sized each up, seemed to hang in the air for an eternity. Even if it was inevitable, it is a strange fact that it was the distant crinkling sound of a dry leaf being moved by a common beetle that broke the moment and started the fight.
Kouga charged. Distantly he was amazed at his own speed, which seemed to slow everything around him. He hadn't felt quite like this since the Shikon Shards were taken back. Kouga punched, but only connected with air. For all his speed, it was obvious that Sesshoumaru wasn't in the same league.
Trying to catch up, Kouga threw a left hook and then another right but Sesshoumaru easily dodged. He then rewarded Kouga with a dismissive backhand to the ground. Kouga sat up and wiped a thin trickle of blood from his lip. Not a promising start, but Kouga just wasn't a quitter and leaped back into the fray.
Kouga threw several quick jabs hoping that one would catch Sesshoumaru off guard. Sesshoumaru seemed unfazed as he blocked each successive punch. Kouga gave a spinning high heel kick and felt it connected soundly. His elation died as quickly as it started because he noticed that hit kick had been caught in Sesshoumaru's lone hand.
Sesshoumaru flung Kouga by his ankle through the air. He hit a boulder with a loud crunch. Lying on the ground in pain, Kouga briefly thought the sound came from his back breaking, but looking up he noticed the remains of the stone that he hit.
"Give up, Wolf. Leave." Sesshoumaru said bluntly.
"Not when the territory you are trying to take isn't yours," Kouga growled and charged his opponent. This attack was foiled by Sesshoumaru instantly switching to the offensive and rushing at him. Catching Kouga by the throat, Sesshoumaru hoisted him into the air, and punctuated it with a couple shakes.
Kouga struggled, trying to pry the vice-like grip Sesshoumaru from his throat while his legs kicked helplessly at the air. The panic of having his throat slowly constricted was intensifying as Kouga started to feel the burning sensation of some unknown wetness on Sesshoumaru's hand that dripped blistering trails down his neck.
Kouga's eyes watered as the acrid fumes hit them. His vision began to swim. Distantly, in the back of his head, a thought hit him. The pain slowly intensifying was testament that Sesshoumaru was only barely powering up.
Sesshoumaru's smile widened as he glared. "I hear that you lost a woman to Inuyasha. Did you really think that you would get one from the full-blooded brother?" Sesshoumaru sneered at the struggling wolf. This was a waste of time and effort. He would have been satisfied to see the wolf run off. Fewer explanations were necessary.
"Since when do I give explanations?" Sesshoumaru thought to himself, resolving his internal debate. He had given adequate warning and Kagura would get over the loss of her diversion sooner or later.
Kouga knew he only had one more chance. He grabbed Sesshoumaru's wrist with both hands and swung his feet up to kick him. Since Sesshoumaru's only hand was around Kouga's throat he had no way to block and took the full brunt of it.
Kouga was dropped and quickly scrambled to his feet and jumped back. He wouldn't have believed that he had landed a kick on the austere youkai save a smudge his heels had made, that showed dark against Sesshoumaru's pale face. Sesshoumaru made no move to wipe it off, only narrowed his eyes dangerously.
"Enough of this," Sesshoumaru growled as a whiplike green glow materialized in his hand. If the wolf wanted to be flayed alive, so be it. Sesshoumaru always knew mercy was overrated.
But then the familiar wash of scent and gust of wind denoting the arrival of the muse of the battle alerted the combatants that the fight was officially over.
"What the hell is going on here?" Kagura demanded.
Both Sesshoumaru and Kouga looked at her, guiltily. Each man had their own reason to be ashamed for being caught; Kouga at being beaten and Sesshoumaru for giving a damn.
They both looked back at each other. Sesshoumaru still entertained the thought of ripping the wolf apart piece by piece. But he had to weigh a victory over Kouga with the perceived loss of face in front of Kagura. Sesshoumaru let his will be known, never his emotions. He especially resented letting others know his emotions before coming to terms with them himself.
With a slight frown and a great force of will, Sesshoumaru turned quickly and silently, without a word of explanation, he brushed past Kagura on the way back to their camp.
Kouga sat up hesitantly, gingerly touching his much-abused neck. The sickly blackish green of the chemically burned and bruised skin on his neck was rapidly healing over and returning to its normal hue and texture. The wounds on his ego, though, were still open and raw. Was it his destiny to always lose to dogs?
Kagura stood still trying to absorb the impact. Part of her was extremely flattered. No one had truly cared enough to fight for her before. Part of her was extremely angry at the thought that they thought she was a piece of meat to be fought over. And part of her was unsure of everything.
Sesshoumaru glanced back as he neared the edge of the clearing. "Kagura, I'll be at camp." Sesshoumaru couldn't help but prompt. He noticed with increasing irritation that she was still facing the wolf and hadn't turned away from the obviously lesser of the two opponents. He didn't expect her to be instantly at his side but she should have least started to shun the weakling.
Kouga looked up weakly at the woman before him. From his vantage point, he could see her face clearly. Only resolve shone staunchly across her face.
"Kouga, I have my answer," Kagura stated.
~*~*~
"Stop it! Stop it!" Ginta gasped out, protesting.
Rin just giggled in response and continued to rub his belly, knowing from the huge grin on his face that he was enjoying it. Rin was a very forgiving girl and somehow, up close, the big, bad wolf-youkai didn't seem so scary.
Hakkaku watched his comrade wiggle around the ground like a 12-week-old pup. They were warriors, darnit! "This is so demeaning."
"Wait until she decides to play dress-up," Jaken commented sagely.
"Oo! Dressup!" Rin jumped up with a strange light in her eyes. The three youkai finally knew true fear...
Some time later...
"How many kimonos does Kagura have?" Ginta said in awe looking over the overspilled contents of the bundle.
"Kagura-sama says to always have a couple spares in case they get blasted off you," Rin said matter-of-fact, unconcerned how odd the statement was. "This one," She announced after holding a few to his chest.
"I don't want to wear a red kimono," Ginta complained.
"But Ginta-san, it matches the bow," Rin said pointing out the pride and joy of her makeover success, the red bow tied elaborately around Ginta's head. She had to admit Ginta was turning out the best. She was especially proud of the way the blush highlighted his cheekbones.
"Quiet wolf, and do as you're told," Jaken glared at the boy, trying to look protective and menacing, which was a difficult since Rin had had a lot of trouble painting his non-existent lips. The overly wide drawing of them across his face was a bit much. She had also gone a bit overboard with his eyeshadow. Still Kagura's olive bamboo patterned kimono did bring out the subtle undertones of his complexion, though it was a bit long. (VERY LONG.)
"I hope Kouga appreciates this." Hakkaku muttered and tried to not to be too annoyed at how Rin had swept his Mohawk over one of his eyes. He would have looked SO much better in the red kimono. "Maybe it would have been better for us to get killed by Sesshoumaru."
~*~*~*~ Mwahahaha. Yet another cliffhanger. The worse one yet followed by a pointless scene that could have been an omake itself. You fans must hate me.
So be it. Mwahahahahahahahaha!*continues to evilly laugh*
*Innocently* Oh look! What's this in my hand? A simple floppy disk? Containing what? The final part(s?) and epilogue of "Searching"? *gasp!* Only an inhuman monster would hold this out for more reviews!
Heheh. You know the drill people. Stick em' up and gimmie your reviews or this piece gets it!
You think I'm bluffing? Try me! One of my betas even commented that I could leave it as an ambiguous ending right here. I've got you hooked and I've got the goods.
I guess you guys are going to have to make due with only an Omake Theatre until then.
Anticipation
Sesshoumaru glanced back as he neared the edge of the clearing. "Kagura, I'll be at camp." Sesshoumaru couldn't help but prompt. He noticed with increasing irritation that she was still facing the wolf and hadn't turned away from the obviously lesser of the two opponents. He didn't expect her to be instantly at his side but she should have least started to shun the weakling.
Kouga looked up weakly at the woman before him. From his vantage point, he could see her face clearly. Only resolve shone staunchly across her face.
"Kouga, I have my answer," Kagura stated.
"Will Kagura choose the affections of the rash Kouga? Will she choose the calm companionship of Sesshoumaru? Find out the grand finale on the next installment of 'Searching'!" The booming voice of the narrator called from the heavens.
"What the bloody hell?" A startled Kagura voiced the opinion of herself and the other two youkai who looked up into the sky.
Nearby, the figures of Sango and Kagome burst out of the bushes. "No! You can't end the chapter in a cliffhanger!" they pleaded in unison.
Sesshoumaru, Kagura, Kouga turned to their newly discovered audience. But how could it happen that they notice a whole group of onlookers when all three of them possessed superior youkai senses?
"You left the last couple chapters in cliffhangers. You can't jerk us around like that. We demand closure," The normally demure Sango furiously stated.
"And more sex and full frontal nudity! We demand lemons! " Miroku demanded with equal fervor. A blushing Sango and her ever present boomerang didn't seem to agree.
"Kouga-kun, I know you can do it! I'm rooting for you!" Kagome waved enthusiastically. Kouga turned seventeen shades of red and felt like crawling under a rock. "Your heart will go on!"
"Feh. Stop encouraging the wussy wolf, Kagome. Even if he's a royal jerk and a controlling, possessive asshole, I hate to say it but the fact remains that Sesshoumaru is probably going to win." Inuyasha folded his arms while added his own personal opinion to the ongoing commentary. Sesshoumaru didn't seem to like his sibling's vote of confidence, though, considering the way his jaw clenched. "Poor Kagura, though. She loses either way."
"Kagome," Shippou whined, showing his poor, empty bowl, "Inuyasha ate all my popcorn!"
"Well, that blew the moment," Kagura muttered.
"Will the finale of "Searching" be a let down? Will the Kagura/Sesshoumaru sect win? Or will the Kagura/Kouga sect win?" The omnipotent voice of the narrator continued. "Will Kouga's 'heart go on'? Will Sesshoumaru ever get over himself? Will Kagura-"
"SHUT UP!" Sesshoumaru, Kouga, and Kagura screamed. Then they threw up their hands on the whole fic and all went out for karaoke and ice cream.
Disclaimer: Inuyasha isn't mine. But he doesn't really appear in this chapter or even this fanfic much besides in omakes. But it's also the name of the series so by saying 'I don't own Inuyasha' I'm implying that I don't own any other character from the series. Thus covering my rear.
So close to the end. It's so emotionally draining writing this stuff at times. I hope you enjoy.
~*~*~*~ "I can't stand it!" A voice echoed through the forest, startling various flocks of birds out of their nests.
"Can't stand what?" Ginta and Hakkaku tilted their head in unison as they replied to their leader.
Kouga was beyond frazzled. He had barely slept the previous night. His insides felt twisted with over-thinking. There was already a worn path around the campsite from his pacing. Kouga ran his hand through his bangs. He needed an answer.
"Ginta. Hakkaku. I need you to go to Kagura's camp."
"WHAT!" Hakkaku yelled as he and Ginta clung to each other.
"Heck no! She'll slice us up and grind our bones to make her dumplings!" Ginta complained.
"You might be brave enough to challenge her every day but even you don't win. How can you send us against her?" Hakkaku insisted.
"Because I need to talk to her! Don't be scaredy cats! She won't hurt you. At least, probably not." Kouga continued to pace back and forth, frustrated. "I would get her but Sesshoumaru might be there and though I'm not scared of him, you know how awkward that would be. Then again she isn't his kin yet that I know..."
"SESSHOUMARU!" they squealed in unison
"You mean Inuyasha's big, scary brother?"
"The one that will kill you as soon as look at you?"
"You don't think I can take him on?" Kouga growled at his underlings.
"No, oh no! Of course you can take him on," his henchmen tried to reassure the wolf lord that they didn't doubt his abilities against anyone. Kouga's ego was one that could stand no challenge but the two beta males loved their alpha male enough that they didn't want him shredded into itsy bitsy pieces.
Hesitantly, the two wolf youkai left, leaving Kouga to pace the hour away. Not that he noticed the passage of time as the sun climbed in the sky. He was too obsessed with the answer she just had to give him.
Maybe she realized that her feelings mirrored his own? Or maybe he had over- stepped the line just a bit? Is so, then how much? Would it change with time? Or maybe she was disgusted with him?
"Or maybe she was just amused and going to hold my feelings over my head forever? That does kinda sound like her," Kouga thought to himself. Just then he froze mid pace as he felt someone's stare stab into the back of his head.
"So you're here already?"
"Stay away," Sesshoumaru stated flatly.
"It's not your business," Kouga said carefully and braced himself but didn't turn around. Kouga knew this wasn't going to fight with Inu-kuro where a majority of it was just masculine posturing and maybe a couple punches thrown in to dissipate some adolescent tension. Then again, Inuyasha was Kouga's rival and occasional ally. Though both of them would hate to admit it, they did share a kind of friendship and camaraderie. Kouga didn't have any illusions that Sesshoumaru considered no one his ally, even his own kin, and usually fought to the death.
"You overstep your bounds, Wolf. These are my lands. I'll be the one to say what's my business or not," Sesshoumaru watched the wolf, waiting for him to dare cross the line. In fact, hoping he would.
Kouga turned around to face Sesshoumaru slowly. Despite his style of straightforward confrontation, Kouga wasn't suicidal. "I don't have a problem with you. This is between me and Kagura. Let me settle this with her and I'll leave your lands."
"Who are you to dictate conditions to me?" Sesshoumaru frowned.
Kouga locked eyes with Sesshoumaru, searching for a way that both could leave this situation without losing face. What he found there in Sesshoumaru's golden eyes was that it would take something to leave this situation without losing his life...
~*~*~
"It's a good day to die," Hakkaku said solemnly as they peeked over the hill at the campsite where a giggling young girl ran away from a short, toad-like youkai that seemed to have a painted moustache and black eye since his nap. Their target laughed at the scene while the squat minion of Sesshoumaru complained that their target was a bad influence on the child.
"Sacrificing ourselves fulfilling our tribal leader's orders is the most honorable thing to do," Ginta resigned himself to his fate. "I'm still scared."
"Me too," The two young youkai paused to steel themselves. But their nerves were broken by heavy breathing behind them. Startled, they scrambled over the hill. Looking back, the pair saw Sesshoumaru's burden beast, Ah-Uh, docilely ambling along. Looking up, they saw that they were at the feet of the demoness that had easily decimated a whole confederation of tribes.
Ginta and Hakkaku cowered before Kagura. The only person that they had met scarier was Sesshoumaru and his threat was represented right behind Kagura, in the form of his two followers. Worse yet, they knew one of them, the young girl, Rin, had a grudge against them for their tribe slaying her.
"They sound just like me," Rin muttered, peeking from behind Kagura's skirt, in reference to their trademark high pitched squeal of 'Save us, Kouga!'
"What do you want?" Kagura asked, though she already knew the answer. Kouga wanted her answer to the big question. He had never really stated a concrete question but the heated yearning of his actions had led Kagura to believe that he wanted to know if she would go with him.
"They want to meet their maker!' Jaken narrowed his eyes, on guard against the vile wolves. Though they were technically canine youkai, they were not fit to be the dust under his Great Sesshoumaru-sama's feet. For Sesshoumaru- sama, Jaken would lay down his life and make sure they didn't finish the job they once started on Rin.
"Kouga wants to see you," Hakkaku blurted out.
"Please don't hurt us!" Ginta yelped, begging on his knees.
"Er, okay," Kagura said awkwardly at the sign of extreme submission.
Kagura momentarily worried her lip in concentration. Everything was so confusing to her, as if the kiss Kouga gave her had rattled her whole world. She didn't know which was more memorable: the warm press of his lips or the look of wounded hope shining in his eyes.
Then there was this morning and the simmering emotion that seemed to hide behind Sesshoumaru's eyes. How would she categorize that? Was it mere fancy that she had caught some type of betrayed anger? If it was, then what did that exactly mean? Then again, the fact that Sesshoumaru was nearly completely unrufflable made even the slightest sour mood of his stark in comparison.
She had once heard that eyes were a window into a person's soul. But her only real long-term experiences were with the empty, mysterious, and haunted eyes of Kanna, Naraku, Kohaku, respectively. How could she tell if that was poetic nonsense or not?
For that matter, was the strangely pleasant feeling of having the wind sucked out of her during Kouga's kiss due to inexperience? Then what about breathless, tingling feelings she had when Sesshoumaru accidentally touched even her shoulder?
"I'm going to go to Kouga," Kagura took a few steps then noticed her two new shadows, namely Ginta and Hakkaku, following. "Alone," She clarified. This was going to be a tense situation and privacy was needed.
"Where are we to go?" Hakkaku asked.
"Stay here," Kagura shrugged as she pulled out her feather.
"But what if Sesshoumaru shows up?" Ginta glanced around frightened, as if just saying the Great Dog Lord's name would summon him.
"Then get on Rin's good side!" Kagura yelled as her feather took off into the sky.
The two wolves looked at each other then looked back at the small child trying to duck behind the even shorter youkai-minion.
Rin hesitantly peeked around Jaken, and was surprised at the looks of extreme terror the two youkai gave her.
~*~*~
Kouga's eyes nervously flicked over the two swords at Sesshoumaru's hip and then at the sword his own hip. Sesshoumaru wasn't one to have a sword for the childish reason of vanity. They had to be youkai-made, finely wrought swords with powers that Sesshoumaru knew how to use and control. Unlike Inuyasha, who was satisfied to brutely swing his birthright around, Sesshoumaru was one that innately demanded perfection from everything around him, including himself.
This was a problem for Kouga since he was a hand to hand fighter. He only had a sword because one of his men commented that it looked good on him. In his fights with Inuyasha, his speed was his only advantage.
As if reading his mind, Sesshoumaru's lip quirked and he cracked the joints in his fingers as if reassuring Kouga that he wouldn't pull his sword. His one clawed hand was more than good enough to take Kouga on.
If you had asked either opponent later, they would have told you that the fight was inevitable. It had been brewing for far longer than the indiscretion of the kiss the previous day. But the moment, as they sized each up, seemed to hang in the air for an eternity. Even if it was inevitable, it is a strange fact that it was the distant crinkling sound of a dry leaf being moved by a common beetle that broke the moment and started the fight.
Kouga charged. Distantly he was amazed at his own speed, which seemed to slow everything around him. He hadn't felt quite like this since the Shikon Shards were taken back. Kouga punched, but only connected with air. For all his speed, it was obvious that Sesshoumaru wasn't in the same league.
Trying to catch up, Kouga threw a left hook and then another right but Sesshoumaru easily dodged. He then rewarded Kouga with a dismissive backhand to the ground. Kouga sat up and wiped a thin trickle of blood from his lip. Not a promising start, but Kouga just wasn't a quitter and leaped back into the fray.
Kouga threw several quick jabs hoping that one would catch Sesshoumaru off guard. Sesshoumaru seemed unfazed as he blocked each successive punch. Kouga gave a spinning high heel kick and felt it connected soundly. His elation died as quickly as it started because he noticed that hit kick had been caught in Sesshoumaru's lone hand.
Sesshoumaru flung Kouga by his ankle through the air. He hit a boulder with a loud crunch. Lying on the ground in pain, Kouga briefly thought the sound came from his back breaking, but looking up he noticed the remains of the stone that he hit.
"Give up, Wolf. Leave." Sesshoumaru said bluntly.
"Not when the territory you are trying to take isn't yours," Kouga growled and charged his opponent. This attack was foiled by Sesshoumaru instantly switching to the offensive and rushing at him. Catching Kouga by the throat, Sesshoumaru hoisted him into the air, and punctuated it with a couple shakes.
Kouga struggled, trying to pry the vice-like grip Sesshoumaru from his throat while his legs kicked helplessly at the air. The panic of having his throat slowly constricted was intensifying as Kouga started to feel the burning sensation of some unknown wetness on Sesshoumaru's hand that dripped blistering trails down his neck.
Kouga's eyes watered as the acrid fumes hit them. His vision began to swim. Distantly, in the back of his head, a thought hit him. The pain slowly intensifying was testament that Sesshoumaru was only barely powering up.
Sesshoumaru's smile widened as he glared. "I hear that you lost a woman to Inuyasha. Did you really think that you would get one from the full-blooded brother?" Sesshoumaru sneered at the struggling wolf. This was a waste of time and effort. He would have been satisfied to see the wolf run off. Fewer explanations were necessary.
"Since when do I give explanations?" Sesshoumaru thought to himself, resolving his internal debate. He had given adequate warning and Kagura would get over the loss of her diversion sooner or later.
Kouga knew he only had one more chance. He grabbed Sesshoumaru's wrist with both hands and swung his feet up to kick him. Since Sesshoumaru's only hand was around Kouga's throat he had no way to block and took the full brunt of it.
Kouga was dropped and quickly scrambled to his feet and jumped back. He wouldn't have believed that he had landed a kick on the austere youkai save a smudge his heels had made, that showed dark against Sesshoumaru's pale face. Sesshoumaru made no move to wipe it off, only narrowed his eyes dangerously.
"Enough of this," Sesshoumaru growled as a whiplike green glow materialized in his hand. If the wolf wanted to be flayed alive, so be it. Sesshoumaru always knew mercy was overrated.
But then the familiar wash of scent and gust of wind denoting the arrival of the muse of the battle alerted the combatants that the fight was officially over.
"What the hell is going on here?" Kagura demanded.
Both Sesshoumaru and Kouga looked at her, guiltily. Each man had their own reason to be ashamed for being caught; Kouga at being beaten and Sesshoumaru for giving a damn.
They both looked back at each other. Sesshoumaru still entertained the thought of ripping the wolf apart piece by piece. But he had to weigh a victory over Kouga with the perceived loss of face in front of Kagura. Sesshoumaru let his will be known, never his emotions. He especially resented letting others know his emotions before coming to terms with them himself.
With a slight frown and a great force of will, Sesshoumaru turned quickly and silently, without a word of explanation, he brushed past Kagura on the way back to their camp.
Kouga sat up hesitantly, gingerly touching his much-abused neck. The sickly blackish green of the chemically burned and bruised skin on his neck was rapidly healing over and returning to its normal hue and texture. The wounds on his ego, though, were still open and raw. Was it his destiny to always lose to dogs?
Kagura stood still trying to absorb the impact. Part of her was extremely flattered. No one had truly cared enough to fight for her before. Part of her was extremely angry at the thought that they thought she was a piece of meat to be fought over. And part of her was unsure of everything.
Sesshoumaru glanced back as he neared the edge of the clearing. "Kagura, I'll be at camp." Sesshoumaru couldn't help but prompt. He noticed with increasing irritation that she was still facing the wolf and hadn't turned away from the obviously lesser of the two opponents. He didn't expect her to be instantly at his side but she should have least started to shun the weakling.
Kouga looked up weakly at the woman before him. From his vantage point, he could see her face clearly. Only resolve shone staunchly across her face.
"Kouga, I have my answer," Kagura stated.
~*~*~
"Stop it! Stop it!" Ginta gasped out, protesting.
Rin just giggled in response and continued to rub his belly, knowing from the huge grin on his face that he was enjoying it. Rin was a very forgiving girl and somehow, up close, the big, bad wolf-youkai didn't seem so scary.
Hakkaku watched his comrade wiggle around the ground like a 12-week-old pup. They were warriors, darnit! "This is so demeaning."
"Wait until she decides to play dress-up," Jaken commented sagely.
"Oo! Dressup!" Rin jumped up with a strange light in her eyes. The three youkai finally knew true fear...
Some time later...
"How many kimonos does Kagura have?" Ginta said in awe looking over the overspilled contents of the bundle.
"Kagura-sama says to always have a couple spares in case they get blasted off you," Rin said matter-of-fact, unconcerned how odd the statement was. "This one," She announced after holding a few to his chest.
"I don't want to wear a red kimono," Ginta complained.
"But Ginta-san, it matches the bow," Rin said pointing out the pride and joy of her makeover success, the red bow tied elaborately around Ginta's head. She had to admit Ginta was turning out the best. She was especially proud of the way the blush highlighted his cheekbones.
"Quiet wolf, and do as you're told," Jaken glared at the boy, trying to look protective and menacing, which was a difficult since Rin had had a lot of trouble painting his non-existent lips. The overly wide drawing of them across his face was a bit much. She had also gone a bit overboard with his eyeshadow. Still Kagura's olive bamboo patterned kimono did bring out the subtle undertones of his complexion, though it was a bit long. (VERY LONG.)
"I hope Kouga appreciates this." Hakkaku muttered and tried to not to be too annoyed at how Rin had swept his Mohawk over one of his eyes. He would have looked SO much better in the red kimono. "Maybe it would have been better for us to get killed by Sesshoumaru."
~*~*~*~ Mwahahaha. Yet another cliffhanger. The worse one yet followed by a pointless scene that could have been an omake itself. You fans must hate me.
So be it. Mwahahahahahahahaha!*continues to evilly laugh*
*Innocently* Oh look! What's this in my hand? A simple floppy disk? Containing what? The final part(s?) and epilogue of "Searching"? *gasp!* Only an inhuman monster would hold this out for more reviews!
Heheh. You know the drill people. Stick em' up and gimmie your reviews or this piece gets it!
You think I'm bluffing? Try me! One of my betas even commented that I could leave it as an ambiguous ending right here. I've got you hooked and I've got the goods.
I guess you guys are going to have to make due with only an Omake Theatre until then.
Anticipation
Sesshoumaru glanced back as he neared the edge of the clearing. "Kagura, I'll be at camp." Sesshoumaru couldn't help but prompt. He noticed with increasing irritation that she was still facing the wolf and hadn't turned away from the obviously lesser of the two opponents. He didn't expect her to be instantly at his side but she should have least started to shun the weakling.
Kouga looked up weakly at the woman before him. From his vantage point, he could see her face clearly. Only resolve shone staunchly across her face.
"Kouga, I have my answer," Kagura stated.
"Will Kagura choose the affections of the rash Kouga? Will she choose the calm companionship of Sesshoumaru? Find out the grand finale on the next installment of 'Searching'!" The booming voice of the narrator called from the heavens.
"What the bloody hell?" A startled Kagura voiced the opinion of herself and the other two youkai who looked up into the sky.
Nearby, the figures of Sango and Kagome burst out of the bushes. "No! You can't end the chapter in a cliffhanger!" they pleaded in unison.
Sesshoumaru, Kagura, Kouga turned to their newly discovered audience. But how could it happen that they notice a whole group of onlookers when all three of them possessed superior youkai senses?
"You left the last couple chapters in cliffhangers. You can't jerk us around like that. We demand closure," The normally demure Sango furiously stated.
"And more sex and full frontal nudity! We demand lemons! " Miroku demanded with equal fervor. A blushing Sango and her ever present boomerang didn't seem to agree.
"Kouga-kun, I know you can do it! I'm rooting for you!" Kagome waved enthusiastically. Kouga turned seventeen shades of red and felt like crawling under a rock. "Your heart will go on!"
"Feh. Stop encouraging the wussy wolf, Kagome. Even if he's a royal jerk and a controlling, possessive asshole, I hate to say it but the fact remains that Sesshoumaru is probably going to win." Inuyasha folded his arms while added his own personal opinion to the ongoing commentary. Sesshoumaru didn't seem to like his sibling's vote of confidence, though, considering the way his jaw clenched. "Poor Kagura, though. She loses either way."
"Kagome," Shippou whined, showing his poor, empty bowl, "Inuyasha ate all my popcorn!"
"Well, that blew the moment," Kagura muttered.
"Will the finale of "Searching" be a let down? Will the Kagura/Sesshoumaru sect win? Or will the Kagura/Kouga sect win?" The omnipotent voice of the narrator continued. "Will Kouga's 'heart go on'? Will Sesshoumaru ever get over himself? Will Kagura-"
"SHUT UP!" Sesshoumaru, Kouga, and Kagura screamed. Then they threw up their hands on the whole fic and all went out for karaoke and ice cream.