(A/N): Yep, I'm alive.
Work has been killer, but I got a nice big chapter for you. Enjoy.
Shoutouts! Hugs and Big smooches for NightlyRowenTree and ren7720 and their reviews. Yes, Tsuki did bring out the wildness to Kaito and she does it again this chapter. Let me know what you think. And Tsuki had such a strong reaction to Kaito because she does have self worth issues and she doesn't think she's worth the response she got from him. Her own blood couldn't love her. Why would this comparative 'stranger'?
Raiza will do something other than just break Kaito's teeth in. I thought it was appropriate.
Anyway, Thanks guys!
~Yasha's Sis
Chapter 24
Wishes
None can hurt you more than those you consider kin…
"What's the whore's bastard doing here?"
"Dunno, Raiza-sama said we were to host the West but I didn't think they'd let it come with them."
An adolescent voice chimed in. "You think the Inu no Taisho has sampled her yet? I know she was meant for the Prince but she's nearly old enough."
The first speaker snorted. "Please, that bitch would bite his pecker off if he shoved it anywhere near her."
"I think she'd like it."
"Oh, yeah?" The first voice asked amused. "You wanna go over there and test your theory?"
Kokojin, the kind if naïve kitsune sitting beside her, stiffened at the comment. Tsuki merely smirked.
They'd been in the South for a full day now and the festivities and merriment were still going strong. Spirits flowed freely with the traditional meats and spices. All that remained were the coming of age rites, an elemental display, and the Hunt. Another day at the most, and then they could finally leave.
Tsuki couldn't wait.
It wasn't that her treatment was particularly terrible, it was honestly better than expected. The Packs only sneered at her if they paid her any attention at all and Tsuki was mildly amazed that it took a full day for someone to try and start some shit. The angry mutterings of those three idiots behind her were honestly welcomed over the general air of disgust that floated around her and she couldn't help the edginess that kept her spine taunt as the minutes ticked passed without something horrific occurring in relation to her.
One thing that did catch her completely off guard was the continued respect from the greys and browns. Despite knowing she had their kin's blood on her hands, they did not shy away from her. They did not glower or bare their teeth. Tsuki was not embraced by them as she once would have been but she was still acknowledged, still addressed as Tsuki-sama and it was perhaps that consideration that unsettled her more than the relative courteousness the rest of the compound has given her so far. She would have deserved their scorn more than anyone and yet she wasn't given it.
In fact, Tokimura, cold old bastard that he was, even smiled at her and pressed a kiss to her brow the evening of their arrival.
"Despite all that has happened, Tsuki-sama, Daikok took you as his own and for that you will always be seen as kin."
It warmed her more than Raiza's welcome had because their rejection was something she actually deserved.
Tsuki was primed for some type of confrontation and so far she had been denied. The halfling hadn't found Kaito or her Father and Gyoko glared at Tsuki like it was her fault her idiot friend got snatched. The Halfling was grateful Ayumi wasn't present because she would never hear the end of the proper means of courting and how Kaito was screwing all the demoness's carefully cultivated options by being willful (in regards to what, Tsuki still didn't know). Plus, Sesshomaru had to go be boring and stay a proper guest by sticking with Kiraiya and his father. Tsuki refused to remain in the presence of the first (especially with the way Kiraiya had been watching her with a mixture of confusion and wariness) and the Inu no Taisho was still on her shit list for Saisei so it left her with Yanabi, Shidan or the random guard who didn't mind her company.
Yanabi seemed to have taken a sick pleasure in riling Mai, which Tsuki couldn't fault her for finding entertainment in, and Shidan was currently knocking boots with a shapely raven Ookami just over her five hundreth year. No way in hell was she hanging around for that so it left her mostly wanting for some type of thrill other than polite conversation.
"Oi, halfbreed."
This guy was practically a welcomed distraction.
The youngest of the trio scrambled to his feet when the others began egging him on so Tsuki pushed her thoughts of unexpected forgiveness aside. A restraining hand on the kitsune's shoulder kept Kokojin from jumping to her defense and Tsuki rolled her neck in anticipation before turning to face the adolescent demon stalking towards her.
She was itching for a fight, had been since the moment she entered these accursed lands, but could not be the one to instigate things. She had to represent the West well. Dumbass over here was giving her a prime outlet to get her frustrations out.
A pleased thrill ran up her spine and Tsuki smiled as the Ookami neared. The expression must have been a bit more blood thirsty than she meant it to be because the ookami hesitated.
Some well-placed heckling from the peanut gallery more interested in shaming a halfbreed than paying their heir the proper respect was enough to spur him forward. Tsuki kept her body loose, watching him approach through her lashes and hoped he'd at least let her break a sweat when she shoved his head into his ass.
The blond Ookami was stocky, at least a head taller than her with honey brown eyes. The leer on his face took away from the attractiveness but Tsuki had been panted over by worse.
"You got something to say, Lin?" Tsuki asked with that same smile, unsettling the Ookami by the use of his name.
Lin's lip curled, no doubt to say something suitably crude based on the conversation they were having when a voice cut in.
"Piss off, wolf. She'd sooner fuck a boar than let your limp dick anywhere near her."
Sapphire eyes blinked at the male stalking forward on her right, chains jingling with each step.
Ryoga?
The orange eyed Inu slid his gaze to the flushing Ookami in a lazy manner, pausing close enough for Tsuki to feel his body heat radiating against her side.
Lin growled. "This has nothing to do with you, Inu. She ain't yours to stand for."
Ryoga smirked and continued to twirl the bladed chains in a taunting fashion. "Pretty sure she belongs to the West so she sure as hell isn't yours, wolf. I'd find another means of entertainment, lest you want to cause an incident here at your Heir's Nameday. I hear Mai-sama isn't the most forgiving of sorts."
The Ookami grimaced at the reminder and Tsuki could only stare at Ryouga in disbelief as the Ookami muttered something degrading and skulked off.
He was defending her?
Ryoga watched the trio of idiots retreat and then turned away like nothing happened, fully prepared to walk off back to wherever he popped out from.
Tsuki's hand lashed out before she could stop herself.
"Wait?"
Ryoga stopped, orange eyes lingering on the halfbreed's small hands before drawing up to her face. Surprisingly, he only watched her expectantly. No sneer. No glare. His overall expression was neutral.
"You got something to say?" He prompted finally when Tsuki kept eyeing him as if waiting for a negative reaction.
Taken aback, Tsuki let her arm fall. "Why'd you step in?"
Ryoga's eyes narrowed briefly and then he shrugged, stilling the movement of his chain and attaching it to his waist. "My mother would skin me if I let someone talk to another female Inu like that. Don't take it the wrong way."
Tsuki's brow quirked, amused. "Take what the wrong way? That you aren't a complete ass about bloodstatus?"
The taller demon scowled. "When was the last time I brought up your blood, bitch?"
It had been a while. Not since she ruined him in the circles back when Saisei was a cub. Ryouga and Tsuki hadn't really threatened each other since that day. They had fought again, spars really and without Tsuki's youkai howling for blood she was able to enjoy the fight more. She guessed he did too seeing as they were a semi regular occurrence. They weren't friends and the guy would still say offensive things every now and again but honestly if he stopped being a bit of an asshat she would probably think something was up with him. Still, she had never expected their casual association to progress to active intervention, especially in the South where no one was really obligated to give thoughts to her protection.
"Just not used to you being a semi decent guy outside the sparring ring."
Ryoga's expression shuttered. "You don't know me, halfbreed."
Well there went the almost pleasant air. Tsuki sighed.
"Much more in character," she replied with an almost disappointed weight to her chest. They weren't friends. Never had been. Tsuki didn't even know why she questioned him in the first place. "Whatever the reason was that caused you to speak up… thanks." She raised her hand in farewell and moved back over to Kokojin's side, fully expecting the weird mothering the Kitsune would more than likely dish out to her once she got settled.
Tsuki felt Ryoga's eyes on her for a long moment, but when she glanced back, in between one string of apologies of her impromptu guard and another, the Inu was gone.
Maybe she needed to stop looking at the Inu as another version of Ookami. They were different, she knew, but it still seemed to surprise her when occasions underlined the differences.
"I wish you let me handle it, Tsuki-sama," Kokojin finished with an annoyed twist of his tails. "It is my duty to ensure the members of the Western House feel safe."
The Tsuki of two decades past would have laughed bitterly. When Tsuki first became aware, she hadn't accepted that she was part of the Western House. Something worth defending and being treated with honor. The fact that someone, who held no loyalty to Tsuki in particular, was willing to stand up and defend her in such a way would have made the Halfling of the past cynical and annoyed.
Now?
Now, Tsuki felt a quiet swell of appreciation for the unnecessary but well meaning indignation.
"Stop worrying about it, Ko-kun. You saw Ryoga handled it fine and I would have been more than enough to dissuade them from harassing anyone again."
The fox flushed at the familiar address, tails bobbing in an embarrassed manner. "As you say Tsuki-sama." Kokojin relented, shooting a dirty look in the direction the Ookami trailed off to. "To think they would attempt such a thing, let alone on a day of celebration!"
Tsuki tuned out the griping, politely not pointing out that none of the South's purist would care if it was a honored day if they could satisfy their hatred. The past two hundred and eighty seven years certainly didn't show a pattern to imply contrary. It was her lot in life, Tsuki accepted that. She didn't need people who cared stressing themselves out over something she long ago came to grips with.
Kokojin stopped grumbling after another moment and the pair turned their attention back to the courtyard clear of greenery from the many feet that trotted down the plant life. Mai was backing away from the open space just after spouting Kiraiya's praise and how honored they were to have a trueborn heir with an elemental affinity and purity of blood. Blah blah blah. Any little dig the bitch could stick in, she would.
Tsuki hardly registered the insults but Kokojin's bristling tails was enough to inform her that it had not gone ignored by others.
Really, Mai was being petty. Everyone here came for the express purpose of honoring Kiraiya and Mai had to make it spiteful. It didn't do anything but make the Ookami look bitchy and from the irritated flux to Kiraiya's youki, her big sister certainly didn't appreciate the reminder that a bastard was present 'sullying her day'.
Still, Kiraiya was a demon of duty and nothing would interrupt her time to shine.
The Raven Ookami swept forward in a flowing turquoise gown, her youki hanging in the air around her like a shimmering veil. Her sister's hair was unbound and hung heavy about her back and shoulders, the raven shade glinting in the light of the sun. Kiraiya had always been the beauty of the family. Her cool cobalt eyes and milky skin contrasted sharply with their father's inky hair. The demoness was polite and unfailingly proper in public and even in private, Kiraiya never stooped to slurs to make Tsuki feel like trash.
Her sister's tongue could deal enough damage through tone alone.
But right now, as Tsuki felt the slight shuddering to her sister's youki that belayed her nervousness, the Halfling could almost forget that this beautiful creature was capable of such hatred. She could almost forget that Kiraiya, although older than Tsuki by half a century, was still a child in many ways and hadn't always despised Tsuki's existence.
Children, after all, are taught to hate.
Kiraiya's flinch as Tsuki coolly denied the South being any type of home rose to mind unbidden.
Tsuki scowled, sapphire eyes flickering away from her sister and catching sight of Raiza eeking in with Kaito behind him. Mai's look of displeasure was priceless but Raiza's own quelling glare only made it sweeter.
A part of Tsuki wanted to storm over there right now and figure out what the hell those two were thinking running off like that but she wasn't spiteful enough to ruin Kiraiya's moment like this, as much as her sister probably (actually) deserved it. Kaito would be disappointed in her.
So instead, she pursed her lips and focused back on the heir to the South as Kiraiya inhaled and let her power come to life.
Lightning is a difficult element to wield. Like fire, it is stubborn and willful. If given a means to disobey its handler, it would and more than the one trying to contain it would suffer in the process. Tsuki felt the wrath of lightning's anger more times than she can count (often at another's intentions) and she still kept a healthy respect for the power simmering in her blood even after gaining a decent handle on it through trial and error with Sesshomaru's help. Lightning was not something to treat as a pet or a tool to carelessly be handled. Lightning could kill your enemy just as easily as it could kill you and it took only once after nearly stopping Sesshomaru's heart for Tsuki to treat her element seriously and dedicate the hours upon weeks upon years to its perfection because to do anything less was just asking to fry yourself or someone you cared for.
At the same time, lighting is like water. It flows down a path and one only need know the habits, the instinct, of the element to direct it to your whims. It can be controlled, if you have the will and patience to learn the method.
Tsuki had will in spades and she could be patience when learning for battle. It was the only thing that kept her alive for as long as she was. So Tsuki knows what it takes to harness the power of nature and push it's lethality into something less deadly. She can manage a deliberate blast out of her hands if she concentrated hard enough and her opponent stood still, even after most of Saisei's life of practice.
Watching Kiraiya twist and twine thin ribbons of electricity along her body as she performs the Kata of One Thousand Moons is terrifying.
Tsuki remembered when her father performed the display over a century ago and Tsuki had been in awe of the control, the precision needed to command lightning in such a delicate way. Now, an element user in her own right, Tsuki can appreciate his ability so much better and Raiza had been using his element since he was younger than Tsuki.
All this must be said to underline the fact that Kiraiya's control made Raiza look like an amateur.
The lightning was an extension of herself, it didn't so much obey as act as a sentient being, almost knowing where Kiraiya's next position would be to wrap itself around her body and skitter across the ground just far enough to cause those at the edge of the ring to yelp. Tsuki was entirely certain Kiraiya did it on purpose.
It still wasn't easy. Stress lines crinkled the raven Ookami's forehead and sweat beaded along her brow and upper lip. The pinched mouth also showed her straining to control the element but the fact remained that Kiraiya was a fraction of Raiza's age and could already do so much with the element. The demoness glided through the stances surrounded by a halo of light and Tsuki couldn't help but be impressed by the display. The appreciative noise of the crowd and howling tributes of the rowdier demons seemed to share her opinion.
But it was more than just Kiraiya's control with her own person.
Three other Ookami joined her in the stances, close enough to touch at times in their circling movements, and yet the lighting never struck them. It did not seek out another source as it was wont to do.
This, more than anything, showed Kiraiya's mastery of her element.
Tsuki found herself admiring her elder sibling despite the little voice in her head screaming that admiration got her nothing but pain. Tsuki silenced it as the lighting manifested itself into an Ookami which flew in an arch over the gathered demons, lifting its head in a silent cry before bursting into crackling sparks of youki to vanish into the midday sky.
The resulting adulation was earth shaking.
Kiraiya beamed, chest rising quickly, belaying her exertion but the pride in her eyes was unmistakable and well deserved. Tsuki watched Raiza roar something that caused her sister to blush before snatching her into a hug that made the heir scowl in embarrassment. The Inu no Taisho congratulated Kiraiya as well, only worsening the adolescent's flush and Sesshomaru's quiet but no doubt genuine praise clearly caught Kiraiya by surprise. The Ookami heir gave him a soft smile, something Tsuki hadn't seen on her face while the Halfling was anywhere in scenting range, and bowed slightly in thanks. Even Yanabi stopped irritating Mai long enough to voice admiration with Shidan. The complete and utter focus given to Kiraiya in that moment was absolute and Tsuki felt a small bubble of happiness that she had been included in this moment too. That she was present to see the strides her sister had made and be part of the celebration that honored it.
The thought hardly had time to truly settle into Tsuki's mind before she caught the pupil-less gaze of her sister's mother. Mai's smile was poisonous and the arm wrapped around Kiraiya and Raiza, with Kouga hanging from his father's neck seemed to radiate nothing but a smug satisfied aura of victory.
It was then that Tsuki's heart froze and she realized why Mai would allow Tsuki to attend, to invite her even when a halfbreed had never been welcomed in the South, let alone a bastard.
This Mai's eyes said is what you will never have. What you can never take from my children even if your father refused to end you like he should have. Legitimacy is their birthright and you, bastard, are but a passing concern who will never be anything more than a mistake.
Tsuki's breath caught in her throat as her sapphire gaze cast unseeingly around the assembled demons. Of course. Of Fucking Course!
Rage hit her so hard she choked on it and Tsuki turned away from the content youki, turned from the image of family, of pride that would never be directed at her and fled before her hurt manifested itself into her element.
Mai was always a vindictive creature.
Even though Tsuki should have failed to be an annoyance let alone a concern the demoness still sought ways to make Tsuki bleed. Through her heart if she no longer could her body. Of Course! Tsuki would be brought here to see the life she was never meant to have. To watch- on the sidelines as she always had- what should have been her family celebrate something she would never have. Tsuki's best times in life with her kin had been when she was ignored time and time again because they grew bored with baiting her when pain could no longer draw the desired reaction.
How could she have been so stupid? How could she have been so bloody hopeful that something had changed? She knew the Ookami. She fucking knew Mai! Tsuki would never be accepted and to think that for one instant, one cruel brief moment, that she had been grateful to return to this hellhole and see Kiraiya's growth was sickening. How pathetic was she to have fallen for that pipe dream of being part of the Southern House? How many times had she told herself after the beatings, after the abuse, after watching Yuka's body be torn to shreds, that she would never trust the Ookami and would never be that weak again? How could she have fallen for the ruse?
Was she a masochist? Did she enjoy being shit on every day?
Tsuki's next leap cracked the ground where she landed and the force behind her push off carved a divot into the ground. She hardly noticed. Her youki was a tight ball of fury and pain seated just below her sternum, potent and writhing and it hurt. It wasn't healthy to bottle your youki this tightly. It tended to lash out when leashed to such a degree, but she could stop herself from pushing it further and further down, willing it to just go away because maybe if she wasn't a demon she wouldn't be hated by the people who were supposed to protect her. Maybe if she just disappeared the pain would go away and she wouldn't have to feel like she didn't matter, never mattered, to anyone who was supposed to care.
The slight burning in her chest increased into a stabbing pain and the agony of the final surge snapped Tsuki from the self-destructive spiral she was willing herself towards. Her youki burst out with a surge of violent blue lightning that scorched the skin of her hands and left cheek.
A bitter laugh passed through her lips.
Was I really so willing to end myself just then? After all the shit those people put me through I was going to let them push me over the edge? Another flash of her element surged out, barbequing yet another limb but it cleared her mind just a bit more. She was stronger than that. Stronger than them and she wouldn't die before she meant to. Tsuki hardly recognized the stinging sensation as her element curled around her wrist one last time when something slammed into her, wrapping around her tight enough to ache and Tsuki's breath was forced out in a rush.
"What were you thinking?!"
Dazed, Tsuki's mind struggled to place the scent of roasted chestnuts and dog that pressed against her uninjured cheek. She stiffened reflexively as the demon manhandled her into his arms and took off in a burst of speed that she had never seen of him before.
"Kaito?"
~*KT*~
Kaito would consider himself an easy going person.
He felt strongly of few things and was slow to anger. A smile sat more readily on his face than a frown and nothing really got under his skin outside of disrespect. It took significant prodding to push him to any type of extreme and his mother lamented that fact everyday closer to his maturity. She feared Kaito would never muster enough feeling to pursue a female on his own.
It wasn't that Kaito had no interest in the softer form. It was just he had other things to do. Saisei was a constant distraction and Tsuki couldn't spend one day without speaking down on herself in some way shape or form. Kaito had to address her deplorable sense of self worth and that required his full attention. He didn't have time to worry about mate material when such a prominent figure was so clearly distressed.
Not that Tsuki appreciated his insistence at first but that was ok. Kaito never stepped back from a challenge and he vowed to make her see the truth of herself. It was his duty after all and as frustrating as Tsuki's slowness to accept the truth was, he was managing, slowly but surely.
His drive to achieve this hadn't seemed out of place to him at all. If one made a promise, one kept it, no matter what. It didn't matter that this promise was to the child of powerful blood, he was a demon of his word and he couldn't understand how someone could allow the Ookami hybrid to have developed such self-destructive thoughts about herself.
Tsuki was everything Kaito would expect in an heir. Her ability with a blade was astonishing and the fact that the sword wasn't her favored weapon made Tynichi, a known weapons expert, impressed. She knew tactics as well as Kaito's instructor from his youngest days and though she was small in stature, the petite demoness could decapitate a full grown demon with a single kick to the neck. It was terrifying how deadly someone younger than him could be. Terrifying and also sad. Tsuki had little room in her heart for compassion and duty had been drilled into her so thoroughly that although she often scorns it aloud, Kaito has no illusions that the girl wouldn't do what is expected of her if order to.
She could switch from the cold calculating air of one born to lead to a firm but fair instructor, patient and damningly thorough. Her tongue could rip apart a battle plan with the ruthlessness of a veteran soldier and yet it could just as easily quell the fears of a child after waking from a nightmare.
Tsuki was a contradiction. She should be cold, hardened and proper. Usually, to those she did not care for she was two out of three. The first time Kaito saw her welcome Saisei, easily handling the boy's exuberance with a smile, was a moment he would never forget. He remembered how her scent deepened into happiness and affection, how her eyes brightened and the edge of danger that usually lingered just beneath the surface dissipated as she plucked the boy up and placed him in her lap, youki curling contentedly around the pair. He remembered thinking, quite clearly then, that she was meant to have a pup.
That hadn't alarmed him.
What did was the continued thought of that pup being his.
It was a passing idea, something that he dismissed as silly and improper and clearly a side effect of his growing libido. Kaito didn't pay much attention to his justification for the thought until later when he began attuning to her in more ways than just an ally. Her scent caught is attention immediately and where before other male scents intertwined with it would cause curiosity, now caused annoyance or outright upset. He found himself straining to be near her, to touch her when before he had felt little inclination to outside of disproving her deplorable views of herself. So he clung to tradition, distanced himself physically whenever the opportunity could call for anything else because to not do so would put him too close. The desire to reach out and keep her was growing more difficult every day.
It was easier to convince his youkai that she would never lower herself to him, never humor Kaito's increasing attachment as anything because she was forbidden from such things until granted permission, even if she would not acknowledge her importance herself. Kaito resigned himself to wait out his infatuation. It would pass. It had to pass because nothing of the sort would be allowed to occur. Kaito was sure he could hold out until that day, keep his inappropriate desires and hunger to himself and he was sure had Tsuki actually cared for tradition he would have managed.
But she didn't.
Tsuki kept him close. Trusted him and treated him like he was precious to her which did nothing to decrease his youkai's clamoring. She forgot Inu customs too easily and the Ookami ways triggered a hunger in him that he struggled to swallow everyday she insisted on sparring with him and challenging his ability. She was a strong bitch, a brilliantly deadly female who would protect her young with the viciousness of a nesting mother. He couldn't stop seeing her in that light.
Kaito's fixation was driving him mad and it didn't help that those closest to him realized. They took every opportunity to encourage his instincts and yet Tsuki somehow remained oblivious, or at least in denial of his pressing instincts. Her closeness to Sesshomaru-sama, which should have quieted his bleating youkai, only aggravated him. Kaito had never felt so resentful of another being in his life. And Tsuki's clear disinclination to treat Sesshomaru as anything other than comrade should have helped his restraint, not worsen it. Kaito's youkai did not care that Tsuki hadn't viewed Sesshomaru as a potential mate, it cared that she was surrounding herself with a male that was potentially interested in taking her from him.
Which shouldn't have mattered! Kaito was never meant to have someone of Tsuki's pedigree and his youkai should damn well understand it, but it wouldn't and it demanded he take Tsuki and make her see them as the only option.
Kaito was at wits end trying to control himself until he found an adequate outlet in dogging his father for training. Gyoko saw the near manic need in his son's eyes and did well to center him to the point where Kaito could be in Tsuki's presence and almost ignore the tantalizing call of her blood to his. Could push his resentment into grudging acceptance that she was on another level entirely and Sesshomaru would have rights to Tsuki long before Kaito ever would. He was proud of himself for burying the unacceptable want away for years with only Tynichi and Saisei nagging him to do something about it like he had a choice.
Until yesterday.
Kaito saw Tsuki in her father's arms, body stiff and youki quivering, and couldn't stop himself from slipping from his father's side and interrupting. He knew her tells better than he'd ever known another soul and she was hurting surrounded by her sire. Hurting and wanting and on the cusps of breaking so he thought nothing to the consequences of interrupting the Ookami Lord's greeting. Tsuki had been hurt enough by her supposed family and he would not let all their hard work in making Tsuki see her importance be crushed in a single moment.
Raiza's look of savage delight should have rung bells in his head to flee but he couldn't. Tsuki's scent came to life with confusion and something sickly sweet that he belatedly realized was horror for his sake when the Southern Lord straightened and spoke in a voice that promised violence.
Kaito was willing to accept punishment if it kept her from turning in on herself.
He hadn't prepared for her to press her back against him, tail twining around his leg, and his mind to abruptly short circuit at her proximity to him. He usually had time to prepare himself before he was inflicted with her presence but this closeness was a surprise. Kaito's Youkai stirred in the back of his mind, watching as Tsuki growled out a warning to her father.
He should have been annoyed that she sought to defend him. He was not defenseless and was fully capable of standing up for the consequences of his actions. Instead, his body stiffened and he held his breath, praying like a coward that he could control himself because she could not, would not want him like he wanted her.
And then her hands slipped into his hair and the straining threads of his control shredded as his youkai surged to the surface, arm wrapping around her like a band of iron to clamp her against him. Tsuki's breath whooshed out but Kaito hardly noticed, shuddering at the contact he so desperately tried not to hope for. His throat loosed a possessive growl and if Kaito had any means of stopping himself before then, it vanished the moment Tsuki stilled in his grasp, pupils dilated and throat unconsciously bared to him.
It was too positive of a response. Too perfect for Kaito to reign himself in so his head dipped and he rumbled her name marking her for future promise. Mine his youkai pressed into the air. Mine and no one elses.
Kaito wanted to hear her response, would have branded her in his scent by any and every means possible had Yanabi not interfered.
It took more willpower that Kaito thought he possessed to refrain from tracking after Tsuki and sinking his teeth into her throat. He couldn't help his eyes though. They refused to leave her person, promising this wasn't finished, and nothing was going to keep her from him.
Looking back on it now, Tsuki had never looked more vulnerable until just then. Like she couldn't believe what was happening and she had to have misunderstood because the alternative was too surreal to comprehend.
"Apologies, My Lord," He managed to get out, "We forgot ourselves. I will be sure to impart discretion to your honored daughter at a later time." And there would be a later time.
Kaito's blood was pounding through his body so hard every pulse felt like his arteries would burst. He had never really associated himself as a creature of passion but in that moment…
In that moment, he lived for nothing past the visceral reaction she had to his call. Having her was a possibility now that he never entertained before because she saw him in that moment. Saw him as he always viewed her and it left a certain wildness in him. Yanabi's dry comment made him grimace at the fallout this was likely to have with his father but at that moment Kaito wasn't sure if he could back away from the opportunity. He tried to temper his instinct, tried to keep himself from trending any further from his station, but Raiza's gall to call Tsuki his daughter, to say Kaito required his approval after putting Tsuki into an environment that left her as broken as she was, couldn't stand. In that moment, Kaito's deeply ingrained respect for blood flew out the window.
"Tsuki is never one to be owned so your approval, my Lord, would mean little to her."
Raiza didn't deserve to say such a thing.
Kaito probably should have expected Tsuki to try and defend him but this time he had no patience for it. He wanted to inflict some type of pain on the Ookami lord and if that earned him a hiding, so be it.
Kaito didn't regret his words as the Ookami Lord teleported them away and the Inu adolescent bore the brunt of Raiza's displeasure. It didn't matter to him what happened and Kaito stood his ground each time the Ookami Lord challenged him like the man he was. Kaito had no issue expounding in excruciating detail the way Tsuki viewed herself. The way she treated the world around her all because Raiza ruined her in her youth.
Kaito expected to be harmed for that, and he was, but the chords struck true and after a while Raiza's face shifted and Kaito saw another side to the Ookami Lord.
"No one has ever shown her what she's worth, kid. I couldn't. Not truly. And honestly, boy?" Thundercloud grey eyes leveled on Kaito unpityingly. "Honestly, you have the balls to set yourself and do it.
But I don't think you will."
The surety in Raiza's voice infuriated Kaito.
He had no idea the depth of feeling Kaito had in regards to Tsuki. Raiza didn't know what Kaito would do to see her well. What's to say that Kaito couldn't be the one to do this?
Raiza's answer was chilling.
"I know because you remind me of myself, before I had my first woman." Kaito had blinked at the admission and then curled his lip in disgust.
Kaito would never be that weak to let his pup wallow in the hatred of his people.
Raiza smirked. "Inu told me about you. Said you're a stubborn brat who took duty to level far past one would expect for your age. That you've impressed loads of people with your maturity and that Tsuki respects you and trusts you more than she does anyone else aside from Sesshomaru. Said you have always done what was best for the clans."
His smile then was bittersweet. "If the Inu no Taisho told you that he needed you somewhere, would you go?"
Of course Kaito would. He always did his duty-
"Even if that meant never seeing Tsuki again?"
Kaito hesitated and that was all that Raiza needed.
"You'd be surprised what you would do when forced between two difficult choices." He turned then, back to the main Southern gathering and walked towards the clamoring of the crowd Kaito could feel converging to their west. "You're too young to know what the packs were like centuries ago, but I had to sacrifice many, many things to make us strong. If you think you won't do the same, you're lying to yourself."
Raiza wished for his daughter a demon who would be strong enough to push tradition, push duty, aside to give her what she needs.
Kaito had never considered what could be asked of them both and how that would affect their home. It was simply his youkai desires pitted against his concern for tradition. Something that Kaito respected and was hesitant to push aside.
"But if she wants you, you're right. There's nothing I can do short of killing you." Raiza smile then was full of teeth. "Doubt she'd speak to me again if I did that."
Kaito ignored the threat with due practice but a sliver of doubt slid into his head and that was worrying. Kaito hated Raiza just a little for putting the doubt into his head.
But right now none of this mattered. He would see Tsuki and he would find the truth of the matter.
Their travel back was strangely at ease. Kaito hadn't known what to expect after their… talk but for the Ookami Lord to be calm, if pensive, was not one of them.
They reached a large open dirt space surrounded by Inu and Ookami just as Kiraiya stepped into the ring. Kaito's gaze scanned over the crowd but Tsuki was not easy to pick up and the scents that surrounded him were a pressing mix of both Inu and Ookami. His attention was briefly dragged to the center area where lighting flowed like cloth ribbons in the air around the raven haired beauty and Kaito admired her skill with her element. He wondered how long it would take Tsuki to gain this proficiency because it seemed everything that demoness did grew into a sharp ability.
Kiraiya's youki coalesced into a snarling wolf image that danced over the heads of the assembled crowd before darting to the sky and bursting into sparks of light. Kaito tracked the visions movement and luck was the only thing that let him catch sight of Tsuki.
She looked… happy.
The demons' approval shook the ground with the loudness of their appreciation and Raiza shoved his way to the front of the ring to sweep his first born into a hug. Soon, everyone was jostling to get a moment with the heir and congratulate her. Sesshomaru and the Inu no Taisho expressed their accolades as was expected of them and Kaito smiled just slightly before his gaze flickered back to where he last saw Tsuki.
He felt the moment something changed. Her youki bucked roughly for a split second. Only one who was familiar with the feel of it would notice and Kaito spotted Sesshomaru's head turn sharply in the general direction of their Halfling. And Kaito's body stilled as Tsuki's face shifted from content to pained to furious in a handful of moments before blanking out completely.
The Inu twitched, concerned at the change, and was moving for her as she turned away. Kaito knew the moment she was going to run and took off at a sprint, ignoring the shouts of annoyance from the people he jostled to get out of the main crowd.
He did not know where she was going and he had never run harder in his life but the fading presence of her Youki was unsettling. Kaito's senses primed for any indication of Tsuki's presence and it took longer than he liked to finally find her. What he sensed sped his heart into a galloped frenzy.
She was crushing her youki. Pushing it so tight, so hard, that it had to have hurt and a snarl curled his lips as he followed the slowly minimizing source. She would kill herself if she kept this up any longer.
What happened? What was she doing? Why was she doing it? One moment she had seemed so pleased and the next-
Tsuki's youki roared back to life six hundred meters just to the right of his path and Kaito speared forward with no thought to his own safety. Tsuki was an elemental. Any explosion of Youki this potent would have to have the bite of her element to it.
Another blast streaked towards the sky after circling her person and Kaito could smell singed hair and cooked meat. His youkai screamed at him to do something and Kaito found himself barreling into her in the wake of the third attack, crushing her to him and shoving his nose into her hair to help quiet the ache in his chest.
"What were you thinking?!"
She had nearly- she almost-
He couldn't even think it. How could she? She was so strong? SO defiant? How could she nearly break herself after everything Kaito tried to show her? After everything his mark promised?
Tsuki made a noise of protest as Kaito manhandled her into his grasp and took off. He could feel her breath tickle the base of his throat and it did nothing to make his thoughts straighten into something other than confusion, hurt and fury.
"Kaito?" She asked, confusion and weariness coloring the words. Kaito only held her tighter and the Halfling squeaked in his arms to which he silenced with a deep disapproving growl.
The brown inu couldn't think past getting her somewhere safe. What he would do once he got there would be a torn choice between following his youkai's snarls to punish her for such carelessness and his more rational mind to see what triggered the upset in the first place. A distant part of Kaito's mind was surprised that she stilled in his arms and did not make any move to attack him for manhandling her. That also hastened his pace.
Finally, safely sheltered in the forest surrounding the Ookami fortress and hidden in a tight enclosure blocked from easy access due to the overgrowth of the plant life, Kaito released his burden and forced himself to take three measured steps back. He could just barely stand straight without touching the roof of his holding.
Tsuki landed on her feet in a crouch, sapphire eyes watching him with a wariness he had never seen of her before. It pleased him in some distant corner of his psyche because wariness meant she would pay attention. Head tilted, Kaito found himself staring at her scorched skin and singed hair. Already, he could see her youki knitting the flesh together, which meant her youkai was close to the surface as well.
The hunger returned.
Kaito only thought of standing closer to her and in the next instant he was before her, nostrils quivering to take in her scent. She didn't smell pained anymore and her wounds were nearly healed. Kaito was just slightly disappointed. He couldn't show her his ability to care for her wounds now.
Kaito's mind felt foggy and it was hard to get himself to focus on anything other than her scent. He was angry with her but in such close proximity he was having trouble remembering why. "Kaito?" Tsuki's voice didn't display any of her wariness but it did well to draw the Inu's wandering thought. "Are you with me?"
A rumble issued from his chest in agreement, but Tsuki didn't seem reassured. She straightened, slowly and her leg slid just the slightest bit out as if in preparation to move. Why was she so wary? Kaito brought her somewhere safe. She should be pleased with his ability to find shelter.
Tsuki's brow quirked and she adopted a wry smile. If he didn't know her tells so well he would have thought her completely at ease. "Growling at me doesn't make me think you're all there, Kaito."
I'm fine. He meant to say but the words wouldn't come. Instead, his hand shot forward and Tsuki tensed as the clawed digits brushed along her newly healed skin. Anger was a slow burning flame as he remembered. "Why?"
Tsuki's gaze started to slide away but Kaito snarled, forcing the sapphire to lock back onto his face.
"It doesn't matter." Tsuki muttered, guilt making the tone sharp.
But it did! Kaito stepped forward, hand cupping the previously injured cheek as his fangs bared in displeasure. "Tsuki."
She flinched at her name, eyes widened at the gentle caress and moved to step back, but Kaito was intent now. He would have his answer.
The Brown Inu, speed heightened by his youkai, beat her retreat and forced her against the wall to his shelter. Kaito left no room for her escape and kept Tsuki's gaze locked on his by tangling his hands in her hair and holding her still. The Halfling made a distracting noise that did strange things to Kaito's focus but he managed to push away his Youkai's incessant needling to mark her so he could force out the words he needed.
"Tell me."
Poor wording, Kaito distantly acknowledged. Tsuki's jaw tilted the slightest bit as a spark of defiance colored her gaze. Kaito didn't let the demoness gear up for what would more than likely be a scathing retort that Kaito wasn't any type of authority over her to demand such a thing and she could show him exactly where he should shove his order. Normally, Kaito would argue her down but his Youkai offered a more pleasant means of getting his way.
Kaito's nose dragged on the cheek opposite his hand and a soothing cadence hummed from his throat. Tsuki's mouth shut with a click and her hands flew to his chest, trembling hard enough for him to notice through the fabric of his shirt.
"Wha- what are you doing?"
The vulnerability to her voice should not have amused him as much as it did. Fierce, deadly Tsuki, nervous because of a soft hand and a lulling show of affection.
Kaito nipped her ear and the rushing of her blood through her veins drew his attentions. Kaito may have done something regrettable if the hands against his chest didn't spark with anxious energy. With difficulty, Kaito pulled back, eyes half lidded and the howling of his youkai a constant ringing in his ears. He licked his lips and swallowed thickly at the Halfling who looked ready to fry him if he didn't articulate a full sentence in the next three seconds.
Kaito took in a deep breath, his hands twitched as her scent flooded his senses but he forced the want down to address her concerns. Tsuki didn't handle waits well.
"You… you needed to calm down."
It hurt to say that much without his Youkai pushing through the words. Kaito drew his hands back to his side as Tsuki looked at him like he lost his mind.
"I need to calm down?! You're the one acting like you're in heat! How would doing- doing all that make me calm down?!"
The shrillness to her voice was endearing but Kaito scowled at the 'in heat' comment.
"My youkai wished to do something to ease your upset. Everyone in the compound would have felt your youki earlier and it wished to comfort you."
Tsuki blushed, hands unconsciously tightening into fists against his chest. "I told you to stop freaking out over me."
"And I told you that you were worth every moment of concern." Kaito growled back, eyes unknowingly shifting red in his ire. "What happened? I saw you at the end of Kiraiya-sama's display and you were at ease. What changed?"
The Halfling shoved him, her own eyes flashing as Kaito kept his ground and absorbed the attempted attack with only a grunt to show the strength behind it. "Leave it alone, Kaito. The shit that happens to me are my problems. They have nothing to do with you and you need to stop acting like it does."
The brown Inu ignored her dismissal. "It happened after Raiza-sama and Mai-sama embraced Kiraiya."
Tsuki flinched, just the slightest amount and Kaito's gaze sharpened.
"Tsuki?"
The shorter demon sneered but it was half-hearted at best. "Why the fuck are you so stubborn?"
"One could ask the same of you." Kaito returned dryly, mouth hiking up unconsciously. He gave no indication that he would let it go though.
There was a slight pause and then Tsuki gave a world weary sigh. "I just realized why I was invited to the South is all. Mai wanted to remind me of my place and I… I was so angry that I forgot myself." Fierce azure eyes lifted to meet his. "It won't happen again."
Despite his worry, Kaito believed her.
But he was still concerned. How had Mai triggered such a thing? "Will you not tell me anymore?"
Tsuki rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "It's handled, Kaito. You're almost as bad a Sesshomaru with sniffing out this stuff. Bad enough I'll get nagged to talk about it later-"
Kaito laughed.
The sound was so harsh that Tsuki's anger shifted to confusion. She was caught so off guard by the response that she didn't move fast enough to escape his grasp when Kaito crushed her to him in an embrace, nose firmly rooted against her pulse point and youki wrapping around her thick enough to prevent any type of confusion.
"You trust Sesshomaru with your pains and you trust Saisei with your heart. Have I not earned your regard in any way?" He pulled away, chestnut eyes tainted with crimson as his fang peaked out from a crooked, self-depreciating smile. Was he so insignificant?
Blue eyes shifted back and forth between his brightened gaze, her pupils blown wide. Kaito could feel the churning of her youkai, sense the conflicting tells that welcomed his proximity and warned it away.
"Of course you have my regard." Tsuki snapped out, fighting the clamoring of her instincts. "Do you think I would give a shit if anything happened to anyone else here? You're mine just as much as Saisei is."
Kaito's heart sped up, breath coming in quick, near gasps as he processed what she said. Could she really-
"Just as much as Sesshomaru and I would die for you but you don't mean this." She continued shattering Kaito's growing euphoria. "I'm a halfbreed. Your youkai is making you see me this way and if you actually spent time with any other female you would feel the call from them as well." Tsuki's smile was soft and sad and knowing. "Your kindness is tainting your vision of an acceptable choice."
"Acceptable?" Kaito's lip curled. "Do not quote my mother."
"She's right." Tsuki cut in firmly.
"She knows nothing of you!" Kaito hissed back, taking a step forward and forcing Tsuki to step backwards. "Mother hasn't witnessed how you push me to my limits and make me bleed to prove a point. She knows nothing of your hardships. She doesn't see the warmth in your eyes or smell the drug that is your scent whenever you are near Saisei. She has no idea how I dream of you holding my pup just the same and using that razor tongue of yours to teach them to be strong in both mind and body. She thinks I went to Father for training so I could grow stronger when I went just so that he could beat me hard enough to keep me from losing myself to your presence." He was so close now, her rapid breathing ghosted against his chin and it would be too easy to taste her skin and mark her as his. So. So easy.
Kaito's voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. "Do not quote my mother and paint yourself as anything but acceptable because you are all I have wanted since the day you forced me to my knees and honored me with your submission."
Looking at her now, trembling and smelling terrified, Kaito wanted to regret his directness. At the same time, he knew she would never acknowledge his actions as purposeful unless he made her.
But he could not bear to have her fear him.
Kaito took a step back, Youkai howling for action but he knew she needed to process what he said. He needed to give her time to understand and accept that his words were truth because he left no room for her to poke holes in his confession.
Kaito's face shuttered and he dipped into a bow. Using the last of his will, he fell back on proper behavior to see him through to his father. "Tsuki-sama."
Kaito needed to leave or else he wouldn't be able to stop himself. He didn't like seeing her so unsure of herself and him being the cause of it. He turned away, intent on putting as much space between them as possible when a fist came rocketing for his face and the abruptness of the action almost caught him full on. Kaito managed to bend backwards just enough to avoid the blow but his attacker followed and forced him to the floor.
"Don't think you can walk away after dropping that clusterfuck on me," Kaito blinked at the snarled response and couldn't help the fond smile that pulled his lips at Tsuki's infuriated expression. The brown Inu didn't even try to hide it.
"My apologies, Tsuki-sama."
"Kaito." She warned, all dangerous eyes and spiced scent that was her interest. Kaito could recognize that smell anywhere especially once he hit his adolescence. To have it come from her of all people in direction of him made the anxious knot of hopeful assurance loosen.
He grinned at her, hands itching to wrap around her waist but her eyes kept him still. She wasn't sure, would react violently if he pushed her too far too fast so he used the stubbornness he was known for to keep his patience. "Do you even know the madness you instill in me?"
Tsuki faltered in her righteous upset and shifted back, knees tightening on either side as she prepared to get up, but Kaito rather liked having her where she was and snagged her hand to thread his finger through. The motion was impossibly intimate, only made worse when he brought their joined hands to his collar and pressed her claws to his throat. She snatched her hand back immediately, clutching it to her chest. "Wha- why did you decide to lose your mind here?" She didn't move, not exactly interested to finding out what he'd try next to keep her still. "Of all the fucking places you could have started this… whatever this is? You choose here?!"
Kaito bit his lip to keep from smiling any harder. Incredulity was good. Cynicism and sarcasm would be bad signs but Tsuki only got this animated when she was on the cusps of accepting something as fact. Something that would make her change her views of herself. Kaito did sober as he thought on what finally broke his resolve.
"I had not meant to tell you at all." Tsuki's face twisted but Kaito was quick to continue. "Someone of my birth could never hope to gain the rights to a highborn of your pedigree, bastard or no," Kaito insisted. "But more than that, I was willing to let my desires go because I feared you would not welcome my advances. It was wrong to desire you so, but when I saw you hurting in your sire's arms I had to do something. Unfortunately, your reaction tempted me and for once I could not ignore my instincts."
Dark blue eyes watched him through her lashes, unreadable in their intensity. "So this is my fault."
Kaito knew it for the trap that it was. "Yes." He answered simply. Chestnut eyes searched her face and he took a strengthening breath. "What would you say if I did try to pursue you?"
Tsuki frowned, a light blush staining her cheeks but she didn't swear at him anymore.
"You're an idiot, Kaito." The Halfling shook her head and vanished from his lap, leaving him cold and dirty from ground but still smiling.
That wasn't a no.
(A/N): So yay! Confession. Still got more to do in the South. Thought I was going to be able to fit it all this chapter but Kaito said "No, lady. You're gonna let me get my talk in." It's alright. I liked shifting to Kaito's point of view.
Next chapter: Kiraiya's POV, a secret or two and then we're returning to the West.
Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?
~Yasha's Sis