Disclaimer : Inuyasha's caracters don't belong to me!
To ElinorSinclair, Sakura Hatsu and kaiXRei-TaiXMatt thank you so much for the reviews!
Chapter 26 : Courting ?
Auriane hastened to run back to the camp, leaving Sesshomaru, who didn't seemed to be worried at all, behind her. When she arrived at the camp, she saw that it was deserted by her friends. She followed their traces that were leading not far away and stopped between the girls who were looking at Inuyasha with red faces.
Not expecting to witness this unexpected sight she gasped at Inuyasha's human form. The hanyo was crushed face down on the floor with his bare bottom high in the air. His hands were furiously trying to fasten his kimono's pants in vain. At his feet lay two piles of ashes and she deduced that it had to be the remaining of youkais.
Surprised, she raised one eyebrow and asked to Inuyasha who was still fighting with his pants, "Was it a new kind of defense Inuyasha? Attacking them with your personal monster till they die laughing?"
"Shut up wench!" The human Inuyasha growled.
"Inuyasha had found a way to get attack by youkais while he was urinating!" Miroku laughed.
"Miroku took care of them. You should have seen Inyasha's face when Kagome had sat him when his pants had fallen down!" Shippo told her causing Auriane to look at the blushing Kagome amused.
"I must say that it was not a pretty sight. I will have difficulties to overcome this trauma!" Totosai said in turn.
"By the way, where were you Auriane-chan?" Sango asked to change of subject.
"Me? Nowhere…" Pretending to yawn the woman added blushing, "Well I think it's time to go sleep. We have a long day awaiting us tomorrow!"
On their way back to the camp, Kagome whispered to her curiously, "It's strange… Sesshomaru had also disappeared earlier… If I didn't know you better, I would have said that you were together…In the middle of the night!"
Auriane shocked by her friend's words, stumbled and twisted her ankle, "Ouch! Awww! It hurts dammit!"
"Are you alright?" Her friends asked her while Totosai and Shippo looked at her ankle closely.
"It is just twisted. You should be more careful to where you put your feet Auriane-chan." The old youkai said, tempted to caress her young skin.
"Hey wench! Do you want me to teach you how to walk?" Inuyasha asked sacarstically.
"Do you want me to teach you how to keep on your pants, deficient brain?" She asked back.
Since Sesshomaru's return the next morning, Auriane was feeling uneasy. The Lord kept staring at her in a strange way that made her heart beat accelerating dangerously. To her dismay, she soon discovered that the odd behavior of Sesshomaru hadn't gone unnoticed.
"Hey stupid! What did you do to that bastard?" Inuyasha suddenly asked her.
"Stop accusing me! I haven't done anything. I'm as innocent as a new born lamb!" Auriane answered defensively.
"There must be a reason for him to keep watching you like this Auriane-chan. Maybe he is simply enchanted by your beauty?" Miroku told her.
"Don't say stupid things! Sesshomaru can't find her attractive! Don't forget that he despises humans, so he will not find one of them beautiful, even less the wench." The hanyo said as a matter of fact.
"Inuyasha! Don't be rude!" Kagome exclaimed while Auriane kicked him in the head.
"Anyway, his behavior is strange. He looks like he is devouring her with his eyes!" Sango said pensively.
"Oh please, stop talking about it! It makes me feel nervous." Auriane said in a pleading tone.
Kagome exchanged a knowing look with Sango and replied, "Okay, we will drop the Sesshomaru subject for now if you promise to tell us everything later."
The young woman groaned at her friend and hastened her pace to join Totosai and the children, hoping that they'll have another kind of conversation.
The next late afternoon
Auriane was bitting her lips nervously. Though she really was trying to think about it, she wasn't succeeding at finding a suitable definition for what the word courting meant, even less, what importance it had in the youkai's world. She knew that in the human's world, it was about some kind of seduction, but she didn't know much more about it. So, as long as she will be ignorant on the subject, she would avoid the Lord because she had no answer to give him for the moment. She needed to talk about it to someone discreetly about it, without raising suspicion about what happened with Sesshomaru. When she spotted Totosai alone, in meditation position, she released the breath she was holding and smiled. She thought that he was certainly experienced enough to know about these things and will certainly be able to enlighten her.
The old youkai had felt her approaching and instantly knew she was trouble by something. "What can I do to appease your mind dear Auriane-chan?"
Sitting close to him, she replied, "I thought that maybe you could help me with something that is occupying my thoughts for a while."
Totosai opened his eyes and raised his eyebrows, "I am listening to you dear."
"Well, i was wondering..." She hesitated a few seconds, then she finally spoke, "I was wondering what courting meant."
The swordsmith was surprised. He hadn't expected this kind of question. Scratching his head he asked, "You want to know what a courtship is huh? In the human's world or in the youkai's world?"
"Both!" Kagome replied sitting next to her friend. Auriane was so engrossed into her thoughts that she hadn't felt the miko approaching and groaned internally. At the same time, she thought that Kagome's presence could be a godsend since her friend would also ask questions. Like this, no one would get suspicious since she and Inuyasha were in love, it would be normal for Kagome to want to know how it works for the youkais, while it would allow her to not reveal her real interest on the subject!
"Yes, both." Auriane confirmed.
"Well, a courtship is similar in both worlds, as much as is it also different in a lot of ways." When he saw the confused look on the girls' face he explained. "For both humans and youkais, this word means that the male and the female state up to each other that their intentions are to see if the other one is a suitable potential for a marriage or for a mate partner. It is a chaste way to deepen the knowledge of the other and of oneself, as much as to understand what one feels. It gives the time to an intimate bond to born and grows between the future partners. The male and female are free to stop the courtship at any time."
The two friends looked at each other and waited for him to continue.
"The word courting has roughly the same signification for humans as for youkais. However, sometimes some youkais can follow a certain protocol to ask for the permission to woo the one to whom they are attracted to. But nowadays, this rule is mostly followed by the nobles. Some youkais, which are generally less educated, do not bother to court the one they desire and will only pursue the female when she will be heat. The most educated ones will take the time to know their partner and seduce her, before proceeding to the mating. For years now, we also see some youkais desiring to have a ceremony, so the female will become his bride and then his wife for life." Totosai replied, satisfied of his answer.
"I thought youkais didn't marry and only mate instead…" Auriane said remembering the night she had talked about this subject with Sesshomaru months ago.
"Who told you that?" Totosai asked her surprised.
"Oh! No one in particular… it was just an observation I made one day." The woman lied.
"Well, to say the truth, some youkais use the word bride and others the word mate. It is true that taking a mate is very widespread in the youkai's world, more than taking a bride. Before the youkais began to live in proximity with the humans, the words bride and wedding did not exist." Scratching his small goatee pensively, he added, "We can say that today, perpetuating the protocols of the old youkais' mating traditions, is also a way to differentiate from human kind. Normally, for a youkai, a marriage ceremony is not necessary, but for the young youkais, who are not particularly attached to our traditions and who are attracted by humans' way of courting, they will often ask for a marriage…"
Looking at the women in front of him, he exclaimed with a pervert smile, "What really matters at the end of a youkai's courting, is when they will finally be able to impregnate their partner with their smell!"
Kagome looked at him with big innocents eyes and asked, "How do they do that?" Wondering if one day, she'll find herself in such situation with Inuyasha.
When Auriane saw that Totosai was suddenly uncomfortable and had a light blush on his cheeks, she bent toward the miko and said, "I think they can do that by having wild hot sex, Kagome..."
The miko's face became as red as Inuyash's clothes when she suddenly had strange images of a naked hanyo appearing in her head, "Oh! I see…"
"Are there other differences?" Auriane asked. She hadn't expected to be so interested by this subject.
Totosai search in his thoughts for a while and exclaimed, "Ah yes! I have not talked to you about the process of the marking, is not it?"
When the young women answered negatively, he proceeded, "Well, the major difference between a human and a youkai is that a youkai can mark his mate. This is not always the case and this method is generally more prevalent in the nobility class so that people recognize and respect the bride. If an arranged mating, the male will give the mark during a ceremony in front of the court. But, if the male and the female are destined for each other and have deep affection and desire for the other, the marking will turn to be instinctive. During courting, their bond will grow so deep that the male will be obsessed by the need to mark his chosen and will not be able to refrain from giving her his mark, once he will have accompanied her to the climax of pleasure. This kind of instinctive marking is very rare."
"Woaw! It seems to be really… passionate!" Auriane chuckled.
Totosai nodded and told Kagome, "I think that's why the whelp dares not face what he feels for you. Love is a powerful thing for humans and it is even more for youkais. When you have these deep feelings, there is a bond that united you. This bond is deepened by the marking. Once the mark is made, the mates can feel what the other feels miles away. This is possible only when there is a deep attachment and commitment to each other. Youkais and humans are similar, but it is a lot more powerful, extreme, passionate and fusional for youkais. This instinctive need to mark the other can be very powerful and the male must be very strong to master this instinct and not hurt the female in the process… even more so if the female is human."
Auriane felt that Kagome was troubled by these revelations, even if she wasn't showing it.
Kagome thought what was saying Totosai made sense. She and Inuyasha had lived small tender moments, but each time their tenderness turned into something more intimate, Inuyasha would disappeared suddenly giving her a brief and ridiculous excuse.
'Is he scared of losing control and hurt me?' she wondered. She was roused from her thoughts by the voice of Totosai who unexpectedly gave very interesting information…
"As for you my dear Auriane-chan, do not think I do not know why you came to see me!" He said pointing a finger toward her nose, "I know what happened between you and the young Sesshomaru!"
Crossing his arms and looking at her with a smirk he added, "Before, I would have advised you to flee, to run as far away as possible from him. But I have to admit that his heart has finally changed and matured. Why do you not ask him directly what are his intentions towards you? You will finally know what he means by courting you! And you have to know that the courtship ritual is different for every youkai species so he is best placed to explain you Inuyoukai's ways!"
Auriane gaped at him with bulged eyes, "How do you know that…"
He stopped her by waving his hand and said closing his eyes, "I may be old, but my senses are still well developed. And we cannot say that both of you had been very discreet with your aroused scents! It hadn't left anything to the imagination!" Turning his back to the girls he said, "Now please excuse me lovely ladies, but I have to finish my meditation to be able to endure Inuyasha for the rest of the day."
Auriane was mortified and let herself being lifted up and dragged away by the very excited Kagome. Once they had reached a secluded place, the miko turned to her with a big smile and asked, "What exactly happened between you and Sesshomaru? Why Totosai talked about aroused scents?"
Auriane's face took a bright red color and under the insistence of her friend before she replied in a small voice, "He kind of asked me permission to court me..."
The miko squealed loudly, "And? How did he ask you? Was it romantic? What did you answered? Tell me!"
All these questions caused Auriane's head to spin, "Well, I hadn't time to answer anything since Inuyasha had been attacked just after he asked me."
"So? How did he ask you? Hugh! I have a hard time to imagine Sesshomaru saying something like this!" The miko said laughing.
"He made me come to the cold spring and he just asked me… that's all." The young woman replied.
"Why am I under the impression that you are hiding something from me?" Kagome said accusingly.
Auriane started to walk away to go in search of Sesshomaru and said quickly before Kagome had time to react, "I forgot to say that he was waiting for my arrival completely nude!" She could hear the miko shouting her name, ordering her to come back, but she kept running away laughing.
Walking into the woods, she thought back at Kagome and how troubled she had felt when Totosai had talked about Inuyasha's behavior. 'I will talk to her once I'm done with the mighty prick!'
Auriane continued to advance while she was full of apprehensions. She was eager to find Sesshomaru to talk to him and at the same time, she was anxious to know the real motivations of the Lord. The more she went on, guided by Sesshomaru's aura, the more she felt her heart beating violently. She tried to reason herself by saying that in the end, she had nothing to fear. But it was the first time she was in this kind of situation and having never seen Sesshomaru to have such a behavior before, she felt anxiety rising in her, wondering what she should expect. Finally, taking a deep breath, she walked into the small clearing where he was.
She stopped walking the moment she spotted him. He had his back toward her and was facing the other side of the clearing. She didn't know where to start and therefore, to her great frustration, she was remaining silent.
"You are anxious. Why?" Auriane raised her surprised eyes to him when she heard his voice and noticed that he had turned toward her noiselessly. He was looking directly into her eyes and waited for an answer.
She gulped the nervous knot that had formed in her throat and answered truthfully, "Maybe it is because of the subject of conversation i want to have with you…"
The Lord raised an eyebrow and waited for her to detail. He guessed why she wanted to talk to him and admitted to himself that he had been waiting for this moment.
"I'd like to know why you want to court me." Auriane detected a hint of surprise crossing his perfect features and wondered what he will answer.
Sesshomaru was taken aback by her words. He thought that he had been obvious the other day, but apparently, she needed confirmation of his intentions. He thought that humans tend to need to be reassured. It found it pathetic. Approaching her slowly, he said, "I, Sesshomaru, had asked your permission to court you because of this disturbing attraction and curiosity i experience toward you."
'Well this is what is called being direct!' she thought. His deep voice and his word made her suddenly shivering. She couldn't believe that a being such as him could be attracted to her and found herself voicing her thoughts. "How can you be attracted to me? You despise humans!"
Turning his amazing amber eyes to the side, he said softly, "I do not despise you."
"Oh! So… it means that… wait! What does it mean actually?" She replied.
"By allowing me to court you, I will be able to explore these curious emotions your presence forces me to feel and against which I cannot fight." Sesshomaru said looking at her.
Seeing that she was lost in her thoughts, he decided to open himself to her to let her know the truth. If he wanted her trust, he had to make the first move to prove his intentions were sincere.
Auriane was startled. The moment she felt his hands taking possession of hers, she was able to feel his emotions. The woman was astonished, she was overwhelmed by so many emotions! He had dropped down all the barriers for her and she realized that in his way, he cared for her. Everything he had done for her over the months, everything his instinct had made him done for her, shocked her deeply. Auriane understood his ignorance toward these foreign feelings and why he desired to quench and appease these curiosities. If she accepted him, it will allow him to learn and experience them freely. This is why he needed her to accept his demand of courting.
All a sudden, her whole body stiffened. Sesshomaru had just showed her that he knew she was also attracted to him. The specific scent that had the power to intoxicate her so much came from him! She was attracted to the smell his body was emitting when aroused! Then, to her disappointment, the Lord silenced his aura abruptly, as if she had seen too much.
Her heart was pounding wildly and once she dared to look into his eyes, she was captivated by what she saw. His face showed nothing, only his eyes were betraying his heart. His eyes were of an intense light gold color, which were looking at her with a soft tenderness. She realized then, that they were both trapped in a whirlwind of emotions and feelings that were foreign to them both and the only chance they had to discover what it really meant, was for her to accept his demand of courting.
Before answering his silent demand, she murmured a question that was burning her lips, "What will you do to court me?"
To her question, the eyes of the Lord took a predatory air and she felt like a prey that was going to be devoured by his instinctive desire. "Nothing you will refuse, nor you will undesired." He simply replied mysteriously.
She felt her breath caught in her throat. Still hypnotized by his eyes, she asked, "What will happen after that?"
He closed his eyes and inhaled her troubled and anxious scents before answering, "I have not the answer yet."
"AURIAAAAAANE! What the fuck are you doing again? It's time to eat you know! We're not gonna wait an eternity for you!" Inuyasha's sweet voice rang through the forest and was approaching them dangerously. When she turned back to Sesshomaru, she saw that he had already disappeared once again. Before walking back toward Inuyasha, she yelled, knowing the Lord would hear her, "I accept Sesshomaru!"
After the meal that evening, Kagome went to see Inuyasha who had moved a little further in a tree to stand guard all night. She needed to know why he kept fleeing every time they began to get a little more intimate. Was it her fault? Was what Totosai said true? If though, could she do something about it?
"Oy Kagome! What are you doing here alone?" She heard Inuyasha's voice coming from the tree just next to her.
She looked at him with so much sadness and concern that the hanyo panicked and jumped from the tree. Taking her by the shoulders, he asked with big wide eyes, "What's going on? Something happened at the camp?" Sniffing the air quickly, he noticed that everything was calm.
Shaking her head, she tried to smile to reassure him. "Nothing happened, Inuyasha, don't worry."
"So why are you making this face? You look like someone had just died!" He replied.
Growling at him, she answered, "Stop it Inuyasha! I just came here to talk to you."
When she saw that he was looking strangely at her, cocking his head to the side to show he was waiting for her to speak, she sighed and asked, "Is something wrong with me?"
Inuyasha incredulously, sniffed her everywhere and said, "No, I don't feel anything wrong."
Slapping his shoulder Kagome groaned, "Not like this Inuyasha!" Then looking at her hands she blushed and blurted out, "Is it because of me that you seem to be so uncomfortable when we are... becoming a little intimate?"
The hanyo took off his hands from her shoulders and looked like she had just burnt him. Surprised by the question he had hoped she'll never ask, he stuttered, "No! Why are you saying that?"
"So… you just don't want to be more intimate with me?" Kagome could feel a pang deep in her heart.
Waving his hands frantically before him, he really didn't want to talk about this subject, but he wanted even unless for Kagome to misunderstand his behavior. "No no no! It's not what I meant!"
Then blushing madly, he turned on the side to not look at her in the eyes and added, "I..i have nothing against the fact becoming more ... intimate with you."
Closing his eyes, the hanyo remembered all the time he had almost lost it when he had felt Kagome's voluptuous forms against him. Her scents had such an impact on him that when he had dared to slide his nose into the crook of her neck to inhale her sweet essence, he had felt the primal need to rip her clothes to have more. Lost in his thoughts, he felt his fists clenched when he thought back at how good it had felt to slide his hands over her clothed body and how much he had wished for the disappearance of her clothes, so he would have been able to touch her sensitive skin below.
Inuyasha frowned when he remember the time when they were losing themselves in each other embrace and had lie down on the ground. She had felt so good under him that he had been afraid when his body had suddenly roared to get its release. The desperate need for her he had felt that night had scared him away. He could feel his youkai side coming dangerously at the surface and had feared to hurt her if he wasn't stopping their intimate contact.
While remembering, his mouth had started to salivate at the thought of tasting her skin, to kiss, to lick and ...to bite her, he closed his eyes and said, "It's me Kagome. Something is wrong with me every time we are…" Looking into her eyes, he murmured, "I don't want to hurt you."
"Totosai told me that some youkais can feel an immense need to mark their…female. Is it what you are afraid about Inuyasha?" Kagome said with her heart beating violently.
Turning his back to her, he answered through clenched teeth, "I can hurt you badly if I am not careful enough Kagome. But it's so hard to fight against it!" He suddenly turned to face her and took her hands in his, "You are mine Kagome. You are precious and the last thing I want is to hurt you, even less like this."
Smiling slightly at him, she closed the gap between them and kissed him passionately. "Thank you Inuyasha." When she saw him looking at her curiously, she added, "To have been honest with me."
The hanyo looked at her walking away and touched his lips, still wet from her kiss. He desperately wanted to find a solution to fight his instinct. Maybe if he became stronger, he will be able to resist it and not bit her when they'll…
The miko sighed for the tenth time while walking back to the camp. A small smile was on her lips, while her eyes held uncertainty. 'So Totosai-sama was right.' She thought. She was relieved and so happy to know that Inuyasha loved her so much that he felt the need to mark her as his. It really meant that they had a deep bond and that they were destined to be together! But she also knew she was only a human and weak compared to a female youkai. If she didn't found a way to become stronger, Inuyasha will never be able to love her completely and freely. He will always have to control himself around her for fear to hurt her. Looking at the stars through the trees, Kagome thought how unlucky this part of her life was. She had found the love of her life here, in the Feudal Era. She will grow old rapidly while he will still look the same and during the short time they'll be able to spend together, Inuyasha may never be able to succumb to his needs as long as he will be with her, because he could hurt her weak body!
Looking back to where was the hanyo, she promised herself to find a solution. Remembering what Tadako had told her before they left her shrine, she smiled and told herself that once they were done with this Junichiro, she will go back to her to know more. When she'll come back, there will be no reason for Inuyasha to withhold himself.
This is all for this chapter. It was a simple and soft one. Now I have to work on originals ways for the courting and also find interesting things to happen to the characters. So if you have originals ideas which could inspire me, don't hesitate to contact me! See you soon.