PA 36
InuYasha awoke early, a gentle knocking on the door serving as the wake-up call. InuYasha opened his eyes to find Sango still beside him, fast asleep, the knocking not seeming to awaken her. InuYasha got up, making sure that Sango was still covered by blankets, before stretching. He walked over to the door, and opened it, looking out. The woman from last night was there, clad in her purple battle uniform, plus a bandage wrapped around her left arm, covering the wound Kiko had healed last night. She stood in front of him, and held up a tray laden with food items.
"I've brought you breakfast, I hope I wasn't too early." She said. "I didn't want to awaken you." She said. InuYasha looked at the food, and felt his stomach growl as his sharpened nose scented the delicious smells.
"It's fine, we wanted to be up early anyway." InuYasha said. He smiled at the woman as he took the tray, and he could tell she was still nervous about waking them up. InuYasha turned and set the tray down on the floor, then turned back to the woman. As he looked at her, he noticed her look back into his eyes, as if she had been staring at her feet for a second.
"So, were you born in this village?" InuYasha asked, leaning against the door frame. The woman nodded, blinking her beautiful blue eyes as her brown hair was blown about by a sudden gust of cold wind. The woman looked away to the left for a second, before looking back at InuYasha, staring him in the eyes.
"Yes, I was." She said. "I joined the military at the age of twelve, and now being fifteen, I have three years of active experience." She said. "I quite enjoy it too." She said.
InuYasha nodded. "Have you been to any warmer villages, or is this the only place you've known?"
The woman smiled for what appeared to be the first time since they had met her last night. "I have known only this village and it's climate, so this is a warm village; at least, for me it is." She said. "Once you live here for a while, you get used to it." She said. "You adapt, and this mild temperature becomes almost unnoticeable."
InuYasha nodded again, and noticed that while she had spoke, she had constantly shifted her eyes down, then to the side, then back to his face. He wondered if she was lying to him, or she was just nervous.
"What's it mean that your the village leaders 'Second'?" InuYasha asked, yawning and stretching, placing his hands on the top of the door frame. The woman shifted her weight from one leg to her other, and looked away again.
"It means that I'm his Second-In-Command, if he were to fall in battle, then I would take leadership of the village, and rule it as if I was the village leader." She said. "From there, I can either choose to stay leader, or elect someone else to become leader in my stead." She said.
InuYasha bit his lip, and nodded. "Hey, my questions aren't making you uncomfortable, are they?" InuYasha asked.
The woman blushed lightly. "What do you mean?" She asked. InuYasha shrugged. "I dunno, just your body language and the way you keep looking away makes me think you'd rather I just end the conversation." He said.
The woman smiled. "Ah, I promise you that's not the case." She said. "It's merely..."
InuYasha raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"
"Well, your nudity makes me a bit uncomfortable, that's all." She said. InuYasha looked down at himself, and realized that he was shirtless, and wore only his white hakama undergarment. His fire-rat kimono was on the floor next to the bed, where it had been thrown last night.
InuYasha coughed, and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Sorry." He said. The woman smiled. "It's no problem." She said.
InuYasha returned the smile, and then inquired about her name.
"It's Hakase." She said, reaching up to fix her headband.
"InuYasha." Was InuYasha's reply to her unasked question. InuYasha's ear twitched as he heard Sango behind him waking up, and he took it as a conversation breaker.
"Well, you've probably got things to do, so I'll let you go." InuYasha said. "Thanks for bringing the food." He said.
Hakase smiled. "It was no problem." She said. "See you later."
With that, she turned, and started jogging for one of the houses across the village, and InuYasha retreated inside the cabin, closing the door against the rising frigid wind.
InuYasha picked up the food tray, and brought it to Sango's side.
"Hey babe." He said softly, as she woke up. Sango blinked, then smiled at him, pushing off the covers.
"Hey sexy." She said, reaching toward him. She hugged him tightly, before noticing the food tray between them. She let go of him, but he managed to sneak in a kiss on the lips before she got too far away.
"Hmm, this looks good." She said, yawning. She spotted InuYasha's hakama laying on the floor, and she grabbed them, slipping into them quickly to hide her nudity. They were a lot easier to slip into right now than her slayer suit, anyway. InuYasha grinned. "Yeah, the girl brought it over about a minute ago." He said.
"The girl...?" Sango asked, her mind still fuzzy from sleep.
"The girl who showed us to our rooms last night." He said.
Sango nodded. "Ahh, I see." She said.
They both picked at the food, silence reining supreme between them for a few minutes.
"So what do you think?" InuYasha asked, a few minutes later.
Sango grinned, hating that type of random question. "Think about what?" She asked.
"About anything." He said. "This village, me, our situation, Sei and Kiko, anything." He said.
Sango was silent for a second, chopsticks in her mouth.
"Hmm, cold, hot, difficult, and cute." She said.
InuYasha's ear twitched, making Sango giggle.
"Huh?" He asked.
"The village is cold, you're hot, our situation is difficult, and Sei and Kiko are cute." She said. "That's what I think."
InuYasha grinned, and got up onto his knees, leaning forward.
"So you think Sei and Kiko are cute, eh?" he asked, crawling on top of her. Sango nodded, laying back on the floor. She took the chopsticks out of her mouth and laid them on the floor beside her. InuYasha straddled her hips, staring down at her.
Sango stared up at him calmly, studying his face. InuYasha leaned down and kissed her, closing his eyes. Sango reached up and placed her hands on his chest, sliding her hands along his chest and shoulders. InuYasha nipped her gently on the neck, and Sango moaned.
"Jeez, you're such a tease in the mornings." She said, trying to sound non-interested and failing miserably.
"What do you mean I'm a tease?" InuYasha asked.
Sango hummed gently. "Well, you get me all worked up, then leave me hanging." She said. "You never finish what you start, you damn tease."
InuYasha laughed. "Aww, that's just too bad." He said, kissing her collar bone. She was naked except for her wrap, and the red hakama that she had taken off the floor.
"Ahh damn, you look so sexy with just my pants on, and a few bandages covering you up." He whispered in her ear. "I might have to get you out of those."
Sango arched her back as he kissed her neck, pressing her breasts against his chest.
"Hnn...good luck..." She said. InuYasha smirked, and nuzzled her neck. "Is that a challenge?" He asked.
Sango stared at him, her face blushing red, but her eyes clear and focussed. "Maybe..."
InuYasha slipped his hands down her body, stopping near her hips. He kissed her on the mouth, and slowly slipped the hakama off her hips. Sango realized what he was doing, and she broke the kiss, pushing him away and laughing. She quickly pulled his hakama up, and stood. She took a few steps away, realizing that his pants didn't even come close to fitting her. They were loose around her hips, and hung down past her feet. InuYasha laughed and got up, chasing her around the room.
Sango shrieked, and ducked his groping hands, as he lunged toward her, and she dodged to the left. She stumbled over the baggy pants, and almost tripped. InuYasha made another grab for her, and got her, slipping his hands around her waist and keeping her from getting away. Sango struggled to get away from him, even as he ducked his head toward her chest.
He kissed her on the collarbone, before taking the edge of her wrap in his teeth and ripping part of it.
"InuYasha!" She shrieked, laughing. His puppy ears twitched against her chest as he tried hurriedly to tear off her wrap while holding on tight to her. Sango only had one available hand to fend him off, for her other was valiantly holding up her pants.
InuYasha succeeded in ripping a bit more of her wrap, but Sango twisted out of his grasp. She took a few steps away from him, laughing, before he tackled her to the floor. InuYasha grabbed her arms, and pinned them over her head, holding them down with one hand. He slid his other hand down between her legs, realizing for the first time just how thin his kimono was.
There wasn't much fabric separating his hand from her body, and it only took a few seconds of rubbing before Sango was moaning softly in his ear. InuYasha finally took this chance to bite through the rest of the wrap hiding her breasts, and it fell off, revealing her perfect breasts, and slightly hardened nipples.
Sango shivered at the loss of her wrap, but knew that more was on it's way.
Arms still pinned above her head by InuYasha, Sango knew she was defenseless against InuYasha's advances. It didn't bother her though, she was enjoying it rather nicely.
InuYasha licked her breast softly, swiping his pink tongue along the side of her breast, straying dangerously close to her nipple. Sango felt a wave of semi-pleasure streak through her, and she wanted to beg InuYasha to lick her nipple, increasing the pleasure, but she didn't want to give him the satisfaction.
InuYasha knew that he was in control though, and he took his time heightening her pleasure. He switched to her other breast, licking and nipping it, never going long enough or close enough to her nipples to ensure any amount of real pleasure.
Now, though, he was starting to feel wetness creeping through his pants that she was wearing, and he knew that he was getting her good. He smirked, and kissed a trail down her stomach, stopping at her belly-button. He could no longer hold her arms above her head, so he brought them around to her sides and held them there. The only disadvantage was that he now needed one hand to hold each wrist. It didn't bother him though, and he continued with his ministrations.
He licked at her stomach, taking the edge of his hakama in his teeth. He gently pulled his pants off her hips a few inches, then kissed the skin revealed, before repeating the process.
Sango was now wanting him so bad she was actually helping him, wiggling her hips to encourage the pants to slide down further every time he took the hem in his fangs. InuYasha never let it slip too far down too fast though, wanting to drag it out and make her wait.
Next door, Sei and Kiko were awakened as they heard a loud thump coming from InuYasha and Sango's room. They raised their heads, and looked at the wall that they shared with them, wondering what was going on. A few seconds later they heard Sango shriek, then laugh, followed by another thumping sound.
Kiko looked at Sei, and smiled.
"Guess some people just really enjoy it in the morning." She said. Sei shook her head, smiling, and got out of bed. Her weapons and most of her clothes were in the corner of the hut, along with Kiko's. Kiko got out of bed, and dressed quickly, lest anyone come in to visit. Sei copied her move, dressing swiftly. She wasn't used to the frigid temperatures, so when she hugged Kiko, she was content to hold her for a few minutes, relishing the warmth she gave off. The hugging swiftly turned to kissing, and would have progressed further, if not for a knock at the door that made them pull away blushing, with a mad scramble to straighten their clothes and lick their bruised lips.
Sei took a few seconds to compose herself, before opening the door.
She immediately recognized the woman from the night before, and smiled at her.
"Hey." She said.
"Hello." The brown haired lady said, introducing herself. "I came to deliver some food to you, I hope I didn't wake you up." She said.
Kiko came to the door, and slipped her arm around Sei's waist, waving to the woman.
"Hi!" She said happily.
Sei smiled, and shook her head. "No, we were already up." She said. "Thank you for your consideration though." She said.
The woman smiled, and handed the food laden tray to Sei. "Well, I must take leave now." She said, bowing. She straightened, then looked at Kiko. "Thank you ma'am for what you did last night." She said.
Kiko waved it off. "It was nothing." She said. "Speaking of which, how is your wound?"
"Ah, it's healing nicely, and it's free of pain, thanks to you." She said.
Kiko smiled. "That's good." She said. "Oh, but you have to leave."
The woman nodded.
Sei held up the food. "Thank you."
The woman said nothing, she merely bowed, and took her leave.
Sei and Kiko retreated into the cabin, shivering.
"Whoo! Damn, I don't know how they live with it." Sei said, seemingly the most susceptible to the cold.
Kiko giggled, and pulled a blanket from the bed.
"C'mere babe." She said. "Snuggle with me whilst we eat."
Sei happily obliged, snuggling close to her girl, sharing the food with her.
"Well, what do we do now?" Sei asked, taking small pieces of fish and chewing slowly.
Kiko shrugged. "Well, we'll wait till things quiet down next door, then go over and see what they're planning." She said. "After all, they're going to eventually find Naraku, and we want to be there when they finally do." She said.
Sei nodded. "Yes, yes I do."
(Back to Keiran and Sesshomaru)
Keiran smiled at Sesshomaru.
"Well?" She asked.
"What you proposition to me, you do so with absolutely no knowledge of me." He said cooly. "You dare think that I will take you on as an apprentice?" He asked. "Knowing that you've associated with that whelp of my younger half-sibling, I think I might catch something." He said.
Keiran shook her head.
"Oh no, you're wrong." She said quickly.
Beside Sesshomaru, Jaken gasped loudly, never hearing someone call his master wrong and live more than ten seconds after that. Indeed, Sesshomaru's claws were flexing, but he had more self-control than that. He stared at her patiently, his ice-cold eyes almost glaring, but not quite.
"Your brother told me all about you." She said. "Told me that you're an arrogant ass, who thinks he owns the world, and that you have no thoughts for anyone except yourse-"
Sesshomaru cut her off, clearing the distance between them in a heartbeat. He shoved her up against a tree, and his claws were at her throat.
"Did he tell you that I could kill you before you knew I had even moved?" He asked softly, his sharp golden eyes staring into her own black ones.
Keiran, surprised at his sudden movement, managed a weak smile. "Yeah, in fact I was just getting to that part." She said cockily.
"Lord Sesshomaru, why don't you just kill this insolent whelp?" Jaken asked.
Sesshomaru didn't even have to turn to Jaken to silence him; his tone carried all the malice and dangerous intent that his gaze would.
"Jaken. Silence."
Jaken fell silent, and said no more, twiddling the staff of two heads between his small green hands.
Sesshomaru gently pressed his claws against Keiran's throat, and stared deeply into her eyes.
"Well?" He asked.
"Well what?" Keiran countered, feeling her fear of him starting to diminish.
"Are you wanting me to end your life?" He asked. Sesshomaru then quickly checked himself. He had almost put emotion into his voice, and that's something he couldn't afford to do.
"Naw, that would counter my desire to have you train me." Keiran said, grinning at him.
Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed, and he pressed harder.
"What didn't you understand about me telling you that this one doesn't take apprentices?" He asked.
"Yeah, but I don't care about that." She said, waving her hands. "Let's push aside those thoughts for now, and concentrate on you training me how to kill people."
Now, Sesshomaru's claws were beginning to draw blood, but he refused to kill her. If he killed her now, it would prove to be out of anger or agitation, and he couldn't let anyone know that this wench had hackled him beyond anything he'd been before.
"I could kill you, for starters." He said softly.
"Hmm, now that I look at you, you are quite attractive." She said. "You remind me of a refined version of InuYasha." She said.
If Sesshomaru's self-control hadn't been honed to the point of perfection, he would have gutted her where she stood.
"Him and I are simply in a different class." He hissed softly. "So don't compare us."
Suddenly, Rin ran up to Keiran, and grabbed her leg.
"Please, Lord Sesshomaru, don't kill the girl, she's funny!"
Both looked down at Rin, the tense moment between them gone.
Sesshomaru looked at Keiran the same time Keiran looked back to him, but there was no emotion in his eyes, nothing to indicate that he would respect Rin's ways.
There was a long, silent moment in which Sesshomaru looked back and forth between pleading Rin clutching Keiran's leg, and Keiran grinning mockingly at him.
Then, his intelligence was put to work, as he slowly pulled away.
"This is how it will be done." He said. "I refuse to train you, for there is nothing to train." He said. "However, if you wish to watch some of my fighting, and swordsman skills, then you will follow me, and take care of Rin." He said. "You will find your own food, as well as Rin's, and keep out of my way and out of my business." He said. "Otherwise, I'll kill you where you stand."
Keiran felt a shudder run down her spine, and for a second she realized that he was entirely serious.
"D-deal." She stuttered, and Sesshomaru glared down at her distastefully. "I don't make deals with anyone." He said. "This is an agreement, based on conditions that pertain to me only. It isn't a deal." He said.
Keiran said nothing, instead she glanced down at the girl. The girl looked up at her, then realized that she was still holding on to her. She let go, and gave a tiny bow.
"Hi, I'm Rin. I used to be mute, but when Lord Sesshomaru saved me, I suddenly got my voice back. Now I love to talk, and sometimes people tell me I talk to much." She said. "What about you, what's your name?"
Keiran stared down at the big excitement in the tiny package, and wondered what she had gotten herself into. "I'm Keiran." She said. "Nice to meet you."
Sesshomaru had wandered a few feet away, but now he turned to face Keiran. She caught the motion and looked up. As her eyes met his, she felt herself paralysed by his gaze, which seemed to exude anger.
"Listen to me and listen carefully, Keiran." He said. "If anything happens to Rin whilst under your care, consider yourself dead." He said. "Running to the ends of the Earth won't save you if any harm befalls that girl."
Keiran nodded weakly, and wondered what it was about his peircing glare that was so strong.
Rin took her hand, breaking her out of her thoughts. "Come on!" She said. "Let's go look for berries!"
Training forgotten, Keiran ran into the woods, chasing after the girl. She had no idea what she had gotten herself into, but she figured she was about to find out.
Back in the Northern village, a young boy strode purposefully toward a young, brown-haired woman. He stepped in front of her, surprising her.
"Um, can I help you?" She asked.
Without removing his mask, he spoke.
"Have a half demon, demon slayer, and two women come to this village recently?" He asked.
The woman frowned, then nodded. "Yes." She said. "In fact, they're staying in those huts over there." She said, pointing. "The woman's slayer uniform resembled yours, actually." She said. "Are you from the same clan?"
The boy offered no replys; instead, he turned and strode toward the huts. A few feet away, he took his chain sickle into his hand. Surely by now the half-demon had sniffed him out.
Sure enough, the door on one of the huts opened, and the silver-haired half demon was glaring at him with a grimace on his face, the demon-slayer behind him.
"Kohaku...come to attack us again?"
"InuYasha. Prepare for your death." Was all he had to say. Then he attacked.
A/N: That's all for this chapter. It's getting pretty close to the end, and that makes me a bit sad. I rather enjoyed working on this one, and I'll be sad to stop, but at the same time rather happy to finally complete it. As always, please review, let me know what you think.