TORN.
Akane felt more alive then she ever had in her entire life.
Everything was brighter.
Louder and more vivid.
Not like when she was Sesshy, but almost as beautiful and amazing.
Whether this was due to the mixing blood in her body, or the after effects of having sex with her mate, she didn't know or care.
The world was right.
She belonged to someone.
Someone belonged to her.
Things had been nearly perfect for a while to be honest.
But there was only one problem...
Naraku.
She had been thinking about him off and on for a while now.
Even now, she wished to get thru to him and make him change.
He and Sesshy would get along fine after a while, she just knew it.
Maybe even be friends.
After all, the man was very much like herself in personality...
Just a bit more twisted.
As it was, they were slowly making their way in the direction Kagome had said Naraku was seen.
Akane was mated.
How would he react to that?
Would he become worse, maybe even try to kill them all?
Shaking her head, she focused once more on the task at hand.
Sesshomaru had taken off a while ago without a reason, like he did when it was time for him to hunt something a bit more suitable for him to eat.
Rin was busy with Pokemon next to Ah-Uhn, while Jaken was happily reading the book she gave him.
Akane herself was doing laundry in the small stream not that far away.
They had found the stream just days before, when they ran into Inuyasha and crew, and had simply followed it upstream when they had left.
Akane tied a rope from one tree to another and hung the wet clothes.
Humming to the music that she played from a speaker attached to the MP3.
At the moment, Shinedown was starting to play the song 'Miracle'.
In the middle of belting out the words of the song, Akane turned to get more clothes from the pile behind her, only to let out a yelp.
Sesshomaru was right there.
Like, RIGHT there.
Watching her with a smile.
"FUCK! Sesshy, what are-"
He placed a claw over her lips, making her be quiet, and then took her hand.
Without a word, he began to dance with her to the music.
Slow and swaying.
How random and unexpected.
She couldn't look away from his eyes.
Something in them was off.
But they kept turning and swaying so she couldn't place what.
The song was over too soon, and silence filled the air as the two slowed to a stop, and he kissed her.
It was a kiss that made it feel like maybe he hadn't seen her for a while.
Like they had been parted.
No.
Nonononooo...
Why now?
He paused when he felt her fangs with his tongue, as if shocked by them, and at that moment his scent hit her.
Fuck.
Eyes wide, she pulled back from the kiss and glared.
"How many times are you going to pull this trick on me?"
He smiled innocently at her, and tilted his head to the side.
JUST like Sesshomaru.
He had even kissed like him.
"This one did not mean to scare you."
She blinked.
WHY was keeping up the Sesshy act?
His scent gave him away.
He reached out and touched her face.
Acting as if her reaction hurt him.
"Can I not dance with my mate?"
She blushed and looked away.
Fuck. Fuck. Shit. Fuck.
Naraku knew about it already?
It had only JUST been made official the two weeks before.
Was Kagura so bored?
Or was it those spying bugs of his?
"Do not look ashamed." He said while running his thumb over her cheek.
"I'm not ashamed!"
If he had come for some kind of revenge for her mating with Sesshy, or to just try and sway her the other way, she was not going to let anything bad happen to her family.
And while she did feel bad for the way this must hurt him, Akane did not regret falling in love.
Naraku was something she could not explain. She could say that she loved him too, but in a different way.
But he just didn't get that.
Akane looked back at him with a look of determination.
This made him smile, and it was so odd to be talking to him while he still looked like he did.
"You have fangs now, little dragon."
He sounded curious, and worried.
"Side effect."
"Of sex?" He blinked in surprise.
Sputtering, she blinked at him like he was stupid or something.
"No, you weirdo, of drinking blood."
This did not help him at all.
If anything, he looked grossed out.
"Yuck." He said like a kid.
Akane snorted and rolled her eyes.
"You eat yokai all the time."
Looking offended and still grossed out to the point it was adorable, he shook his head at her.
"Absorbing is not EATING. Since when do you do such things?"
"Only with my mate." She tried not to drive home that last word, but dang it all if he needed to get it in his head.
"Huh. So this Sesshomaru drinks your blood aswell?" He asked, ignoring her.
With a sigh, she nodded, then crossed her arms and eyed him.
"Just why are you talking like him?"
"Am I not him?" He said innocently.
"If your Sesshy, then I'm the queen of frickin' China." She retorted.
Naraku paused, then burst out laughing in a VERY Naraku way.
Sesshomaru didn't cackle like some crazy lunatic...
It was fifty shades of creepy.
Why was he here anyway?
"Listen, Na-"
And again, he stopped her with the tip of Sesshomaru's claw.
"Dance with me once more." He asked.
Akane watched the way those eyes that did not belong to him looked at her with hope.
She was unsure what to do.
He wanted to dance with her, while looking like another man?
"I know who you are." She stated the moment he removed his claw.
He stepped away, bowing his head to her and giving another smile.
"I am a man who loves you. That is all needed to be said at the moment."
Trying not to look ashamed after all, Akane glanced away.
Even still?
How could he say that after hearing she was mated to another?
Why was he so calm?
To be honest, it was freaking her out.
Giving up and deciding to let him play his game a while longer, she went over and chose another song.
This one a wordless classic melody that required a slow dance.
Seeming pleased, he reached his hand out to her, and she took it.
As they moved, Akane went ahead and said what was on her mind.
"I thought you said I wouldn't be seeing you again for a long while."
He spun her around, pulling her back close to his chest, still dancing.
"And who do you see now?" He teased softly in her ear.
Laughing lightly, Akane let him lead her as he pleased in the dance.
It made sense now.
He couldn't stay away after hearing they had mated, but remembered his last words to her.
Naraku had made keeping that word into a kind of game.
He was here, but Akane was not seeing him after all was she?
What an odd man.
"I wouldn't mind seeing Naraku." She teased him as she was spun again.
Looking at her with a glint in his eyes that betrayed who he was, he grinned.
"You are mated to this one, not him.
So tell me, why would you rather see that man now?"
The curious tone was not faked.
He was calm, not lashing out, and simply asking her why.
She looked him in the eyes.
Wishing at the moment that it was the maroon pair that greeted her.
"Goodness man, how many times must I say this? I can like who I want. The ones I care about will not change just because of who I'm with. And you and I are friends, and will remain so unless you decide otherwise."
"And if this one forbids this odd friendship you claim to have?" He asked with a smug glare.
Wow, he was good.
Almost like talking to the real thing.
"I would tell that one to fuck off. Just because I love him does not mean he can order me to drop my friends."
That surprised him.
"Is that so?" He said, amused.
The music stopped, but they kept moving in a slow circle.
"Very so. Besides, I think that the two of you could be friends if given the time to get to know each other."
NOW he let go of her, taking a step back and looking at her with that Naraku expression of 'Crazy ass'.
Funny on Sesshomaru's face.
"And how do you see THAT?"
"Why do we get along? Because you and I are so much alike. If he can stand my strangeness then why not yours too?" She asked.
"He doesn't want to fuck ME."
Akane blushed red even as she burst out laughing at the way he had said that with a straight face.
He made a point.
A silly one, but yeah...
Now here was her Naraku.
That sly smile was so not Sesshy.
"So why did you come?" She asked.
"To see you. To see if he is keeping you happy. Nothing more..."
He looked her up and down.
"And you look happy and... unhurt."
Face going red again, Akane gaped at him, then reached out and punched his arm as hard as she could.
"Ouch! I only have one of those at the moment, don't hit it!" He whined.
She snorted at hearing the man make Sesshomaru sound so childish.
"Dang it all, do I look like a flower to both of you guys? Something so easily broken?" She huffed and tossed her arms up in the air.
Clearly her outburst was not expected.
He looked shocked and on the verge of laughing all at once.
"Well, at least he worries. The dog gets some points for that..." He mused.
"Seriously?" She wanted to snap.
Reaching out to her, he messed up her hair in a playful way.
"We are allowed to worry, little dragon, about whom we love. Did you not teach me that at one time?"
Drats...
Why did he have to pay ATTENTION when she answered his crazy and random questions?
"Fine..." She pouted.
He smiled and leaned down to kiss her just next to her lips.
Like the very first time he had done so.
Her stomach turned to knots.
That familiar butterfly feeling crawled up her arms.
This was not right.
She was mated.
Just had sex LAST NIGHT with the man of her dreams.
But this sweetness melted her still...
Was she broken or what?
"Your dog is coming." He whispered before pulling away.
Guilt and worry filled her.
Sesshy would smell Naraku on her...
"You need to go!" She said in panic.
Cocking his head, he raised an eyebrow at her in a curious way.
"If I do that now, what will you say to explain my scent all over you?"
Gaping and trying not to panic, she stared at him like he was crazy.
"What are you planning?" She asked while a sly smile crossed his face.
For a mere half a second, those gold eyes flashed to his maroon ones.
It was freaky.
"He had sex with you. I'm allowed to do something to get him back."
Damn him and his logic.
His messed up, in need of six months of therapy, kind of logic!
"No your not! He doesn't even know that you like me-"
At that very moment, the real and very pissed off, Sesshomaru burst out from the treeline at full speed.
He had to have caught the scent on the way back.
Naraku snatched at Akane's wrist and yanked her close to him, kissing her hard on the mouth.
Akane froze.
So did Sesshomaru.
It had to be odd to see a double of himself, even if he knew who it was.
Oh. My. Fucking. Gawd!
Sesshomaru just watched Naraku fucking KISS her!
Was this getting him back?
Stupid!
Now Sesshy really would kill him!
A roar filled the air.
Sesshomaru's battle cry.
Naraku pulled away, pausing to look her in the eyes with a smile.
"Act shocked my dear." He whispered.
On cue, she began to struggle, making it seem the two had just started.
She growled and pulled, while he just had a cocky smile.
"Get away from MY woman!"
The way Sesshomaru said that made shivers go down her spine.
So assertive.
And so possesive.
The yokai lord was there in a blink, claws out and ready, slashing at the arm that was holding her wrist.
It ended with that arm hitting dirt. Severed just at the elbow.
Ouch.
Naraku, still looking like Sesshy's twin, jumped away with a laugh.
"Aaaw, what you go and do that for?" He waved what was left of the arm in the air in a comical way.
Then he simply grew it back.
As a matter of fact, as if to add salt to the injury, he grew BOTH arms back.
"Much better." He grinned while cracking both sets of claws.
"You jerk!" She spat out.
Honestly, he had to do THAT?
Naraku glanced over at her with a frown while Sesshomaru went for his sword, nearly slashing him in two.
"What?" Naraku asked her.
"If I have to tell you what, then your a fucking idiot!" She snapped at him.
He kept looking at her while fighting Sesshomaru, and she kept glaring.
"Oh FINE!" Naraku whined at her.
And one arm disappeared again.
Sesshomaru looked back and forth between the two.
Pissed and puzzled all at once at the odd behavior from Naraku.
"Happy now?" Naraku teased both her and Sesshy with a crazy grin.
"Asshole." She said, but could not keep the smirk off her face.
Sesshomaru caught the look, which only added fuel to his fire as he went at Naraku again. The other man frowned as the fight took on a more serious tone.
"What is it my dear Sesshomaru? Don't like me talking to your woman?"
"Die!" Sesshomaru went at him.
It was the oddest thing she had ever seen in her life.
Two Sesshomaru's fighting.
But the real one had the upper hand, seeing as how Naraku could only look like him, but had none of his powers.
"What has your furr ruffled? It's not because I kissed her is it? Because you can't blame me can you? Those lips of hers taste so good..." Naraku said in a sugar coated tone.
"Silence!"
"Your no fun." Naraku stated with what was Sesshomaru's bored expression.
He managed to dodge another strike from the sword, causing Sesshy to crash into a tree.
Taking that moment to wink at her, Naraku then went up into the sky.
"I got what I came here for. So until next time, my dear Sesshomaru..."
And just like that, he was gone.
Off in a puff of purple miasma.
Sesshomaru emerged from the pile of broken branches with red eyes.
"Bastard." He growled.
Akane ran over to him so he would not follow after the man.
"Hey, he's gone. Breath, okay?"
Glaring at her, his eyes returned to gold, directing his rage her way.
"WHAT did he mean by he got what he wanted? What did he do to you? And why the hell didn't you know that he wasn't ME?!" He roared at her.
Glaring, she returned his roar with an annoyed one of her own.
"For your INFORMATION, he had just showed up. I DID know he wasn't you, despite the flirting, and was trying to get him to change back. So you can take that attitude of yours and choke on it for all I care." She snapped.
This made him calm down, as she knew it would.
He wasn't really mad at her and she knew this from past experience.
Running his fingers thru his hair with frustration, he gave her a look of apology and backed off.
"I just didn't want him to hurt you."
She smiled, placing a hand on his chest and feeling his heart beat.
"I know, Sesshy-baby. He didn't."
He glared at the ground.
"But he did kiss you. I have thought once before that he had some kind of interest in you, and I shall not allow him to prove me right. You are MINE."
Ooooh, those words dripped ice.
So yummy.
"Your so sexy when you get all territorial." She teased.
A tiny smile twitched at his lips as he looked at her again.
"Strange woman." He mused.
She grinned up at him.
Then she noticed how he kept looking at her lips, and a flash of sadness entered his eyes as he did so.
Fuck...
The poor guy was gonna see Naraku now when he kissed her?
There had to be a way to stop that...
"If it helps, he WAS kinda you at the time of kissing..."
Blinking at her, he thought about it.
"Mhmm." Not convinced at all.
Rolling her eyes, she yanked him down by the neck with one hand until they were face to face.
"Fuck it." She said with a sexy smile.
Akane assaulted his mouth.
It was no fucking light kiss.
She wanted all thoughts of what he had seen gone.
Her tongue met his as her other hand traveled, making its way inside the top of his robes, sneaking under his armor.
Sesshomaru groaned when her hand made contact with his chest.
"What are you doing?" He breathed between her kisses.
"Attempting to turn your mind to melted ice cream." Akane paused to bat her eyes at him.
His face was flush, bottom lips swollen from her nipping.
Her free hand now untying his armor.
"Is it working yet?" She smiled.
"Nearly there..." He said as he helped her take off his armor, and then he went to sliding his hand under her own shirt to cup her from inside.
With a laugh, she kissed him again.
And again. And again.
Each kiss going lower on his half naked body...
Jaken, having heard the commotion with Naraku moments ago, had come to see if Akane was okay.
The poor imp was now running back to camp as silently as possible with the intent to make sure Rin did NOT follow behind him...