Hi everyone! It's been a while since I've updated! I hope you all are doing well :) I haven't given up on this story! I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I'm going to be bringing in Bankotsu and the Shichinintai (Band of Seven) soon. Are there any other side character arcs that you guys want to see added into this story? Let me know! Thank you for your reviews Crystal-Wolf-Guardain967 and AwakenDarkAngel for your reviews! :)
*there is a small amount of lemon/smut in this chapter*
Yoru no Hime
Chapter Twenty-Three: InuKimi
"Are you okay? You look nervous..." Sesshomaru spoke quietly to me. I was definitely feeling the pressure of meeting his mother of all people. I would have definitely preferred meeting his father. He sounded a lot nicer...
"Of course I'm nervous, Sesshomaru. It's your mother for goodness sake." I sighed, and Sesshomaru responded with a very short chuckle. I looked up at him and frowned as he spoke.
"Good.. you should be nervous." I looked ahead of us, the forest seemed to go on forever, which was fine with me. The trees in the forest kept the sun from beating down on my skin.
"In my time, it is customary to bring a gift when meeting a potential spouse's parent... what should we bring your mother?"
"The head of Naraku would be a nice start..." His eyes slowly trailed over to me, and I sighed.
"If I could kill him right now... I would. There's one problem..." I frowned, staring ahead. Sesshomaru placed his hand on my shoulder.
"It's alright. We will take care of him. Together." He nodded to me, and I bit my lip. I wanted to tell him so badly that I was not the one that was to defeat Naraku.. but he was so hard-headed, I doubted he would believe me. Him not knowing, though, could work in my favor.
"So... tell me about your mother a bit more..." He didn't say anything at first, and I didn't expect him to actually explain any part of it to me. Him explaining anything about himself or his past was like trying to crack open a rock with your bare hands.
We continued to walk through the night. I was riding on Sesshomaru's back once he turned into a dog demon for a good part of the day, but the way he flew made me sick, so... we resorted to walking for a while, much to his dismay. Out of nowhere, he finally spoke to me.
"She met my father as a younger demon and fell madly in love..." Sesshomaru's voice was quiet as usual. I was honestly surprised he was actually talking to me about it. "She is a very powerful dog demon, and Tōga hindered her...when he met and left my mother for InuYasha's mother. My mother was almost killed... and it was then that we both attested to destroy every human we could. Now, she resides and has the portal to the underworld..." My eyes widened and I sped to stand in front of him and he stopped short of running into me.
"Wait... did you say the portal to the underworld?" Sesshomaru nodded shortly, watching my reaction. "Wow... that's gotta be some power she holds then." I bit my lip. "So..."
"Don't worry about a gift. I'm sure my mother's received enough of them. The quality of you-" Sesshomaru lifted my chin to look at him. "will be more than enough of a gift."
"And all the power that I hold?" I smirked and his eyes stared playfully at mine.
"That is definitely... a plus.." I smiled hearing his response, and turned and we kept walking. "One thing... I could have given her.." He stared off ahead into the distance, thoughtfully. "Full-fledged demon offspring... but that isn't happening now obv-" I felt flustered hearing this, and spoke without thinking.
"There's always time, you could change your mind."
"There is no one else, Koyoko." Sesshomaru stopped again, and I ran into him. I sighed, feeling aggravated.
"Ow.." I whispered, rubbing my nose and I looked up at him.
"I was alive for over five hundred years before I met you. No human, no demon could compare to you... there is a process we could go through to make you a demon. But I will not ask that of you."
I could... become a demon?
I felt a tug at my heart strings. It was certainly tempting to ask him more about that idea. Just become a demon, abandon my duty... yet live out my days with Sesshomaru? That sounded so much more ideal than whatever it was that I had to do. But alas, I would surely be punished if I even considered it for a second more. "Thank you.." I whispered as we continued to walk.
Finally we had gotten to InuKimi's palace. Well... we were underneath it anyways. I looked up and gasped at the sheer size of it. Sesshomaru's eyes closed, and when he opened them, they were a deep red with blue pupils. "Koyoko..." He whispered, and I nodded, backing away as he transformed. After he was finished, I jumped up on his back and heard him give a small, yet loud grunt as he took off into the air. I held on tightly to his fur, digging my face into his back. My breath shook as we flew up to the palace. "Wow..." I whispered. The palace was even bigger than Tōga's residence, from what I could remember anyway. I gulped silently as we walked through the front doors to a huge, marble staircase, where InuKimi sat atop a large throne. I hopped off of Sesshomaru's back, and stared at the daiyokai ahead of me, waiting for Sesshomaru to transform back into his more human form. She had a mass amount of smaller demons surrounding her, lying at her wait. She shifted in her seat, giving a small smirk.
Sesshomaru was the very spitting image of his mother, except his features were much more masculine. She had purple markings on her face as well, yet they were like purple lightning bolts turned on their side right underneath her eye. She had a very elegant kimono wrapped around her, purple in color with white markings that resembled Sesshomaru's outfit and the same white fluff he carried, wrapped around her arms.
"Ah... Sesshomaru." She spoke in a very feminine and soft voice. "I see you finally decided to introduce me to your mate... although.." The woman's eyes fell to mine. "I can sense that something has gone awry. Come." She held her hand out to me and Sesshomaru put his arm out, blocking me. InuKimi's eyes looked to him, and she smirked. "You do not trust me, Sesshomaru?"
"Of course I don't." His eyes darkened.
"I imagine you would find someone who can defend themselves... I cannot imagine you mating with a weak woman like your father did." InuKimi's voice cracked and she looked back at me, and she tilted her head, "So.."
I stepped around Sesshomaru's arm and felt my anxiety going rampant. I walked the many steps up to where she was and she held her hand back out to me. I bowed on one knee to her and placed my right hand on hers. Watching her face, I could see she was surprised... but by what? Her eyes looked past me to Sesshomaru.
"Now I see why you chose her, Sesshomaru." A small smirk came upon her face. "Such power you have, onna.. but you are not just an ordinary onna, are you?" She reached out and traced the crescent shape on my forehead.
I stood back up and pulled my hand away.
"Koyoko. My name is Koyoko."
"We came here to ask of your help, mother..." Sesshomaru grunted and looked away. "We are in search of a demon monk." InuKimi chucked in a sarcastic manner, hearing her son.
"I can see that she is not your mate, at least... she is no longer your mate. Did she betray you, or did you betray her?"
"Neither. Naraku tried to steal her power away from me-"
"And the demon Kaguya overtook my body." I finished for him and InuKimi's eyes widened in the slightest.
"I see..." She sat back on her throne. "So you are the one the prophecy speaks of. I can tell by your jewel." She looked down at the necklace that rested on my chest.
Did she know of Sesshomaru's responsibility to me? Did she know what would happen when all of this was over? I felt myself growing a bit nervous, I wasn't ready to tell him about that just yet.
"Sesshomaru..." I turned my head to look at him. "Can I have a moment alone with your mother, please?" I could see his eyes slightly widen. He definitely didn't expect that from me.
"Koyoko..." His voice was serious, and I could hear the warning tone in it. I turned my body fully to him and nodded.
"I'll be fine. Please." Sesshomaru stared at me with worry, and then nodded and turned, walking back out the door where we had walked in. I waved my hand up and put the same sound barrier around his mother and me, that I had put up with Kagome. InuKimi looked around, and her brows raised.
"Interesting. You are very powerful in many more ways than I imagined. You even have my son under your control." I turned to her and sat on the step closest to her and looked at her. "Have you encountered Daisuke yet?" She asked me, and I now knew that she knew.
"How do you know all this information?"
"I'm the Guardian of the Underworld. I know more than you could ever imagine... now you." She tilted her head. "You really love my son... don't you?" Surprisingly, her eyes grew soft, and I looked at the floor and nodded.
"I..." I sighed, "it was unexpected."
"Your souls are intertwined. How do you expect to handle this situation after you kill Daisuke? I know what fate holds for you." So she did know. "Perhaps... becoming his mate again will help your situation. Bearing me a few grandchildren..." She tilted her head and smiled. "The goddess surely will not pull you away from your children."
"She has made it very clear she does not approve of Sesshomaru and I," I whispered and looked at her, and InuKimi frowned. "What is your interest in Daisuke? I would think a powerful daiyokai such as yourself would not worry about such trivial human matters."
"Unfortunately, it is not just the humans who have to worry about him. Daisuke has been a thorn in my side for...many a millennia now. He has tried to steal the power and access to the underworld from me.. what he would do with it, I know not. But.. I am growing older each year, and without my mate, I cannot stand up to him forever." She sighed. I was surprised she was being so open with me. Sesshomaru wasn't like this at all. What had made him so reserved compared to his mother? I couldn't help but wonder.
"Mates extend your lives?"
"Yes and no... while I am invincible for the most part, not having a mate for so long can make me vulnerable if my enemy is strong enough." I heard the door open again behind us. InuKimi gave a small chuckle. "Impatient as ever..." and I waved my hand down so that the barrier would disappear. "Hello, Sesshomaru." Sesshomaru sped over, I felt a whoosh behind me, and his hand on my shoulder.
"The demon monk..."
Inukimi looked from me to him and nodded. "I will help you, my son." She closed her eyes and placed her hand on the meido crystal in her hand and within a matter of seconds, the crystal started to glow and we could see the underworld forming in a portal behind her. "The monk is in there, he serves the dead and makes sure they stay that way. The process is going to be painful, Koyoko. It is no easy feat to reinstate a mating bond."
I stood, using Sesshomaru's help. "How do we leave when it is finished?" Inukimi stood and walked over to me, softly grabbing my hand and placed it on the crystal while it still glowed. I looked over at Sesshomaru who was watching us carefully, then InuKimi placed her hand overtop of mine.
"Chant." She told me, and I closed my eyes.
On botti botti mors, on botti botti nexise.
I repeated that verse as my body glowed a lilac purple color, and I could feel a strange sensation coming over me, and then I suddenly felt a surge of pain hit me, like death was coming to take me.
"Ah!" I winced. I could hear Sesshomaru growl deep in his throat from behind me.
"Don't touch her, Sesshomaru. Keep going, Koyoko." I heard InuKimi's voice scold Sesshomaru and then push me to continue.
"Nexise botti mors. Botti mors nexise." I gasped as a wave of pain hit me again and I opened my eyes. I was dizzy, but maintained my stature as InuKimi removed her hand.
"Now you have the power to teleport out." InuKimi came forward and grabbed me on my shoulders pulling me against her, almost seeming like she was hugging me. She whispered to me in a very hushed tone. "When the time comes, I am on your side." She pulled away and I stared at her as she sat back down.
"Thank you, Inukimi."
"Ah, call me mother. I'm more proud to have you as my daughter than that bland boy over there." Kimi smirked over at Sesshomaru who narrowed his eyes at her. He grabbed my arm and pulled me over to the portal. "Always nice to see you, my son! Good luck!" The portal closed behind us, and I gulped.
She was on my side? I wasn't under the impression that I would need help with the battle with Daisuke... but I also wasn't in any position to turn down help.
"She liked you... a lot." Sesshomaru told me, after we had been walking for a bit. I smiled to myself. I had been so worried about impressing his mother... she actually.. liked me.
"Probably just for my power though. Let's be honest." I heard him give a short chuckle.
"More than likely."
We walked through the path of the underworld. Was there really a demon monk living down here? What a bland life that would be to live... no one to talk to.. just guarding bodies and their... deadness all the time.
"What do you think it'll be like? Trying to fix this...?" I touched the spot on my neck and frowned.
"I'm not sure... I've never heard of anyone trying to do this. Generally when it happens..."
"It doesn't need to be fixed. I get it." I sighed. Sesshomaru stopped and looked at me. I looked up to him. "We're not going to have to have sex in front of him.. right?" His eyebrow raised.
"Are you afraid of an audience?" He smirked and leaned down to kiss me, it was soft and comforting, just what I needed. "I...am sorry you have to go through this. When I see Naraku again I..." He sighed, his eyes flashing red, and he shook his head.
"It's not your fault. I didn't listen to you."
"You still don't deserve to have to go through this." He put his hand on my shoulder and we kept walking until we came upon mounds and mounds of bodies. Some of them were human, some of them demons...but they were all dead.
"God, it reeks..." I covered my nose and winced. Sesshomaru looked around, then his eyes centered on a mound of bodies. He walked over, pulled out his Bakusaiga which glowed a greenish color. I didn't detect any enemies so what was he doing..? I tilted my head watching him, his brows furrowed and he swung his sword at the mound of bodies.
"What good are you to the Underworld if you are wasting away your presence sleeping?" Sesshomaru resheathed the sword. Before us stood a man who was in the middle of mine and Sesshomaru's height. He had green and greyish skin, resembling Jaken's skin tone, with black hair and fully purple eyes with no pupils. He glared at Sesshomaru and then his eyes widened when he realized who he resembled.
"Why on my existence are you bothering me? I do my job diligently, and-" The monk's eyes fell to me and his brows raised. "Ah... I see." In a flash, the monk was standing in front of me. Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed and he also flashed to stand right behind me. The monk placed his hand on the spot where my mark was scarred over and I winced. "I see now." The monk looked at Sesshomaru. "Are you sure you want to fix this?"
"She was forced out of it. I witnessed everything myself." The monk's eyes looked back to mine.
"Unfortunately all of the pain will be unleashed on you since you are the one who had your mark removed. The pain is going to seem unbearable, even for a demon."
"I don't care. I need to fix this." I told him, and he looked between us. Sesshomaru handed him a cloth bag, that had some sort of smelly liquid seeping from it. I did not know what it was, or want to know what is what. The monk took it, and licked his lips, smiling.
The monk had disappeared for a few hours, or it felt like that long anyways. He appeared a bit later with some scrolls and a few bottles of liquids.
"Let us begin." The monk spoke, his cracked voice sounding like metal screeching against my ears. Dark chains that glowed red flew to my arms, wrapping around my wrists. I could feel them tearing at my skin, and before I knew it they pulled me to the ground so I was on my knees. The monk looked at Sesshomaru as he walked up to me. "If you touch her while this is going on, the ritual will stop and we will not have another shot at this. I suggest you leave unless you feel as though you can restrain yourself."
I looked at Sesshomaru and nodded. "I can handle this, you can go."
"I am not leaving you, Koyoko." His golden eyes stared me down and I sighed. He was so protective... the monk was obviously warning us for a reason. I looked at the monk and nodded. The monk undid the top part of my kimono, and it fell to the floor. Thankfully I had bandaged my breasts to help control them like a bra, so that part of me was, at the very least, covered.
The monk started chanting very ancient Japanese that even I didn't understand, and his eyes started to glow a bright ruby color. He walked towards me, and stared into my eyes, and I stared into his. Visions of Naraku's hands all over my body and him inside of me started to flood my mind and it was all I could see. I could feel my nether regions burning, it quite literally felt like my body was lit on fire.
I tried to contain my screams, but the pain was so intense I could hardly stand it. All I could see was Naraku pumping in and out of me and biting down on my skin. I could feel tears pouring out of my eyes, trying to make the pain go away.
The monk started to chant louder and he pulled out a dagger that glowed with a reddish hue. He moved my hair to the side and cut away at the skin on my neck. I could feel him peel back layer by layer, and I couldn't contain my screams anymore. Then... it got worse. He poured the liquid in the vials into my skin and I threw my head back, screaming out in pain.
He motioned over to Sesshomaru to come to stand behind me, as he made three more cuts. Two above my breasts, and one right at my groin. The cuts didn't bleed, but it felt as though acid was being poured into them. I grit my teeth and clenched my eyes shut, trying to contain my screams.
"Make your mark again." He instructed him. I could feel my body shaking from the pain. Sesshomaru glared at him.
"You said not to touch her."
"I did what I needed to. This will speed up her healing process. You two just need to mate before the sun rises, otherwise, all of this will have been for nothing."
Sesshomaru walked over to stand behind me, he did the same as the monk and tilted my head so that it was straight up. I was breathing, hard. "I'm sorry.." I heard him whisper as he bent his head back, and sunk his fangs hard into my skin. He was holding my head in his arm. At the same time, the monk dug his knife into the other side of my neck-shoulder joint and I clenched onto the chains, screaming loudly in pain. I could feel Sesshomaru's hand clench onto my forearm, until he pulled away at the same time as the monk, and the chains disappeared. I fell forward onto my hands, breathing hard, and could see my blood dripping to the ground.
The monk wiped the blade off on his robe. "The mating process will continue to be painful until you are bonded. You may gain some of the abilities back before it is complete but the chances are very low." He bent down to kneel before me. "If the bond is broken again... there is no turning back. Do you understand?" I looked up at him, and nodded. Sesshomaru held his hand out to me and I stood, feeling woozy.
"Thank you." I leaned back into Sesshomaru, closed my eyes, and teleported us out of there.
I fell to the ground as soon as we materialized and shivered. Sesshomaru kneeled in front of me, moving my hair out of my face. "Are you okay?" I shook my head 'no'.
"But I will be.." I looked into his eyes.
"My markings are back..." He whispered, rubbing his thumb along my cheek.
I closed my eyes and breathed in deep. "I'm not sure where we are but, we should be able to complete the ritual out here. Unless you want to-" I was looking around and Sesshomaru pulled me into a kiss. My eyes widened and then I closed them, sighing. The skin on my shoulder was still open and not healed. I felt him trail his hand downwards, to underneath my kimono and he touched me delicately in my folds, rubbing his finger on my clit. I winced in pain, as the burning feeling returned.
"I think we need to make this fast, Sesshomaru. It all hurts... so much.." I whispered and he stared into my eyes as he inserted two fingers inside, and rubbed my sensitive area with his thumb. The pain was intense, but I could feel the pleasure trying to overtake my pain sensors. I cried out, but didn't know if it was pain or pleasure, that caused me to scream. "S...Sesshomaru.." I winced, and he looked at me in a frustrated manner. I knew deep down that he didn't want to hurt me. He sat back and stared at me momentarily. I held my hand over my privates, and closed my eyes, trying to calm my nerves.
"I am going to try something else..." He lifted me in a flash to on his shoulders, and before I knew it, I was completely naked, aside from the wraps on my breasts. Knowing him, though, they wouldn't be on me for very long.
Sesshomaru pressed me back into a tree, and buried his face in my folds, his tongue licking me, harshly. The burning feeling wasn't as bad this time, so my head fell back, and I allowed myself to finally enjoy him. "S...sess... ah.." he growled deep in the back of his throat, digging his claws into the skin of my thighs. He tried inserting a clawed finger inside me again, but the burning pain came back. I winced, squeezing my walls around his finger, and in return he sucked on my clit sending a wave of pleasure over me. "Ahh!" I cried out, trying to push my hips even closer to his face. I climaxed at least four or five times before he pulled away, and he lapped up all the juices that flowed out of me.
He began to disrobe himself, from bottoms down. "I'm going to try to do this as fast as I can... I fear it's only going to get worse." I nodded and reached down to stroke him as he sat at my opening. I saw his eyes close and then he sighed. "Let me see your arms." He grabbed a piece of fabric from our clothing and tied my arms up above my head, and attached them to a part of a large tree root so I couldn't loosen them. I could feel myself start to panic. I tried not to think back to Naraku but...
He looked down at me, and placed his head at my entrance, and shoved himself in. His hand found its' way around my throat as he pumped into me, and a wave of pain took over my body. It was completely opposite from what I was used to with him. It felt as though he was shoving one thousand knives inside of me. He kissed me to try to ease my torment, but it just didn't help. I cried out in pain through the kisses. He turned my head to the side, and I could feel him pulsating inside of me. As soon as he released, he bit down on my neck before... and the pain was gone. I closed my eyes, feeling my breathing slow... and everything went black.
When I awoke next, I expected to be on the ground, but instead I was in... a fairly comfortable bed? I slowly opened my eyes, the sun was out and bright, causing me to squint.
"Sesshomaru?" I sat up, looking around confused.
"Lady Koyoko!" I heard Rin's sweet voice, and climbed out of the bed. I heard her running down the hall, and then she appeared behind the thin paper wall. "Finally you're awake! We were so worried about you!" She hugged me around my waist.
"How long was I asleep for?" I asked her as I bent down to her level and she tapped her chin while looking up, in a thoughtful manner.
"I think around a week."
"A week!?!" Rin nodded and I looked around, flabbergasted.
"We were scared you weren't ever going to wake up, but your heart kept beating so Lord Sesshomaru kept you safe." Rin smiled.
"Can I ask where Lord Sesshomaru went?"
"I'm not sure. He told me to wait here with you in case you woke up... and you did! I'm so happy." She hugged me again and I hugged her back, sighing. I was out for a whole week... what all had happened in that time?
"When did Lord Sesshomaru go get you?" I asked her and she smiled.
"About five days ago. I think he got lonely because you were sleeping so much, and Jaken isn't the greatest of company... are you hungry?" She asked me and I shook my head.
"Surprisingly... not really. Where are we even at?"
"I made some soup if you want some Lady Koyoko..." Rin stood and walked away from me. "Nearby Mt. Hakurei. Lord Sesshomaru's brother and friends requested you're help with this upcoming mission." Rin brought over some soup in a small bowl. I sighed.
"I told you I wasn't hungry." I couldn't help but give her a short laugh. "Thank you Rin."
I sipped on the soup as Rin left the room again and I stood, placing it to the side. There was a small mirror on the wall and I looked into it. It was daytime, and my pupils were red... and my hair had turned white. Shit... I frowned. I tilted my head to the side and spotted his mark on the opposite side of my neck. I much preferred it on the other side, but... this would have to do.
I felt my heart clench in my chest, and Sesshomaru's strong presence sent chills down my spine.
I turned around, and he was standing in front of me. He lifted my chin with a clawed hand, and I saw his eyes flash red as he stared into mine. "You're beautiful..." He murmured, and I felt my cheeks warm. He lowered his lips to mine, and I could feel my chest swarm with emotion, his love pouring over into me.
Too soon, he pulled away, and my eyes slowly opened. "It seems as though Bankotsu and the Shichinintai have made their appearance."
"Am I... supposed to know who that is?" I asked him, and he shook his head.
"A nuisance, more than anything. But they can be dangerous. I faced one of them on the way here. They are ruthless mercenaries, rumored to have been put to death."
"But they're... not?"
"No... I have a feeling Naraku may have had something to do with that." Sesshomaru's eyes closed and he let out a short, frustrated sigh. He held so much anger in his heart from what had happened, I tried to quell that anger with my own emotions. "Thank you..." He looked at me. "But he deserves everything that is coming to him." I nodded and held onto Sesshomaru's hand. I was surprised he allowed me to, as... well he was how he is.
"I have a request, once these Shichinintai are dealt with. I need to go back to my time to check on my brother." Sesshomaru's brows furrowed, and I squeezed his hand. "But I want you to come with me. I want you to meet him, I don't know how much time he has left."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I showed Sesshomaru my brother in my mind and he stared at me. "You... met with my mother. So..." He nodded. "I will go." I smiled and hugged him.
"Thank you." I closed my eyes and sighed. It was risky, going back to my time with Daisuke openly showing me who he was now. He had to be planning... something.
Okay, I know that not a lot happened in this chapter, but I needed to fix their bond and set up for what happens next!
So it may be another two weeks or so before I can update again because we are going to be moving from Alaska to New York, which is an extremely long drive I'm not looking forward to, haha. We're also stopping to visit family along the way which we haven't seen in over 3 years now T.T but I will be writing when I can! I'm so excited to introduce Bankotsu to the story :D
I'm sorry this chapter took so long, but I hope you all enjoyed. I wanted to give as much fluffy goodness as Sesshomaru's character would allow.
Thanks for reading, don't forget to leave a review if you can! :)