DISCLAIMER: I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.
Italic: thoughts
-- --: locations
"...": spoken words
~*~*~*~*~: time gap
*...* : noises
-by Kittymui-
Vulnerability
Previously:
Inuyasha watched the little Yuri in his arms, who was playing with his silver
hair and shifted his gaze to Kagome and Sesshoumaru.
He smiled. As long as she's happy...I'll be happy too... he said to himself
as he looked at the serene expression on Kagome's sleeping face.
~*~*~*~
Several weeks passed and Inuyasha had completely recovered from his injury and
the whole group had lived in the cave until now.
They knew it wasn't wise to live out here in the wilderness but it would be
too dangerous to travel with an injured member, not to mention Kagome's weak
body after giving birth to Yuri.
But now it was time to move on to a safer place and they gathered in front
of the cave with all the useful stuff they could carry.
Renkotsu and Kyoukotsu carried the food and water. Kouga carried Kagome's bow
and quiver and clothes for Yuri.
Kagome was still wearing her thick brown fur coat over her white dress and her long hair was tied into a loose braid.
Since Inuyasha didn't need the blanket anymore; she ripped it apart and made some small clothes for Yuri to wear. Sesshoumaru and the rest were wearing their usual outfits.
~*~
As they walked through the forest; Kagome positioned herself in the middle of
the group with Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha walking in front of her. Kyoukotsu and
Renkotsu were walking on each side and Kouga walking behind her.
Kagome sighed. Man...I look really stupid like this... she thought bored.
"What's the matter Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, looking over his shoulder to her.
"Nothing...it's just...I feel so vulnerable...with you guys surrounding me like that and me not carrying my weapons..." she replied.
Then Sesshoumaru decided to look over his shoulder to her. "But you are." he stated plainly.
Kagome gave him an annoyed look. "It's so boring if I can't fight alongside you guys. And I kind of miss the days when I had to dress like a boy." she muttered, averting her gaze.
"Kagome, you promised, remember? I cannot have you endanger yourself or our daughter." Sesshoumaru continued, turning his attention back to the road in front of him.
"Wakatteru..." Kagome replied, dropping her face.
"Sesshoumaru-sama is right Kagome-sama. We wouldn't forgive ourselves if
you got hurt." Kouga added innocently. "Besides, you can pick up your
weapons again after Yuri-sama learned how to walk and__"
His voice faltered when he noticed that Kagome was looking over her shoulder to him and giving him a very annoyed look.
She jerked her head back to look in front of her and pouted inwardly. Mou...this is really irritating...everyone's treating me like I'm made of glass.
Kagome looked down at the sleeping Yuri and her mind was immediately eased. Shikata ga nai darou ne? she smiled inwardly and remained silent for the rest of the journey.
~*~
Suddenly Kagome felt something graze past her cheek and stopped walking, causing
those walking beside and behind her to stop too.
"What's wrong Kagome-sama?" Kouga asked surprised.
Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha stopped at hearing Kouga's question and turned around.
Kagome raised her hand to her cheek and touched the spot with her fingertips where she felt something several seconds ago.
A thin red line suddenly appeared on her cheek.
Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru widened their eyes. "Kagome! You're bleeding!!" Inuyasha said out of shock.
Everyone became alerted and looked around them except for Kagome.
"It's only a small cut. Probably a leaf or something." Kagome said
reassuringly. "You guys don't have to overreact__"
She halted herself when she felt an incoming danger and quickly turned to Sesshoumaru.
"Sesshoumaru!!" she called out his name.
Sesshoumaru turned to Kagome. He was surprised when she suddenly pushed Yuri into his hands.
As soon as she released her grip on Yuri, Kagome was suddenly pulled up to the trees.
Everybody jerked their heads up to where Kagome disappeared to and widened their eyes at what they saw.
A huge spiderweb hung high up in front of the trees about 3 meters away from where they were standing.
"Kagome!!" Sesshoumaru called out her name worriedly.
Kagome was hanging in the middle of the web with her arms and legs spread out
like a cross. There were threads around her wrists, waist and ankles that prevented
her from moving an inch.
She looked down at Sesshoumaru with eyes filled with shock and shifted her gaze
to the web behind her.
Eh? she thought surprised as she saw the black threads on her body and that formed the web. This...this is...hair!?
Her attention was drawn by Sesshoumaru as he growled loudly. "Come out Yura!! I know it is you!!"
Everyone turned to Sesshoumaru; surprised...until a soft giggle sounded from above.
"Hihihi...I'm glad you still remember me Sesshy-chan." a high-pitched
voice spoke.
Sesshoumaru frowned. "Come out or I will make you..." he said with a growl.
"Here I am!!!" the voice cried happily as a figure suddenly appeared
next to Kagome, at the same height.
All gazes shifted to that person, Yura.
It was a girl with short black hair. She was dressed in a tight black leather dress that stopped halfway her upper legs. The dress had a very low V-shaped neckline and it had no sleeves; almost too indecent for words.
Kagome looked at where the girl called Yura was standing and realized that she was actually standing on several strands of hair just like a rope-dancer.
"Missed me?" the girl asked sheepishly.
"What do you want Yura?" Sesshoumaru inquired coldly.
"I missed you so much...ever since you left me." Yura continued, ignoring the question. "I searched everywhere for you and__"
"Answer me!!"
Yura frowned at his loud and harsh tone at first but it made way for a cute smile again. "Well, I wanted to see you, Sesshy-chan. I missed you...and your lovely silky hair..." she finally spoke after a moment of silence.
Sesshoumaru gave her a look of disgust and a glare that told her that he inquired about something else.
"The girl was rude to you a while ago so I thought I should teach her a lesson." Yura explained innocently.
"Release her." he ordered.
"Doshite, Sesshy-chan? Don't you want to punish her for being rude to you? I'll be happy to do that for__"
"Now." he cut her off again.
Yura frowned again but widened her eyes when she noticed what Sesshoumaru was holding in his arms. When she realized what it was, she jumped into the sky and landed in front of Sesshoumaru.
"Kawaii!!!" she shrieked. "Is that a real baby? Can I touch it? I really wanna touch the soft skin and shred her into pieces. Yura thought inwardly as she raised her hand and moved it towards the baby.
Just before Yura's hand reached her daughter, Sesshoumaru grabbed her wrist and held it up. "Don't you dare touch my daughter." he growled as he threw away her wrist.
Yura massaged her wrist. "What...afraid that I might kill her? Or should I play with the mother instead?" she provoked.
"You bitch!!" Inuyasha growled, unsheathing his sword and lunging forward at Yura.
Before the sword hit her, Yura quickly jumped away and landed on top of the huge spiderweb where Kagome was tied.
Sesshoumaru turned to Inuyasha and gave him an annoyed look. Bad move, Inuyasha.
"Tsk tsk...how dare you insult a lady like that!" Yura spat, brushing her hand through her hair. "Bad doggie!"
"Lay one finger on Yuri and I'll kill you myself!" Kagome snarled as she looked up at Yura at the corner of her eye.
"Hahaha, you should worry about yourself first honey." she giggled.
"You sadist..." Kagome scowled. "...you wanted to capture me and Yura at the same time didn't you? But too bad for you; I was faster." she smirked saying the last sentence.
Yura's smile dropped and made place for an annoyed look. "You might want to watch your mouth, woman." she snarled as she raised her hand to the air and drew a cirkel with her fingers.
At the same time a shimmering black thread came out of nowhere and whirled around Kagome's neck.
As soon as Yura closed her hand and withdrew it, the thread tightened around Kagome's throat, along with all the other threads that bound her body.
"Arck!" Kagome winced and cried out in pain.
"Kagome!!!"
"Kagome-sama!!!" They cried in unison.
"D-don't worry about me...t-take care of Y-Yuri..." Kagome panted.
"Chikusho!!" Renkotsu cursed. "Do you think you can get away with this Yura!!"
"If you release Kagome-sama now, you might be spared, you know?" Kouga added.
Yura started to laugh. "Hahaha, what do you take me for? I'm not a coward!! I had already planned to kill this whore and her baby at all cost."
Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru narrowed their eyes.
"She took away my Sesshy-chan from me and...and...he's mine...MINE only!!! Nobody takes away things from Yura and gets away with it!!" she cried and jerked at the thread she was holding.
The threads around Kagome's throat, waist, wrists and ankles tightened at the same time and started to cut through her flesh, drawing blood.
"AAAARRGG!!!" Kagome's cry echoed through the forest.
"Hahaha, YES!! Cry louder girl!! But I don't think I can stop torturing you now!" Yura laughed sadistically. "My pretty collection needs a new look and I think I'm going to give it a beautiful red hue, hahaha."
Inuyasha readied his Tetsusaiga and prepared to lunge at Yura but stopped when Yura held up her hand with the thread.
"I wouldn't try that if I were you, dogboy." she smirked. "Or she'll be beheaded before you have even touched my hair."
He lowered his sword and bared his fangs. "Chikusho..." he growled angrily.
"Good boy." Yura grinned. "Now if you don't mind, I would like
to finish what I have begun. I don't really fancy half-dyed hair, if you know
what I mean."
With that, she pulled at the thread again, causing Kagome to tense her body
and wince.
All of them except for Yura and Kagome widened their eyes as they watched the
whole web gradually turn red of Kagome's blood.
Sesshoumaru's blood boiled as he watched Kagome's face turn pale. His eyes were locked on a particular drop of blood that criss-crossed it way downwards via all the threads of the web.
As soon as the drop of blood hit the earth, Yuri started to cry, as if she could feel the pain of her mother.
Hearing his daughter's cry, Sesshoumaru snapped out of it. His eyes flashed red for a second and his whole body pulsated several times.
He turned to Inuyasha. "Inuyasha, take care of Yuri for me and back away from this clearing with the others." he said, handing over her daughter.
Inuyasha sheathed his sword and took Yuri out of his hands. "Don't overdo it." he warned his brother, knowing what would happen next.
With that, Inuyasha went to the others and together they backed away like Sesshoumaru had asked them to.
Yura raised one eyebrow as she looked down at Sesshoumaru who now stood alone.
"You're gonna beg me to release the wench? How pathetic."
Sesshoumaru's ears twitched and he slowly looked up at Yura. His expression was as emotionless as usual. "Release my mate, Yura." he demanded once more.
Yura widened her eyes. "How dare you!!" she cried. "How dare you call another woman your mate?! Nobody is allowed to have that reputation but me!! You hear me!? ME!!"
Her grip on the thread tightened. "Yurusanai...zettai ni yurusanai!!" she cried furiously. "I'll kill her!! I'll kill this bitch!!"
Yura raised her hand that held the thread.
Kagome gave Sesshoumaru a panicked look. Sesshoumaru... she thought sadly before she closed her eyes. Am I going to die just like that? I haven't even seen Yuri walk yet...
INTRODUCTION TO CHARACTERS OF THIS CHAPTER:
Yura: And former companion of Sesshoumaru. She met Sesshoumaru when
she was 16 and now she's around 20 years old. It's not that he wanted her as
a companion but she kept following him around wherever he went, so Sesshoumaru
let her tag along. Yura loves him very much and is very possessive and obsessive
when it comes to Sesshoumaru. Everything went well until Yura killed an innocent
young girl out of rage when she was 17. Sesshoumaru didn't tolerate this and
banned her out of his group.
Yura is a full-blooded youkai woman who uses hair (not her own) to do most of
the killing. She beheads her victims and adds their hair to her collection (of
hair *duh* ^-^). You could say that she loves Sesshoumaru because she's obsessed
with his beautiful hair.
~*~
Vocabulary
Wakatteru: I know (already)
Mou: Geez...
Shikata ga nai darou ne?: It cannot be helped, right?
Doshite: Why
Kawaii: Cute
Yurusanai: This is unforgivable/I won't forgive you.
Zettai ni: Absolutely
Posted: 19 October 2003
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tag problems)
Spelling check: YES