Fukai Mori
Chapter 3a: Injuries...
loupgarou7(loupgarou72@hotmail.com)




Thanx to everyone who reviewed! Hmmm...you know a long time ago I wrote the beginnings
of a Bakuretsu Hunters/SM and a Rurouni Kenshin/SM fic...of course then my computer
got screwed up and they all got erased...but the point is expect more and more crossovers!
Not w/ Bakuretsu Hunters, but maybe a one-shot Rurouni Kenshin fic with Soujiro...but anyway
besides that look for an X crossover in the future and possibly a Slamdunk/SM and Wish/SM
with it! Of course if I decided to do that it'll probably be during the summer tho...

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"She's a bit young for my tastes, but cute enough. What'll you trade her for?"

"Hakaitekimaru," Sesshoumaru hissed.

He smiled. "So glad you remember me. Now, Sesshoumaru, you can't be serious in
keeping this...little girl." Usagi panicked and did the first thing she though of,
slamming her elbow into his stomach. As he keeled over, she attempted to run, but his
strong arm wrapped around her stomach remained, and for a second she thought she caught
sight of Sesshoumaru smiling. In the next second Hakaitekimaru had, recovering, hurled her
easily off the cliff. "BITCH!"

She felt her right leg scrape roughly against the end of the cliff before she
went flying into space. Thoughts flashed in to her head of transforming into Eternal
Sailor Moon and flying, but doubts arouse about whether after Bellona, she still could,
but then the horrifying moment came when the momentum from his powerful throw ceased
and she was plunging downward. Midair somewhere in her falling she felt warm arms
clasp her snaking under her legs and back for support, and she felt her speed gradually
slow. "Sesshoumaru-sama..." When she opened her eyes they were at the foot of the cliff
carried by Sesshoumaru, but Sesshoumaru wasn't looking at her, but rather at the sky.
Usagi followed his gaze, and finally got a clear picture of Hakaitekimaru when she
lifted her hand up to shield her eyes from the sun. He was floating midair and scowling
down at them. His body had a very leonine quality to it. Bulky but not too heavy set,
Usagi doubted that there were any excess drops of fat wandering around in his body. His face
was as any other humans, but his leonine golden crown of hair, his golden eyes, and possibly
the fact that he was floating gave him away. There was also the fact that he had claws,
massive claws. On an urge she looked down at her own body and discovered her kimono had been
torn at the stomach. Already she could feel the effects of the adrenaline fade away slowly,
she could feel the pain beginning to surface. There was another pain that called her
attention at on her arm, but that wasn't Hakaitekimaru's doing. Sesshoumaru in his rage
was gripping her with excess force, and Usagi winced as she felt his claws dig into
her skin. Finally, he noticed from her motion and became again gentle and lax, but
he still maintained his vehement stare at Hakaitekimaru. Usagi wished he hadn't. Now,
more than ever she could feel the tension between the two. The tension that crackled
in the silent air like electricity, the tension that made hair stand on end and break
out in cold sweat.

Hakaitekimaru was surprisingly the one that broke the silence. Giving a gruff
laugh, he lowered himself down to the bottom of the cliff, landing besides the dead
women who Usagi had momentarily forgotten. "Humans are nice, aren't they, Sesshoumaru?
Nice to kill, nice to plunder from, nice to use, nice to..." he glanced suggestively
at the dead women, "rape."

"You!" Usagi exclaimed, "You killed thos-"

"Be silent," Sesshoumaru snapped. Usagi glowered up at him. "I'll take care
of him." Walking over, he deposited her on a boulder. Usagi pouted. What was the
last sentence supposed to be? An act of reassurance? A statement? A threat
for her to keep out? As she focused on the two, it escaped her notice that to
both her and Sesshoumaru, his left hand placed behind him was out of their view.

"I have no concern for what you do in your free time, BUT," Sesshoumaru
said, "if you injure my property that concerns me a great deal."

Hakaitekimaru laughed, "Sesshoumaru, you idiot. After that shameful incident
with that ugly girl five-hundred years ago. Of course, I don't expect for you remember
that she was ugly, but you remember her unsettling scent, don't you? It wasn't just
her scent, even her presence was unnerving. Listen up, wench! Against his mother's
wishes, the young Sesshoumaru had the audacity to-" He was interrupted as his head
snapped to the side from a blow from Sesshoumaru's green whip*. He glared at Sesshoumaru
for a second before breaking out again into a laugh. "What you don't want your woman to
know how you killed your mother? So be it." He began to levitate again, "But, Sesshoumaru,
I'll be back. Don't flatter yourself, not for you but for your fascinating woman. After
all, you shouldn't hog such an unnatural woman all to yourself. So, the rumors are true...
neither youkai nor human. I'll have fun examining her. Take care of her, Sesshoumaru, 'til
I'm ready to take her." He rose away laughing, but not before placing his glowing red left
hand in front of him hurtling a fire ball at Usagi. One which she could have no hope of
dodging and no hope of being able to scream out the magical words to block the oncoming
blast.

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Jaken as they walked along stared up at Hotaru condesendingly*. "You, girl,
I have served Sesshoumaru-sama for two hundred years. Although for now he may think
of you and your friend as an amusing little toy, rest assured when the time comes
he will dispose of you."

Hotaru smiled down at him, "Who are you trying to convince? Me or yourself?"

Jaken was shocked in to silence, but suddenly he began to weep into his sleeve.
"Oh! Sesshoumaru-sama! How could you choose that GIRL over your loyal servant Jaken?
Sesshoumaru-sama! Don't let that witch fool you!"

Hotaru shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably. "I..." she considered reaching
out to comfort him but froze when she heard the next thing he said.

"Do not let those two disgusting creatures sway you from your Jaken!"

Hotaru's lips set into a firm line of displeasure. Her outreached hand balled
into a fist. "You..." The usually gentle Hotaru seriously considered punting him over
the horizon, but the need for that vanished as from the trees a flash of color swept
down hurling Jaken away. Hotaru spun around to the direction, she had thought she had
seen it go as she felt her heart skip a beat. Pursing her lips nervously, she reached
for it, her henshin wand. She was about to scream out the magical words when the leaves
of the tree rustled, until she suddenly caught sight of who it was in the trees. A young
man Usagi's age stared down at her his eyes full of concern. From his outfit, he could
clearly be nothing more than a ninja. Hotaru still let her fingers brush against the
magical wand, determined to pull it out if he made the slightest suspicious move.

Finally, he called out, "Are you hurt? Did that youkai harm you in any way?"
Hotaru let herself relax. "I...I..." Suddenly she pitched forward her body racked with
pain. She felt him catch her before he hit the ground and lift her up, shouting for her
to get a hold of herself.

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"Was that really necessary, Pluto? Giving Hotaru-hime that fever?" Charon demanded
her hands on her slim hips.

"Perhaps," Pluto stared off nonchalantly.

"There's no risk of Hotaru-hime dying is there?"

"Perhaps..."

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"Ne, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Her voice sounded feeble even to her still ringing ears.
She stared up at his face tight with concentration as he carried her softly one arm easily
supporting her back and the other under the bend in her legs. Usagi had to admit, although
she had rejected all thoughts pertaining to it before...Sesshoumaru wasn't too bad looking.
She winced. Even blinking hurt, but the surprising thing was that when he had picked her
up barely conscious off the ground, and when he had started to carry her, she had expected
for every jostle from his walk to fill her body with pain but surprisingly his way of walking
was so smooth...almost fluid.

"What?"

"What did he mean when he said you probably don't remember how the girl looked?"
He frowned. He was too busy looking for a town to go to so why was she asking him useless
questions? And it wasn't like he wanted to go to a filthy place crawling with humans, but
he would take no precautions with the healing power of this one. After all if Hakaitekimaru,
now one of the head ringleaders of the youkai black market, had thought her worthy enough
to fight for she had to be worth something.

"Humans...although the smell of things can trigger memories as well, the most powerful
sensory organ they rely on for memories is sight, and even with smell they only remember if
a memory had an unusual smell and more often than not they don't. With youkai it's different.
Various youkai have various dominant senses. Mine just happens to be the sense of smell and
sometimes touch. The touch comes from my mother's side of the family."

"Oh..." Usagi frowned. From her many bruises and cuts she was getting blood on his
kimono. Didn't he care? "So...in your memories you usually don't remember what people looked
like?"

He gave no answer so Usagi decided to take it as an affirmative.

"Ne, Sesshoumaru-sama? That attack of his...it was of fire so why didn't it burn
me?"

Sesshoumaru sighed and glared at her, "You're so annoying."

Usagi stuck her nose up in the air, "But you know I won't shut up unless you answer..."
A spark of tension between them flared up for a moment but just as suddenly as it had appeared
it was gone.

Sesshoumaru relented, "His attack wasn't made of fire in the first place. The fire
was an illusion. That's one of his strengths. He can make these attacks which are nothing
more than balls of energy, and give them illusions like being fire. If the person's stupid
enough to start thinking that he's going to be burned, his body will react to that thinking
and actually burn itself."

"Oh," she closed her eyes suddenly overcome with the strain it had put on her body
to stay awake so long. She managed to mutter a sleepy 'Good night' before falling asleep resting
her head on his shoulder. Sesshoumaru frowned as he continued his trek. Briefly he glanced down
at the sleep girls face and stopped walking for a split second simply for the sake of staring.
A cut on her cheek clearly bleeding slightly and minor scratched here and there were present
but for the most part she was as he had first seen her: lovely, innocent, still yet untouched
by the darkness which surrounded her, but for how long would that last?

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Sweeping the stone floor, she silently ached from the pain between her ribs where that
woman had kicked her. She forced herself to swallow down the blood flowing in her mouth from
the cut lip even though she felt like spitting it out. After all spitting it out would only
earn her another beating. It was funny how one single day could change her from the status of
a princess to the status of a slave. There was but one comfort in this new world. Him. Sneaking
her appreciative looks here and there when his mother had her back turned away, he was the only
reason she was still alive. Saving her in the first place from that woman simply disposing of
her he had saved her in the night as well when she had been so cold. He would be what would get
her out of here. She blushed slightly as she recalled their promise. He would take her away
somewhere where they could live happily ever after. Even now he leaned against the far wall smiling
at her. When the woman went away, she knew he would come and cover her with his gently warm kisses,
and she shivered in anticipation.

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"The White Moon Princess," it* spoke it the darkness, "...will the darkness swallow her
up and extinguish her light or will she dispel it or convert it to the light? The Princess of
Death is predictable enough, but this one...this one...already all the darkness of the world is
being attracted by her light."

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Sesshoumaru set her down on the futon carefully adjusting her arms and legs. As he was about
to stand the sun came out from behind the clouds, piercing through the thin material covering the
window and illuminating a golden, stray strand of hair resting on her cheek. He paused and seemed
to be at an indecision as whether or not to kneel again or stand. He was saved from this decision as
the man behind him spoke.

"Ummm...you understand that I expect payment not only for her cleaning but also for cloths
her blood will ruin, do you not?"

Standing, he turned and faced the man coolly. "Of course. I expect the job to be done when
I return. As for me I shall be acquiring new clothes for her." He proceeded to start towards the door,
but a thought struck him, and he paused. "I understand that in order to clean some of her wounds you
must remove some of her garments. However, I shall know if anything...inappropriate happened in this
room, and if it did..." He didn't bother gesturing towards his claws or to his sword which the man was
probably stupid enough to think was actually a weapon because the man already knew he was dangerous.
"That is all."

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Stepping out, Sesshoumaru closed the doors behind him. He had more on his mind than just getting
Usagi new clothes like the question of why Hakaitekimaru would attack her when he was trying to steal her
away from him. The most blatant answer was to test her powers. She obviously did not counterattack, so
was he disappointed or had he been expecting that from the start. He frowned as children and adults passed
him by staring at him wary of his presence. There had to be something more to it than that. Hakaitekimaru
was never so simple.

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Hotaru groaned as she strained to open her eyes. Wherever she was the insufficient lighting only
allowed her to make out vague shapes. Feeling a soreness spreading throughout her entire body she struggled
to raised her hands up in an effort to heal herself. Someone- Hotaru was startled she hadn't noticed him before-
gently pushed her hands down muttering, "It's too early for you to move." Realizing she was on someone's futon,
certainly not hers, she looked to the side causing the wet cloth, which she had not noticed before, to slide
off her head. Brushing away her bangs, he reset the cloth and to calm her began muttering reassurances and
took hold of her hand. Comforted Hotaru closed her eyes and slipped again into the world of dreams where the
excruciating pain could not follow her.

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'Mamo-chan!' That was Usagi's first thought as she awoke and jerked away from the blue eyes that
were inches away from her face.

"Usagi-san, I'm glad you're awake."

'No, not Mamo-chan,' she chided herself for thinking so, "Sora-san.' She then blushed deeply. What had
Sora been doing that he had been so close? "S-Sora-san, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you," he said gazing down at her. And finally Usagi noticed two facts: One, he was poised
above her, his hands on either sides of her head and currently bending down, and two, she felt a breeze on her
chest. She yanked the blanket up blushing, and turned her head to the other side. True, it hadn't been THAT bad
but just another inch or two and... "Usagi," he said. Usagi peered at him out of the corner of her eye warily.
"I think I love you..."

Usagi's breath caught in her throat. 'Mamo-chan! He's just like...' He kissed her then, lowering down
and resting some of his weight on her. Almost instinctively she reached up and tangled her fingers in his loose
locks of hair, but before she could sink into the kiss he pulled away.

"Sorry, Usagi-san. I just...I couldn't help myself," He apologized profusely, but with that flush on his
face Usagi had to admit he didn't LOOK very sorry. "Usagi-san, meet me tonight. Please. There's a forest on the
edge of town, and if you walk in a straight line, you'll see clearing. I'll be waiting there for you tonight when
the moon's at its highest. Please."

Usagi opened her mouth to speak but whatever it was it soon forgotton as Sora gave her a quick kiss before
rushing out the door. Usagi sat up to try to stop him, just as the blanket covering the upper portion of her
body slipped off and Sesshoumaru opened the door on the other side of the room the kimono in his hand dropping
to the floor.

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'Who?' Hotaru upon opening her eyes grabbed the closest thing she could find and flung it at the stranger
standing over her bead while leaping off the bed. Whoever it was hit the object which turned out to be a plate full
of food on a second look away and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Please..." Hotaru found herself staring into emerald green eyes, "Please, don't push yourself. You can
beat me up all you want later, but right now your body needs rest to recover from your illness."

"I.."

He silenced her. "Please don't speak."

And again Hotaru was overcome by pain. Finding it too much to stand, she collapsed on the ground deaf to
all his shouts of concern. 'What is this??? This isn't natural...Senshi don't have diseases. Not like this. The
only way a senshi could be like this is...by another senshi...'




*For people who've never seen Inuyasha it's not really whip. It's this glowing green
whip-like attack he has. The whip-like thing isn't solid or anything, he doesn't
carry it around it just materializes. As far as I know it doesn't have a name.

*It's a very hard thing to look UP at someone condesendingly, but somehow Jaken pulls
it off. Trust me.

*recall back to chapter 1

Note: Yea...this is the end of chapter 4 part a. I don't really know why I'm sliting up chapter 4 into two parts...hehe
I think it's coz I'm too lazy to think up of a new title...