Legal: I own Taomaru. If I owned everyone, I wouldn't be hiding from my college classes.
Chapter 9: Irritations
As people scurried about, Sesshomaru kept an eye out for an attack by Inu Yasha or the rest of his friends but it never came. Taomaru, Inu Yasha and the two humans had vanished amidst the organized chaos that the castle grounds had become- seemingly into thin air. Sesshomaru frowned, having a good idea where they had gone and wondering what kind of retaliation to expect. Assured that all instructions and tactics were being followed, he went to go hunt down his brother and meddling human friends.
He disappeared into the tunnels as fast as only a dog demon could go, transforming into his full youkai form and running flat out. The twisting hallways did nothing to slow him down and within moments Sesshomaru was in his wing of tunnels, trotting past his now clean room and then trotting further down the long passageway, coming to a stop outside his old room. As he had thought, Inu Yasha and company were inside looking down at the unmoving girl. The doors had been thrown wide open and Sesshomaru couldn't help but snort in disgust at his brother's carelessness as he walked inside. Eyes filled with hate looked at Sesshomaru, the desire to cause sever bodily harm to the youkai was evident as he shrank to his humanoid form.
The room had been his long ago before his mother had died. It was big by human standards and just the right size for a dog demon child. After Lady Kitori died, Sesshomaru had moved into her room in an effort to still feel close to the woman he missed so much. It had surprised Sesshomaru greatly when Kagome had taken over this room a few hours ago. He crossed the room and leapt gracefully onto the bed, finding himself suddenly barred by Sango's bone boomerang and Inu Yasha's Tetesusagia.
"Get away from her." Inu Yasha ordered, his voice tight and low. The hanyou shook with anger and Sesshomaru, for once, did as he was told.
"You killed her." Sango said, tears falling from her eyes. "She came here to help you and you killed her." The monk beside the exterminator was ready to unseal his Air Rip and suck Sesshomaru up.
"No," Sesshomaru said patiently. "I killed what she had become." He looked at the bed and at Kagome's unmoving form.
Taomaru snarled wordlessly then spoke. "Stop playing with them, Sesshomaru. It's cruel even for you." As the others looked at him in surprise, Taomaru just stared stonily at the headboard. Sesshomaru frowned.
"If you would move…?" He prodded and Sango and Miroku moved warily aside. Inu Yasha however, stood resolutely in his brother's path until Taomaru used his dark tail like a hook and jerked the hanyou out of the way.
Sesshomaru shrugged, his own anger making his tail fluff further. He reached Kagome, pulling her body into his lap and propping her in a sitting position as he checked her neck. Damn, he thought. He hadn't realized she had bled so much after his claws had nicked her skin. There was an easy way to stop that and Sesshomaru lowered his head to the cut on Kagome's neck, lapping the liquid up in slow strokes, his eyes on Inu Yasha the entire time. The youkai was baiting the hanyou and both of them knew it. Sesshomaru licked his lips, moving from her neck to her temple, laying a soft kiss on her skin while sending her a wake up call. Wake up, little one. Kagome's eyes fluttered but did not open. This did not trouble Sesshomaru; he hadn't expected her to actually wake up, just to move and prove she still lived. She took a deep breath and breathed in an even rhythm, a very obvious change from the still body a few seconds ago. The youkai rubbed her arms lightly and tickled her face with his tail until she batted at it and grumbled.
"Kagome." Sango breathed, relief almost making her faint. She leaned against Miroku and both were happy in the simple fact that Kagome still lived. Inu Yasha felt faint himself but shook the feeling off.
"Give me Kagome." He demanded, holding out a free arm for her and brandishing his sword in the other.
"Haven't we gone over through this before, little brother?" Sesshomaru sighed, still holding Kagome close. There was no way in all the hells that Sesshomaru was letting the girl go, not to his brother to be abused some more, not to anyone! Before he realized it, the youkai was glowing, shinning an amber light the same as his eyes. Everyone gasped except Sesshomaru; he simply stood upright with Kagome in his arms and leapt off the bed. He turned back to the group, eyes narrowed and eyes beginning to bleed red. "Stay away from Kagome; she needs to rest, not to be abused and bothered." And he swept from the room still glowing like an amber firecracker. Inu Yasha bounded after him, the transformed Tetsusagia held in a striking position. Energy snapped and crackled around the angry youkai and Inu Yasha was sent skidding across the floor and into a wall. The power change was so surprising that even Taomaru needed a few seconds to recover afterward.
"Wow," he said softly after a minute. "I would never have thought…"
"What, what just happened?" Inu Yasha asked, sitting up and starring at the door. "'Stay away from Kagome; she needs to rest, not to be abused and bothered.' What was he talking about?"
"'I killed what she had become.' I don't get it; did he kill her or did her kill a part of her?" Sango asked, confused by the sudden turn of events.
Taomaru sighed, rubbing his chin. He picked up one of Kagome's pencils and ripped a blank sheet of paper from one of her notebooks. He held up a finger to signal for them to wait and started drawing. "Alright, this is going to be confusing so bare with me." He showed them the picture and Inu Yasha snorted.
"Fuck this. I'm going to get Kagome back before he hurts her further." The hanyou snarled and headed for the door. Taomaru's tail wrapped around Inu Yasha's leg and flipped him upside down. The youkai looked at his nephew, his bronze eye tinted with red.
"Do shut up and listen for once! Sesshomaru will not hurt Kagome; in fact he has done the exact opposite so far." Taomaru swung Inu Yasha upward and dangled him over the bed before dropping his nephew on his head. Inu Yasha righted himself, rolling the crick out of his neck. He realized that he was missing his sword and saw that Miroku had taken it away. The hanyou growled and was promptly thunked by Taomaru. The youkai positioned the drawing so all three could see it.
"It looks like a wheel." Miroku remarked, frowning as he looked at the labels. The hub was labeled 'Kagome' and each of the three spokes was labeled as one of the three dog demons. The thin rim had no label but linked each spoke together just as the hub did.
"Now, this is the best diagram to portray the link between the four of us. Kagome linked us all to her and, as a consequence, we too are linked together. Kagome is the center of the wheel," he tapped the drawing. "and Sesshomaru, Inu Yasha and I are the spokes. She linked us to her. Everybody with me so far?" Taomaru looked at them all as they nodded. "Being the center, Kagome can draw on power and information from each of us. It is how she could get around the castle when everyone else would get lost and also how she could manifest enough magical power to erect a barrier around the whole castle and still kill those soldiers so effectively." At the memory, Inu Yasha felt physically ill and Taomaru looked at him. "Now is not the time to be squeamish, nephew." Miroku and Sango looked between the two.
"You two can sense each other because of Lady Kagome." The monk stated, tapping the wheel's rim. "Does this apply to Sesshomaru as well?"
Taomaru nodded. "We can sense each others proximity and emotional state. If we concentrate we can gather knowledge from another's memories and listen in on mental conversations. So far, Kagome is the best of us to be able to manipulate this ability; she can block us all from each other and from herself. Sesshomaru isn't far behind, as we've just seen, but he needs to figure out to control it. When she's awake, I'm sure Kagome will rein it in and divert it to Inu Yasha or I- it's what she's been doing so far. Okay so far?" He asked and again they all nodded. "Good because this may get confusing. Through each of us, Kagome is becoming more adept at using power and skills that we each, respectively, had to fight to control and master. Because of where I'm sealed and for how long, she is gaining an interesting mastery of using the earth as a weapon of destruction and protection."
"Wait! If you can do so much then how come you haven't been helping out more? You turned the whole fucking forest against us a day or two ago and since then you haven't done anything!" Inu Yasha frowned. "You sit here all high and mighty and let us all bust our asses while you just sit there. You heal and can block memories but are you saying you can't now because you're sealed? If you've been sealed then how the hell did you pull off all that other crap?"
The other two remained silent but had been wondering the same thing; the mysteries surrounding Taomaru had just expressed in words by Inu Yasha's blunt statement. Taomaru snarled angrily and in a lightening movement almost to fast to follow, he had pinned Inu Yasha to the bed. The previously friendly and helpful youkai had turned into the fierce fighting machine he had been centuries ago. The hanyou could not free himself and felt afraid as he watched Taomaru's remaining eye bleed to a rich red. His uncle's power crackled through the room making the very air roil and vibrate with his fury.
"All that time pinned to a tree, all that time spent around Kagome, Miroku and Sango, and you have learned nothing!" Taomaru twisted his claws into Inu Yasha's yukata, lifting him by it and then slamming him roughly back down. It was a sheer stroke of luck that the dark youkai had forgotten they were all still on the bed- if he had slammed Inu Yasha into the floor with as much strength, the stone would have shattered. "You have had the next five hundred years worth of knowledge at your very finger tips for over a year and you haven't bothered with it at all have you? Have you!? You have the brain cells of a jelly fish." Taomaru fumed in disgust. "You drag Kagome from her test and her school and have no clue just how important they are! No wonder Kagome is bonding with Sesshomaru; they are on the same intellectual level while you remain at the bottom. I can not believe that you and I are related, that you are Momaru's child!" And the youkai threw Inu Yasha into the headboard.
Taomaru stood, shaking in anger and looked ready to simply eat his nephew. Still radiating anger, he turned his gaze on Sango and Miroku who took up defense postures immediately. Taomaru made an extremely visible effort to calm himself and failed. "I will continue to explain if you so desire but I will not explain anything with that selfish idiot nearby!" He jumped off the bed and transformed into his giant form, hitting the ceiling and not seeming to care as his tough fur dug groves in the ceiling as he squeezed through the exit.
Sesshomaru placed Kagome in his room, tucking her into his freshly made bed without embarrassment. Once laid out, Kagome curled up under the sheets burying into the fabric and shivering slightly. Surprised by this, Sesshomaru felt her forehead. She had a normal temperature so the reason she shivered must have been due to the sudden temperature change. He frowned and then realized that while carrying her, Kagome had settled against his chest, one of the warmer spots on Sesshomaru's body. He fetched a blanket from the chest at the end of his bed and returned, placing it over Kagome. He tucked it around her and watched as she stopped shivering, settling into a peaceful sleep.
The youkai found himself running his hand through her hair, enjoying the feel of the wavy, silky strands flowing through his fingers. Sesshomaru blinked and stopped, surprised and slightly horrified at his behavior for the past few moments. Had he just put her in his bed? Had he really just been showing affection to her, to a human? On no; this was unacceptable. There was no way he could be showing emotion to her, should protect her from his brother. Sesshomaru sneered at the sleeping girl, his eyes narrowing. Kagome was Inu Yasha's bitch. The hanyou's problem- this had nothing to do with Sesshomaru and never had. Protect her? Her? This pathetic, weak, breakable, soft, caring, kissable… NO! Sesshomaru blinked, his tail puffing out more than normal as his anger grew. He couldn't be thinking such things- he was Sesshomaru, Great Demon Lord of the Western Lands! This girl was just another human, a weapon now; something to be used and then discarded after its duties had been fulfilled. He should order Inu Yasha in here to claim Kagome and call the servants to change the bed sheets again.
He did not move, sitting beside Kagome, breathing in her scent. Sesshomaru frowned and ordered himself to call Inu Yasha or to toss Kagome out the door and leave her to her fate. He continued to sit there silently, a vein in his temple trying to work it's way free from his skin. Under her blankets, Kagome moved. She began to struggle, as if she were drowning, kicking her legs and moving her arms to reach air. She made whimpering noises. "Help! Help me!" She called softly. "Please help me, Sesshomaru!"
All thoughts of tossing her away evaporated in a fraction of a second. Sesshomaru pulled back the covers and exposed Kagome to the cool air. "Kagome?" He said softly, shaking her gently. "Kagome, wake up." This was why he had knocked her out completely, so she would be able to rest her body and her mind. She continued to fight, becoming more and more uncoordinated. He grabbed her hands, calling her mentally and demanding she awaken. His order hit a wall however, a black solid wall that was not Kagome's doing. Sesshomaru's jaw dropped as he felt the familiar presence.
Now? He thought. That bitch had to attack us now? Of all the times…! He had to warn the others- no telling what damage she might do with the situation as it was. Sesshomaru lowered his mental barriers and yelled an alarm strong enough to make an air raid siren ashamed. She's back! The dream youkai is back! He did not add that it was already attacking Kagome; he was still angry with the other two after all. He continued to call out to Kagome, shaking her and nuzzling her neck.
Kagome shuttered as he did the last, her power sparking in the process and reaching out for Sesshomaru. The youkai glowed pink before the light changed to amber. Wake up! He screamed at her. My Lady, wake up! He shook her hard once and felt her stir. Her eyes opened slowly, heavy lidded with exertion. She looked up at Sesshomaru, into his concerned amber orbs and felt her magic curl back inside of her again. It was not alone however; a small piece of Sesshomaru's newly awakened power went with it, snuggling up against hers. As Sesshomaru's magic retreated, he felt the small chunk of Kagome's power do the same, filling a nitch in his heart he hadn't even noticed.
"I had a bad dream." She whispered, lying on the bed passively. "It scared me." She did not cry, did not whimper. Aside from breathe, Kagome made no sound and did not move. As the youkai looked down at her, she looked so fragile, so vulnerable, so… human.
Sesshomaru scooped her up in his arms, hugging her to his chest and pulling her into his lap. Pressed so close, he could here her thundering heart beat, feel the organ slow down to a normal rhythm. He knew she must be feeling his heart do the same; it had scared him when he couldn't wake her, scared him in a way he hadn't known anybody could. "Me too," he said, cheek resting against her hair. "Me too."
"She's back, you know." Kagome said after a thoughtful moment. "And I think we were wrong about her."
Pennath's Notes: Okay, I know this chapter is short and early but oh well. ::has more tests this week:: Hopefully I'll be able to get back on a regular schedule after the next few days, after life leaves off and lets me begin writing again. ::sighs:: At this rate, I'll never finish this story and it's driving me nuts! But enough whining!
That's right everyone, the dream youkai is back and more and more details are being added to the mystery of Taomaru. Any fans still out there? Well, if there are, just about everything explaining him will be explained as the story continues- mostly because everyone keeps pestering him about it. Kindly don't flame me because of the increasing closeness of Sesshomaru and Kagome- it will be explained and dealt with later.
In the next chapter, the secret of the dream youkai will be revealed and Inu Yasha will once again jump to very dangerous conclusions. Is anyone else noticing that he's behaving a little odd…? Not just normal Inu odd but odd odd. Hmm, there may be more to that so keep an eye on him. Hell, keep an eye on everyone especially those three lords. They are up to no good and are going to cause problems. And that's all I'm going to say. So the chapter was short but I threw in a few tidbits to hopefully make up for it.
Have a good week everyone! ::dives into her hidey-hole away from her impending lab test:: Eeep! Hide me!