A/N: A number of people seem interested in whether or not Kagome's shower
fantasy will ever come true. You'll all just have to keep reading to see.
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Too bad. . .
Synthetic Emotions
Inuyasha was getting closer. Sesshomaru wasn't sure why he knew, but he could feel it. The edges of the empty space inside of him resonated with it, humming like a tuning fork. The sensation was peculiar, like and unlike the other times when whatever was dormant inside him had stirred. The pulsing was there, but gentler, as the incomplete pathways tried to connect.
The youkai didn't know what was going on, but he was becoming increasingly sure it had something to do with Taisho. If something concerned both Sesshomaru and the hanyou, it almost had to be traced back to him; he had made both of them, after all.
Of course, their respective importance to their maker differed. Sesshomaru was a youkai, created out of Taisho's drive to create the perfect companion, whereas Inuyasha was made out of the unparalleled folly of genius.
In the end, despite whatever else could be said of him, Taisho had been human, and as flawed as the rest of them. It was only natural that he should favor the hanyou he had gifted with the face of his own son over the youkai he'd made for profit.
Sesshomaru's thoughts left a sour taste in his mouth, like ash on his tongue.
Inuyasha would reach him soon, then he would learn why he was drawn here. He could feel the boundaries of the void thrumming steadily stronger, each beat bring new cells to life. Did this have something to do with the hanyou? Was he the source of this bizarre feeling, or was it just a symptom of something else entirely.
Of one thing he was sure, what happened now 'was' different from the other times this had happened. Smoother. More natural. His other systems didn't have to strain to support whatever it was that was trying to happen in him.
Before long the hanyou appeared around a bend in the road. He was carrying a young woman on his back, making an unlikely scene as he bounded along, white hair flying behind him and clothes showing the signs of his earlier confrontation.
'Such a busy day,' Sesshomaru thought with some disgust. Vaguely he wondered why this silly creature had such an affect on him.
Then that thing inside him that had attempted time and again to turn over before, that thing which had been blocked every time before, moved. This time, nothing hampered it. With an inaudible click, the thing fell into place. In the emptiness new codes sprang to life, supplanting Sesshomaru's own innate commands.
If he were less in control of himself, the youkai would have staggered under the sudden onslaught of changes as his programming seemingly discarded old information, adapting quickly to the new codes. And in the its wake, his mind was left buzzing with sensations which, while not entirely new, were totally unfamiliar in their strength.
Heat seemed to seep into him at the sight of the hanyou, again his systems charged as though for a battle when there was no overt threat. These new feelings seemed centered around a tight, bitter knot in his chest.
Through this, a name for the new program rattled loose from his memory: Tenseiga.
*~*~*
Inuyasha skidded to a halt when he recognized the figure standing under a flickering yellow streetlight. The youkai somehow managed to appear at once stiff and casual. It was a talent that Inuyasha remembered, though he wouldn't have minded forgetting it. No, he wouldn't have minded forgetting Sesshomaru in the least. He felt the question coming off of Kagome, but ignored her to study Sesshomaru critically.
In the fifty years he'd slept, youkai had started doing very odd things. It couldn't hurt to be careful.
Sesshomaru hadn't changed at all so far as he could see, though. His refined features were schooled into a bland expression. Every strand of his silvery white hair was in place, and his clothing was both pristine and terribly elegant, even down to the way his trousers broke over his shoes. His eyes were hooded cynically.
Just seeing him again was irritating, as though no time had passed since he'd last met the youkai. That time, and every time before it for that matter, Sesshomaru had baited him, poking at him and pushing him. If the bastard weren't so damnedably cold, Inuyasha would have thought he got some kind of sick pleasure from trying get a rise out of him.
Slowly, the hanyou let Kagome drop to the ground behind him, taking Shippo with her. Careful to keep between her and Sesshomaru, Inuyasha took a few steps forward.
"Why the hell are you here?" he asked, unwilling to play games with the youkai.
"I was rather hoping you could tell me that," Sesshomaru said, deep voice perfectly unruffled.
"Why would I know?" Inuyasha snapped. That superior tone could raise his hackles even after fifty years.
Sesshomaru gave a small, condescending smile. How Inuyasha had hated that smile. . .
"I guess you didn't feel it, then," the youkai said evenly.
"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked softly from behind him. He could hear the concern in her tone.
"Stay back," he told her firmly, then to Sesshomaru, "I don't know what you're talking about, or what you want. There, satisfied?"
"I don't think I am," Sesshomaru replied. He raised one hand and studied his claws. He almost looked curious. Almost. If you could consider him capable of showing curiosity. Inuyasha was fairly sure that his emotion simulator was nonexistent.
"What you did against that youkai on the news, you shouldn't have been able to do that," he continued, still looking at his nails. "You used an energy weapon. How did you do that? How did you even fight it?" He looked up then, fixing Inuyasha with a scrutinizing gaze. "Your woman wasn't in immediate peril. You should have run away."
"What are you talking about?"
"I suppose I'll just have to see for myself," Sesshomaru said, his smile fading.
"Keh. You can sure as hell try," Inuyasha growled back, flexing his fingers.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted at him. "What's going on?"
"I'll explain later," he hissed at her, pushing her away from him and barely dodging Sesshomaru's sudden attack. The youkai paused, like he was considering what he'd just done.
"It looks like you're not the only one who can do things they shouldn't be able to," Sesshomaru said, more to himself than anyone else.
Inuyasha took a wary stance, watching for his opponents next move. That first attack had been fast. Faster than he would have expected. This would not be like his fight with the industrial youkai before. This time he was paired against someone his own size, and at least as quick as he was. Inuyasha wasn't sure he could have moved that quickly from a standing start. . .
He felt the power surge through his hands as it had before, and smirked. At least he should be able to hurt Sesshomaru.
The youkai choose that moment to attack again. Even though he was ready for it this time, Inuyasha was still surprised by his speed. Almost quicker than the eye could follow, Sesshomaru was coming at him from the left side. Inuyasha was forced to dart back to avoid having his cheek split open. There was no opportunity for a counter attack before Sesshomaru struck again. Inuyasha was forced to deflect the blow with his forearm. He couldn't even dodge, the move was so quick.
He should be able to hurt Sesshomaru, if the bastard would just hold still long enough to hit him. Shit.
Sesshomaru was relentless, but finally Inuyasha was able to counter him, bringing his claws up in an awkward underhanded attack that left ragged slashes of light in the air between them. The youkai jumped clear easily. He paused again to look at his own claws.
"It seems you have me at a disadvantage," he said noncommentally, his burnished gold eyes on his dull claws. When he looked up, that tiny, mocking smile was back. "Then again, perhaps not. Shall we see?"
Inuyasha felt a cold moment of presentiment as Sesshomaru extended his right arm, his hand held loosely before him. His eyes drooped nearly closed, the only outward sign of concentration. 'What the fuck is he doing?'
Then light came from Sesshomaru's hand. Not from his claws, like Inuyasha's, but a long whip of power that coalesced seemingly out of the evening air itself.
This was not good. This was very not good. The whip--or whatever it was-- gave Sesshomaru far more reach than Inuyasha had. If the hanyou was going to get a hit in, he'd have to get inside Sesshomaru's range, which would probably be tricky. To say the least.
"Let us see just what else I'm capable of," Sesshomaru said in the same infuriating monotone, raising his hand dramatically.
Inuyasha stepped aside, letting the first lash singe the pavement at his feet, and again so it cracked an inch or so away from his shoulder. He was aware of Kagome off to one side and behind him, closer than he would have liked, but still out of the way. He only hoped she stayed that way. As always, her safety was his first priority.
In his moment of distraction, Sesshomaru scored his first hit, opening a line across Inuyasha's leg just above the knee. The 'pain' signal seemed to leak into his leg, infecting the nerve pathways around the wound at the same time it shot a wave straight up his spine. Inuyasha bit down on a particularly virulent curse, leaning back to avoid the follow up strike, unable to keep it from grazing his chin.
The hanyou fell backward, catching himself on one knee. Looking up, he saw Sesshomaru lifting his weapon for another blow. The last one.
His mind went blank. He knew he should do something. He just wasn't sure what he could do.
Before the whip fell, arms wrapped around Inuyasha's neck and a body pressed up against his, shielding him. Kagome's black hair filled his vision at the same time her warm, slightly spicy scent hit his nostrils, sharp with anxiety.
"What the. . ." was all he could manage, then Sesshomaru's arm came down, power laying open the air.
*~*~*
Seconds passed. Kagome held on to Inuyasha as tightly as she could, clenching her teeth and waiting for the blow. But it never came.
Very slowly, the girl opened one eye, then the other, and looked up into Inuyasha's shocked face, then looked over her shoulder to see that the other youkai was just standing there. Just standing there and watching them. His weird light-whippy-thingy had vanished without a trace. The eyes fixed on the pair of them were much like Inuyasha's, but where the hanyou's were bright amber, his had the dim luster of antique gold.
Then Kagome realized she was still clinging to Inuyasha like an idiot. She loosened her hold, but didn't pull away entirely. Who could say what this strange youkai (who looked so similar to her hanyou in some ways) would do to him if she moved away? Who could say why he stopped at all?
Inuyasha put one arm around her waist, but the girl wiggled free of it when he tried to maneuver her off of him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he hissed in her ear. Kagome shook her head. Better to let him think she had a good reason, because if she told the truth, he'd just yell at her.
The truth was, she hadn't 'thought' about what she was doing at all.
For a long, tense minute, the three of them stayed that way. It was the youkai who broke it, turning away from them and strolling away as though absolutely nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
"Hey!" Inuyasha called after him, ear flattening angrily against his head.
"I think I've taken all the answers I need," the youkai said, not even looking back. Kagome watched as he moved farther and farther away, and finally vanished entirely down a side street. Once there was no sign of the youkai, she let go of the hanyou's neck, turning for face him.
The girl felt her heart sink when she saw the look in Inuyasha's eyes. She was in very big trouble.
*~*~*
A/N: You should all thank me. I thought about trying to end this chapter with Kagome diving in front of Inuyasha, and making you wait until my next chapter to find out what happened. See how nice I am?
Until next time.
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Too bad. . .
Synthetic Emotions
Inuyasha was getting closer. Sesshomaru wasn't sure why he knew, but he could feel it. The edges of the empty space inside of him resonated with it, humming like a tuning fork. The sensation was peculiar, like and unlike the other times when whatever was dormant inside him had stirred. The pulsing was there, but gentler, as the incomplete pathways tried to connect.
The youkai didn't know what was going on, but he was becoming increasingly sure it had something to do with Taisho. If something concerned both Sesshomaru and the hanyou, it almost had to be traced back to him; he had made both of them, after all.
Of course, their respective importance to their maker differed. Sesshomaru was a youkai, created out of Taisho's drive to create the perfect companion, whereas Inuyasha was made out of the unparalleled folly of genius.
In the end, despite whatever else could be said of him, Taisho had been human, and as flawed as the rest of them. It was only natural that he should favor the hanyou he had gifted with the face of his own son over the youkai he'd made for profit.
Sesshomaru's thoughts left a sour taste in his mouth, like ash on his tongue.
Inuyasha would reach him soon, then he would learn why he was drawn here. He could feel the boundaries of the void thrumming steadily stronger, each beat bring new cells to life. Did this have something to do with the hanyou? Was he the source of this bizarre feeling, or was it just a symptom of something else entirely.
Of one thing he was sure, what happened now 'was' different from the other times this had happened. Smoother. More natural. His other systems didn't have to strain to support whatever it was that was trying to happen in him.
Before long the hanyou appeared around a bend in the road. He was carrying a young woman on his back, making an unlikely scene as he bounded along, white hair flying behind him and clothes showing the signs of his earlier confrontation.
'Such a busy day,' Sesshomaru thought with some disgust. Vaguely he wondered why this silly creature had such an affect on him.
Then that thing inside him that had attempted time and again to turn over before, that thing which had been blocked every time before, moved. This time, nothing hampered it. With an inaudible click, the thing fell into place. In the emptiness new codes sprang to life, supplanting Sesshomaru's own innate commands.
If he were less in control of himself, the youkai would have staggered under the sudden onslaught of changes as his programming seemingly discarded old information, adapting quickly to the new codes. And in the its wake, his mind was left buzzing with sensations which, while not entirely new, were totally unfamiliar in their strength.
Heat seemed to seep into him at the sight of the hanyou, again his systems charged as though for a battle when there was no overt threat. These new feelings seemed centered around a tight, bitter knot in his chest.
Through this, a name for the new program rattled loose from his memory: Tenseiga.
*~*~*
Inuyasha skidded to a halt when he recognized the figure standing under a flickering yellow streetlight. The youkai somehow managed to appear at once stiff and casual. It was a talent that Inuyasha remembered, though he wouldn't have minded forgetting it. No, he wouldn't have minded forgetting Sesshomaru in the least. He felt the question coming off of Kagome, but ignored her to study Sesshomaru critically.
In the fifty years he'd slept, youkai had started doing very odd things. It couldn't hurt to be careful.
Sesshomaru hadn't changed at all so far as he could see, though. His refined features were schooled into a bland expression. Every strand of his silvery white hair was in place, and his clothing was both pristine and terribly elegant, even down to the way his trousers broke over his shoes. His eyes were hooded cynically.
Just seeing him again was irritating, as though no time had passed since he'd last met the youkai. That time, and every time before it for that matter, Sesshomaru had baited him, poking at him and pushing him. If the bastard weren't so damnedably cold, Inuyasha would have thought he got some kind of sick pleasure from trying get a rise out of him.
Slowly, the hanyou let Kagome drop to the ground behind him, taking Shippo with her. Careful to keep between her and Sesshomaru, Inuyasha took a few steps forward.
"Why the hell are you here?" he asked, unwilling to play games with the youkai.
"I was rather hoping you could tell me that," Sesshomaru said, deep voice perfectly unruffled.
"Why would I know?" Inuyasha snapped. That superior tone could raise his hackles even after fifty years.
Sesshomaru gave a small, condescending smile. How Inuyasha had hated that smile. . .
"I guess you didn't feel it, then," the youkai said evenly.
"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked softly from behind him. He could hear the concern in her tone.
"Stay back," he told her firmly, then to Sesshomaru, "I don't know what you're talking about, or what you want. There, satisfied?"
"I don't think I am," Sesshomaru replied. He raised one hand and studied his claws. He almost looked curious. Almost. If you could consider him capable of showing curiosity. Inuyasha was fairly sure that his emotion simulator was nonexistent.
"What you did against that youkai on the news, you shouldn't have been able to do that," he continued, still looking at his nails. "You used an energy weapon. How did you do that? How did you even fight it?" He looked up then, fixing Inuyasha with a scrutinizing gaze. "Your woman wasn't in immediate peril. You should have run away."
"What are you talking about?"
"I suppose I'll just have to see for myself," Sesshomaru said, his smile fading.
"Keh. You can sure as hell try," Inuyasha growled back, flexing his fingers.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted at him. "What's going on?"
"I'll explain later," he hissed at her, pushing her away from him and barely dodging Sesshomaru's sudden attack. The youkai paused, like he was considering what he'd just done.
"It looks like you're not the only one who can do things they shouldn't be able to," Sesshomaru said, more to himself than anyone else.
Inuyasha took a wary stance, watching for his opponents next move. That first attack had been fast. Faster than he would have expected. This would not be like his fight with the industrial youkai before. This time he was paired against someone his own size, and at least as quick as he was. Inuyasha wasn't sure he could have moved that quickly from a standing start. . .
He felt the power surge through his hands as it had before, and smirked. At least he should be able to hurt Sesshomaru.
The youkai choose that moment to attack again. Even though he was ready for it this time, Inuyasha was still surprised by his speed. Almost quicker than the eye could follow, Sesshomaru was coming at him from the left side. Inuyasha was forced to dart back to avoid having his cheek split open. There was no opportunity for a counter attack before Sesshomaru struck again. Inuyasha was forced to deflect the blow with his forearm. He couldn't even dodge, the move was so quick.
He should be able to hurt Sesshomaru, if the bastard would just hold still long enough to hit him. Shit.
Sesshomaru was relentless, but finally Inuyasha was able to counter him, bringing his claws up in an awkward underhanded attack that left ragged slashes of light in the air between them. The youkai jumped clear easily. He paused again to look at his own claws.
"It seems you have me at a disadvantage," he said noncommentally, his burnished gold eyes on his dull claws. When he looked up, that tiny, mocking smile was back. "Then again, perhaps not. Shall we see?"
Inuyasha felt a cold moment of presentiment as Sesshomaru extended his right arm, his hand held loosely before him. His eyes drooped nearly closed, the only outward sign of concentration. 'What the fuck is he doing?'
Then light came from Sesshomaru's hand. Not from his claws, like Inuyasha's, but a long whip of power that coalesced seemingly out of the evening air itself.
This was not good. This was very not good. The whip--or whatever it was-- gave Sesshomaru far more reach than Inuyasha had. If the hanyou was going to get a hit in, he'd have to get inside Sesshomaru's range, which would probably be tricky. To say the least.
"Let us see just what else I'm capable of," Sesshomaru said in the same infuriating monotone, raising his hand dramatically.
Inuyasha stepped aside, letting the first lash singe the pavement at his feet, and again so it cracked an inch or so away from his shoulder. He was aware of Kagome off to one side and behind him, closer than he would have liked, but still out of the way. He only hoped she stayed that way. As always, her safety was his first priority.
In his moment of distraction, Sesshomaru scored his first hit, opening a line across Inuyasha's leg just above the knee. The 'pain' signal seemed to leak into his leg, infecting the nerve pathways around the wound at the same time it shot a wave straight up his spine. Inuyasha bit down on a particularly virulent curse, leaning back to avoid the follow up strike, unable to keep it from grazing his chin.
The hanyou fell backward, catching himself on one knee. Looking up, he saw Sesshomaru lifting his weapon for another blow. The last one.
His mind went blank. He knew he should do something. He just wasn't sure what he could do.
Before the whip fell, arms wrapped around Inuyasha's neck and a body pressed up against his, shielding him. Kagome's black hair filled his vision at the same time her warm, slightly spicy scent hit his nostrils, sharp with anxiety.
"What the. . ." was all he could manage, then Sesshomaru's arm came down, power laying open the air.
*~*~*
Seconds passed. Kagome held on to Inuyasha as tightly as she could, clenching her teeth and waiting for the blow. But it never came.
Very slowly, the girl opened one eye, then the other, and looked up into Inuyasha's shocked face, then looked over her shoulder to see that the other youkai was just standing there. Just standing there and watching them. His weird light-whippy-thingy had vanished without a trace. The eyes fixed on the pair of them were much like Inuyasha's, but where the hanyou's were bright amber, his had the dim luster of antique gold.
Then Kagome realized she was still clinging to Inuyasha like an idiot. She loosened her hold, but didn't pull away entirely. Who could say what this strange youkai (who looked so similar to her hanyou in some ways) would do to him if she moved away? Who could say why he stopped at all?
Inuyasha put one arm around her waist, but the girl wiggled free of it when he tried to maneuver her off of him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he hissed in her ear. Kagome shook her head. Better to let him think she had a good reason, because if she told the truth, he'd just yell at her.
The truth was, she hadn't 'thought' about what she was doing at all.
For a long, tense minute, the three of them stayed that way. It was the youkai who broke it, turning away from them and strolling away as though absolutely nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
"Hey!" Inuyasha called after him, ear flattening angrily against his head.
"I think I've taken all the answers I need," the youkai said, not even looking back. Kagome watched as he moved farther and farther away, and finally vanished entirely down a side street. Once there was no sign of the youkai, she let go of the hanyou's neck, turning for face him.
The girl felt her heart sink when she saw the look in Inuyasha's eyes. She was in very big trouble.
*~*~*
A/N: You should all thank me. I thought about trying to end this chapter with Kagome diving in front of Inuyasha, and making you wait until my next chapter to find out what happened. See how nice I am?
Until next time.