Yoshiko fans, here's the post for you! It's all about Yoshiko (basically). And Sesshomaru fans should be happy to because, guess what, he shows up in this one! Wow, so amazing! Why anyone would like someone like Sesshomaru I've got no clue.
Ravyn89: Hey, don't diss Sesshomaru! He's cool!
He's also pure evil. And he doesn't do much. How could you like someone who's pure evil?!
Ravyn89: Um... I don't know! He's just hot! Now stop saying bad stuff about him!
:P
DISCLAIMERWe don't own anything that you recognize from the show and manga, InuYasha. However, anything in this fan fic not from the show/manga we do own, along with the plot. Stealers are warned: I could send Agent Paper after you!!!! (Sorry, I just watched Read or Die today. It's some anime movie about, well, agents. The girl can control paper and make it into anything she wants).
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Chapter Eight: Yoshiko and Sesshomaru
Why was it that now that she had experienced the company of others that silence now bothered her? At least with others she could hear the sound of their breathing and their footsteps. Now it was just her, the trees and the few animals that decided to cross her path. Also she had the added weight of Sueko's sword. Yoshiko had been hoping to see an old family friend to see what he knew about the sword. However, the girl wasn't all too willing to let go of her sword.
"Hell no. I just found out it has special powers. You think I'm giving up this thing?!"
Yoshiko smiled at the girl's stubbornness… a lot like InuYasha's. This was going to be really difficult for their relationship. Both were going to be so stubborn they'd never get anywhere. But still… InuYasha might be the only one able to keep up with Sueko's wild nature.
Her ears twitched. Footsteps were coming closer… and there was also the sound of armor. About twenty or so bandits were creeping nearer. At least they hadn't thought about surrounding her yet. Obviously they weren't that smart. In a matter of moments they were within her sight, crouching in the bushes to her right… and two were up in the trees.
Yoshiko continued down the path hoping they were realizing she had nothing of value and leave. But then she became conscious of the fact that she did have things of value: two swords and a dagger that supposedly had one of the stones in it. She still wasn't sure of this and was hoping to ask her father's old friend about it.
But at the moment she had to deal with twenty armed bandits who were intent on robbing her, of all people. More accurate, of all half-demons. Didn't they notice that she wasn't just some regular human that would give in easily to even just three bandits? Still the bandits followed behind her keeping as hidden and as silent as they could for being human.
Finally she got tired of the game. In one fluid motion she turned around, pulled out her sword and slashed off the head of the nearest bandit. In the next few seconds four arrows landed in the place where she had once been and fifteen other bandits jumped out of the bushes and attacked her. It took all of her training just to dodge and block all of her attacks. There was no way she was going to be able to escape or destroy them all. Plus the Fire Wave would burn down the trees and keep burning. That was one problem with her special attack. By this time five more dead bandits littered the ground.
Suddenly a sharp pain entered her left shoulder and her arm went numb. It almost seemed like the bandits had become smarter, faster and stronger! Like they had fought with her long enough to figure out her moves and know what she was going to do!
'They aren't human…' Yoshiko thought.
Soon it became more difficult to dodge their attacks and more cuts were appearing on her arms and legs. She managed to kill one more bandit before she was kicked into a tree. Her numbing mind registered the fact that the arrow must have been poisoned because the archers had quite shooting. A bandit tried to cut off her head but she slid to the ground and stared up at them. Before she lost consciousness a man with long silver hair jumped out of the trees, his hazel eyes glittering and chopped down half of the bandits in one swing of his long sword…
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'Somebody's… singing…'
Her arms felt heavy… except she couldn't even feel her left arms. The cuts down her arms and legs stung but she knew it was from some medicine and not because they were infected. A fluffy pillow supported her head; she lay on a warm blanket and was covered by a soft blanket. She felt the wind rustle through her hair, bringing with it the smell of a young human and three demons. Though it was a bit difficult, Yoshiko opened her eyes slowly and looked up into the brown eyes of a little girl.
"You're awake!" she said, grinning.
"Who are you?" Yoshiko muttered.
"I'm Rin. Lord Sesshomaru saved you from demon bandits!" said the girl, sitting back.
"Who?"
"You don't know Lord Sesshomaru!?" cried Rin, gasping in horror. Yoshiko couldn't help but smile at the animated face the girl had.
"I'm sorry to say I've never heard of this Lord…" said Yoshiko. Her sentence was cut off by a great hacking cough.
The rustle of soft clothing was only signal of another being. She looked up into hazel eyes that reminded her slightly of InuYasha but held none of his softness. But yet this man seemed worried about her. He handed her a steaming cup and helped her sit up.
"This tea should help," he said, his voice deep and unconcerned. But yet his eyes gave him away. For some reason Yoshiko felt a strong desire to be the person to finally soften the handsome face of this man.
"You must be Lord Sesshomaru," breathed Yoshiko, hardly able to speak since her breath had been stolen away by the beauty of this man. She took in the crescent moon on his forehead, his red striped on his cheeks, the red eye shadow and his long silver hair so much like InuYasha's… but silkier. His eyes were far more relaxed than InuYasha's and almost uncaring…
"Just Sesshomaru," he said, looking off into the distance. "You are a worthy fighter. A few years of good training and you might just be as quick as me."
"And to think I was telling InuYasha that he needed training. Now you're telling me I, who have been training since I was nine, need training," laughed Yoshiko. Her laugh soon turned into a cough so she took a sip of the tea to stop it.
"But you have never trained with me," said Sesshomaru with a slight smirk. Then he frowned. "You know InuYasha?"
"A little…" shrugged Yoshiko.
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Sesshomaru stood up and walked away, leaving her with Rin. The little girl was staring at her reverently. This only confused Yoshiko for all that had really happened was that Sesshomaru had given her a compliment… sort of. Then she realized who Sesshomaru is.
"He's InuYasha's brother, isn't he!?" she cried out.
"You would be absolutely correct," said a small frog like demon with a bill for a mouth and carrying a staff twice his height with two heads. "Actually, Lord Sesshomaru is only InuYasha's half brother… a common misconception so you are forgiven."
"You use words bigger than your staff… how do you manage it without falling over?" asked Yoshiko, raising an eyebrow.
The demon just glared at her and then turned away, crossing his arms. She turned to Rin who just shook her head sadly. Yoshiko sighed and sat back, taking another drink of her tea. There was no way she was going to get away any time soon and no way was she going to get any answers. But something kept on nagging at the back of her mind. It wasn't until now, when she actually thought about it, that she figured it out: why was Sesshomaru helping her? If everything she had heard about the dog demon was true he didn't let anybody get close to him. But if this was true how come he was dragging around a little girl? Surely he would have grown bored of her or she would have become troublesome and he would have killed her. If this the demon that so many people feared why did he not kill her now?
"I don't kill unless I have to," said Sesshomaru, breaking into Yoshiko's thoughts.
"Please! You murdered a pack of bandits just so you could try out a new arm!" cried Yoshiko.
"They were the first to happen across me when I had my new arm. They were just bandits. They weren't missed," said Sesshomaru, sitting down at her feet.
She now felt surrounded. To her right was the little girl who was still staring at her with glittering brown eyes. To her left was the frog demon thing that was still not saying anything. Her back was to a tree and Sesshomaru was right in front of her. If she wanted to escape (not to mention if she was in the right shape) there would be no way of doing it. It was instinct to leave an opening for escape no matter what… even if it was her birthday or something.
"Who's the toad?" asked Yoshiko, to change the subject.
The frog demon turned around excitedly and opened his mouth, ready to speak.
"Oh, that's just Jaken," said Rin, shrugging.
"Just! Why you impertinent little child! I still say Sesshomaru should have left you where you were!" cried Jaken.
"Again with the big words. And please don't talk about things I don't know anything about?" yawned Yoshiko.
"Oh, Lord Sesshomaru saved me from death and has taken care of me ever since. Isn't he the greatest? But Jaken thinks that Lord Sesshomaru should have been cruel and left me behind," said Rin.
"That would be far more in character," muttered Yoshiko.
"Jaken," said Sesshomaru. "Warm up her tea."
"Yes sir!" cried Jaken, taking her cup and rushing off toward the fire. Then he paused and turned back around. "You wish me to be a maid for this… this… half-demon! Well I won't do it!"
"This half-demon can still murder you," yawned Yoshiko.
Jaken made a yelping noise like something had caught in his throat and rushed off to warm up the tea. Rin giggled, stood up, and started spinning around. Yoshiko stared at the odd group, just blinking as Sesshomaru examined her two swords carefully. When she realized what she was doing she gasped.
"What are you doing?" cried Yoshiko, making a grab for the swords. Sesshomaru held them just out of reach.
"I'm looking at your weapons of choice. I find it odd that you carry two swords instead of one," said Sesshomaru, unsheathing Sueko's sword. It was glowing a steady blue… a brighter blue than when it had just been Yoshiko around with her dagger.
"What about you? You have two swords," said Yoshiko, starting to sweat. "And according to that sword you have an element stone."
"So this is the sword of the 'Last One,'" said Sesshomaru thoughtfully.
"What do you know about it?" snapped Yoshiko.
"Some," said Sesshomaru, sheathing the sword again and setting it aside. Then he picked up Yoshiko's own sword and unsheathed it. "You carry some unusual swords…"
"The glowing one isn't mine…" muttered Yoshiko.
"Did you steal it?"
"No."
"Borrow it without asking?"
"I can tell you've done this before," sighed Yoshiko. "But no. I borrowed it. That's it. I was hoping to take it to an old family friend who knew quite a bit about swords."
"Totosai?"
"No, he works only with demons. My dad was human," said Yoshiko proudly. "So he went to Totosai's cousin for sword advice."
Sesshomaru looked up as if the word 'human' disgusted him. But Yoshiko didn't doubt that it did. Sesshomaru had never been a human loving demon. In fact he detested InuYasha because his mother had been mortal. But him taking in a little mortal girl and herself was against all Sesshomaru's morals. In fact he was being quite friendly even though she was half human. Before she could say anything about it, though, Jaken returned with another cup of tea and Rin returned from her spinning. Sesshomaru sheathed her sword and set down at her feet then walked away. Before he had gone too far he looked back over his shoulder.
"Tomorrow, if you're up to it, we shall begin your training."
"So you're staying!?" cried Rin.
"I guess so…" muttered Yoshiko.
Suddenly little arms were encircling her neck in a gentle hug. She was a bit shocked by this suddenness but as quickly as it started Rin stepped away. But she was still smiling so Yoshiko knew she hadn't done anything to upset her.
"What's your name?" asked Rin.
"Yoshiko."
"Can I do anything for you Lady Yoshiko?" asked Rin, making Yoshiko laugh.
"Just Yoshiko!"
"How long are you going to stay, Lady Yoshiko?" Rin asked suddenly, frowning.
"I don't know…" murmured Yoshiko.
"I wish you didn't have to go. I never had a mommy…" muttered Rin.
For a minute she stood there sadly, staring at the ground. Then suddenly she looked up grinning and ran off after Sesshomaru, laughing. Yoshiko blinked and turned to Jaken who just shrugged. He was just as confused as she was and he had known the girl longer than her.
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"You're expecting me to stay still. You have to anticipate where I'm going to move not hope that you'll be quick enough to hit me before I move."
Yoshiko stood, breathing heavily, in the clearing leaning against a tree. Sesshomaru had yet to even draw his sword and hadn't even worked up a sweat yet. Obviously she was going to be here for a very long time before she either died from exhaustion or finally did something that Sesshomaru liked. This had been going on for three days now and still she hadn't come close to hitting him. She knew that not all demons would be as quick as Sesshomaru but it would be nice to have an upper hand in almost all demon attacks. Besides, if InuYasha had taken her advice and trained then fought her again and found out that she still could beat his butt than he would have to train harder. But he would always be one level behind her. That was the only way he would be able to protect Sueko.
Her ears picked up on the sound of rustling clothing and slipped out of the way of another of Sesshomaru's attack, coming away with a scratch on her cheek. She cursed herself and raised her weapon… which was only a stick because Sesshomaru really did think that sooner or later she would be able to hit him.
"Pay attention! Don't let your mind wander," snapped Sesshomaru.
During their three days of training Yoshiko had noticed that Sesshomaru was missing his left arms. She wondered who could have done this and had gotten her answer out of Jaken. InuYasha. It had been his first time fighting with the Tetsusaiga and had happened to cut Sesshomaru's arm off during their battle in their father's tomb.
To gain herself some time Yoshiko jumped backwards into a tree, out of the way of another of Sesshomaru's attacks. She knew he would jump up and try and attack her in the closed space. That was her plan. Sure enough he jumped up and it took all of Yoshiko's training to track his movement.
'He's coming to me right…' thought Yoshiko, aiming a blow at the place where his shoulder would be.
Just when she thought that maybe she had timed her blow wrong she hit something. Yoshiko blinked and looked to the end of her stick. Well she had hit something… the inside of Sesshomaru's hand. She readied herself for Sesshomaru to swing her around and instead of trying to stop it she did what her father told her to do: relax and let her opponent give her an opening. With an ever so slight smile, Sesshomaru tried to break her grip on her weapon. Instead he brought her in closer, allowing her to give him a knee jab into the gut.
She was a bit surprised when her knee made contact and his grip loosened on her stick. So she brought in around for a hit on the head. In its place she found only air and quickly had to jump out of the tree to escape a bone shattering attack from above. She waited patiently as Sesshomaru came at her yet again and dodged that attack as well. Then she came at him swinging her stick widely. He tried to dodge it but she changed directions mid-step and came at him in his new position. She paused within a centimeter distance from his throat.
From behind her she could hear Rin and Jaken clapping. Yoshiko thought the frog demon was brave to try and root for her when Sesshomaru could easily break his neck. But for all of the threats never once did Sesshomaru hurt Jaken so much that it could kill him. Yes he threw rocks at the creature but Yoshiko had had thoughts of throwing rocks at InuYasha.
"That's all for today," said Sesshomaru, walking away to start a fire.
Yoshiko hadn't realized that during their training the sun had started to go down. Exhausted she sat down right where she stood and waited for whatever small morsel of food she would get to eat tonight. Rin ran over grinning ear to ear and gave her a gentle hug around the neck again.
"You were great Lady Yoshiko! I've never seen anybody fight that quickly… except for maybe Lord Sesshomaru," said Rin excitedly, sitting down next to the half-demon.
"I've never fought that quickly before in my life. It's tiring because I'm only half-demon," moaned Yoshiko, lying out so as to stretch her sore muscles.
"But with all the wits and strengths of a full demon!" said Jaken. It was the most he had ever said to her since she had threatened to kill him. She was quite surprised by the compliment.
"And what does Sesshomaru expect to do with me now?" said Yoshiko loudly.
"Let you have an extra hour of sleep and then we start training again," said Sesshomaru. "Jaken, are you going to come cook?"
"Yes my lord!" cried the frog like demon, stumbling over the fire.
"You may have improved but that won't be enough," said Sesshomaru.
"Enough for what?" asked Yoshiko.
"To fight whatever is after you," replied Sesshomaru.
Yoshiko sat up quickly and tried to meet Sesshomaru's eyes. But he was staring off into the distance as if in deep thought. Rin gasped dramatically and clapped her hands over her mouth.
"Who would be after you, Lady Yoshiko?" she asked, her eyes widening.
"They're probably not after me but after the sword," muttered Yoshiko.
"Which sword?" asked Sesshomaru.
"Well either one. It could be mine because they believe because it had elemental powers it must have one of the elemental stones. Same with my dagger," said Yoshiko but she didn't really believe this. "Or they could be after the blue one because it belongs to Sueko… who is most definitely the protector of the Spirit Shrine."
"You know the 'Last One?'" said Sesshomaru, his eyes finally meeting hers. Like every time he looked at her she found herself unable to speak for a few seconds. Then she caught her breath.
"I think she's the 'Last One,'" replied Yoshiko, looking away. "I've only known her for a little bit but she's done some amazing things like kill a spider demon without even trying. And tapping into the elemental powers and suddenly being able to do the Wind Scar like InuYasha. Hope she can wield it better than InuYasha because he couldn't even kill a simple snake demon with the Wind Scar."
"She travels with InuYasha?" inquired Sesshomaru.
"Yeah. Why do you care?" asked Yoshiko.
"That'll make things difficult…" muttered Sesshomaru more to himself than to anyone else.
Before Yoshiko could ask anything else Jaken ran over with a cup of tea for her. Then he was off again to cook dinner. Rin left as well to help because it was only her and Yoshiko that ate. Either the others didn't eat or they preferred to eat something they wouldn't enjoy. Yoshiko was contemplating whether to inquire further about Sesshomaru's interest in the 'Last One' and InuYasha but he decided to give her answers anyways.
"I want to get InuYasha's sword. That was the only reason I ran into you when I did. Jaken and I were following InuYasha's trail and happened across you. My hope was that you would be willing to help me… but I guess not," said Sesshomaru.
"So what are you going to do with me?" asked Yoshiko disappointed that things had come to this. It had been nice staying with Sesshomaru. She could make fun of Jaken and have a few laughs with Rin. She had somebody who looked up to and a way of getting stronger. Sure she didn't get a lot of sleep or food but it still was enjoyable.
"You've never been my prisoner. You have been able to leave at anytime you like. Now you may stay or you may leave to warn your friends. It's your choice," shrugged Sesshomaru.
"You seriously are nothing like the Sesshomaru I heard about from my aunt," said Yoshiko.
"Your aunt would be…" started Sesshomaru.
"A tiger demon. I staid with them for a little so I could train with my sword. But as you could guess I wasn't very welcome so I left," growled Yoshiko under her breath.
"They were probably frightened of you. Tiger demons are powerful but they aren't the strongest demons ever. They rely on magic to help them," said Sesshomaru. "Probably the tiger demons realized that you were both strong and powerful and didn't wish for you to destroy them. Your human half has made you very respectable unlike another half-demon that I could mention."
Yoshiko blinked. It was the first time anybody had ever told her that her human side made her stronger. Yes she enjoyed being half human and embraced it but as far as she knew it was only a weakness. Every half moon she became mortal. She went by her human emotions instead of her brain. She let herself become attached to humans and when she lost them her emotions went on the fritz. Why was it that Sesshomaru, who hated mortals steadily, was saying her human half made her… respectable?
'He's probably just trying to butter me up so I'll help him! Well he's got another thing coming. How come my heart feels like it's going faster than a river in the spring?'
"The more you say the more I think that maybe you're an imposter," said Yoshiko, attempting a joke.
"What's your choice?"
'Great. He wants an answer now!' thought Yoshiko. 'But what about Rin?'
"I would love to stay but… Sueko's probably worried about me and if I show up with you my friend's will probably think that they were right about me in the first place: I'm just an evil demon," sighed Yoshiko. "And I'm not going to let you hurt any of my friends either. I can't stop you from trying to get InuYasha's sword but…"
"You're correct in your hypothesis that you would be unable to stop Lord Sesshomaru because when he wants something he's going to get it!" said Jaken, handing her a plate of food. She was surprised to see extra food on it than before. "But I don't see why you would want to leave to go see people who think you're an evil demon."
"Lady Yoshiko, are you leaving?" cried Rin.
'Oh no! She's going to make me wish I hadn't even thought about leaving! Damn, why do I have to have a soft spot for little kids?!'
"If we're lucky she'll come back," said Sesshomaru, walking away.
As she watched him walk away Yoshiko felt as if her insides had suddenly sunk through the ground. Where her heart had been racing away like a strong horse now it was frozen like water in the mountains during winter. His words echoed in her mind but still she could not seem to defrost her heart.
'What is going on?'
"You'll come back, right?" said Rin, tears in her eyes.
"I promise that if I can, I'll come back," said Yoshiko, standing up and retrieving her possessions. 'Why won't this feeling go away?'
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In the end Yoshiko left around midnight and met up with the others in the same small hut that she had left them in. Their excuse was that Sueko and InuYasha were still healing. Yoshiko knew it was so she would be able to find them to give Sueko her sword back. She tried desperately to push Sesshomaru out of her mind but she had to tell the others he meant to attack. But whenever she thought about him she felt like drowning herself in a lake. Sueko tried to get her to rest but no sleep would come to Yoshiko. Finally the girl asked what was wrong.
"Nothing…" muttered Yoshiko.
"You're all pale, you're not eating, you're not sleeping and you can't seem to look anybody in the eye! Besides you haven't spoken more than two words to us and you keep on looking off in the distance and sighing!" Sueko half shouted. "If I didn't know any better I would say you would have fallen in love."
Her eyes went wide. Fallen in love? With who? Surely not with Miroku or InuYasha. And even so, they were all ready taken. That only left Sesshomaru then but…
'Well it would kind of explain a whole lot,' thought Yoshiko. Suddenly somebody hit her on the head.
"You were doing it again!" cried Sueko, raising her fist warningly. "And don't you dare bring me up to try and change the subject!"
Yoshiko shook her head and rolled her eyes. There was no way she could bring up Sesshomaru without also giving up the fact that he was going to come and attack to try and get InuYasha's sword. Then there would be chaos like never seen before. Besides, how did she know they would suddenly not be her friends? It had been hard business getting them to trust her.
"They were probably frightened of you."
Sesshomaru's voice echoed in her head yet again, his simple words seeming to have meanings for everything. Maybe she should have just staid. The only one who accepted her here was Sueko. But yet again, Sueko is more important than a little girl who all ready had a protector.
"God damn it! Are you going to pay attention to me or not?" shouted Sueko, hitting Yoshiko on the head again. "Now spill. Who is it? InuYasha?"
This made Yoshiko laugh.
"Fine, some village guy?" snapped Sueko, rolling her eyes.
"Villages in general are frightened of me," said Yoshiko, her thoughts wandering back to Sesshomaru's words.
"Then who the hell is it then!?" cried Sueko.
Yoshiko hesitated but finally sighed and relented.
"Okay, on my way to find out info on your sword these bandits attacked. Except they're not human. I get injured pretty badly but then this guy with long silvery hair and bright hazel eyes saves me. When I wake up I find out that this guy is a demon. And not just any demon, but Sesshomaru InuYasha's half brother. They're not exactly a close family to put it mildly. Well he acts nothing like the Sesshomaru I've heard about. He isn't cruel at all and he's even taking care of a little girl that he supposedly saved from death. To top it off he decided to train me so I could become quicker and stronger with my sword. In other words I never found out anything about your sword. But just today I found out that he wants to attack InuYasha for his sword and he gave me the choice of either staying with him or warning you guys."
"This is the guy you've fallen in love with," said Sueko, blinking.
"How the hell would I know!? I only met the guy a few days ago!" cried Yoshiko.
"But you keep on thinking about him, right? When you look off in the distance?" said Sueko.
"I guess…" muttered Yoshiko.
"Well get over him now!" snapped Sueko. "I am not going to let my best friend fall in love with a jerk like that!"
"He is not a jerk! I thought I just said that!" cried Yoshiko.
"Well he's hurt InuYasha in the past. I should know. Miroku just warned me about him a few days ago," said Sueko stubbornly, crossing her arms.
"InuYasha is able to hold his own against Sesshomaru. He cut off the guys left arm!" shouted Yoshiko, getting to her feet. Sueko did the same.
"He still almost killed InuYasha. Besides, he's coming to try and kill InuYasha again! Do you think I'm going to let you be in love with that kind of jerk?" screamed Sueko.
Yoshiko stood their fuming. She had hoped that Sueko would understand. She wanted to slap the girl, bring her back to her senses. But then she realized she needed to be slapped. Besides, Sango, Miroku, Shippo and InuYasha were all staring at the two girls from the doorway of the hut.
"I didn't have to come back you know! I could have just let it all have been a surprise," hissed Yoshiko, her eyes narrowing.
"What have been a surprise?" snapped InuYasha. "Where have you been?"
"I've been training with Sesshomaru," said Yoshiko, staring him straight into the eyes.
"WHAT!?" cried InuYasha, leaping forward and stepping between Sueko and Yoshiko. "You've been in league with him all along! This is some scheme to get the Tetsusaiga!"
"No, I only just met Sesshomaru a few days ago. But he is trying to steal your sword. I bet you feel just so special, InuYasha," sighed Yoshiko.
"If we're lucky she'll come back."
"And you know what? Since I'm not at all welcome here I could always go back. I'm sure Rin would be very happy to see me," hissed Yoshiko, sounding more and more like a cat.
"Is Rin the little girl?" asked Sueko.
"Glad to know you were listening to some of it!" snapped Yoshiko.
"I listened to all of it but I still don't like it!" shouted Sueko.
By now everybody had given up with sleep and had joined everybody outside. Sango was ready for battle and Miroku was trying to get Sueko to step back. Shippo had… well gone back into the hut to hide. InuYasha stood between the half tiger demon and Sueko while Yoshiko glared at the girl.
"Am I interrupting something?" came a familiar voice.
Yoshiko felt her heart rise and then go back on its mad race. She turned to see Sesshomaru coming out of the trees. InuYasha forgot Yoshiko entirely, turned to his half brother and drew his sword. Sueko gasped when she realized that her sword was still in the hut. But being the stupid girl that she was she decided to yell as Sesshomaru first.
"Who are you?"
"That would be 'the jerk,'" snapped Yoshiko.
"Oh, are you going to start that all over again! I'm sorry that I'm not all that trusting!" shouted Sueko.
"You trusted me right away!" cried Yoshiko.
"Well you hadn't tried to kill anyone!" yelled Sueko.
"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" screamed Yoshiko.
Her mind raced back to the first time she had ever tried to kill. She had been around ten, her father had died a few days ago and the villagers wanted her out. So they attacked. In an attempt to save herself she had hurt quite a few of them. Godric had known it was out of self-defense but… he had still made her leave. She may not kill without reason but she had killed. And plenty of times, too.
"Much luck coming back to warn them did," noted Sesshomaru.
"You stay out of this!" snapped Yoshiko.
"Maybe I should come back another time. I would hate to break up this argument," said Sesshomaru.
"Oh how thoughtful of you!" said Sueko sarcastically. "But how about you just don't ever come back!?"
"But if I didn't come back Rin would never see Yoshiko again," said Sesshomaru.
"Rin?" said Sango.
"Yeah, the little girl that Sesshomaru saved from death," said Yoshiko.
Sueko closed her eyes and took a deep breath, as if trying to calm down. Then she did this about nine more times, making InuYasha roll his eyes at her. But once Sueko was done with her breathing, she opened her eyes and wore a calm expression.
"Look, you won't get the Tetsusaiga, so there's no point in lingering," she said, turning towards Sesshomaru. "So I suggested you go back to wherever you came from before you regret it."
It was hard to read Sesshomaru's expression, but he said after a moments pause, "You think a mortal like you is going to be able to stop me?"
Sueko crossed her arms and smirked. Her expression seemed out of character—almost… cocky? Then her eyes, which Yoshiko had always been able to read but now could not, darted the ground, searching for something… they stopped on Sango's sword, which was in its sheath and was leaning against the hut's outer wall. Before anyone could stop her Sueko rushed over to the sheath and yanked the sword out of it with only a few seconds worth of effort then walked right over to Sesshomaru, sword held out in front of her and this mad look in her eye that Yoshiko was finally able to read.
"Sueko!" cried InuYasha, reaching out to stop Sueko. But it was like she was in some sort of trance or something and completely ignored InuYasha. Standing right in front of Sesshomaru Sueko clenched her teeth and glared.
Sesshomaru's lip curled slightly. "You're quite as annoying as InuYasha's last wench. Have you fallen in love with this one too?" he asked, looking over to his half brother.
"Don't talk about Kagome!" roared InuYasha.
"So you haven't quite gotten over her yet," observed Sesshomaru.
"SHUT UP!!!" bellowed Sueko. And suddenly she swung her sword with all her might at Sesshomaru. If he wasn't so quick and hadn't stepped back the sword's blade would have gone right through his gut.
It was like someone had turned the sound off. There was suddenly a silence as Sueko stood there looking shocked at the fact her attack did nothing. She looked so amazed at Sesshomaru's quickness… and suddenly terrified.
"I told you," said Sesshomaru calmly. "No mortal can defeat me."
It looked as though Sueko was still being her stubborn self as she ignored Sesshomaru's comment and swung the sword again. He dodged it, the attack only ruffling his clothes with its motion. This only made her growl in frustration and clench her teeth again. Sueko swung the sword again… and again… and again. Each time she missed it only made her angrier.
Sighing, InuYasha walked over to Sueko, almost calmly, and grabbed the sword from her as she tried to slice Sesshomaru open again. She struggled to keep hold of it but InuYasha managed to yank the thing out of her grasp and fling it to the ground. In response to Sueko's almost hurtful expression he said in disgust, "You can't harm him, so give it up before you kill yourself!"
"What in the hell did you do that for?!" cried Sueko.
InuYasha hesitated. Yoshiko eyes widened, wanting to know what InuYasha would say. But finally he spoke—no, practically cried out—"Because I don't want to see you get hurt!"
Sueko looked taken aback at this statement and that silence returned, though this one had a hint of awkwardness attached to it. However, a few minutes later Sueko managed to stutter, "W—what are you talking about?" in this quite voice that didn't seem to belong to her.
Silence again. The lack of noise was starting to annoy Yoshiko. She was grateful when Miroku spoke.
"There isn't time for this!" he cried out, speaking at last.
Sesshomaru looked from Sueko to InuYasha who were both trying their damnedest not to look at each other—or anyone, actually—and were pretending that the feelings that they were experiencing weren't really occurring. But finally, after what seemed like forever, Sesshomaru spoke in that low voice of his that made Yoshiko's heart beat faster and faster.
"You always had a weakness for mortal woman…" he said calmly, as usual, "just like our dear father."
And before InuYasha could say something to that, Sesshomaru took his sword and swung it gracefully at Sueko.
"Sueko!" InuYasha cried out again, dropping to his knees and catching Sueko's falling form. She had, by the looks of it, just been stabbed just below the ribs, and the wound was bleeding steadily. Yoshiko could tell that Sueko was trying her hardest to look like the pain was not bothering her but it was—a lot.
"I could kill the wench or you could give me the Tetsusaiga," said Sesshomaru coolly. "It's your choice."
"You—you!" stammered InuYasha who couldn't find the perfect insult with his rage. "You bastard!" InuYasha laid Sueko down on the ground quickly and gently and stood up so he was face-to-face with his older half brother, their noses only a couple inches apart. His face was full of hate as he growled, "You'll never get my sword and if you know any better you'll never harm Sueko again and never come near her—ever! Now leave…. NOW!"
Sesshomaru wasn't at all startled by InuYasha's yelling; he looked only bored. "I tire of watching you morn over your wench. Perhaps I'll show up again someday—and that time I will get Tetsusaiga."
Then he turned around—he spun around so gracefully it made Yoshiko's heart quicken yet again in it's pace—and took a few steps before pausing and turning back around. He looked Yoshiko straight in the face and said, "Are you coming back, or staying?"
Yoshiko bit her lip as she felt everyone's gaze fall to her. She wanted to go back to Sesshomaru and be able to see Rin again, but she couldn't leave now, not when Sueko had gotten injured. Though she was foolish enough to have gotten in the way Yoshiko wished Sesshomaru hadn't been so drastic and used his sword on her.
So, keeping her eyes glued to her feet, she spoke quietly, "I—I have to stay."
"Well enough," said Sesshomaru. Yoshiko looked up at him. Yet again as much as she tried she couldn't read those hazel eyes of his. She watched sadly as he turned back around and walked away, disappearing in the trees of the forest.
A low, quiet moan made everyone turn to Sueko, who had her eyes clenched shut. Yoshiko became quite aware of just how much blood was coming out of that cut. InuYasha seemed to have made the same realization as he effortlessly picked up Sueko and carried her over to the hut.
Yoshiko, suddenly realizing just how tired she was, went back into the hut, as did Miroku and Shippo. Though Yoshiko paused when she reached the doorway of the hut. Turning around, she saw Sango standing and looking down at her sword. Yoshiko didn't know for sure what Sango was thinking, but she had an idea.
Sueko was such a stubborn little girl. She had tried so hard to give Sesshomaru just one messily little scratch, and all she got of her efforts was her own injury. It was hard for Yoshiko to not feel pity for the girl. She had a feeling Sango felt the same.
Sango bent down and grasped the sword's hilt and managed to slip it back into its sheath. Yoshiko turned back around and went into the hut, it's flap waving slightly before becoming deadly still.