Disclaimer-I do not own any of the Inuyasha characters, sadly!
Mitsuko's Fire
She laid where he had left her for a very long time, crying softly to herself. Her father had often made her feel worthless and like an object to gain money to buy sake with. He had sold her out to several establishments to be a serving girl to earn money, she had been a maid when he needed money, and done laundry when he was desperate for the drink.
However the worst thing her father had ever done to her was when he sold her for the night to a solider. This time was different from the others, this time her father had been without the horrible sake for two weeks and he was becoming abusive both emotionally and physically. Her mother suffered at his hands as did she. They protected the younger ones from his anger but that night she could not protect herself. She remembered the horrible stench of the solider and the way his calloused hands had broken her and beaten her. She remembered what it felt like to be forced to give of her body against her will. After she was returned to her family the next morning, she vowed to herself she would never be treated that way by any man again nor would she think about that rain drenched meadow outside of the village that smelled of the bloody battle that had occurred that afternoon. She had not thought of that night in a very long time and now one very cold male had made her remember how weak and unable to defend herself she was. That same male also made her remember a promise she made to herself. She would survive. No matter what she had to do she would live even if she had to kick, scream, bite, maim, and kill. She would walk away. What was that old adage? That which does not kill me only makes me stronger. Well Mitsuko only kept getting stronger in her life.
Sesshomaru stopped his walk back to camp and waited for the female to join him. She still lay in the dirt where he had left her. That was unusual he expected the female to be on his back right now screaming into his tender ears and attempting to rip his back to shreds. But no, she lay curled into a ball in the dirt as if she had been defeated. Sesshomaru thought about the feelings that had been running amuck through his body the last five minutes. There had been lust for the female, he had wanted her desperately. His inner beast called out for him to take the little one and be done with it but he would not succumb to his inner beast. He was honorable and there was no honor in taking what was not offered. Forcing a female may have soothed the beast but it would have tormented the man. Then there had been the surprise at the girl's lack of spirit and now there was a raging anger. She was fiery and had an amazing will to live he would not stand by and watch her die. Allowing such a spirit to die would have been a crime against himself. He had a deep understanding of wanting to live and he would not see the flame extinguished in another being because of him. Sesshomaru turned and began the short walk back to the girl.
He expected to meet a defeated ningen at the end of his journey. Instead he meet a raging wildcat, striking out in anger and pain. She came at him from seemingly nowhere and slammed her petite body into his rock hard frame. Sesshomaru took a step back to lessen the force of the impact on the female. She was on him in an instant. Mitsuko struck at his face with her nails and managed to dig a ragged red line underneath Sesshomaru's maroon stripes. He did nothing, merely looked at her and allowed her to attack him. He would sidestep whenever he sensed she would do damage to herself during her attack. During one of these sidesteps, Mitsuko pulled Tojokin from Sesshomaru's obi. Sesshomaru's golden orbs widen fractionally in surprise. Tojokin was a heavy, overpowering demonic sword. Sesshomaru had to constantly assert his dominance over the sword and yet here she stood a mere slip of a ningen girl holding the deadly sword. Tojokin did not even flare up and seemed to allow the girl to wield it. This was something for the taiyoukai to think about; however, now was not the time. Mitsuko had just swung Tojokin wildly at him and had very nearly lodged the sword in is heart if he had not moved in the blink of an eye.
She was tiring, her voice was hoarse from all of the screaming she had done, her body cried out for release from its torment. Mitsuko felt the sword slip from her limp fingers and fall heavily to the ground. Her vision began to shimmer before her eyes. Sesshomaru seemed to waving from side to side and floating towards her all at the same time. Her knees buckled and she felt herself falling to the ground in a heap of dirty silk, wild hair, and a new belief in herself. Just before she hit the ground, Mitsuko felt a strong arm wrap itself around her waist and cradle her to an extremely warm and reassuring body. She felt safe and protected and utterly feminine.
Sesshomaru laid the female on the ground gently and picked up his demonic sword. Replacing the blade in his obi, Sesshomaru glanced to the female and was relieved her fiery nature and will to survive was once again in evidence. He knelt next to the girl and lifted her gently to rest against his chest. Walking towards camp, Sesshomaru thought upon his next actions. With some training the female would be able to protect herself and Rin adequately.
"Sesshomaru-sama! Rin has missed you. What happened to Mitsuko? Is she all right?" Rin was extremely worried; she had become attached to the woman in such a short amount of time.
"She is merely sleeping Rin. She needs to rest you are not to disturb her. Do you understand?"
"Yes Sesshomaru-sama." Obeying him was second nature to the young girl. Often obeying the taiyoukai meant life or death and Rin had learned early to follow all orders. Sesshomaru often thought of her as "his good little warrior". But he only did this in his head and only when she weakened him with instant obedience.
Sesshomaru laid Mitsuko down in the circle of Ah Un's tail and covered her with his fluffy boa.
"Jaken, find a sword smith and have a blade made that is suitable for a ningen female." Jaken looked at his master in confusion and wondered at his sanity. Why put a sword in the hands of a woman who had already caused him some minor damage. Looking at his master Jaken could see the small red lacerations were nearly healed. Jaken had seem other beings killed just for drawing a small amount of Sesshomaru's blood and yet the females heart still beats in her chest and would apparently continue to do so for a while yet. Jaken shook his head and glanced back one more time at camp before heading out to do his masters bidding. What he saw made him doubt his own sanity.
Sesshomaru kneeled beside the girl. The moon played and chased shadows across his pale face like a delicate caress, while his pale hand wiped the dirt and grime from Mitsuko's face delicately with a piece of silk torn from his inner hoari. His shadow was cast over Mitsuko's small frame and seemed to cover the girl with his youkai, adding a sense of protection and casting the girl in shadow. It looked to Jaken like a youkai protecting his soul mate. Jaken shook his head and hoped his master was not getting to soft with the humans. Jaken trudged away to carry out his mission.
Authors Note
Okay here is the next chapter to Learning to Live. This chapter is dedicated to Nilee and Gothic-ember, these were the only two people even read this chapter in the last month. Thank you both so much and I hope you like the latest installment to this unwilling to be written story.
Lady Morganna