Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any of its characters.
The young girl trudged through the waves of heat rising off the sidewalk, mitigated only by the occasional breath of cool evening air. She wore a glazed look in her eyes as if her mind were elsewhere. Her hair was tied into two disheveled buns on top of her head, and though her shirt was more than several seasons out of style (a hand me down from her sister—at least it was clean), the cuffs of her jeans were turned up stylishly and she was proud of the new black Vans her sister had surprised her with for her birthday last month. She was thinking about the face she'd seen on TV—it was Bubba.
Erin had seen Bubba on TV, not as she had seen him a few nights before, in a golf shirt and jeans, but a photo of him which looked as if it might have come from his college yearbook. Bubba was giving the television audience a carefree smile, his brown eyes nearly hidden beneath his tousled bangs. The droning newscaster had stated that he was found dead the previous morning, the exact time and cause of death uncertain. There had been other recent murders in the city, which the news did not mention in such detail. New Orleans was known for its high murder per capita rate—often surpassing larger cities such as New York. However, Bubba had been from a notable New Orleans family and, Erin learned much to her surprise, his name was actually Anthony Lefoldt. 'Bubba' must have been his nickname, Erin supposed. Poor Bubba, or Anthony, Erin thought.
Erin decided to put aside her grudge against Fortune, at least for now, given the bad news. Currently, she was on her way to meet the two of them. She would not have to be in his presence long, since her sister was expecting her to return shortly—tonight was 'cleaning night.' Their air conditioner was on its last legs, so any cleaning during the daytime was out of the question. Actually, 'cleaning night' was supposed to happen every Tuesday, but it always seemed to be put off until neither could stand the smell—which was about once every month or so.
Soon, Erin spotted the two men waiting for her beside the Mazant signpost, not the usual meeting place, but it was nearer to her house. Sesshoumaru was quite accommodating to her requests. Despite his stern expression and reticent behavior, he seemed pleased with her presence. Moving past Sesshoumaru, Erin approached Fortune, causing him to look a bit surprised. Fortune wondered why the girl was showing him any interest after his attempts to drive her off yesterday. He should not be surprised, he reasoned, since he was devastatingly handsome after all. People often found it hard to resist his ample charms. Why, he was hoping that even the youkai…
"Fortune, I am so sorry to hear about Bubba," Erin asked, interrupting his train of thought.
"Bubba who," Fortune responded curtly.
Erin narrowed her eyes at Fortune. The jerk was purposefully trying to be rude in order to avoid conversation. However, he had obviously not heard about his friend, so she resolved not to take the bait. "You know who I mean, Bubba from the night before. I guess you don't know. I'm sorry to have to tell you he's dead."
"He is!" Fortune threw up his hands and widened his eyes in mock horror, giving his pale features a ghastly appearance.
Erin was silent for a moment. Fortune certainly was one weird looking guy. His grey eyes seemed to glow with an eerie light, too bright for his pasty face. Compared to Sesshoumaru's pale skin (Erin had called it 'moon-kissed' in one of her secret poems), Fortune's pasty skin had a lifeless appearance. Even though he did exhibit a much greater range of expressions across his pallid features, they never seemed to have the warmth and glow Erin usually associated with good health. Perhaps he was sickly, Erin guessed. Could youkai get sick? His hair was nice, though—a thick mass of dark hair falling to his shoulders—not nearly as long and beautiful as Sesshoumaru's however, Erin thought smugly. Finally, after having her fill of mulling over Fortune's curious features, Erin continued sadly, "he was found dead, the same day we left him on the bench. I am afraid someone might have got him after all."
"Really, I wonder who could that have been," Fortune asked, giving Sesshoumaru a playful wink. Sesshoumaru ignored him, staring off into the distance. He had not been paying attention. But, he now recognized that this might be conversation he should monitor. Fortune was likely to say something problematic to Erin.
"And his name is really Anthony. Was Bubba his nickname?"
"Um, no, just a name I made up. He looked like a Bubba to me."
"Do you think someone found him on the bench and killed him right after we left?"
"Nope," Fortune answered, biting his lip.
"Oh, do you think so? I was so worried it was our fault for leaving him," Erin paused here since Fortune had suddenly turned away, his shoulders shaking slightly. "Fortune, what's wrong? Was he a good friend?"
Erin now looked at Sesshoumaru for help. "Is Fortune going to be all right?"
Sesshoumaru face wore an even more inscrutable expression than usual. He made no reply, but for some reason, his face reminded Erin of her sister's when she tried not to laugh at her attempts to play the guitar. She was an exceedingly poor guitar player. As she waited, she noticed the beginnings of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Erin thought she must be seeing things—why would Sesshoumaru smile in this situation? As she watched, his face reformed into a grimace, and then he too turned away.
Out of the corner of his eye, Fortune watched all of this, and could hold himself back no longer, "Mmaaaafaaaahahaaa," strange, high peels of laughter escaped his lips. He turned back towards the other two, his eyes watering. Fortune realized that it looked as if he were ready to shed tears, instead of merely trying to hold in his laughter, so he decided to use the potential water-works to his advantage, "Oh, Bubba, I will miss you, my friend." Fortune dabbed theatrically at his watering eyes, once again in control of himself, but still enjoying the joke nonetheless.
Utterly ridiculous, Sesshoumaru thought to himself, but even so could not resist goading Fortune further—he reached out and patted Fortune on the shoulder, "you will miss your friend." This gesture was answered by more shrill, resounding laughter from Fortune. Sesshoumaru's shoulders even gave a shudder, though his iron control did not yield.
The girl stepped back from the two males. What the hell was going on? What had she said that was so funny? The two should not be laughing at Bubba/Anthony's death like this. The poor guy.
"But…he's dead."
This elicited another peal of laughter from Fortune, who seemed to have crossed some sort of line where everything was hilariously funny. Sesshoumaru, on the other hand, had regained his composure, though Erin had not thought much of his earlier lapse, overshadowed by Fortune's craziness as it was. Also, she did not know the youkai well enough yet to understand that any hint of emotion was atypical—other than the occasional look of irritation, which currently graced his features as he now glared at the vampire. "Yamero," he commanded.
"What," Fortune sputtered out between snickers.
"Enough." Sesshoumaru did not want to scare the girl off with this inexplicable and bizarre behavior. Erin's innocence was important to the youkai. It was not that he wanted to lie to her, or hide his or Fortune's true nature from her because he felt any shame or regret. But, he was protective of Erin and realized that, as a young human girl, it was best to assume that she lacked the capacity to understand either of the two non-human's callousness and irreverence for life.
"Yes, yes," strangely obedient, Fortune stifled his laughter. But, when the vampire opened his mouth speak again, Sesshoumaru almost cringed. His acquiescence had been too good to be true. "Oh, Bubba. I will miss you so. You were so, so….so compliant, so filled with blood, and self-sacrificing, especially near the end, and most of all, Bubba, you filled a need in all of us, or at least in me." This last statement left Fortune feeling quite witty, though the languorous feeling of uncontrolled hilarity now escaped him. He satisfied himself with a smug look. He tried another, "you filled me up as no other could that fine evening," but his humor was beginning to loose momentum.
"Filled with blood," Erin questioned, wondering at Fortune's odd choice of words. He was an odd guy, though.
"Oh, yes, that is an old French saying, meaning someone is filled with life," Fortune explained, the lie rolling off his tongue easily. He was unable to think of any further witticism and was finally beginning to loose interest in the joke altogether.
Based on Fortune's strange eulogy, Erin was wondering if Fortune was gay, and if he and Bubba had…she quickly decided not to continue on that particular train of thought. Ew.
One thing was certain, she decided, he seemed to be making a lot of strange jokes at his late friend's expense. At this thought, Erin's animosity towards Fortune increased—he not only tried to intimidate me, but laughs at his friend's death. What a creep. Erin's mind now turned to the topic of revenge. What could she do to teach Fortune not to mess with her? Erin decided to ask Sesshoumaru for advice next time they were alone.
"Well, I'm sorry you guys, but my sister decided it was 'cleaning night,' so I am not going with you tonight. Sorry to have had you come all this way."
After a brief farewell, Erin walked off down the street. Fortune was again left wondering why the girl wished to spend time with the two of them at all. What was her motivation? Didn't she have any friends her own age—human friends? He decided to ask Sesshoumaru this very question.
"The girl has confided in me that she has lost both her mother and father at an early age," Sesshoumaru replied, thinking back to an earlier conversation he'd had with Erin, "Young girls enjoy spending time with adult role models, or parental figures, if you will."
"You didn't just say what I thought you said," Fortune stated in an snide tone. His attention was temporarily diverted by a lone human walking in their direction.
"And, what was that."
"We, you and I, are role models for the human girl—the innocent, sweet Erin," Fortune said incredulously. "What are we going to teach her, to slaughter her classmates," he paused here, considering recent news reports of similar happenings and wondering if those had possibly befriended a vampire and youkai. At this point, Fortune turned away from Sesshoumaru and swiftly leapt in front of the human male. "Boo," he cried, baring his fangs at the surprised man.
Upon seeing a rather ghastly looking figure materialize in front of his face, the man let out a yelp and turned tail, running in the opposite direction.
"See that, I could show Erin what happens when you play with your food."
When the youkai registered no response, Fortune continued in his tirade. "Yes" Fortune rubbed his hands together, an eager tone to his voice, "we could teach her the pros and cons of stalking drunken human prey, or how to murder this city's denizens in creative and entertaining ways, or, how to walk around being incredibly dull and boring, wearing a blank expression, or, how to be a cold, unfeeling youkai, or, how to be a vicious, though happy-go-lucky, vampire, or how to….
"Yes," Sesshoumaru's interrupted, sharply, "she probably does see me, at least, as a role model," referring to the earlier thread in their conversation. Despite his annoying method of delivery, Fortune did indeed have a valid point, but he also knew that the vampire would continue producing endless inane descriptions if left unchecked. Sesshoumaru had himself explored similar doubts and arguments many times when he had previously adopted Rin into his company, or Rin had adopted him, he couldn't ever decided which was the case. At any rate, once the young girl had made up her mind that he was an appropriate target for her affections and idolization; there was nothing to be done to alter it.
"Don't you find my ideas for teaching Erin the ways of the world amusing," Fortune tried his best to look highly indignant.
"What do you think? You did not even inspire yourself to laughter."
"Hm. I suppose I prefer it when I can share these moments with another."
"In the past, you have not hesitated in laughing at your own feeble jokes, vampire."
"True," Fortune gave Sesshoumaru a serious look, "do you think we ought to adopt her? Oh, my! That means we would be a happy little family. And, of course, you and I would have to get married—is gay marriage legal in this state?" Fortune leaned his head against the youkai's shoulder in an affectionate manner. "I always thought I'd marry for love."
Sesshoumaru was taken back by Fortune's outrageous behavior at times, but, of course, would never show it. "Get off," he gritted through his bared teeth, jabbing Fortune back with his elbow.
"I suppose it will take time for you to feel comfortable talking about your feelings," Fortune continued his one-sided banter, "Will you be the male in the relationship or shall I. Wait! I think it should be you since you already have that feminine look. Slap a dress on you and no one would ever suspect!"
Sesshoumaru ran his fingers through the length of his long hair, pulling a silver lock between his thumb and forefinger, all the while staring at impassively at Fortune. As the youkai turned and began walking back towards the main street, Fortune marveled yet again at his remarkable capacity for keeping his façade so devoid of emotion.
But, he knew better than to think the youkai completely unaffected by his taunts. "Oh, my dear youkai, did I offend? I know, we could both take turns. There are other issues we should resolve, such as I get blood once a week. I know what happens to libidos after a few years of marriage, but I still have needs you know," Fortune called after Sesshoumaru as he walked away. "And, I'll want a ring, too, a decent sized one. I am just so excited about this." Fortune started off after the youkai, contemplating what kind of reaction, if any, he would receive from Sesshoumaru if he went so far as to kneel in front of him, giving an old-fashioned style marriage proposal.
"Sesshoumaru," Erin was reluctant to pull the reticent youkai from his thoughts, but she needed some reassurance that he was, indeed, the man she had come to know.
Erin had found him sitting on a bench by the river, watching the slow-moving expanse of dark water following its perpetual course. The harsh, throaty cries of seagulls sounded through the air—the birds often traveled up the Mississippi from the Gulf, huddling in droves among the grey rocks by the river. Watching the graceful darting of the birds chasing one another, she had almost walked past him without a second glance. His dark hair trailed down to the middle of his back, shorter than usual, and, a lot, well, blacker. Also, his eyes were not the startling yellow which still made her shiver whenever his gaze settled upon her, but were now a calming, deep brown. Markings and pointed ears, gone. He looked… completely human. She had a flash of doubt—what if this was the actual Sesshoumaru, and she had been fooled by his white hair and strange eyes—perhaps they were actually contacts, a wig and stage makeup.
Sesshoumaru shifted fractionally on the bench, his brown eyes coming to rest on the young girl. He had been enjoying the solitude and breeze off the water, despite the staccato shrieks of the darting gulls, but Erin's arrival was not unwelcome. He had been thinking of nothing in particular. Rather, he had been allowing his thoughts to roam idly from one topic to the next, allowing the ebb and flow of a multitudes of unresolved, unsettling memories which he had compiled throughout the years, never really getting around to sorting out and filing them away under appropriate judgments and conclusions in what he considered to be an orderly mind. After so many years of life, most intelligent immortals must find their own method of organizing the massive influx of information, he supposed. Some of the memories, which drifted up from the watery depths of his unconsciousness were inconsequential. He ignored most conversation, even that which was directed at him, in favor of spacing out and then sorting out the important details later. And, others, well, other reminisces resurfaced again and again in order to be pushed back again and again—certain dull aches are best ignored, in his opinion.
The thread of half-remembered conversation currently making its way through his mind was indeed fairly inconsequential.
"Blah, blah, blah….Sesshy, do you ever leave your flat? I'll have to come up there sometime and keep you company…blah, blah, blah."
So inconsequential he could not recall any other part of her conversation after the human woman had cornered him in the hallway near an exit to building where his flat resided. Should he kill her? She called him Sessy after all, and was planning on harassing him by visiting his flat one of these days. Alas, the modern era so was so…civilized with every miserable life accounted for, so killing her was out of the question. He would simply have to pretend he was not home and ignore the bell. File under another-pushy-whore-conniving-to-get-into-pants.
His mind drifted on to the next stray thought...
Sesshoumaru, Rin is dead. I'm sorry…
Wait? Let's hear that again.
"Sesshoumaru, Rin is dead. I'm sorry to tell you," Jaken paused here to wipe his tearful eyes and nose on his sleeve, " she has finally passed on to the other world," Jaken gave another quick sniffle here, " and requested that you not attempt resurrection this time, after all, she is 81 years old—and that's pretty old for a human." Sesshoumaru looked on coldly as Jaken broke down into sobs and unintelligible wails. Apparently, he had only just held himself together long enough to fulfill the duty of delivering the news of her death to his master. Jaken had grown attached to the human girl over the years. Girl? She had not been a girl for some time, Sesshoumaru noted, though her time with him and Jaken had seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. As Jaken continued his noisy grieving, Sesshoumaru turned away and left. He had completed the survey of his borders, but still he walked purposefully back in the direction from which he had just come. Jaken spared a glance at the seemingly emotionless departing lord, wondering if he would ever reach his desired destination.
Oh, that was Rin, not Erin. File under unresolved regrets. Will resolve at more appropriate time, such as never.
A memory from the past evening resurfaced...
"You and I would have to get married…should you be the male or should I...you already have that feminine look."
Did Fortune actually say that? File under another-asinine-thing-that-has-come-out-of-the-vampire's-mouth.
"What the hell is wrong with you, you fucking asshole…"
Not again. Can't I just skip this memory.
"…What? Ever since your arm grew back you can't remember that I'm strong enough to take you apart if I want. Why can't you get it through your fucking head that I am his son too. I have just as much right to HIS swords, HIS power, and HIS memory. How dare you refuse me this request. You know what, I don't even care anymore. I never knew the guy anyways. You can just burn his stupid, fucking memoirs for all I care. Fuck you, after all these years, you pretend to put aside your animosity and associate yourself with me, a dirty hanyou, but it's nothing but a lie. You are still trying to lord it over me that YOU are the first son, YOU are the pureblooded one. Well, fuuuuccck yyooooouuu!" Sesshoumaru watched the retreating figure in red, his silver hair whipping violently in the breeze created by his swift departure. He took not action. Other than the inevitable violent clashes to relieve tension, inaction would seem to typify both his past and future dealings with his younger brother.
Why does this one always have to re-surface. Even just the memory of Inuyasha's crass yelling made his ears hurt. The half-breed had manners typical of his low station in life. File under unresolved regrets. Wait, what was he thinking? File under pain-in-the-ass half-brother.
His attention drifted to the next memory...
Sesshoumaru followed the familiar scent— it had caught him quite by surprise. What was she doing so far from the others? Seshoumaru understood soon enough when he found her undressing near a hot spring. Mesmerized, Sesshoumaru watched the demon slayer disrobe for her bath. Briefly, he glimpsed taunt breasts and luscious curves as she pranced over to the hot spring, sinking into its depths with obvious pleasure. She leaned her head back against the edge and closed her eyes with a long sigh. Starting with her toes, she imagined a warm glow working its way up her feet and legs and spreading over her body, relaxing each set of muscles as it went. She sighed again. After a few minutes, her hand slipped down into the water, lower, lower…Sesshoumaru turned away and slipped quietly off into the night.
File under unresolved regrets, carnal pleasures sub-category.
Next...
"Slap a dress on you and no one would ever suspect!"
What! That fucking Fortune—did he actually allow him to get away with saying that to his face? File under rapidly-increasing-reasons-to-kill-Fortune. He would definitely have to pay closer attention to what the vampire was saying while he was on one of his comic rants.
Another snippet of stray memory popped into his consciousness...
"I have genital herpes."
Who and what the hell was that? TV commercial? Sesshoumaru did not remember. File under random-shocking-memory.
It was after this thought that Sesshoumaru had been interrupted by Erin's soft voice.
"Sesshoumaru"
"Yes."
"You look, um, different."
Sesshoumaru quickly realized she must be referring to his glamour enhanced appearance. "Yes, it is a form of magic which protects my identity. I usually wear it during the day. At night in this city, especially considering Fortune's looks, it is not so important," Sesshoumaru offered by way of explanation.
Erin paused to absorb those few sentences, more because Sesshoumaru was normally so reticent than the content. His voice was so nice, so soothing and deep, reminding her a little of the cultured voices of actors in old fashioned movies.
"Um, are you sure you aren't kidding me. I mean, isn't this the way you really look." Erin eyed him skeptically.
By way of an answer, Sesshoumaru simply dropped his glamour, his eyes their startling gold again, and the black hair melting down his back like water, revealing an impressive head of long silver hair. Erin jumped, started by the transformation. In the bright noon-day sun, Erin thought she could catch icy blue highlights each time the breeze ruffled his locks. A passing jogger stumbled in his gait, catching sight of the silver haired youkai on the bench. The jogger quickly looked away and kept moving. He was certainly an impressive sight, sitting there like some beautiful fallen angel, Erin thought.
"Oh, I guess you were telling the truth about the magic then."
"Yes."
"I was just thinking when I first saw you that….well, never mind."
"You have something on your mind?" It was more of a statement than a question.
"Not that, I mean, yes, I do. I was wondering if you hand any ideas to, well, get Fortune back."
"Get him back?"
"Yes, I mean, for trying to intimidate me the other day."
Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at this statement. "What exactly did he do, Erin?"
Sesshoumaru's voice held a sharp edge, but Erin could not tell if he were angry or concerned, since he still wore his usual placid expression. "He didn't hurt me or anything, he just," Erin blushed here, "um, just grabbed me and told me you were going to give him to me after…you were finished with me."
Erin could not be quite certain, but she thought she saw an angry look briefly cross his features.
"Fortune can be repulsive at times," Sesshoumaru stated, staring off into the distance. His eyes followed the diving gulls, but his mind had not strayed from their conversation. "It would be a pleasure to bring his ill-placed pride down a notch."
"Yes, but I don't know quite how to do it. He is so strange—I've thought of just yelling at him, but he might think it was funny."
"Yes, he might," Sesshoumaru agreed, imagining the vampire trying vainly to control his laughter as Erin pointed a finger in his face, yelling insults of which even Inuyasha would have been proud. He almost smiled at this mental image, "you could still try it," he offered.
"No, it would be too embarrassing. It was embarrassing enough falling for his little trick in the first place. Of course, I did not really believe him completely at the time." Erin lowered her eyes and shuffled her feet. Hesitantly, she asked, "Um, are there any special things that youkai such as Fortune don't like. Could I throw some holy water on him or something?"
Sesshoumaru considered this, "yes, that might work," and would be exceedingly funny if it did, "but Fortune is not youkai." He had reservations about telling her more about Fortune's nature, but he did not particularly want Erin associating Fortune's behavior with a youkai either. At any rate, Erin appeared quite accepting of youkai and magic, it was not such a great leap to introduce vampires into the mix.
"You mean he's a person too?" Erin found this difficult to believe. Fortune just seemed so…otherworldly.
Wondering at Erin's use the term 'person,' Sesshoumaru explained, "Fortune is a vampire."
Erin's eyes widened at this statement.
"I don't normally associate myself with such, but Fortune somehow managed to insinuate himself into my company." Sesshoumaru was not quite sure how to describe his relationship with Fortune—a camaraderie of immortals, an occasionally amusing acquaintance, a friend? He gave a mental snicker at the last—who else but he would call the half-crazed vampire a friend. Fortune should count himself quite lucky.
"A vampire," Erin whispered incredulously, as if having a youkai sitting across from her were not astounding enough. Oh, the possibilities, Erin thought, and began to plan.
The late afternoon was a hot and lazy one. Erin laid across a swing in her back yard, contemplating vampire weaknesses. She stretched, adjusting the pillow under her head—it had seen better days and was slightly mildewed after being left outdoors several weeks in a row. The leaves of the overgrown banana plants swayed gently over her head, offering a little welcome shade. One foot was hanging off the swing and lazily kicking at the grass, so tall it was almost level with the swing. It had been some time since the grass had been cut—the last time being when her sister saw a snake crawl across their patio.
Erin imagined one entertaining but silly revenge scene in her mind:
She would take Fortune to Chile's restaurant for the ultimate revenge. The three would sit down at the table, and she would whisper something in the waiter's ear. After a few minutes, off-key singing and loud hand clapping would be heard in the distance, coming ever closer, when, suddenly, HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WE'RE SO GLAD YOU CAME, HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FROM THE CHILES GANG… Well, besides the obvious—that it was essentially a very dumb idea—it was impractical since it would torture Sesshoumaru as well.
Another fantasy in which Erin indulged herself involved discovering where Fortune slept during the day. She had dubbed this one 'clown revenge.' First, she would sneak inside Fortune's lair. While there, she could paint his face into a hideous white clown face. And, if it were true that vampires had no reflection, Fortune would simply never realize it. She could beg Sesshoumaru to keep quiet, and so the only indication that Fortune might have would be the wide smiles on the faces of his intended victims, and in some cases, outright laughter, just before he drank their blood.
Erin sighed. A little harmless fantasy never hurt anyone, but there was actually not much she could do to teach Fortune a lesson. Thus, Erin finally decided to rely on the tried and true mechanism for revenge—using her feminine whiles to pit the two males against one another.
AN: Loved all of your reviews! And, looking forward to getting more. Botticelliangel, Golden, Sesshoumarubride Hesha07, I am so glad that everyone seemed to like the Rin/Jaken memories in the previous chapters. Ladisapphire, happy to hear you like Fortune. He's so much fun to write. I was worried about how it would come off. I enjoyed writing those scenes! Oh, and reviewer Chris, as for Sesshoumaru's arm—I was supposed to mention it growing back when talking about Inuyasha in a previous chapter, but I forgot. Oops! I had realized it and may be I'll go back and revise it some time in the future. I have read at least a hundred fan fiction stories where Sess's arm has either grown back, been replaced or something of the sort, I couldn't think of anything original to add about it. So, I suppose that's why it slipped my mind.
I will try to update on or before next Saturday. Thanks for reading!