. : Muichimotsu : .
: . By Akikazu . :
. : Chapter Thirty : .
Itsuki remained in the garden long after the attack on the house had ended. The kaimnade (demon with the ability to travel through dimensions) was inconsolable, despite the fact that it had been thought that Shinobu had been completely removed from his life. Not even Keiko could bring the youkai (demon) out of his dark mood. Still, Keiko lay near him, having fallen asleep while keeping Itsuki company.
Itsuki himself was locked in a place deep in his mind. There in his dreamscape he sat back and played through the life he had lead with Shinobu, the person that his world had revolved around for so long.
Finally the enactment in his head ended and his sad eyes fell upon Keiko. This small ningen woman that was shivering from the cold night air was the reason that Shinobu had died, and this detail confused Itsuki. Shinobu had made no secret of his distaste for Keiko and had later sold her into the slave market. So why did he sacrifice his life to save hers?
Keiko shivered again and Itsuki sighed in resignation, even with his experience it was impossible to second guess Shinobu. Slowly Itsuki shifted forward and gathered Keiko into his arms. The sleeping woman snuggled into his warmth and the youkai lifted her and made his way to the quarters he had been given. He didn't know where Keiko's room was and according to the servants' gossip no males besides the Jaganshi (master of the Jagan) and kitsune (fox) were allowed in the wing that her room would most likely be located.
He sat her gently on his bed but before he could move to join her his eyes caught sight of a certain book lying harmlessly on the foot of the bed.
Hesitantly he reached towards the book and lifted its heavy weight into his arms. Itsuki gazed down at the book for a second before making his next move.
"Sensui Shinobu."
Itsuki gave the book a second to process the name before flipping it open to the end of the tome. He knew that this book could tell him the reason for Shinobu's death.
It was laid out before him, locked in unmovable print. The words of the book painted out how Shinobu forced Itsuki to leave him. It then continued to describe how the ningen had protected the youkai's future by saving the only woman who would stand at his side.
Grief built in his chest. It was accompanied by the feeling of guilt stemming from the fact that Shinobu had died to save Keiko, knowing that she was the one that would take his heart.
Tossing a sad glance toward Keiko, Itsuki crossed from the dimension that the Ningenkai existed in. In this place where the only natural colors were the tones of grey and black he collapsed and let his sorrows run free. It had been in this place that Itsuki had taken Shinobu after he lost his fight with Raizen when the youkai had taken control over Yusuke.
The book that could foretell the future lay forgotten in front of him.
M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M .
When she awakened, Yukina noticed something strange.
Her body felt good…
Cautiously she sat up and moved the heated stones Hiei gave her away from her abdomen. Still she felt no pain. A smile lit her face and her hands moved to slide over her stomach where a new life had begun to grow. The skin of her stomach was colder than that of the rest of her body confirming the presence of the daughter she would give birth to.
Excitement coursed through her and her first thought was to jump out of bed and search out Shizuru, Kurama, or Hiei. However she nipped the thought at the bud; she was pregnant now, she couldn't go haring off at a second's notice.
Yukina took a deep breath to calm herself and was overjoyed to hear the door to the room open. She expected the person entering to be Shizuru but when she looked up she found Hiei coming towards her.
"Your fertile period has ended." He announced bluntly.
She nodded, "It has. The stones you gave me help me out a lot, though. Thank you Hiei."
"You will take breakfast in the dinning room?" the Jaganishi asked.
"Yes, will you help me? I don't know if I can make it on my own."
Hiei said nothing but moved to her side and helped her off the bed. As the pair made their way down the halls Yukina noticed that Hiei was careful not to touch her but also remained close to her should she need to use his solid frame for support.
They didn't encounter anyone on their small journey but the dinning room was near bursting at the seams.
Hiei lead Yukina to the open seat next to Shizuru. Yukina was pleased to note that Yusuke was seated across from them.
"Hey, Yukina," Shizuru greeted. "You feeling better?"
She nodded and smiled as everyone greeted her. Then she caught the worried look in Yusuke's eyes.
"Were you sick?" He asked.
Yukina turned red. Hadn't anyone explained her absence to him? Shaking her head Yukina mumbled out a response.
"Yukina, I couldn't hear you. What did you say?"
"I'm pregnant!" She blurted out.
All eyes were now on her and Yukina flushed redder. It was one of two men that she had never seen before that broke the silence. One had black hair and the one that spoke had purple hair.
"I see… It'll be a girl then, no doubt."
The other man scowled at the first, "Of course."
Yusuke looked at the two, bewildered. Clearly no one had told him about why she hadn't left her room for the last week.
The silver haired youkai at the head of the table spoke next, his eyes hardly glancing at Yukina.
"I expect you to remain with an escort at all times, koorime (ice maiden). Being the spawn of Narku, I have no doubt that Hakudoushi will use you to meet his goals. That goes for you as well ningen woman." He glanced at Kagome. "When Epsilon returns he is to remain at your side, until then you will remain under my watch."
The three women nodded, Kagome going as far as murmuring a "yes Sesshomaru." Everyone looked satisfied for the moment, save Yusuke whom was still floundering in oblivion. Finally he looked at Yukina again, the expression in his eyes caused the ice maiden's heart to drop.
"Who?" Only the youkai at the table heard his quiet question.
Sesshomaru scowled and glanced at Hiei and Kurama.
"One of you two will take the Detective aside after this meal and explain to him what is going on."
Kurama nodded, "I will speak with Yusuke after breakfast."
Yukina noticed that Yusuke was now refusing to meet her eyes, and to be honest even if he was willing she didn't know if she could meet his. She was unusually quiet during the rest of the meal.
M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M .
"What's going on?" Yusuke demanded tiredly.
He didn't look at his friend. Instead he tried to keep his mind off of how tired he was. He was tired of being kept in the dark, tired of having his heart broken.
A strong hand rested on his shoulder and he glanced at Kurama.
"It's not all that bad Yusuke, it's a natural occurrence," the red head assured him.
"Yukina's pregnant! That doesn't just happen!" Yusuke said, frustrated.
"Actually it does." That earned the fox a glare, chuckling he explained. "You do not know much about the koorime do you Yusuke?"
"Only that they kicked Hiei out because he was a boy," Yusuke's nose wrinkled in disgust.
"Yes, the Hime Clan (clan of the ice maidens) looks down on all males. In fact they have evolved to the point that they can produce female children every hundred years without the services of a male. Since Hiei guarded her, I can assure you that, despite her pregnancy, Yukina is a virgin."
It took a second for the news to sink into Yusuke's mind.
"You mean…"
Kurama snickered, "No doubt if you have your way this will be the only female child Yukina will ever bare."
Obviously satisfied with the shock his news had garnered, Kurama turned and left the floundering detective to gather his wits.
It took him a second but soon Yusuke's mouth opened again.
"Oh shit…"
He had really screwed up this time.
Yusuke immediately went to find Yukina, to try to repair the damage he had so callously caused.
As he passed a room he heard a muffled sobbing and several soothing murmurs. But the sobs caught his attention. He recognized them, would recognize them anywhere.
Keiko was crying.
Without a second though he barged into the room. Four pairs of eye were instantly upon him. Keiko, Yukina, and Kagome were all on the floor, along with that weird cat creature that usually accompanied Kagome. Keiko's eyes teared and the distraught woman wrenched herself from Kagome's lap and onto Yusuke.
"Yusuke, you have to find him!" She sobbed.
Yukina rose and hurried to pry her friend off of the bewildered detective. Kagome followed right behind her.
"Keiko, Keiko you need to calm down," Kagome said.
"He's gone!" Keiko cried.
Yukina rubbed the ningen's back and looked at Kagome helplessly, Yusuke did them same, having never been useful around a crying woman.
"Keiko, take a deep breath. We can't fix anything till you tell us what's wrong," Kagome dictated.
Keiko obeyed and took in a gulp of air. Tears still poured from her eyes in torrents but Yusuke noticed that she was calming. Barely though.
"Now tell us what's going on," Kagome whispered.
"Last night, after the mansion was attacked, I stayed with Itsuki in the garden. I must have fallen asleep because the next morning I woke up in his bed. But he wasn't there... He was anywhere... I can't find him!" Keiko burst into tears again.
Yusuke scowled but let his ex-girlfriend cry on him. Neither of the other girls seemed as if they were going to attempt to stem her tears either, instead they both looked lost in thought.
Just as he was beginning to loss his patience Kagome and Yukina finally snapped back to the situation at hand.
"Yukina, I don't think Itsuki is gone for good. He really cares for you I don't think he would leave without saying goodbye," Yukina murmured.
"Right, he's probably off mourning Sensui's death. They were very close you know," Kagome added.
Keiko calmed some. "He said they were like family," she whispered.
"You see, Itsuki will be back before long," Yukina comforted.
"He'll probably feel bad about putting you through this too," Kagome said.
Keiko gave them a watery smile and released Yusuke. The detective, himself, was trying not to snort at the suggestion the girls were throwing out, but then again he didn't see Itsuki like they probably did.
…Thank God.
M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M .
After taking breakfast with all the other people living in the palace, Sango and Naraku found a way to be alone together, again. This time they hid themselves in a library; between the millions of rows of books they secluded themselves from the rest of the world.
Sango glanced at their joined hands as they strolled through the empty aisle of bookshelves. They barely knew each other, but she found herself enthralled by the dark man that was just as lost in this world as she was. It was perhaps the common factor of being lost that had allowed them to grow so close so quickly.
Multiple servants had warned her about how Naraku had formerly been. The maids delighted in giving excruciating detail as to the aftermath of his rampages, the crippled villages, and traumatized people that he had left in his every wake. The male servants spoke of the battles, how cowardly Naraku had been, the millions his minions had slaughtered.
She paid no attention to any of it. All of what they had said may have been true, but Sango knew that he was not the same now. He was gentle, lost, and he cared for her... She was sure that he cared for her. And she more than cared for him.
"Sango?" The soft inquiry was accompanied by a slight squeeze to her hand.
Slightly startled, her body jumped a bit.
"Are you alright?" His eyes were filled with sweet concern.
"I'm fine, just thinking."
"About what?"
To her horror, she blurted out the truth. "Us."
He stilled at that, his eyes taking on a curious look. "What about us?"
With no other option she whispered the only response she could think of. "I think I'm falling in love with you."
He let go of her hand and for a second she was sure he was about to reject her. But his arms wrapped around her, pulling him to his hard frame. After a second's hesitation, her arms slid around his waist. She almost didn't hear the words that fell quietly form his lips.
"I've already fallen."
Tears of joy spilled from her eyes.
M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M . M .
"Have you seen my dolls Rin? Look at how eager they are to give their hearts away," Hakudoushi snickered.
"They're in love," Rin cooed.
"The evil warlord and the slayer, an unexpected occurrence to be sure, but this will work to our advantage."
"Will you tell me your plan aijin (beloved)?"
Hakudoushi gave her a hard kiss before answering. "I'll kill them. And in the aftermath I'll take down those who threaten to stand between us."
"I feel sorry for them, aijin. Their love can never be, but we have that opportunity now. Don't we Hakudoushi?"
"We do. I would never let anyone tear us apart, beloved."
"It's still so very sad," Rin sighed.
Hakudoushi took her into his arms. He knew his beloved had a soft heart and because of that she couldn't deal with the dark aspects of his plots easily. It was a weakness but it was one of the things that made her Rin.
"They're only dolls, beloved. Even if I allowed them to live, circumstances would later rip them apart. It's better this way."
"I know, you would never be deliberately cruel, aijin," Rin whispered.
Hakudoushi smirked as he took note of the tone of awe in her voice. Things were falling into place, perfectly.
. : End of Chapter : .
: . Author's Note . :
I'm back! I know all you readers out there were anxiously waiting for this chapter and I'm sure you'll do the same for the next chapter.
Anyways, I have an important announcement! The way this is planed out, Muichimotsu will run to thirty-five chapters, including the epilogue. As it is the plot is growing close to the original idea from which this story sprouted from.
If there are any questions that do not have to deal with the future of this plot please direct them to me and I will address them on the next chapter.
Adios
. : Beta's Note : .
Hey all! Another great chapter by our own wonderful author. EVERYONE THANK HER! Hehe, I'm very adamant about wanting people to thank the author, because without them, there is no story. Those who don't shall find themselves knocked out, kidnapped, and will wake up with bleeding welts in one of my many torture chambers! Mwahahahaha! Anyways, please don't forget to review!
AMV
. : Next Time : .
Betrayal
Laying to Rest
Grief
Muichimotsu