Disclaimer: Unfortunately I still don't own Inuyasha.
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Chapter 7: Blindness
Sesshoumaru slept fitfully, his body tossing and turning in a manner that did not bode well for his bed linens. In his mind he was tormented by soft lips that drank of his own, by the feel of supple skin that danced beneath his body, by the sexual fire that burned in a certain miko's eyes…
Sesshoumaru awoke with a start, sitting upright on his futon instantly. He was breathing heavily, still caught in the aftermath of this far too realistic dream he had just woken from. Pressing a clawed hand to his temple, he tried to make sense of what he had experienced a few moments ago. He had never before been plagued by erotic dreams; the very concept was foreign to him. He found himself disoriented by the intense sensations that flooded his body and mind. This was most embarrassing and ridiculous, how could he be so responsive to something as simple and as unreal as a dream?
Mulling over the strange situation he found himself in, he wondered if this was also a part of the mysterious connection between himself and the miko that Bokusenou had spoken about. But obviously the tree had failed to mention that the ningen girl would also plague his dreams in such intimate ways.
On the other hand it was also possible that the only reason for this whole ordeal was him being in need of female company. If this weren't the cause then why would he have lain with the miko in the first place? Probably he should remedy this problem as soon as possible. There were certainly enough suitable female youkai available for his needs.
But that wouldn't solve his other problems and Sesshoumaru felt the beginnings of a headache while he massaged his temples. His life was completely out of control since he had first met the miko in the forest about two weeks ago. What angered him most was that his powers were limited due to the wench's doing. He missed his magic abilities dearly, especially his light whip and poison claw during battle.
Of course, he still surpassed all his opponents widely by skill, intellect and speed, but the loss was most annoying. And there probably wouldn't be an improvement any time soon. First he had hoped this connection with the miko would only last for a few days, but obviously he had been sadly mistaken. What if this would go on for a much longer period of time? No, that would be unbearable. Maybe his original intention to wait until it wore off wasn't the best idea, after all.
Bokusenou had said that he would regain full access to his powers if he was near the miko. So perhaps he should pay his half-brother a visit and borrow the little miko for as long as it took for this thing to wear off? Most likely she was of no use to her companions, considering that she would not have access to her own powers.
Certain that he would not be getting any more sleep this night, the taiyoukai rose and lit one of the small oil lamps, which were placed on the low table situated in a corner of his chamber. Sitting down on the wooden floor in a graceful motion, he took a scroll off the table delicately, resuming last evening's reading.
oooOoooOooo
Kagome sat down on the mossy ground heavily with a groan, stretching her abused legs. Shippo fell into her lap with an exhausted sigh and went to sleep almost instantly. It was afternoon by now and they had been walking for the whole day. Such had been their daily routine for the last two weeks, and only because she hadn't sensed one single shard of the Shikon No Tama the entire time. It was a mystery to her why they hadn't come across a shard yet. Usually it wasn't that hard to find some stray youkai carrying one.
But as hard as she had tried she couldn't feel the magical tug she usually experienced if a shard was anywhere near. In fact, she couldn't sense anything at all, not even the presence of any youkai. After about two weeks of fruitlessly searching the countryside, she couldn't help but wonder if there was anything wrong with her miko powers. But Kagome hadn't any idea what could have affected her abilities. So she dismissed the disturbing thought and concluded that there simply were not any youkai nearby.
"Do you sense any shards now, Kagome?" Inuyasha inquired for the hundredth time that day, pacing back and forth in irritation, while the other members of their small group sat on the ground, thoroughly exhausted.
"I'm sorry Inuyasha, but there isn't anything." She replied quietly, very aware of the fact that reason the hanyou was quite upset was because it had been so long since they came across their last shard.
"This is not the first time that it has taken us a few weeks to find a new shard," Miroku remarked, while he made himself comfortable and placed his staff on the ground next to him.
Inuyasha shrugged and directed his gaze away from his travelling companions. For a moment he inhaled deeply, titling his head to one side. Then he focused his eyes on the hill in front of him and saw that his nose hadn't deceived him. Two human females were heading towards them and they seemed to be in quite a hurry. Although they were still far away, he could detect a hint of panic in their scent.
"We're getting company," he announced when he turned back to the group.
Sango jumped up quickly, taking her gigantic boomerang with her. "Youkai?" She demanded curtly.
Chuckling slightly, Inuyasha replied: "Hold your horses, Sango. I don't smell any youkai. There're just two human women who seem to be in some kind of trouble."
"Women in trouble?" Miroku repeated, sounding almost hopefully.
Shooting Miroku a warning glare, the taijya relaxed her battling stance slightly and moved to stand next to Inuyasha. Surveying the countryside before her, she too spotted the women.
"What makes you think they are in trouble? As far as I can see they are not being pursued." she asked the hanyou.
"It's their scent. They're reeking of fear."
By now Kagome had placed the sleeping Shippo on the ground next to her pack and she and Miroku had joined their companions. It took some time until the two women had finally reached them. As soon as they had a clear view on the group they paused and talked among themselves quietly, obviously unsure about how to proceed.
Before anyone could do anything else Kagome called out to them. "Konnichi wa! Please come closer, we won't hurt you. Maybe we can help you with your trouble?"
Her tone was very friendly and inviting, her expression sincere and open, leaving no doubt about her good intention. The women couldn't help but be intrigued instantly by her pleasant nature.
The last part of Kagome's speech earned her a glare from Inuyasha, but she ignored him in favor of the now approaching women. Both of them were about Kagome's age and very pretty. When they were directly in front of the group, the taller girl began to speak.
"Konnichi wa. My name is Kiku and this is my sister Ochima. Excuse me, but how can you know that we are indeed looking for help?"
Miroku spared Kagome the trouble of answering the question, as he spoke before she could have even opened her mouth.
"Pardon us, pretty ladies. You looked very troubled and in quite a hurry, so we were jumping to conclusions." He stated with a charming smile, before he continued. "You have so kindly graced us with your names, allow me to introduce ourselves. My name is Miroku. These are my companions: Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, Shippo and Kirara."
The two women glanced at each person introduced quickly, stopping to look at Inuyasha's ears curiously for a moment. Then they redirected their attention towards Miroku politely. When he was sure they were looking at him again, he continued speaking to them gently.
"So, pretty ladies, tell us what your problem is."
"Our village is threatened by a terrible bear. It kills people and attacks our houses, and no one in the village has been able to slay it. We believe it is youkai." Ochima, obviously the younger sister, blurted out in a distressed, squeaky voice. Immediately Kiku shot her a stern, dismayed look.
"So sorry, you must excuse the bluntness of my little sister, Miroku-sama. But we are both very worried for our people," she said, sounding sweet and gentle and quite upset.
"We could try to help you, if you want. I think we will be able to get rid of the youkai," Kagome offered warmly. The sympathy she felt towards the two girls was written all over her face.
"Is that so?" Inuyasha drawled coldly with his arms crossed over his chest and one eyebrow slightly arched, reminding her awfully of Sesshoumaru for a moment. Shaking herself mentally she managed to glare at him in warning.
"Yes, that is so," she stated with an air of finality, daring him to say otherwise.
But before he could reply anything at all Miroku overruled him by saying: "Of course we will help you. How far is your village from here?"
"Thank you so much! I hate to inconvenience you and your companions, but our situation is hopeless and we need help desperately, I accept your offer on behalf of my father, who is the village's headman. I believe it is a walk of two hours back to our home." Kiku answered formally, sounding clearly relived.
"Then perhaps we should leave immediately, so that we will arrive there before nightfall," Miroku stated, looking towards his companions for their opinion.
"Agreed," Sango said. For her it was the most natural thing in the world to rid a human village of a demonic threat. Kagome just nodded, while Inuyasha settled with shrugging gloomily and murmured his ambiguous "Keh!"
"Alright, so it's decided," Miroku declared enthusiastically, "but before we leave I would like to ask you another question, Kiku-san."
"Of course."
For a moment he just gazed at her affectionately, taking in her beautiful features, before he took her hands into his own in a heartbreakingly romantic gesture and inquired hopefully: "Would you bear my child?"
Kiku blushed furiously, but before she could reply, Sango had smacked the monk hard on the back of his head, murmuring irritably about hentais and their obvious lack of tact. Inuyasha snickered, but the little tirade was completely lost on Kagome, who stood rigidly in the same spot as before, her face as white as a piece of chalk. She was hot and cold at the same time as Miroku's question echoed in her mind loudly.
/ Would you bear my child - child - child…/
All of sudden she felt weak and very sick. How could she have not thought about this earlier? 'Oh god, what if he got me pregnant?' Her mind reeled with this new, horrible prospect and the thought alone made an intense feeling of fear and nausea tear through her guts. Panic welled up inside her like a black flood, drowning every other thought in its way. Kagome's vision went foggy and she didn't notice that her body was swaying, loosing balance slightly.
Her drastic change in scent didn't go unnoticed by Inuyasha and so he was prepared to steady her staggering form just in time. His friends and the two sisters looked at the girl in his arms with concern and Inuyasha felt his own worry as he gazed at Kagome's suddenly pale features. Her eyes were closed and her breath came out in short pants.
"Kagome? Kagome, are you alright?" The hanyou whispered urgently.
Slowly the miko blinked and opened her eyes. Then she glanced at her surroundings.
"Inuyasha…yes, yes I'm fine…" she stammered weakly, taking in the concerned faces of her friends. Banning the feeling of dread and panic from her mind with a huge effort, she managed a small smile.
"Don't worry, I just felt a bit dizzy. My blood pressure just dropped all of a sudden, but it's probably nothing to worry about …" she added to sooth them, trailing off as the declaration earned her nothing but a few confused looks. Smiling again apologetically Kagome made an effort to stand on her own.
Knowing her strangeness and her special background, her companions were used to odd explanations and so they settled on accepting this one, too. Carefully, Inuyasha withdrew his arms from around her waist, ensuring that she wouldn't lose her balance again.
The journey to Kiku's village was surprisingly uneventful. Kagome was mostly absorbed in her own thoughts, but she learned among other things that Kiku and her sister had originally been sent to seek help from their liege lord, who lived in a bigger village about a two day walk away. Their meeting had been by sheer luck, and the sisters were very grateful that they could return to their home with help much earlier than expected. As the youkai posed a big threat to the village, the headman had sent his own daughters to inform their lord because he couldn't spare any men. Their worry hung in the air heavily and felt almost palpable to Kagome at times.
But mostly she walked silently and contemplated her own situation. There were days when her life was so clouded and the world got so dark, she couldn't tell night from day.
This was definitely one of those days.
The chance that she might be pregnant with Sesshoumaru's child scared her to no end. First of all, independent of all other problems, she was too young to have a child. Alright, many girls her age had already had children, even in her time. But she had always wanted to go to university and, although her priorities had admittedly changed since she had first arrived in the feudal area, a child would swiftly bring an end to that particular hope and dream.
Secondly, Sesshoumaru was youkai and thirdly, she didn't love him one bit! She was in love with Inuyasha and there was probably no way in Hell she could communicate to him that she loved him, and only him, if she was pregnant with Sesshoumaru's child!
Kagome's thoughts were running in circles. Up to now, she couldn't muster the courage to tell anybody, especially Inuyasha, what had happened between herself and the demon lord. While the time passed she considered if it wouldn't be best to not tell Inuyasha at all. She knew that not telling him was dishonest and cowardly, and although she really despised her own weakness she couldn't bring herself to do it. Probably he would hate her for what she did and there was no way she could live with his hatred.
How would she go about it anyway? 'Gee, listen Inuyasha, I got this really horrible nightmare about some youkai ripping your heart out of your body and afterwards I was so terrified I slept with your brother just for sheer comfort. Can you please forgive me?'
No, there was no decent way of telling him. Maybe it was really best if he didn't know. It would do nothing but hurt him. And there was nothing in the world she wanted to do less than hurt him. Telling him would just serve to clear her conscience, nothing else.
Besides, they weren't even lovers, yet. Inuyasha had never told her that he loved her and maybe he didn't. Judging from his behaviour towards her, she could be sure that he cared for her deeply, but love? There was still Kikyou in the picture, and in the three years she knew Inuyasha, he hadn't been able to completely let go of his lost love.
Maybe, unconsciously, Inuyasha just felt drawn to her because she looked so much like Kikyou. Kagome had often wondered about that. Obviously she shared the other miko's soul – she was supposedly her reincarnation, after all. The thought that her soul didn't really belong to her, that she might be nothing but a copy of another person, unsettled her. It was highly disturbing. Since Kikyou was more or less alive again, she often felt like she was intruding on, no, stealing someone else's life. At times she thought of herself as a fake, a person without her own life or her own history. Somehow she was Kikyou and a part of Kikyou was her.
And following this train of thought, it was also possible that she was only attracted to Inuyasha because Kikyou's soul had never stopped loving him.
But who was Kagome? She was a 17-year-old girl from the future, who was still living her own private fairytale. The girl who studied hard trying to graduate from high school to go to university, while also trying equally hard to restore a gem of unthinkable power, 500 years in the past, to prevent an evil hanyou from gaining said power. The girl who faced death on a regular basis and still struggled to complete her math homework. The girl who took a feudal youkai lord as her first lover, although her heart belonged to another. Who was she?
Obviously the situation was sufficiently complicated without having Sesshoumaru somewhere in the middle of this whole mess which was her so called love-life. And there was simply no way to imagine the trouble it would cause if she were, indeed, pregnant with his child.
It wouldn't improve her self-esteem, either.
Her future looked dull enough without him. There was always the chance that she would get killed in the process of restoring the Jewel of Four Souls. On the other hand, there was still the chance that they would rid the world of Naraku's disgusting presence and she would live to see the gem completed. But what would happen afterwards? Who would wish on it and what would that wish be?
Even if somebody had a wish selfless enough to make the jewel disappear, this would force her to make up her mind as to what she actually wanted to do with her future. Stay here, or go back? Certainly, life in the feudal area was less complicated than modern life, but it was also living in extremes. Sometimes she was completely and utterly happy, at other times she was scared witless and on some days her existence was so miserable that she thought she would never laugh again.
Although a lot of books and movies suggested otherwise, living in the past was hardly as romantic as many people imagined. It was really dirty and many things a modern girl took for granted were simply missing. Diseases were much more widespread than in her time and people died because of the simplest infections. People were enslaved to feudal lords and threatened by violent youkai.
Did she want to live in such a place for the rest of her life?
Would Inuyasha want her to stay anyway? And even if he wished to be with her, would she really want to stay? Would she be willing to sacrifice all the plans she had, everything she had dreamed of in her normal life to be with him? The finality of this decision frightened her. Of course, the notion of boyfriends and being together without marriage or another form of binding was quite uncommon in the feudal area. But she wasn't sure if she could decide with whom she wanted to spend the rest of her life at the tender age of 17.
Kagome's musings went on and on without any satisfying result. At the moment it was impossible for her to know whether she was pregnant or not and so she simply had to wait until she would have her next period, or not. The thought sent a shiver down her spine and suddenly she bumped into something solid, which turned out to be Inuyasha's back.
"Watch where you're going and stop daydreaming! We're almost there!" The hanyou exclaimed grumpily.
"Sorry," Kagome mumbled, a little bit embarrassed by her lack of attention.
Glancing at her surroundings, she saw that they were, indeed, heading straight towards the village. She could see a few houses in the twilight and forced herself to concentrate on what was going on around her. At the moment, Kiku was offering the group to stay at her family's house for the night and Miroku and Sango, who were walking next to her, accepted gladly. Shippo was currently sitting on Miroku's shoulder, listening intensely. He had deserted Kagome earlier during the trip, exclaiming that she was no fun at all today.
"Will there be dinner at your house, Kiku-san?" The little fox inquired hopefully, rubbing his tummy for emphasise.
Kiku giggled girlishly at his attics and assured him that there would be plenty of food. At first the sisters had been reluctant to associate with a youkai, but Shippo being his cute self had convinced them in less than an hour that not all youkai were evil.
Suddenly a terror-filled scream split the air, followed be other random noises from the village. Men swarmed from the houses, armed with spears or just simple sticks, running towards the opposite end of the village.
"It's back! We must hurry!" Kiku shrieked in terror, pulling her trembling little sister into a tight embrace.
"Stay here with your sister, we will handle this," Inuyasha ordered and broke into a run. Miroku left Shippo with the two women and then he and the others followed.
"This has to be a really powerful youkai, I can feel a tremendous amount of jyaki," Miroku explained while running.
"Do you sense any jewel shards, Kagome?" Sango asked when they reached the first houses.
"No, I don't." Kagome replied, panting slightly. Strangely enough, she didn't even sense the jyaki Miroku had mentioned. But there was no time to worry about things like that. They could hear more screams and yells as they progressed through the village. People were passing them, fleeing in blind panic, some of them badly injured. A group of men were on their way to the still invisible battlefield. Armed with only a few spears, they appeared very frightened, yet determined to protect their people and their homes. Above all these human noises and the clattering of metal Kagome heard the enraged roaring of the bear youkai.
Turning another corner she could suddenly see the beast. It was huge, with a black pelt and fiery red eyes. Seemingly effortlessly, its gigantic paws were slapping away the villagers like plastic dolls.
Inuyasha didn't seem to be impressed at all. Wasting no time he drew Tessaiga and ran into battle. When the beast noticed him, it bared its fangs dangerously at the rapidly approaching hanyou. Before Inuyasha could launch an attack he was hit by a powerful, clawed paw and thrown through the air, his impromptu flight stopped with a sickening crunch as he hit a nearby tree.
Sango wasn't any more successful with her own attack. Her boomerang hit the bear's shoulder, but obviously didn't hurt it very much. It let out an annoyed roar, turned and hit the flying Kirara with much more speed than what could be expected from such a plump looking youkai. Despite the hard blow, Kirara managed to land safely nearby, but wasn't in a condition to continue the battle.
"Kagome, are you sure that this youkai doesn't have a jewel shard?" Miroku, who was still standing next to her, inquired after checking that Sango hadn't been harmed. The villagers were retreating slowly, understanding that it would be better to leave the battle to these strangers who had obviously come to assist them.
"Yes, pretty sure. I'm not sensing any." she said, watching worriedly as Inuyasha started another attack and got knocked to the ground after he managed to slice the bear's upper torso.
Somehow it seemed to know how to avoid the potentially fatal wind scar attack.
"But it is extremely powerful, Miroku, we have to think of something quickly," she added.
"Yes. Listen Kagome, I'll try to make it immobile with my spells and as soon as the way is clear you'll shoot a series of purifying arrows. That should be sufficient," Miroku suggested.
"Alright, go ahead. Hurry!" Kagome called after Miroku, while he approached the beast carefully.
Inuyasha, although unknowingly, did quite a good job distracting the huge bear. After landing a few hard blows, which obviously didn't weaken the youkai at all, he got thrown into another tree. But Miroku finally manage to subdue the youkai with his spells. It roared and howled in rage, but was otherwise unable to move.
"Now, Kagome! I won't be able to contain it much longer!" He yelled towards the young miko.
In the moment that Kagome drew an arrow and took aim she noticed that something wasn't quite right with her ki. Nevertheless, she concentrated hard to focus her power and let the arrow fly. It hit the bear well enough, but it missed the usual pinkish glow and judging from the non-existent effect it had on the youkai, contained no purifying energy at all. Cursing under her breath she nocked another arrow onto her bow, concentrating even harder on her miko energy this time. But it was as if her body were empty, her power gone, and there was simply nothing she could push forth into the arrow.
This time she knew that it wouldn't work before the arrow even reached its target.
With a deafening roar the youkai broke free from Miroku's spell, lunging at the drained monk. Inuyasha managed just in time to push him away from the beast's paws to avoid a serious injury. Stumbling backwards, the weakened monk was caught by Sango and dragged away from the battle scene. Inuyasha fought hard, but the beast's sheer strength was terrifying. None of the blows the hanyou landed hurt the youkai seriously and although it was bleeding from several injuries, its power didn't fail it.
Kagome was frantic. There had to be something she could do. But she felt helpless without her miko energy. What had happened to her powers anyway? But most importantly, somehow she had to help Inuyasha!
Suddenly she detected the pinkish glow of a purifying arrow as it passed her with enormous speed. The arrow hit its target well and the youkai howled in agony.
"Inuyasha! There are two jewel shards in its right paw! Be quick about it!" She heard an unmistakably familiar voice yell over the battlefield.
Mesmerized, Kagome turned around and there she was: Standing on the roof of a nearby house, she looked like an apparition, beautiful and unreachable. She held her bow upright, another arrow already nocked and ready to fire. Her long black tresses were swaying in the breeze, while she watched the battle with what seemed like otherworldly indifference.
Only when Kagome heard the dying bear's last growl did she manage to tear her eyes away from the other girl, who stood still rigidly on the roof as an alabaster statue. Inuyasha had obviously sliced off the youkai's paw and afterwards killed it with Sango's help.
Two tainted shards of the jewel lay on the dark ground. But Kagome hadn't seen them, hadn't felt them, didn't even feel them now. She was horrified. If Kikyou hadn't shown up, then her friends would have gotten hurt, possibly even killed…because of her failure. She should have taken her own concerns more seriously. Deep inside her she had felt that something wasn't quite right with her miko powers.
And without those powers she was useless.
Inuyasha's voice brought her out of her thoughts. He was coming towards her quickly, but ignored her completely in favor of her doppelganger, who jumped gracefully off the roof.
"Kikyou," he panted in the special tone that was reserved for her only. But as always when he met her, he was at a loss for words. So it took him a while to figure out what to stay. He was standing directly in front of Kikyou, glancing down on her with hidden tenderness. When she returned his look her eyes were no longer cold and full of hatred, but shining with a certain warmth. Their long hair was mingling in the stiffening breeze and they appeared as if they were desperate to touch each other, but cruelly separated by an invisible barrier
Kagome's heart broke, for about the hundredth time since she had first met Inuyasha. At some point she had thought she would get used to seeing them together, had even decided to love him although he couldn't make up his mind. But it still hurt, after three years it still hurt like Hell. Perhaps she didn't deserve any better. After all, she had betrayed him in the worst way possible. Still, she couldn't suppress the tears which were threatening to well up in her eyes.
"Thank you for your help," the hanyou mumbled finally.
Kikyou's pretty face didn't show any emotion, but her voice was achingly sweet. "You are welcome, Inuyasha. I would have had to be blind not to see these shards, so it was no trouble at all," she replied, glancing quickly at the younger miko.
And Kagome wanted to fade away.
oooOoooOooo
Sesshoumaru strode down the dimly lit corridor towards his chambers. His day had been troubled and his mood was foul. It was late in the evening and the only light emerged from a few small oil lamps on the walls. Sliding the shoji-screen door open he entered his room quietly. Semidarkness surrounded him as he crossed the room at a measured pace. Absentmindedly he began to untie his sash and shrugged off his haori in an indifferently graceful motion. Placing the silken garment on a wooden chest, the rest of his clothing followed quickly.
If it hadn't been for a small movement on his futon in the shadows and the smell of expectation and female arousal in the air, he would have forgotten that he had ordered her to wait for him tonight. His first thought was to send her away, but then again he wanted nothing more than a sound sleep, and to banish the dreams that kept him from it.
Sesshoumaru stepped to his bedding and surveyed the female youkai, whose body was splayed across his sheets and cushions. With long, wavy red hair and piercing green eyes, her alabaster skin and her voluptuous curves being sheer perfection, she was the epitome of beauty.
As the temptress gave him a wicked, "Come hither" smile, Sesshoumaru smirked. Oh, he would sleep soundly this night, indeed.
Eventually.
oooOoooOooo
Sesshoumaru slid the door behind shut behind him forcefully, taking out his irritation on the castle walls even as he finished shrugging into a yukata.
Oh yes, the female was quite sated. He could already hear her soft snores, and resisted the urge to turn around and evict her from his futon. But was he?
Tying the simple robe around his waist, he stalked down the long corridors. The answer, of course, was a resounding "No." His mood hadn't improved at all, and although the encounter should have been sufficient, he hardly felt satisfied. After some time his thoughts involuntarily returned to the human miko. Why did she seem to be so different from everything he knew? Thinking about her confused and annoyed him. And he despised confusion. But apparently he was unable to grasp what made her so special. The only explanation was that his perception of her had been altered by this strange youkai-miko connection. It was unfortunate that honor forbade simply getting rid of her. The demon lord owed her a life and until he repaid this debt, he couldn't even regard her as an enemy.
Leaving the castle he walked through the large garden towards the bath house. Entering the dark building, he lit a small lamp. Although he didn't need the light, his sight hardly being affected by the dark, it was an odd habit he kept. The bathhouse was built with great skill, as the two large basins were fed by a natural hot spring that provided fresh and hot water at all times of the day.
Shrugging out of the plain robe, Sesshoumaru cleaned himself briefly before he slid into the smaller of the two basins, relaxing his tense body. But not even a bath brought the desired result and after almost half an hour of soaking in the hot water he still felt restless.
He dried himself off quickly and took a fresh robe from one of the chests. After dressing himself he extinguished the lamp and left the bathhouse. A tough, cold breeze was tugging at his wet hair, cooling his body rapidly. But he didn't care as he strolled back to the castle. The taiyoukai paused at an old tree near the small pond. Deciding that spending a sleepless night out here wouldn't be nearly as dull as staying inside his chambers, he eventually decided to sit down on the grass.
The castle's dark silhouette was outlined by the sparse moonlight. Originally, it had been much bigger, but after his father's death two wings had been destroyed by intruders. When he himself had finally returned to the home of his ancestors, he hadn't bothered to have them rebuilt. The ruins were still there and perhaps he would have them rebuilt someday in the future.
The pond's dark, normally smooth surface was unruly because of the wind. When he had been younger he had liked this place very much. Its atmosphere had been silent and calming. But now it was tainted by memory, words spoken in anger and hatred, never knowing that they were the last to be said ever again.
Sesshoumaru slumped heavily down on the ground next to the pond. He was so mad that he thought for a moment he might suffocate from his anger. Although his face showed none of his emotions, every living being near him could feel the pure fury radiating off him in waves. Gradually, he managed to calm the storm that was raging inside him and the color of his eyes shifted back from crimson to gold.
After some more time of silently raging against the impossible decision that had just been made known to him, he suddenly felt the approach of the one being he really didn't want to talk to at the moment. His posture went even more rigid as the familiar aura came to a stop somewhere behind him. He didn't turn.
"Sesshoumaru." The voice sounded friendly, but slightly exhausted.
"Hai, my lord?" He replied tersely, still not turning towards the other demon. In spite of his anger, he managed to keep his voice indifferent, and he sounded more bored than angry.
"I wish you wouldn't call me that. At least, not when we are alone."
"As you wish, Father," Sesshoumaru bit out defiantly, no longer able to hold his violent emotions completely at bay.
"Why do you resent my choice of taking Izayoi as my new mate so much?" The calm, serious question made something in Sesshoumaru burst.
"Because she is ningen. A simple, pathetic, stinking human woman. She is weak and her pup will be weak and they will make you weak and vulnerable, too." Sesshoumaru stated cruelly, his voice dripping with venom.
His father took a deep, calming breath, obviously fighting his own rage at his son's abuse of Izayoi. Then he replied calmly:
"Perhaps you are right, Sesshoumaru. But, that is why you are my appointed heir."
Sesshoumaru shook his head impatiently, now turning towards his father.
"I do not understand you! What do you want with that human wench?" He demanded harshly, almost hiding his own desperation.
"You will not understand, I'm afraid. But I hope for you that you will one day. She lacks physical strength, but that is not all that is important. She is definitely weaker than the weakest of our kind, and yet, she can still go where even I would stumble."
For a moment Sesshoumaru contemplated the cryptic answer. There was no truth in these hollow words, all remained the same. This was insanity!
"But there is nothing special about her, I've just seen her. This wench is as dull as all the other humans!" Sesshoumaru exclaimed heatedly.
"Blindness is a state of mind, my son. Try to be not so ignorant!"
oooOoooOooo
A/N: Here you go! Another chapter finished. I apologize for being a bit late again, but normal life has been catching up with me recently.
Actually, the uncensored version of this chapter contains two lemons. So if you are of any age and interested in reading them, you can find the uncensored story at the "A Single Spark" archive.
I want to thank all the people who encouraged me to go on with the story and I apologize for not managing to reply to all reviews. I'll try to do better this time, so keep them coming ;-)!
Special thanks go to my wonderful beta reader M'eyari, who did a perfect job in editing and censoring this chapter, and to Schnuffi, without whom I wouldn't have been able to complete it. What would I do without you girls?