Hello all humans of the earth, lol: ) : ) This is indeed another chapter of A Price to be Paid. I know that I haven't said something for the past four chapters that I should have, so here it is. Thank you all for your wonderful reviews and inspiring me to continue on with the story: ) : ) I really, really appreciate it. Sheds a tear of happiness Anyway, enjoy.
A Brother's Protection
When morning had fallen upon us, Sesshoumaru was already awake. He was staring at me as I slept and as he thought. I could feel his eyes on me as I slept. My mind woke up and I didn't open my eyes. 'Has Sesshoumaru been staring at me all night? If he wasn't then it sure felt like it!' I opened my eyes slightly and sat up. I tried to avoid his gaze.
"Sesshoumaru, do I really slow you down?" I asked quietly.
He looked away almost instantly.
"No!" he replied.
I nodded my head slightly. 'So I don't slow him down. I guess that's a good thing.' A small smile slipped to my face.
"Tsuto, you're going to be traveling with someone else for a while."
'Huh?' I thought kind of surprised. I looked at him a little confused.
"Someone else?"
"It'll only be for a day or so."
'First he saves me from Naraku, and now he wants me to travel with someone else for a few days?'
"Whatever," I whispered, looking away again.
For the first time, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a grin on Sesshoumaru's face. 'Is he actually smiling?' I wondered,
Jaken and Rin had woken up from our talking.
"What's going on lord Sesshoumaru?" Jaken asked,
"Rin, you and Ah-Un stay here for a while! Jaken, you and I are going to see Inuyasha!" Sesshoumaru said grabbing my wrist and standing up.
'Inuyasha? Sesshoumaru knows Inuyasha? How could the two of them know each other and them both have Naraku hate them?' I thought stupidly.
"Inuyasha? But why my lord?" the imp stammered.
"Because I simply need to see him!" Sesshoumaru growled, giving Jaken cold glare.
I laughed at him in silence. 'Ha ha! Stupid!' Sesshoumaru walked with a firm grip on my wrist. 'Sesshoumaru could just tell me to follow him! He doesn't need to drag me everywhere!' We only walked for a few minutes before coming to a camp of five people. Two women, two men, a small boy with a poofy tail, and a small beige and black two tailed cat. 'Who are these people?' I wondered sort of hiding behind Sesshoumaru. A man wearing a red hoari and with silver hair growled and drew his sword. The sword transformed into a fang like blade.
"I should've known that it was you, Sesshoumaru!"
Naraku waited for Sheira to return to the castle. When she finally appeared he was passed annoyed.
"What took you so long Sheira?" he growled.
She smiled, "I had to have my fun with her. Bringing back a memory from three years ago is hard to recall. Especially when Tsuto wants to forget it!"
Naraku smiled as well, thinking that he knew what Sheira had used to torment me.
"Very well. Have your fun with Tsuto, as long as she comes back alive!" he laughed.
Sheira walked away, going through the hallway to my old room.
"I'll make it so Tsuto never forgets what it's like to be with Naraku!"
Kagura and Kanna walked pass her in the hallway.
"Another incarnation," Kagura whispered with some disgust.
'What do these two have against each other?' I wondered as the man in the red hoari prepared to fight Sesshoumaru.
"Come now Inuyasha, can't we just have a little brotherly talk?" Sesshoumaru asked.
'This is Inuyasha? He has dog ears and long silver hair. Wait a sec. Did Sesshoumaru just call Inuyasha his brother?'
"Shut up! You never want to talk, so why start now?" Inuyasha growled annoyed.
Inuyasha ran at Sesshoumaru with his sword in front of him.
"Inuyasha you whelp! Do you still think that you can beat lord Sesshoumaru?" Jaken asked mockingly.
"Inuyasha!" a girl from his group called.
The girl had long black hair and wore strange clothing. Her outfit was white with green in some spots and it had a red bow at her chest. 'Who is she?' I wondered. Inuyasha attacked Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru quickly let go of my wrist and drew Tokijin. Static clashed between the two swords as both demons tried to push one another back. I grew tense from behind Sesshoumaru.
"Inuyasha knock it off! There's a girl behind him!" the same girl cried.
Inuyasha had a surprised look before the power of Tokijin forced him to fly through the air, causing him to let go of his sword.
"I meant what I said Inuyasha!" Sesshoumaru growled before putting his sword back in his sash.
Getting to his feet, Inuyasha crossed his arms.
"Why did you come here with a mortal? You've said that you had no use for them!" the monk asked with a calm voice.
"I don't have any use for them, but this girl is different. I want you, Inuyasha, to protect her," Sesshoumaru explained.
"Why should I? I've got no business with her!" Inuyasha grunted.
"I figured that you, little brother, would do one such a favor. Maybe your wolf friend would be grateful enough to protect her for me!"
The mention about a wolf drew Inuyasha's attention.
"Come on Inuyasha. She only looks like a young girl!" the monk cried.
"We all know why you want her to come along, Miroku!" the small kitsune boy mocked.
"How dare you say such a thing Shippo!" Miroku said, pretending to be insulted.
Sesshoumaru grabbed me by my wrist and turned to leave.
"Wait Sesshoumaru. I'll take her! There's no reason to go all over the place in search of Koga," Inuyasha decided.
'So I'm being left with them?' Sesshoumaru stopped and turned back to Inuyasha, who was looking a little annoyed.
"If anything happens to her Inuyasha, I swear that I will kill you!" he growled as he let go of my wrist.
"My lord, why are we leaving Tsuto with Inuyasha?" Jaken asked.
"Because Jaken, I need to see someone else and I can't leave her alone at all!"
The two of them walked away, leaving me with the dog eared Inuyasha.
I walked up to the group and looked like I didn't belong here. 'I feel so alone with them!' When I walked by Inuyasha, he sniffed the air a couple times.
"Hello, I'm Kagome!" the girl in strange clothes introduced herself.
"I'm Sango, this is Kilala, and that lecherous monk over there is Miroku!" the other woman said.
"And my name's Shippo!" the kitsune said happily.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Tsuto!" I replied shyly.
'They all seem like nice people. Well, I'm not so sure about that monk yet.' I looked at Miroku suspiciously. He only smiled back. 'I guess that he's not so bad!' Inuyasha walked by and grabbed my arm.
"I need to talk to you!" he said as he walked into the forest, dragging me behind him.
"Inuyasha, what are you doing?" Kagome asked him.
"I need to talk to her, nothing more!" Inuyasha replied.
Everyone rolled their eyes as the two of us disappeared through the bushes and trees. We stopped and Inuyasha released my arm.
"I thought that I had smelt something funny this morning!" he laughed to himself.
"What?" I asked confused.
"Why do you wreak of Naraku?" he asked getting serious.
'Oh no, don't tell me that I have to tell him about it too!'
I sighed and looked at Inuyasha in the eye.
"Do I really have to tell you? It was hard enough to tell Sesshoumaru about it," I said quietly.
"Tell me or I'll send you back to Sesshoumaru alone!" he growled looking away from me.
'Alright I'll tell him, but he better not tell anyone else!' I thought trying to summon the courage to tell Inuyasha about my past.
"Naraku had taken me away from my family a long time ago and then three years ago he had taken me to his chamber," I said shamefully.
"If that happened three years ago, why do you still smell like him?" Inuyasha asked thick headedly.
'How can he be so dense? It doesn't take a genius to figure that one out! I bet that even Shippo could figure it out no problem!'
"I still smell like him because he did that for the next three years and Sesshoumaru helped me get away from him!" I explained.
A little shocked at the moment, Inuyasha couldn't say anything. I picked a leaf off of a twig and played around with it. 'I'm going back to the others if he's just going to stand there.'
"Let's get back to the others and get moving," Inuyasha said snapping out of thought.
We went back to the others. They were all sitting and talking about a jewel.
"There has to be some jewel shards around here somewhere. They don't just vanish from thin air!" Sango said thinking aloud.
'Jewel shards? What are those?' I wondered sitting down.
"Naraku has the most of them. He has almost completed it," Inuyasha said as he sat down and crossed his legs.
"Yeah, but he doesn't have all of them. There still has to be at least ten of them left," Kagome thought aloud.
"What's a jewel shard?" I asked a little dumbfounded.
Everyone looked at me with surprised faces. 'Whoa!'
"You don't know what the jewel shards are?" Shippo asked me.
I shook my head. Inuyasha grunted.
"Looks like Naraku's kept you in the dark about the jewel!" he whispered, so no one actually heard what he said.
"It's just a jewel that was shattered into a billion pieces and needs to be found before other demons get their hands on them!" Kagome explained a little embarrassed.
'So it was her fault that there are all these shards!' I thought to myself.
"Excuse me, Tsuto," Miroku said while grabbing my hand.
'What is he doing? Miroku is a monk.'
"Huh?" I looked at him with surprise.
Everyone else froze and Sango glared at Miroku.
"Would you be so kind as to bare my children?" the monk asked.
"Uh sorry, but no!" I said slapping him as hard as I could.
"Miroku you pervert!" Sango shouted angrily.
The morning passed and soon it was afternoon. We had started traveling a little while after Sango freaked out on Miroku. Shippo jumped onto my shoulder and stayed there for a while.
"So why are you traveling with Sesshoumaru? Isn't he a jerk and threaten to kill you all the time?" he asked me.
'Sesshoumaru, a jerk? Well I guess he can be a jerk sometimes.'
"He doesn't threaten to kill me, but I guess that he can be a jerk when I do something wrong. And you could say that he saved me!" I replied.
Shippo thought for a second, finding it hard to believe that Sesshoumaru would save a mortal like me.
"Inuyasha what's the matter?" Kagome asked him.
"I smell trouble," Inuyasha replied as he put a hand on his sword.
'Trouble? Is there a demon around?' I wondered looking around. A large demon walked out of the trees ahead of us. Along with three buddies behind him. The demon was dark green with evil red eyes and two wavy horns on the top of its head. In its hand was an axe that looked sharp enough to chop anything that happened to get in its way. The three other demons were that same, only their skin was red and they had small swords.
"Give us the shikon jewel shards that you possess and maybe we'll let you live!" the green demon laughed.
"What makes you think that we have any?" Inuyasha growled.
"It is said that a half demon is gathering jewel shards," one of the red demons replied.
"Yes and it is also said that he has three human companions with him!" said another.
'These guys are cruel looking! I guess that they wouldn't hesitate to slaughter someone.' I watched the four of them as they stood there. The green demon looked back at me.
"Give us the jewel shards and that young girl over there and we'll never come after you again!"
"Fat chance!" Inuyasha drew his sword and readied himself to fight.
I had froze with disgust when I heard the demon demand to hand me over to them. 'That is just wrong. It seems a lot worse then Naraku!' I shivered at the thought. Shippo's grip tightened on the top of my shirt as Inuyasha ran at the green demon. Sango had her hiraikotsu in her hand, ready to throw at one of our enemies. Kagome took out her bow and arrows and Miroku had his staff. 'I don't have anything to help them fight. The only thing I'm good for is trying to run away!' I looked down shamefully. Shippo was feeling the same way. Inuyasha took a swipe at the demon but only ended up cutting off one of its arms. Sango threw her giant boomerang and it sliced one of the red demons in half.
"You bastards!" Inuyasha growled as he swung his sword again.
While everyone was fighting, I had notched that one of the red demons had disappeared. 'Where the hell did he go?' I wondered looking around. Inuyasha cut the green demon's head off and then cut the body in half. He then realized that there was one demon missing. Sheathing his sword he ran at me. 'What's he doing?' I asked myself. What I didn't know was that the missing demon was behind Shippo and me. Inuyasha jumped over top of me.
"Iron Rever Soul Stealer!"
Inuyasha's claws destroyed the demon and Shippo and I turned around. I fell to my knees in disbelief. 'Damn I'm stupid! How could I have not known that he was there?' Kagome shot an arrow and killed the remaining demon.
"Thank you, Inuyasha, for saving me!" I said gratefully.
"It's no big deal really!" he replied with a small blush.
I had gotten to my feet and Shippo and left my shoulder for Kagome's. I smiled as we continued on through the forest. 'I suppose that this isn't all bad. All of them are nice people. Even Inuyasha seems like a nice guy! I would have loved to be able to touch his two dog ears!'
"Where are we going exactly?" I asked Sango.
"Where ever our journeys lead us. To a village, to the mountains, or to help some poor person that needs to have a demon slain," she replied.
"Right now out main priority is to find Naraku! That bastard needs to be gotten rid of," Inuyasha said looking back.
"Alright then," I whispered.
'I just hope that Sesshoumaru hurries up to get me before Naraku decides to show himself!' Soon night fall fell upon us and we were still in the forest. Miroku and Kagome had built a fire for us.
"There are some hot springs near by. Sango and I are going for a bath! Would you like to come Tsuto?" Kagome asked me.
'A bath? That sounds like a good idea!'
"Yeah I guess that I could go with you!" I replied shyly.
Kagome smiled at my agreement.
"Alright, come on then."
I followed her and Sango to the hot springs. We all quickly got undressed and climbed in. 'This is beautiful! The water is so nice and warm!' I smiled as I relaxed in the warm pool of water. Neither Kagome nor Sango noticed the large bruises on my arms and ribs.
"Kagome, do you think that Kohaku will be alright after we kill Naraku?" Sango wondered.
"Of course he will Sango. He's your brother and nothing will happen between the two of you," Kagome soothed.
'Kohaku? Wasn't that the name of the boy Naraku had ordered to capture me and bring me back to that castle one time?' I wondered trying t remember.
There was a small rustle in the bushes and Kagome jumped. 'And I thought I was bad!' I smiled slightly.
"That better not be him again. After all the times we've found him hiding you'd kind of figure that he'd learn!" Sango said reaching for a rock.
"It better not be who?" I asked.
"Miroku!" Kagome and Sango said at the same time.
Sango threw her rock into the bush where the sound had come from.
"Ow, Sango!" Miroku said as he stood up in the bushes.
The three of us covered ourselves and Sango grabbed an even larger rock.
"Miroku you pervert!" she said in a dangerous tone.
"Ah, no, wait Sango!" Miroku cried as he tried to get away.
The rock crashed onto his head and I got out and put on my clothes. Kagome did the same.
"I told ya didn't I Miroku!" Inuyasha shouted form the fire.
'That was one of the weirdest things that I've ever seen!' I thought as I walked back to camp with Kagome.
"Is he always like that?" I wondered.
Kagome sighed, "Unfortunately, yes!"
'So there is such a thing as a perverted monk! I can only wonder what Miroku's guardian was like.' When we got to Inuyasha, Shippo and Kilala were already asleep. Kagome smiled and sat down next to Inuyasha. Soon a very angry looking Sango came out of the trees.
"Tsuto, would you like something to eat?" Kagome asked me.
"Huh? Oh yes please," I replied snapping out of thought.
Kagome went into her bag and pulled out something noisy. 'What is that?' I wondered as she handed it to me.
"They're potato chips," she said happily.
"Thank you," I replied before opening them.
Reaching into the bag and pulling out some chips, I tried them. 'These are good, but kind of salty.' Miroku stumbled out of the trees and sat down. On the top of his head was a large goose egg where Sango had hit him with the rock.
Soon everyone had fallen asleep. Inuyasha was asleep against a tree with his arms and legs crossed. Sango was sleeping with Kilala in her arms and away from Miroku. Shippo was against Kagome in her blanket that she had called a sleeping bag. Miroku was laying on the ground near Inuyasha, and I was sleeping away from everyone. It looked like they were crowded on one side and I was alone on the other. To me it didn't matter, I was used to being alone. It had been a silent night, no nightmares or horrible dreams. When morning came someone pushed my arm to wake me up. 'Huh? What's going on? Is it morning already?' I slowly opened my eyes to see who was there.
"Shippo?" I whispered.
The kitsune put a finger to his mouth and shushed me.
"Everyone else is asleep!" he whispered back.
"So why are we up?"
"Can I talk to you about something?"
I nodded my head and the two of us walked a little bit away from everyone else. 'This better not be something about Naraku or what happened that Sesshoumaru saved me.' I thought before leaning onto a tree.
"Tsuto, do you really have to go back with Sesshoumaru?" Shippou asked quietly.
This question surprised me.
"I don't know. I probably do whether I want to or not."
"I wish you didn't. You're a nice person and don't deserve to have to stay with that jerk!"
'He doesn't want me to leave? Shippo would rather have me stay here than with Sesshoumaru?' I smiled slightly.
"Don't worry Shippo, I'll be alright!" I said trying to convince the little fox.
A stick broke and Shippo ran behind my leg.
"Hide me!" he cried.
Inuyasha appeared and looked a little annoyed.
"What do you think you're doing?" he asked us.
"Oh, I knew that!" Shippo said as a cover up for his previous scare.
"Well?" Inuyasha wondered impatiently.
"We were only talking," the kitsune replied innocently.
'I didn't think that Inuyasha was awake' I thought surprised.
"Next time don't do it alone. You don't know how many demons out here that would love to eat you Shippo!"
That scared Shippo as soon as Inuyasha had said it. I nodded my head and started walking back to camp. With both Shippo and Inuyasha behind me. 'That was stupid. Why did we leave the camp when we both know that there are demons everywhere?' The others had woken up as well. 'I guess it doesn't take long for all of them to notice that someone is gone!' I sat down and then Inuyasha sat down where he had been sleeping.
"When do you feel like traveling again?" Kagome asked Inuyasha.
"Don't matter to me," Inuyasha lowered his voice, "I just hope that Sesshoumaru doesn't take his sweet time!"
Kagome gave him a cold look. 'What did he do wrong? He didn't do anything to offend anyone. Especially nothing to her.' I sighed and lay into my back. 'The sun is so beautiful today! Maybe it'll be a warm again.'
"So Kagome, how are things on your side of the well?" Sango asked, trying to change the subject.
'Her side of the well?'
"Good I guess. Gramps keeps on making up all these illnesses and I'm never able to go to school when I'm home!" Kagome replied with a whine.
'What well? School? I'm so confused!' I shook my head slightly so no one really saw.
Inuyasha sniffed the air and stood up. Everyone looked at him.
"Come on, Sesshoumaru's near by," he said before walking into the trees.
"Wait Inuyasha!" Miroku called, but Inuyasha didn't wait.
I got up and ran after him.
"Why does he always have to be in such a rush?" Kagome sighed.
'Sesshoumaru is near by? That's what he said right?' I had caught up to Inuyasha.
"Why do you and Sesshoumaru fight if you're brothers?" I asked Inuyasha.
He gave me a small glare.
"You could just say that we're not a close nick family!"
'I wonder why the two of them don't like each other.' We came to a small opening in the trees and there was Sesshoumaru.
"I see that you kept your promise, little brother," Sesshoumaru said as he stared at Inuyasha.
"I don't hurt women and I don't let others hurt them either. Tell me, Sesshoumaru, why would you save a mortal?" Inuyasha asked.
It didn't look like Sesshoumaru was about to answer.
"I may not have feelings for these humans like you Inuyasha, with your dirty blood, but I know an opportunity when I see one! This girl is what will draw out Naraku for me," he explained.
'Dirty blood? Does Sesshoumaru hate Inuyasha because he's a half demon?' I wondered.
"Come on Tsuto," Sesshoumaru said with an emotionless face.
Inuyasha looked at me curiously, probably thinking that I would rather stay with him. I hesitated for a second and then remembered Sesshoumaru's threat from the other day. "I know the thing that you hate the most. Don't make me use that against you!" I walked over to Sesshoumaru.
"Thank you Inuyasha for protecting me!" I said as we left.
Sesshoumaru led the way back to Jaken and Rin.
"You don't have Naraku's scent on you anymore Tsuto," Sesshoumaru said looking back at me.
"I had a bath in a hot spring."
Everything fell silent for a few moments and then Sesshoumaru stopped. 'Why did he stop? Is there something ahead of us?' I wondered stopping as well.
"Did you have a dream last night Tsuto?" he asked me.
I shook my head. 'Not that I can remember anyway!'
"Well that's good," Sesshoumaru turned to me.
'Now what is he doing?' I thought. He walked up to me and grabbed my arm, pulling me closer to him.
"Would you rather be mine Tsuto?" Sesshoumaru asked.
This had shocked me. Just a few moments ago Sesshoumaru had claimed that didn't have feelings for mortals, and now he was asking me if I would rather be his. I didn't know what to do. 'I'm free aren't I? So how could I still belong to Naraku if I ran away from him?' For some strange reason, at that moment I realized that Sesshoumaru was a lot taller than I was. 'Why is he so much taller?' I thought.
"Who would you rather have as a mate? Me or Naraku?" Sesshoumaru asked again.
"I…I would rather have you for a mate," I said in a low voice.
Sesshoumaru wrapped his arm around me and bent down a little.
"Prove it then," he whispered.
"Right now?"
Sesshoumaru pressed his lips against mine. 'Why does Sesshoumaru want me as a mate? He could have plenty of demon women so why would he choose me?' I started to kiss him back. Sesshoumaru wasn't forceful or violent. He was soft. It surprised me that someone as cold as Sesshoumaru would be so kind. He pulled away from me.
"It's good to see that you don't lie!" he said letting go of me.
We continued to walk on to where Jaken and Rin were waiting.
"There you are lord Sesshoumaru. I had begun to worry that your pathetic brother wouldn't hand Tsuto over without a fight," Jaken said running up to Sesshoumaru.
"Don't be so foolish to think such a thing Jaken," he growled.
"Oh uh sorry my lord!" Jaken apologized.
Rin ran up to me, "It's good to see that you are here Tsuto! I was starting to think that you weren't coming back," she said happily.
I smiled at her.
"Well I'm here!"
Rin grabbed Ah-Un and we started traveling again, This time Jaken led the way, followed by Rin and then Sesshoumaru. I followed all of them at the back. 'Does Sesshoumaru actually want me as a mate or is he just trying to get Naraku pissed off?' I wondered as we walked in silence. Sesshoumaru's golden eyes looked back at me every once in a while. I pretended not to notice, even though I did. I would glance up at him as well, trying to figure out what he was up to.
End of Chapter 5
: ) : ) I hope that you all enjoyed that chapter. I know that it doesn't really sound like something Sesshoumaru would do but I needed to use something, right? Anyway I wrote this chapter while I was camping for ten days in a place called Tobermory, I think that's how you spell it, and was unfortunately out of reach of a computer until now. Sob : ) : ) Please R&R and enjoy the next chapter! Lol! Oh, and to one of my reviews, you'll have to wait and see what happens 'cause I don't really know what's gunna happen until the time comes where I write it. Lol!