A/N: Like always, thank you so much for all the loving comments. I hope you all enjoy the new chapter as well. My busy school week is almost done and this will be the first weekend in two weeks that I can lay in again. I will be replying to all of those who left a personal review for me in those days, but I'm ever so grateful and I hope you'll all keep leaving these nice words of encouragement. They're the best support a writer can have!
InuYasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.
o.O.o
Chapter Twelve, Tenseiga
Dark, ominous clouds rolled into the clearance and light flashed through the sky. Chiharu Higurashi awoke groggily, blinking excessively against her sudden return to awareness. Kagome-Neechan's textbook opened on her chest and her notebook discarded next to her sleeping bag. The sky grumbled again and Chiharu awkwardly started to unwound the sleeping bag from her body. She carefully tucked Shippou into her sleeping bag, a pleased expression on his child-like face, and slowly sat up against the wall.
Rubbing at her sore eyes she delicately sat up and peered through the room. Sango the Taijiya was curled up on a tatami, her breathing even. The firecat Kirara she had been travelling with was curled up next to her head and her cheeks were flushed with fever. Her great boomerang, the Hiraikotsu, stood against the wall and her taijiya's outfit hung from a string, water dripping softly down onto the floor.
The girl had lost so much in so little time. Her father, brother and her family, her whole village had been slaughtered by a ploy devised by the always elusive Naraku. Apparently, the same man had devised a ploy fifty years ago to get the Shikon-No-Tama and had ended up in Inuyasha being sealed against a tree and Kikyo being killed.
The young taijiya stirred in her sleep. Inuyasha had continually pestered the young girl about the whereabouts of Naraku's castle — being kept there for a while and all — but Sango just didn't remember.
Chiharu rubbed her eyes again. The sky grumbling again and she sighed softly. Inuyasha seemed also asleep, his head leaning back against the wall and his mouth agape for air passage. Managing to get him to stop was a feat in itself. He was being too stubborn, needing to go faster until the found two shards. The shards were still far away and moving quickly at that. The sooner they found the two shards, the sooner they could go and look for Naraku's castle again. Chiharu agreed with him, but walking around through a dark forest with tired and hungry humans didn't seem like the solidest of plan.
Suddenly, Youki lashed across her body and she scrambled to the window, carefully peering out over the fields and the marketplace. It was dark outside, the tall copse of trees hiding anything that might be there in deep dark shadows. She glanced carefully over her shoulder when she felt the Youki strike out again. The others were asleep, unaware of the vastly growing hostility coming of the Yōkai outside. She sighed, annoyed that he thought she was something akin to his maid and straightened her Hakama before glancing around the wooden floor for her sandals.
He was getting impatient. The last couple of weeks she had learned that with all his so called supremacy he could hurt her, but not even he could get rid of the mark. He might be able to help her with the aches, but hell would freeze over, would she help him ever. Youki pressed against her again and she accidentally stepped on a loose floorboard. It creaked softly and she winced.
"Chiharu-Sama?" Hōshi Miroku's eyes had opened and he was watching her through heavy-lidded eyes. "What are you doing?"
"Just getting some fresh air." She answered, scratching at her neck. "I'm— I'm not feeling well."
"I see," he started before a lecherous grin stretched out of his face. "When I'm feeling ill I—"
"I'm sure I don't want to know, Hentai." She quickly interrupted and swiftly slipped out of the cabin, the screen slipping back. She inhaled deeply. Everything somehow smelled deeper at night and she carefully extracted an arrow from the quiver standing lonely against the wall. With a slight swing to her step, she crossed the marketplace.
He hadn't even bothered to hide his scent and with a stab of indignation she followed it to a clearing not too far away from the village.
She followed the enormous aura out in the woods.
"You haven't got it," he observed coldly.
She snorted rudely. She wasn't planning on getting it anyway. She was feeling fine, all right, tired, yet, the pain had stopped bothering her. The mark was incomplete. Big deal. She hadn't wanted the mark in the first place. "No, I haven't got it. I'm not planning on getting it either."
He was in front of her in a mere second. His face only inches separated from her face and Chiharu noticed the crimson leaching into his gaze. She felt his rage pressing against their bond and she exhaled softly, fingers curling painfully around the arrow. She tensed, but did not look away from the tall man. Prickles at the edges of her senses laboured her breathing, yet she was used enough to them to ignore them. They weren't hurting her that much anymore.
"Impressive," he whispered softly, "you controlled the Ki sooner than I'd expected. This Sesshōmaru is not easily impressed."
"I'm so glad," she muttered sarcastically, yet he didn't notice the sarcasm. Perhaps it was better he did.
Sesshōmaru made an acknowledging 'Hn,' before stating: "What is this one to do with you…"
Chiharu peered at him, with furrowed eyebrows. The sharp point of the arrow digging into the palm of her hand. Obviously she'd boggled her first attempt to shoot him up, but up close he probably wouldn't expect such a move. Partly because it was a stupid move. His eyes suddenly flickered to her hand — it took her a second longer to understand why — and slapped her. Hard.
She let the arrow go. It fell uselessly to the forest floor, and cradled her stinging cheek into her hand.
"You are useless." He whispered.
"I've been with them for less than two weeks." She told him prickly, deciding on a new tactic. "Even if I was going to get it, don't you think I would need to gain their trust."
His mouth tensed into a tight line. He wasn't buying her new tactic. She didn't care much. Why had she thought it had been a good idea to meet him, on her own? Her fingers automatically went to her throat, the pads of her fingers running over the sensitive skin of the mark. Shippou had said she would loose her mind if the mark wasn't completed and once again, if he could hurt her just by pressing against the bond they shared, than he might be able to force her to come and seek him out. He didn't even need to use that much force.
She peered at him again. The muscles in his cheeks were tense and his eyes were cold. His kimono was mostly white with red and white cherry blossom flower crests on his collar and his sleeves, showing that he was of royal birth. She supposed it the armour he wore was more of a Chinese influence. A sword hung at his hip and she frowned, her fear diminishing slightly.
"Why do you want that sword anyway?" She asked slowly. "You have a sword."
He had stepped away from the tree and was facing her fully now. Impassive eyes watching her coldly and he very slowly brought his hand to the katana on his hip. Her eyes widened and she called for every bit of magical power she had in her bloodstream. He wasn't faced. She hadn't expected him to be faced anyway. The katana looked sharp and she felt her heart beat against her ribcage. She was going to die.
Chiharu brought her hands up at the same time as he brought the sword down. Her reiki flared out, trying to shield her for her independent death, but the sword cut cleanly through her shield and through her. She gasped, waiting for what she expected would be horrible pain, yet it didn't and as nothing seemed to change she slowly opened her eyes again. She was fine. Not a hair out of place.
"I—" Her frown deepened and she bit at the inside of her cheek. He was still holding the sword in front of him. It wasn't stained in blood, nor did she feel the youki coming from the blade. "I don't understand, why did it not cut me?"
"Tenseiga is a sword that cannot kill."
"Than what does it do?" Chiharu asked slowly. "What does it do, if it doesn't kill?"
He gave her a cold and annoyed look. She didn't see how that was an unusual question. If a sword wasn't capable to kill, than what was it supposed to do. He looked at her in that displeased, haughty way of his. The 'I'm-better-than-you' and I'm-going-to-kill-you-slowly obvious on his face. She carefully peered over her shoulder. It was not elegant, but screaming for Inuyasha might be effective if she decided to run from him. He had an advantage with the Tetsusaiga.
"It heals."
Chiharu held his gaze. She'd never seen such contempt in his gaze and she had actually seen the way Sesshōmaru looked at Inuyasha. He dropped the sword and she watched it clatter to the forest ground. "Why is that such a bad thing?"
"You will get me the Tetsusaiga or this Sesshōmaru will end your pitiful life right now."
"Yes, you know how to threaten." She answered. "It's the only thing you know how to do…"
"Would you like another slap, Miko?" He snapped curtly and she glared at him.
"Only if hitting girls you can't bully in agreeing with you, seems your fancy, My Lord." She retorted sharply. He cracked his knuckles and Chiharu's eyes flitted to his pale hands. "Do it, it would just prove what I already think of you."
"And what's that?" He asked in a bored tone, looking at her as if she couldn't be a lowlier life force, even if she tried.
"That with all your so-called honour and superiority, you are nothing more than a bully and a violent one at that. Just for your information there is no honour in hurting a girl like this. I haven't done anything to you for you to retaliate like this. And—"
His fingers curled around her neck and suddenly her back hit the rough bark of a tree. He picked her up by it and her feet dangled uselessly off the ground. She gasped, her airway cut off and she struggled against him. He squeezed his fingers around her neck. She was more trouble than she was worth for. She stopped struggling, fingers curling around his wrist.
"Do it," she gasped, digging her nails as deeply into his flesh as she could. "Prove my point!"
He was in a foul mood. First he had to deal with the Yōkai lord of the East. He had had a long tiring meeting where he had to do a lot of politicking to get the Board of Governors and few of the other Lords of his back. They had tried to get him to mate with the Eastern Lord's daughter — who was as bright as a wet candle and as beautiful as a killed fish — and he supposed he could have been more diplomatic about it, but he had refused. Quite loudly at that as well. And now this silly little human girl was being difficult as well. His future mate who was looking at him with an insolent look on her face
She wasn't his equal. None was his equal and with Tetsusaiga at his side no one would ever question his supremacy over his Lands. No stupid mating proposals, no idiotic cows trowing themselves at him no annoying little human girls who refused to do as they're told.
"I should kill you," he said, he had let go of her throat and she was openly glaring at him.
He heard the hitch in her breath, the sudden quicken of her heartbeat and the faint stirring of her magic, but otherwise she remained calm. "Go ahead then, if that's what you want."
She was afraid. He could taste it on the air, yet, she still had that annoyed gleam into her eyes. She was becoming an obsession. His gaze fell on the creamy skin below her neck. He should just accept her challenge, wrap his fingers around her delicate throat and squeeze until the life left her. He took a step closer to her, she gazed up at him.
"I am not going to get it for you!" She whispered, trembling from anger and exhaustion. "I just can't do it. You want to kill me? Go ahead, but I won't do it."
He stared at her. This little human girl, this Miko, trembled and, although he would never really admit it, he felt bad. If only slightly. She was no more than a child. Yet, although she was young, she refused to give in. He hadn't expected her to have a backbone, much less the power to withstand him. Females were mostly so meek and simple. They bore children and looked after them and that was it. Yet, this wretched girl… Forcing her to find her companions had strengthened her resort, instead of forcing Inuyasha to do as he wanted.
He growled, moving too fast for her to retaliate and struck the back of her head with such force that she was knocked out immediately, collapsing to the ground in a limp heap.
"Now what am I going to do with you?"
When she awoke he had hidden himself from her. He watched the girl go with a tired sigh. She had been rebelling. Worse, she was finding a way around his grip and he crackled his knuckles. She was a foolish girl and just as foolhardy brave. How his brother attracted them, he had no idea. She was still afraid of him, jugular fluttering beneath soft pale skin and eyes wide. Yet, there was always that defiant flash in her eyes and the heady thrum of power that even now had not diminished. As a human she had been strong. Nowhere near as strong as him, but not to be underestimated either. Now by his foolish mistake she'd gained an inside on him. She had no idea about it yet and when he actually chose a mate — a real one — he wouldn't be distracted by her life force anymore, yet she questioned his superiority A small, delicate, and most importantly a female, human was questioning his honour. Was doing it smartly too, because, although he doubted that his supremacy over the Western lands would be questioned by the murder of a little human miko, he had made her his intended. And that, considering how gossip went, would be something to explain. He was known being cold-hearted, yet he was also a man of his word and one with honour.
"A nuisance,"
"M'Lord?" Jaken asked softly.
"I'll have to deal with that girl differently." He whispered, ignoring his servant grovelling in the mud. He glanced backwards, wondering if the girl had already returned to one of the human hovels. He sniffed disdainfully. She was probably already asleep, one of those rather potent drugs in her system and her magic steering in her veins.
"She agitates me."
Jaken wisely didn't comment.
He hadn't understood why using the Miko girl had been a good idea in the first place. She had been stubbornly ignoring his calls for weeks and afterwards, when she finally had answered his call, she had simply tagged along with the Half-breed and his ragtag group. Then again, it didn't really matter anyway. Obviously, the girl had no real idea what was going to happen if that mark stayed unstable. He snorted. She would be dead in a couple of months and the problem would solve it self. Nothing his Lord would have to worry about.
"Get A-Un," the tall man ordered and Jaken quickened his steps, eager to comply.
"Of course, M'Lord."
Jaken scuttled away, passing through the foliage. Sesshōmaru watched him go with slanted eyes and glanced towards the human village again. Yes, the girl was a nuisance.
I-I. ⌡. Γ┐
Chiharu had a headache when she stepped through the thick foliage, out into the grasses, that swayed gently with her passing. Her arrival at camp was accompanied by curious looks from Hōshi Miroku, and an angry look from Inuyasha. Just before she entered the hut, Inuyasha dropped down from a high tree branch and landed in front of her, his amber eyes narrowed and his mouth set in a grim line.
"What have you been doing?"
"Collecting herbs in the forest," she answered immediately, automatically, she had been using that excuse a lot, and marched into the hut. Towards her sleeping bag. "Why?"
"I know the bastard is close,"
"Yes," Chiharu admitted, fingertips rubbing over the slight bruises — already fading — against the paleness of her throat. He could probably smell him on her. "so do I, but I have better things to do, than to seek him out. Miroku-san here are your fungi herbs. I am not sure what you want with them, but have fun." She added as an afterthought.
"Inuyasha," Miroku whispered, glancing at his fungi herbs with a small smile. Her story stood or fell with his retaliation. He had actually commented on wanting them, but hadn't done so that evening. "Leave the girl alone. I actually needed these and I don't have the sight to look for them in the pitch black."
"Yes and I—" she started
"I know what that mark does…" Inuyasha interrupted. "I've seen them before…"
"Look," Chiharu interrupted him. "I'm tired and I want to sleep. We can discuss your bastard of a brother and his stupid mark in about a few hours. Till then, I would appreciate it immensely if you kept your mouth shut."
She quietly crept further inside, crawled into her sleeping bag, hugged her pillow to her chest and closed her tired eyes. She was pleased when she heard the rustling of feet moving on the earthy ground, the shuffle of sleeping items being unfurled and the grumbling of Inuyasha as he jumped up in the trees, the leaves rustling when he settled. Shippou cradled against her, his youki almost burrowing it self in hers and she snuggled him closer to her.
Peering through the darkness she returned to the problem at hand. The question that remained unanswered was what he would decide. Would she live or die? She wasn't naive. He was stronger and since she noticed his life-force she supposed he must notice hers too. He didn't look like the type that would be very patient with her human emotions.
He wasn't very patient with her either way.
She exhaled slowly and closed her eyes. She could feel his anger lingering at the edge of her senses. She just knew he was planning something and considering the last attack he'd launched on her, she knew she wasn't going to like it either.
To be continued…
A/N: Although he always was a bit of a womanising little twit, I always liked Mirōku's character. Or at least I found his comments always funny. I did actually pity Sango the most with her womanising boyfriend (I always thought she had a harder time in that department than Kagome, who did have to fight for Inuyasha's attention, but at least who didn't keep on 'cheating' while he was engaged with Kagome).
And finally there was some Sesshōmaru again. Don't worry, we will actually start working to some romance from here on, but it will be in baby steps. Like I might have mentioned before, Sesshōmaru is not the type to suddenly fall in love. Anyway, next update will be on Thursday^^