A/N: A bit too late, I am sorry about that. I've been terribly busy with school lately and I don't have as much time to write as I'd like, but I'm almost done with the school year. Then there was the part that I wasn't done with the next chapter, thinking that was the one I had to upload while this one was all done and ready, waiting to be published. Very stupid I know, but I hope you'll enjoy this chapter anyway.

To my reviewers, thank you very much for your words of encouragement and kindness. To my guest readers, to whom I can't reply, thank you for your thoughts and I'm glad you like Chiharu's characterization (to Shay), I try my best on everyone:).
And to anonymous: you're right that Kikyō mostly liked his human side the most, but in the manga as well as in the anime he has trouble with getting over her. To be honest, I think it would have been better if Inuyasha found someone who did look nothing like his past love, that way he might stop comparing Kagome to Kikyō all the time. And yes, to Chiharu's way of thinking Sesshōmaru's an arse, but for the 16th century, it was just how life was. It is another reason why they take their sweet time getting closer...

That will change though.

Please, like always leave a review^^ Next chapter is almost done and will be updated on the normal Thursday.

And on with the story! Enjoy^^

o.O.o

Chapter Thirty-Two, The Pact

Rain fell against the house in crazy, chaotic drops, sliding in rivets down the windows. The light bulb in the centre of the room buzzed softly and Chiharu propped her feet up at the coffee table, trying, and failing, to give off an air of uncaring. Inuyasha sat adjacent to her, his silver hair falling down his shoulders, a sharp contrast to the blood-red haori he always wore and his fingers nervously pulled at a loose threat at his sleeve. Everything about his demeanour screamed uncertainty and Chiharu felt her fingers curl tightly into the green plates of her school skirt.

"There's something you don't know." Inuyasha gruffly explained, amber eyes looking anywhere but at her. "You know it's not complete, right?"

"The mark?" She asked, eyebrows furrowing together. "I know."

"No, you don't know. Do you understand how, in what way it can be completed?"

"Inuyasha, I'm not stupid." She whispered softly, feeling her cheeks heat up. "Shippō and Myōga both mentioned it. I understand it needs, erm, sexual intercourse."

The silence that followed that statement felt somewhat heavy and oppressing. From the other room, the theme song of A Nightmare on Elm Street was playing and Chiharu listened to her younger brother's horrified breaths. She doubted their mother was aware of Sōta's latest obsession with scary movies and stretched her back against the sofa. Inuyasha seemed to be still looking for words. It was unlike him to choose his words carefully and she watched the jumble of emotions pass over his face.

"Yes," he finally mumbled, his face turning as red as his haori, "I am aware you know about that. I do not mean that though."

"What do you mean?"

"It will get worse," he whispered with a clinical sort of detachment. "It will get far worse. Sesshōmaru knows that too."

"Inuyasha, you're not making any sense."

His cheeks turned even redder than his haori and she shifted in her seat, fingers spasming around the hem of her skirt, nails digging into the pale skin of her legs. Suddenly aware what he tried to say. Not because his explanation (or attempt of an explanation) had been very clear, she just suddenly understood. During biology, they had recently discussed the pull pheromones had. She assumed that that was what he meant. The mating pull, the mark that had scarred pink on the junction of her neck, was so to assure offspring. Like how regular dogs followed a female when in heat, would they full a similar pull as well. Her face must have been matching his and she tried to take a slow, deep, staggering breath.

A shot of cool summer air breezed through the living room, ruffling the heavy drapes and fluttering a lock of her loose, damp hair.

"Is this Mark a lifelong commitment?" She asked finally, reluctant to start a conversation about intercourse. She knew she couldn't get rid of it, as too much of her own biology was already altered, but she had thought at some point the downright ridiculous pulls and tingles would stop.

Inuyasha nodded. His face still red, but he seemed content to not start about the required sexual intercourse. "It is until my Bastard brother would deem someone else worthy or until one of you dies."

She swallowed and shifted again until she was sitting cross-legged in the centre of the sofa. "Well, then that means I'll just have to ignore him until he eventually finds a worthy mate and— ensures offspring."

"Yeah, well, until he does, you'll be the only candidate."

"Excuse me,"

"Do you really still not understand?" He asked annoyed. "That's what mating means."

Chiharu froze, fingertips brushing over the smooth surface of her water-bottle and her mouth slacked open. Did he mean she couldn't be intimate with anyone other than her mate? Inuyasha sure made it sound like that, but that made absolutely no sense. She'd kissed Arjun. And moreover—

Steeping her fingers together and ignoring the spark of hysterical nerves jittering through her she shook her head. "But I haven't even started menstruating."

He gave her a look as if he wordlessly wanted to convey that if that was the way this conversation would go he kill it prematurely. She bit her lip and pressed her fingers against her lips. He might not have been exactly comfortable with the subject, but it was the truth. While Kagome had been late with her fifteen and three months, Chiharu still hadn't had her first menstruation cycle. Their mother, although never saying it out loud, was rather worried, but going to a regular human doctor for a check-up wasn't really an option available to her.

"I'm— I'm sorry, do continue." She muttered awkwardly, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Well—" he muttered, ears fluttering and twitching, "It's just like we thought. You have no idea about the mating bond."

She felt a muscle in her cheek pop. "We? Exactly with whom have you been discussing my— well, for lack of a better description, my fucking sex life?"

"Just Myōga." Inuyasha snapped, a faint tinge of red dusting his cheeks.

More aggressively than necessary, she unscrewed her water bottle and took large gulps of water. As if large amounts of water would make this subject magically go away. She wished, not for the first time, that she could go to a gym and vent off some frustration. That too was not an option. The youki in her system ensured inhuman strength and she suspected people would notice if she punched a punchbag across the gym.

"Just—" he sighed, "why can't you just go back with me and ask Myōga?"

"Because that would be such a lovely conversation…"

"You mean as opposed to this one?"

Her lower lip felt raw from all the biting and she wrapped her arms around her middle. "I think I get what you mean."

"Do you?"

"To summarise it, the youki, the Mating Mark, overrides common sense and pulls us together. It's, honestly, it's not really all that new I suppose. I should have figured it out by now there would be a sexual quantity to it as well. I knew he could manipulate or connection like that already, so—"

"He tried something?" He hissed and she was reminded of an angry mother duck ruffling its feathers when you came too close to one of its young."

"He demonstrated his dominance, so to say." She admitted, not seeing a reason to lie to him. "He has never done anything to me."

"Not really," she mumbled softly, rolling her fingers over her temples.

Except for that day by the well. When something had started to simmer in her blood and he, furious as he was, dug his claws into the sensitive flesh of her upper arms. Never too hard to really wound, but still hard enough to sting. She'd felt the echo of something race through her, pull at her, as he possessively pressed her against him. The sharp edges of his breastplate painful against her unprotected chest and she had tried to push him away. She had, but as his mouth slanted over the mark on her neck she'd felt a horrible sense of belonging, the beginnings of pleasure finding its way up her spine.

She hissed and wrenched her face away, ignoring his fingers trailing down the side of her neck, down her back and settling on the curve of her lower back, just above her backside. He pinned her against the harsh bark of a tree and traced the curvature of her cartilage with his tongue. Her breath hitched as clawed fingers pushed the hem of her haori aside and grazed the skin of her hip and abdomen. Her muscles gave an involuntary jerk and she felt her face grow hot.

'Sesshō—' she started, fingers curling into the shoulders of his haori.

His mouth hovered above her ear, warm breath fanning out over the sensitive lobe. Her face grew even hotter.

'You are mine,'

And with that, he pressed his mouth against the underside of her jaw. Fangs grazing the sensitive skin and her fingers curled into his shoulders, gasping lightly. It didn't feel bad and she ignored the contracting of abdominal muscles. She whimpered, her head lolling submissively to the side and inhaled deeply.

'—Mine,' he whispered against her neck before slowly dragging his lips up to her neck and leaned into her.

She angled her head and then she remembered herself. Just as his mouth claimed hers, she braced her open palms against his chest and her reiki sparked through her bloodstream. She ignored the almost-pleasant feelings

Her breathing laboured and she used his surprise as a momentum, she must have, how else could she have pushed him away. He didn't stumble, but his surprise was all she needed. She got only a second to look him into the eyes, but his expression chilled her to the bone.

Hands on the obi at his waist he stepped towards her again and she pushed off against the tree, ignoring the painful jolt of pain as her cheek grazed a sharp branch and all but threw herself into the well.

"—STUPID GIRL!"

"Wha—"

"For Fuck' sake!"

She felt her face flush and she shook her head. She wondered how Inuyasha would feel if he knew she entertained more than once dreamed to be intimate with his detested half-sibling? While not exactly best friends, she knew they shared a connection. A friendship and a kinship she cherished, but she couldn't help the fantasies. Rather embarrassing ones as well as she vividly remembered phantom thighs and muscular forearms where her nails could dig into for purchase.

She groaned, curling her toes into her shoes.

"I'm sorry,"

"What?"

He averted his eyes and carefully peered at his face. "I'm sorry. I know it is partly my fault."

"Inuyasha," she slowly started, shaking her head to clear them of any inappropriate thoughts, "it's not your fault!"

It was not anyone's fault. She let her fingertips trail over the puckered flesh of the mark and she sighed. At first, she hadn't understood what it meant. Thought it would disappear and heal in time, but it didn't. The pulse of belonging, the power of the bond, Chiharu often felt it throbbing through her magic. It was like a soul-bond, linking her and Sesshōmaru. It made sense that sexual intercourse, or urge to participate in sexual intercourse, truly wasn't so far fetched.

"No one is to blame. No one, but your brother. And even he—"

"Keh, I don't think the Bastard realised this would happen either."

"No," she admitted, studying the label on her water bottle, "but it's still his fault. He did this just to annoy you and I suppose I could have overlooked it— I did overlook it you know, but I don't want to be attracted to someone just because of some bond…"

"Sexual— erm attraction and attraction are not the same," Inuyasha muttered before jumping to his feet and storming to the door, obviously embarrassed about the conversation. She watched him go with a frown and rubbed her hands together.

"Sexual attraction and attraction are not the same?" She muttered confused and flopped backwards, her hair sprawling around her. "Thanks for that one, Inuyasha, really appreciated."

It wasn't as if she wasn't already confused enough.

Running her fingers over her temples she slowly slid off the sofa and stalked over to the hall, towards the stairs. She carefully looked inside the drawing room, which had been dubbed the children's room years ago, where Sōta was propped up on a stool. The soundtrack of Nightmare on Elm Street was blaring from the television and Chiharu curled a long lock of dark hair around her fingers. She knew the rating of the movie was not exactly child-friendly, but with all the gore and horror she'd seen in Sengoku-jidai, the bloody effects of the movie seemed laugh-worthy. Shaking her head, she started to move up the stairs to her bedroom, already unbuttoning her blouse.

Her trusty bow and arrows lay in the corner as if silently beckoning to start making use of them again and the fang she had still been learning to fight with, stood against her desk. She still went through the process of oiling it every night. Dropping her damp blouse and skirt to the floor, she groaned again, wrapped herself in a fluffy bathrobe and dropped back onto her bed. The family cat growled in agitation at being jostled awake and she carefully picked him up and settled him on her lap.

"What to do Buyo?" She asked softly, running her fingers gently through the cat's soft fur. The cat looked up at her with large yellow eyes, purring softly in appreciation of the attention, but of course, the big cat didn't answer. "Really, what am I supposed to do?"

I-I. ⌡. Γ┐

Naraku the spider hanyō stepped forwards preparing his newest creation. Around him, large hubs of flesh made out the ceiling and the walls. The bubbled with energy and a dark aura permeated around his hiding place. It was shockingly cold and the flesh on his fingers crawled as if trying to reject their new host. In the past few months he had grown so much stronger, yet, he still needed more. The holy power of the large fragment Shikon jewel was almost completely extinguished, but he still missed the shards Kagome's sister possessed.
He grimaced. Sesshōmaru's Miko girl. If she only had been human there was nothing to worry about, but with Sesshōmaru's power running through her, the girl could be a menace. As if holy powers weren't already irritating enough, the girl could also quickly regenerate and had a large amount of youki. His fingers closed tightly around the jewel and he beckoned Kanna to come nearer. His first incarnation didn't need many words and she stoically showed him the silvery ornate mirror. The girl, she was pretty, not elegantly pretty like Kikyō or girly like the loud-mouthed Kagome, but a happy feminine pretty that he could appreciate. She was sitting into the hot water of a Hot-spring, her bow and arrows dry on a high boulder and the sword he'd seen her fight with behind her on the bank. She was scrubbing away the mud on her legs, her head cradled in the milky water. The heat seemed to almost cradle her.

"The girl," Naraku whispered. The men behind him stared wordlessly at the mirror. He wished he had a more competent staff to work with. "I need her alive."

"She's—"

"Yes," Naraku admitted, "she's dangerous, but she's not invincible." He pulled out the specially made sutra and slowly turned towards the yōkai. "This will temporarily incapacitate her. But mark my words, it's only temporarily."

He turned his face back to the mirror. The girl was ducking her head under the water, attempting to yank out the knots and the stuck leaves out of her hair. When he got his hands on the last shards, he would crush all of his enemies.

"Why do you want the girl alive?"

"She will play an important role." The girl could be useful in drawing Sesshōmaru out. A death girl would not draw a bargaining Sesshōmaru out. "Leave now."

He listened to their footfalls fading and glared at the mirror's reflection. She was standing in the water now, a large towel wrapped around her nude form. She was running her fingers through her damp hair and whistling a merry tune. Steam rose from the milky water and the girl dipped her toes of her right foot into the warm spring.

"You won't know what hit you, little Doppelgänger." He whispered, watching as the girl's face lost its serenity and the cursed Monk was whacked on his head for his philandering ways. He watched the girl for a moment longer before he waved Kanna away. By using her, he could kill two birds with one stone. His lips curled into a sinister smile and he moved further into the cave he used as his hiding-place.

To be continued...

A/N: Next update upcoming Thursday^^.

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