A/N: And extremely overdue, but here is the next chapter to 'A tale of two sister'. My computer broke and had to be fixed. I was supposed to have it back after two weeks. Guess who didn't get it back after 'only two weeks'; yes, that's right.
Anyway, apparently they had a busy time or didn't have the part they needed I don't really know. At least it's working again. I hope you'll all enjoy the newest chapter^^
As always, leave a comment. Your comments really make my day (I love them) and they support me to write. They encourage me like nothing else does, so thank you for all that. I really appreciate it:)
Enjoy!
o.O.o
Chapter Thirty-Seven, The Mountains
The first tendrils of orange light were beginning to seep out from behind the white-capped peaks of the Western Mountains. Chiharu stirred slowly, her eyes fluttering against the blinding flames of the coming sunrise. She was laying on her side, onto a mossy patch amidst a large maple tree's roots. Small, orange leaves were tangled into her long dark hair and she combed her fingers through it tiredly.
Her watery gaze transfixed on the beautiful sky and she slowly sat up, rubbing at her eyes. Her senses felt already vaguely roused. Not too far away, the alarming and powerful youki of Sesshōmaru emanated strongly. She was briefly confused when she recognised the glimmer of two Shikon shards close by. With a start she sat up, scrambling to her feet and sleepily followed her senses. Suddenly, from very close by, there came a resounded crash that shook the ground. Alarmed, Chiharu quickened her pace, venturing deeper under the canopy of the trees.
The past few days Sesshōmaru had taught her how to meditate. How to calm herself and steer her power through her veins. To be in control of herself and powering herself up when needed. Although the Daiyōkai certainly lacked tact, he was actually a sufficient teacher. Carefully, slowly, she pushed her aura out, trying to conceal as much as she could, not giving away her position.
There were several sources of youki near that of Sesshōmaru's and she inched further into the woods. Another crash shook the ground, sending debris up into the sky and with a small gasp, Chiharu darted into a grove. She found a narrow space through the thick foliage to hide. wolves, several of them, their brown fur ruffled and some covered in their own blood, surrounded Sesshōmaru. His fingertips were glinting green, amber eyes cold.
"None of you match this Sesshōmaru in strength."
What she saw, made her head slightly spin. Sesshōmaru was standing in only his hakama and haori. His armour discarded close to a small stream. It wasn't really the armourless Sesshōmaru that made Chiharu frown, as it was the tall Wolf-prince Kōga, standing opposite of him, several of his wolves flanking him. Ginta and Hakkaku, his friends and servants, cowered behind him.
"You are awfully cocky, Dog!"
Was he stupid? Chiharu took another few minutes to stare at the scene. Near the tree-line, three corpses of the first wolves that had died at Sesshōmaru's hand lay. Still, Kōga thought it to be a smart idea to antagonise a man who was obviously so much stronger than he was. His face was already bloody and scratched up. Sesshōmaru, on the other hand, didn't have so much as a scratch.
"This Sesshōmaru is starting to tire of your irrelevant existence."
Translation: 'I'm going to kill you.'
"What the—"
Faster than she'd ever seen him move, Seeshōmaru appeared in front of the Wolf Prince. Even with the Shikon shards, Kōga wasn't fast enough and Sesshōmaru's claws wrapped around Kōga's throat, slamming him harshly against a tree. The Wolf prince tried to kick out but fingers tightened around his neck and he guffawed.
Chiharu quickly moved through the foliage, her hair billowing around her and almost blinding her from the scene and her face flushed. "Sesshōmaru!"
"Miko,"
Kōga's blue eyes flickered in recognition and Sesshōmaru's eyes narrowed: "You know this one?"
"Yes," she nodded, "that's Kōga. He occasionally puts his foot in his mouth, but he's all right. He's also after Naraku."
Sesshōmaru gave her a look that seemed to say; 'So?' and Chiharu sighed: "There's no need to kill him. That's what I meant."
Reluctantly and surprisingly he slowly eased his fingers. Kōga drew in a stuttered breath and dropped to a crouch. Sesshōmaru ignored the Wolf and turned towards her, amber eyes jaded and she pressed her lips tightly together.
"Did you do your practices?"
He might have been sufficient teacher, but he was also rather good at embarrassing her in front of people too. Ignoring the reddening of her cheeks she shook her head. His face betrayed little but she'd learned by now to distinguish the littlest changes around his eyes.
"Chiharu-chan!"
The Wolf-prince's face lighted up like a Christmas tree and Chiharu pursed her lips. "Hello, Kōga."
"You know everyone is looking for you!" He excitedly told her, briefly glaring at Sesshōmaru and stepped closer to her. "Kagome-chan said you were hurt?"
Chiharu waved her hand in front of her and shook her head: "I'm fine now though. How are you?"
He smiled, canines baring and cheek already turning purple he flopped back down on the edge of a boulder. Sesshōmaru leant against a tree, seemingly not listening and Chiharu sat cross-legged in front of him. "What did Onee-chan say?"
"That the fight with the bird-lady went bad?"
"Right, yeah, it did. How are they? Is everyone all right?"
Kōga pursed his lips before nodding: "Well, the bird lady and her chicken mother not."
"Chicken?"
"Naraku decapitated her." Sesshōmaru cut in smoothly and Chiharu frowned. She turned to him with a frown. His face was turned away from her, gazing out over the land behind him and a muscle in her cheek tensed.
"Is that were you were?" She asked slowly, not fully capable to keep the irritated resentment out of her voice. "Is that were you went with Jaken? Chasing that stupid woman and her chicken mother?"
"This Sesshōmaru owes you no explanation."
Fixing him with another glare she turned to Kōga again: "Seeing as Sesshōmaru-sama," she started, letting as much contempt as she could drip out into his honorific, "owes no one an explanation, I'll ask you. Exactly what happened? Naraku chopped off a chicken's head and—"
"I can't say I fully understood, but Kagome-chan said it opened the gate to the afterlife. That's where the last shard was."
Chiharu frowned. "So you met them after they returned from— the afterlife?"
"Erm, yes."
Sesshōmaru sniffed disdainfully: "He ran away."
"I did no such thing!"
"But you did not follow my sister and the rest to the afterlife, did you?"
"It was a foolish thing to do." He defended himself lightly and Chiharu rolled her eyes.
"I see. You and Myōga-jii would work well together." Chiharu dryly replied.
"Your aura is better," Kōga commented, his eyes flitting from Chiharu to Sesshōmaru and back to Chiharu again. It seemed he was finally connecting the dots. "He's your—"
Chiharu waved her hand again, not willing to explain the way her Mark came to be and yanked at a lock of hair. "Hm, do you know how they faired?"
"They got the shard," Sesshōmaru told her dryly and she felt her eyebrows furrow.
"You were there too?"
He regarded her cooly without answering her question and she crossed her arms over her chest. So he had. He had been gone for hours one day not too long ago. 'Allowing her time to practice her mediating,' he said. She should have known it was a lie. He had been very reluctant to let her go back to her friends. She glowered at Sesshōmaru and massaged the bridge of her nose. "I see. Are you all right, Koka-san?"
"I'm fine." He gruffly replied and she eyed the ragged gashes on his arms and legs with a frown. She suspected it had only been the jewel shards that had kept him alive, but not unharmed.
"You're an idiot." She told him dryly. Sesshōmaru was still looking at him with the intent to kill and she straightened her blue haori.
"I could have taken him," he muttered and she rolled her eyes.
"Of course you could."
She doubted it. Inuyasha might make a chance, for the simple fact that Sesshōmaru struggled with his temper when faced with his despised half-brother, but Kōga. Kōga would probably be considered a fly on his windscreen and he dealt with flies on his windscreen the way he dealt with everything that annoyed him. With acid violence.
"Why are you not with Kagome-chan?" Kōga asked ignoring Sesshōmaru and slumping to his knees.
"Oh, we got in trouble—"
"That I know, why don't you return to Kagome-chan's side? I thought you and— he didn't get on?"
"Right," she muttered and Sesshōmaru neared them, hovering over her like an avenging angel. "We— we try."
A warm shaft of light slanted across Sesshōmaru's sharp and feral features and she laced her fingers together. 'Tried' was not the right description. He had all but guilt-tripped her into staying for Rin — who'd teared up when Chiharu tried to explain she had a sister to take care of — and when that didn't work well enough, he'd rather skillfully played her. Telling her without proper training (he'd snorted rudely when she'd mentioned Inuyasha's help), she would remain the groups' liability.
So she stayed.
"Kagome-chan says—" Kōga started but seemed to think better of it and Chiharu turned to Sesshōmaru with a frown. His expression was absolutely murderous.
"He's not a threat to either of us, Sesshōmaru, do you think it would be possible to let us talk without hovering?"
"Not a threat?"
"I would not harm Chiharu-chan." Kōga snapped as if the idea alone was ludicrous. Chiharu privately thought he didn't dare because she would either purify him, or he would be faced with Kagome's temper.
"I really wouldn't." Kōga continued and Sesshōmaru gave him a disdainful look. She almost heard him think; 'of course not, you're even less competent than she is', but Chiharu chose to ignore it.
"Hn, Miko return before dawn."
He disappeared through the foliage and she released a small breath, slumping back against the tall yellowed grass. In the early morning light, the coppery blood shimmered faintly and she felt her nerves tingling.
"What does 'Hn' mean?"
"It means you live another day." She told him matter-of-factly. "What kind of idiot are you? You can't take on Sesshōmaru. You have a nose, don't you? You can tell the amount of furious youki that is that Daiyōkai?"
Kōga frowned: "I heard rumours."
"You heard rumours," she repeated sarcastically, "and how many of them paint him as a nice samaritan who helps lost little fools?"
"Well, they didn't include mating human girls either." Kōga returned defensively. "Especially not girls who have the fast amount of spiritual energy you and your sister have."
"Kōga-kun, you don't really know the whole story. It's not as black-and-white as you make it seem. What were you doing here?" She asked slowly before eyeing the dead body at the feet of the river. "That's not Ginta-kun is it?"
"No, Kuna is always— was always trespassing. He didn't think about his actions and when I came here your mate was beating him to a pulp. I had to retaliate."
"Sesshōmaru is in many ways an arsehole, but he doesn't kill without reason, Kōga-kun." She muttered. Sesshōmaru didn't bother people he considered as beneath him. That was unless— "Unless, you're Inuyasha, of course."
"He doesn't like dog-breath either, huh?"
"Kōga,"
"When will you return?"
"Sesshōmaru is helping me train." She answered invasively. She was under the impression Sesshōmaru would not let her leave unless she was capable to defend herself. "Are you planning on seeing my sister again?"
"Of course I am, she's my mate."
"Right, of course, she is."
He was unbelievably stubborn. Chiharu blew a lock of hair out of her face and eyed the path Sesshōmaru had taken. The bond between them became harder and harder to ignore. Harder to shake off and Chiharu wasn't sure what had caused it. Nearness had never been a sole reason for her heart to beat faster nor had the distant awareness of his being, but—
It was now.
"Chiharu-chan, your face is flushing," Kōga commented dryly and she rolled her eyes.
"Can you tell them something for me?"
"Erm, sure?"
"Tell them, I'm fine and that we're heading north. That is Naraku is rumoured to be." She rushed out, ignoring the tingle of frustration that so often accompanied the thud of awareness in her head.
"Kagome-chan wanted me to say something to you too."
"Don't tell me you aggravated him to get to me?"
"No," he whispered, "although I did get to you either way."
"I see,"
"Apparently, there is some sort of test next week for Macs?"
Chiharu felt her face drain and her eyes widened: "Maths? Oh God, I haven't done anything for it!"
"Well, now you can truly see the resemblance," Kōga muttered as she frantically started rummage through the contents of her knapsack. Finding her calendar, who'd seen better days, she started to count the days. It should be around November which meant—
November 25, Mathematics test (chapter 12-21)
"Shit,"
If she missed too many tests they weren't going to pass this year either. She might have no problem with repeating one year. Repeating two years, was an entirely different story. Kōga was smiling pleasantly at her and although he played her, she was glad he'd found her. "Erm, it was lovely seeing you, Kōga-kun. I have to find Sesshōmaru again."
Kōga watched her go with a frown, but Chiharu felt the panic lacing her bloodstream and tying a knot in her stomach too strongly, to care. She ventured deep into the forest, following the distant beat of his youki. He wasn't concealing it, but he had concealed his scent. Perhaps this was another kind of test. She glumly followed his trail, already dreading the argument that would ensue.
A soft drizzle had started and in mere minutes her fringe was plaster to her forehead and her clothes clung to her body. She took slow, measured steps when she heard his heartbeat as well and slowly looked around. Where was that white-haired idiot?
"Erm, Sesshōmaru?"
"Miko,"
Her breath hitched and she followed the low baritone of his voice up into a large pine tree. He regarded her coolly. Damp silver hair clung to his shoulder and his breastplate was still missing. It took her one large jump before she was up next to him, noticing thin rivulets of water sliding enticingly down his throat and she shook her head. It was hardly the moment to start entertaining stupid thoughts, yet again.
"I have a test," she gasped softly before shaking her head. She had more than one. She had a week full of tests; the worst by far would be mathematics. "You have to let me go home."
"You're not well enough to fight on your own." He told her matter-of-factly.
"It's not that kind of test." She hurried to say and he peered at her through heavy-lidded eyes.
"Miko,"
"You act like a parent, Sesshōmaru." She muttered before licking her lips. He followed the motion and she clamped her mouth shut. Overthinking her next words carefully. "I am thankful for your aid. Very thankful even, but I have a life and responsibilities that have nothing to do with collecting the Shikon Jewel shards. I love Rin-chan. I tolerate Jaken, mostly because despite his own weird unpleasant way, he still grows on you and I— I like you when the mood takes me but I do have responsibilities. Made promises."
His expression didn't change and she carefully prodded his aura with her own. "I— I don't know why you were and still are so willing to train me and I'm glad because you're a very skilled and strong fighter," she continued, her cheeks blazing hot, "But I need— I really need to do this test. I need to find my friends and—"
He cocked his head to the side, damp hair caressing his shoulders as the arms of a lover and she swallowed thickly. It would be far easier if she could somehow travel with him and with her sister… And that wasn't even all that impossible either.
"Sesshōmaru," she started slowly and his muscles tensed slightly as if he somehow knew she was going to say something he wouldn't like. "We have a common goal."
"Naraku," he admitted knowingly.
"Why don't you come and travel with us?" Chiharu asked. "Rin would have someone her age and also several more people to look after her. Also, in the fight with Naraku there would be more of us and although I do not doubt your strength you fight with honour and Naraku does not. All of this would go over so much quicker!"
Or at least, that was what she hoped. She knew for sure that Inuyasha would not like it, but he would be an addition. Even if she would probably have to placate either one of them more times than she cared to admit. And she would feel much better, being able to hide behind her sister or Sango when Sesshōmaru looked at her like that…
"Please,"
He let out the sort of sigh: "Fine."
To be continued…
A/N: I will return to my normal update schedule of once a week, but because of the long wait, I'll be updating the next chapter on Tuesday and still update again around Thursday or Friday. I hope that somewhat makes it up to you.
Let me know what you all think.
Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi