You and Me After All
Chapter 39: Confession
Utter silence followed. A feather could drop onto the ferny forest floor, and they would still hear it. Rinnosuke appeared so shocked that he staggered a little when he slowly rose to his feet. Seirin proved to be the one with nerves of steel. After the announcement, she had torn her eyes and attention from the miko to stare at her cousin. Although there was surprise passing through those golden eyes, her visage remained neutral.
"She will not consent to me being close to her, or touching her," Sesshōmaru continued. "Or wrap myself around her to share my yōki with her."
The silence stretched further. At one point, there seemed to be too many questions, too many things to say. The suffocating air around them was nigh to bursting.
Finally, Seirin made a move to stand.
"Then, I will do it," she said.
It was precisely as Sesshōmaru had hoped. He inclined his head. "I am counting on you."
She stepped away to instruct the closest guard: "Prepare a tent for the Lady of the Western Lands, immediately."
A large white canvas tent was erected at breakneck speed. Seirin disappeared inside it, taking the miko's motionless body with her. The soldiers prepared the area as they had no choice but to camp for the night. A large bonfire was lit to drive the vicious beasts of the forest away from their vicinity. The blazing flames cast dancing shadows across the trees surrounding them.
Sesshōmaru and his male cousin remained outside the tent, away from the campfire where the soldiers gathered.
"You have questions, I am sure," Sesshōmaru said.
"There are many questions." Rinnosuke's manner was grave and sober. "But, the first and foremost is why you forced yourself on her."
The question made fury simmer and spill over inside Sesshōmaru's chest. His cousin was right to ask it, but it brought an onslaught of old wounds that never healed. He clenched his jaw.
"You know why."