Chapter 18
I do not own Inuyasha.
Warning – in this chapter we actually do have suggestive content.
"And what happened later?!" Kagome covered her mouth in astonishment, sprinkling about the boiling water with a movement of excitement.
Yuutsuki deepened herself more into the hot spring's warmth, sporadically paying attention to Kagome and Sango's girly gossips. Apparently, the monk had tried to woo a young, royal dancer into bearing his child.
"It is so embarrassing, but he actually touched the dancer's bottom and rubbed it." Sango was fuming with anger, giving additional redness to her cheeks. "But you know what, once the dancer took off the mask, Miroku's face was priceless." The demon slayer chuckled, recalling the vivid image, so delightful and treasured to her memory.
"Why? Was she ugly?" The sparks of interested lightened up in Kagome's eyes.
"Worse. It was a man!" Two girls laughed at the monk's misfortune, completely sure he had deserved it. Their happy glance moved to Yuutsuki, who was unconsciously keeping her hand on the chest scar. It had been the second day that the whole party reunited. Initially, it had been extremely hard to tame Inuyasha with the thought that Sesshoumaru would travel along until Naraku died, but since the half demon could not do a thing about it, he just plainly had accepted his older brother's companion, which had not been too pestering, for he had been keeping himself away, but still within the range if actions would need to be taken.
Kagome lost the slight smile as she uneasily said: "I sense something… Just for a second I sensed a presence approaching the village…" The girls rapidly got dressed, barely managing to dry their bodies and rushed back to the place of stay. Miroku and Inuyasha, sitting near sparkling fire of the hut, revealed nothing in their behaviour, as if in contradiction to Kagome's words of a threat coming.
"Why so early?" The monk asked, sincerely oblivious of their reasons.
"Didn't you sense it? Miroku? Inuyasha?" Kagome refused to acknowledge the possibility of a mistake. The half demon lifted the big, golden eyes in annoyance.
"Huh? K'gome y're tired. I sense nothing. Don't you trust my nose?" He made a funny frown, meaningfully looking at the monk.
"Have you seen Sesshoumaru?" Yuutsuki was uneasy about the situation.
"He was around." Miroku closed his eyelids in thought and continued. "Although, he prefers to stay away. Well, anyway. You should all sit down and warm yourselves up."
"I think you are right. We better leave him alone." Kagome nodded to Sango's words. The five of them circled the fire, enjoying its warmth and soon deepened in a trivial conversation filled up with silly jokes.
The group was nourished by a delicious meal prepared by Miroku, which meliorated the already pleasant mood. The friends discussed their next place of visit, expressing hopes to encounter Naraku or at least a clue to his current location. Yuutsuki remained passively quiet, troubled about Sesshoumaru's prolonging absence, his presence had completely disappeared, leaving no trace behind, yet she was certain he was nearby and maybe not alone. The girl sincerely hoped that Tadao had returned, as he had promised several days before, however there was a possibility that the energy Kagome had sensed was Shizuka's. The anxiety lingered throughout the afternoon, consequently the whole night, for the dog demon had not returned. Yuutsuki barely slept, unable to bring herself to lie down and rest. As soon as the sky turned from black to light grey, she receded from the hut's fire, drawing a questioning glance of conscious Inuyasha.
"I don't get why y're so worried about him." He embraced Tessaiga tighter, lowering his head. "If he wants, he'll return. If I were you I wouldn't bother."
"This is relative." Yuutsuki whispered out, afraid to wake up the rest.
"What will you do if you never return home?" The query was so unforeseen, that she actually threw him an astonished look, pondering if he knew more than she had anticipated.
"Listen, Yuutsuki." His eyes were staid, it was not just another small conversation. "Whatever there is between you and Sesshoumaru, it'll never get serious. He'll only play with you, because his status would never let him to see you as a proper candidate for him. If you get stuck here, you're better off giving your feelings to someone who can answer them."
"I am no fool Inuyasha, I have been aware of it all for a long time." Inuyasha scratched his head, saying: "So why do you…"
"However you might be wrong." The girl interrupted him roughly. "There are many aspects contradicting your words."
"What aspects?" The half demon's eyes met her stern, self-assured glare and frowned, puzzled by her unexpected answer. A recollection of Tadao's words about Sesshoumaru marking Rin entered her mind, serving as basis for the previous statement.
"These are mine to keep." Prying in her business always brought a tone of aggression to her words. "As for now I focus on what I need to do in here and it includes interacting with Sesshoumaru. I am not trying to say you are wrong, I just want to be allowed to act accordingly to my own will."
"Remember, I've warned ya."
"And I appreciate it."
"Keh, whatever. Do as you wanna." Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders in a somewhat offended gesture and closed his eyes, continuing to rest. Taking the opportunity, she grabbed her sword and stormed out from the hut.
Twenty minutes of treading through the murky forest resulted in nothing, not a trace of Sesshoumaru's presence, nor of anyone to be exact. It was actually a pleasure to stroll through the forest that morning. The buds of the plants and flowers slept beneath a blanket of white and gentle sun rays had made that cold dawn seem warmer. She walked slowly, inhaling the icy air, allowing the wind to ruffle her hair. Suddenly, the forest thinned out, brining vision to a lake, its surface layered with thin ice. The scenery was stunning, in fact so beautiful, that Yuutsuki, enchanted by shafts of light pouring onto the lake did not sense a presence nearby, therefore unaware of a pair of eyes observing her, looking up through the veil of her bushy hair she turned her face towards the fiery ball in the sky. A sound of crumbled snow reached her ears, forcing her to point the sword towards it with a flinch of fear. The girl lowered it immediately, falling under the intense, steady gaze of the lord of the west.
"Who would expect such a lake in the middle of a forest?" She spoke softly, placing her eyes at the fulgent landscape.
"It is equivalently unexpected as you finding me here. My presence is concealed." He approached closer, standing barely an arm stretch away from her. With a dainty smile, Yuutsuki casually faced him. "Only pure luck could guide me."
Several minutes of silence befell between them and yet some consolation entered Yuutsuki's chest, rejoicing her that Sesshoumaru remained close. The demon sighed, an unreadable expression stuck to his face.
"Dawn and a recollection of you seem inseparable." Too sleepy to accurately associate what he was saying, and overwhelmed by the intensity of his voice, Yuutsuki found herself shaking her head in denial.
"I have nothing in common with the sun." She rubbed her tired eyes against the ragged sleeve of traditional priestess kimono.
"You are more of a moon person indeed." The demon lifted up his eyebrows, surprised at the coherence of their opinions.
"Moon, huh? I think the same of you. A guiding light that easily leaves you clueless."
"I fail to see the basis of your conclusion." Yuutsuki smiled slightly, humbly lowering her eyes. A couple of heart beats passed before Sesshoumaru slowly spoke again.
"Did you sense anything from the ring? Any nullifying signs?"
"No. Are we… not alone?"
Sesshoumaru nodded and Yuutsuki looked around, wondering how his face could remain like a mask of indifference in the given circumstances.
"Naraku shares the smell with his underlings. It is vexing." A big, thick root exploded from the ground, aiming for them with an insane speed. Yuutsuki caught a glimpse of a figure in a baboon pelt jumping behind the trees while Sesshoumaru took out his sword and with a low growl, he shouted:
"Souryuuha!" A powerful, pale blue light channelled out of the sword, creating a dragon shaped energy, which easily countered the enemy attack and dispersed it.
"You have not altered your battle strategy, Naraku. Once you gather up enough of courage, come and face me!"
Yuutsuki gasped, feeling a sudden presence behind, she swung her sword in the direction of the feeling, but there was nothing there. Sesshoumaru crinkled his eyes and rushed towards the girl. He pointed his sword at her and lunged just next to the brown curls. Behind her, the head of the baboon's figure flew up in the air, exploding with dense, poisonous gas. The demon tightly covered her mouth and nose with his hand, making it impossible for her to breathe in the toxins and jumped up, then transported them several meters away to a safe place. Naraku's hell wasps appeared all around, enraging the western lord. His claws glowed green, releasing his poisonous whip and killing most of them in one swing. The rest of them showered the couple with their stings and flew away. As a great demon, Sesshoumaru feared not any kind of poison, but for the human protection, before the stings had gotten closer, he had sent a wave of demon energy, hoping to deflect them all. The expression of pain on the girl's face ensured him he had not succeeded. Noticing blood stain on her left upper arm, he yanked the material of the kimono, exposing the three stings implanted into her skin, progressively sinking in deeper.
"Sesshoumaru… What is it…?"
He took out two of them with claws, however the third had already flattened along Yuutsuki's skin. The demon growled in annoyance and shortly looked into the dark, scared eyes of hers.
"Do not move."
Sesshoumaru tilted down, without any hesitation his lips stuck to her arm in order to suck and spit out the remaining sting and poison. Upon finishing, he rubbed some snow against the wound, clearing the arm from the remaining blood.
"I smell no more poison. However you have taken some of it in."
Black spots appeared in front of Yuutsuki's eyes, her vision went blurry. She tried to express her gratitude, but no words were uttered. The demon caught the falling human and sighed, not expecting her to lose consciousness so fast and the golden eyes locked on half opened lips of hers as he wondered if this growing addiction would lead him to lose everything he had, or would it gradually abolish them mutually.
/
Shizuka's head turned away, her lips tightened in a forceful grin. She observed as a snowflake drift lightly onto her shoulder, it looked almost like a crystal made of cotton. Snowflakes fell continuously onto her arms, chest and her pale palms and immediately melted into the transparent colour of water.
"I don't wish to hear any more of your lies." A loud laugh spread around and a figure in baboon pelt appeared next to the female demon.
"This is reality and it will get much worse. Take over your fate, change it with your own hands, lady Shizuka!"
She remained silent, trying to guess his real motives.
"Once the obstacle is gone, nothing will stand on your way to become the lady of the west. There is no woman more worthy of that title than you. Do not allow a mere human to steal your place!" Naraku lively circled the demon, his poisonous bugs swirling around him.
"If I kill her, Sesshoumaru will never forgive me. I decline."
"Do not kill her. Break her." The female's surprised face focused, hoping to hear more details.
"What do you mean?"
"Either force her to return to the future or force her to abandon lord Sesshoumaru." The figure's hand caressed Shizuka's sharp face. "The second one is easy to achieve. You are a pretty woman, you can easily seduce the western lord. Find a way for the human to see you both in the most intimate situation." He laughed upon seeing a smile crawling up her face. "That human is extremely proud, she will never treat him the same way. Who knows? Maybe she will return due to this abasement? Hm?"
"This will not work. His keen senses will warn him of her approaching."
Naraku took out a small bottle from his inner pelt and passed it to Shizuka.
"Before you meet him, use it as perfumes. His senses should be besotted for around two hours. Good luck, lady Shizuka!" The laugh spread once more and Naraku disappeared from her sight.
/
Sunlight spilled through the punctured door, taking away the sleepiness completely. The girl sat down abruptly, still under a strong influence of poison, her muzzy sight surveyed around the room, noticing the demon siblings sitting next to each other, both of them focused their golden eyes on her.
"Oi! K'gome! She's awake!" Inuyasha screamed out and straightened to his full height. The priestess barged in, her face red out of anger. She stood next to Inuyasha and put her hands on her waist.
"Listen Yuu-chan! Think twice before you meet up with this churlish demon." Sesshoumaru frowned, a dangerous light lit in his eyes. "He always brings you wounded, you always get hurt around him! He didn't even bother telling us what happened! He brings you unconscious, puts you on the mat and sits down, not allowing anyone to get closer!"
Yuutsuki waved her palms, signalling Kagome to calm down. "Naraku's insects attacked us, I have taken three stings." She turned her head towards the lord of the west and lowered it, closing her eyes. "I have fainted before managing to express my gratitude. Thank you." Sesshoumaru nodded his head in acknowledgement.
"Naraku?! Was it actually him?!" Inuyasha screamed out.
"A mere mud clone filled up with poisons." Yuutsuki shivered at the recollection. "I would have died if I were alone."
"You'd be fine if you stayed instead of following this arrogant bastard!" The half demon growled out. Sesshoumaru lift up his sword, aiming it at his throat.
"We can settle it once and for all, mutt."
"Fine by me!" Tessaiga transformed, firmly placed in Inuyasha's hands.
"Let's all calm down! The most important fact is that Yuutsuki is fine! C'mon, lower your sword Inuyasha…" She walked in between the brothers, nervously laughing. "It is my fault for exploding like this… Inuyasha!" Kagome put her hands on his, forcing him to sheathe Tessaiga. Sesshoumaru threw a demeaning look at the couple, however he also lowered his sword.
"I will be nearby." He disappeared, leaving the three of them inside.
"You should be grateful, Inuyasha, I have saved you!" Kagome smacked the half demon's fluffy head.
"Keh. Whatever. Let's join Sango and Miroku, they might have troubles with the task alone."
"What task?" Yuutsuki curiously asked.
"We have been asked to exterminate demons from the adjoining village. You can stay here, we will be back before the night." The priestess answered cheerfully. "Ah, we have left you some dinner and a kimono. It is nothing special, but certainly better than one with a ragged sleeve."
"Thank you! I am sorry for not being able to go with you."
"Don't worry about it! C'mon Inuyasha, let's go!" Yuutsuki waved her hand as they left the hut. The meal cancelled out the leftovers after dizziness, bringing her the will to change outfit. It was already quite worn out material, but it would serve well its purpose. She had finished just in time, for a familiar presence appeared around.
Yuutsuki grabbed her sword in a protective manner, pondering about the reason of the female demon's visit. Shizuka appeared in front of her, bestowing her with a hateful glance.
"I do not even know why I am doing this. For the respect of lord Sesshoumaru, I guess." She spoke haughtily, crossing her arms on her chest. Yuutsuki listened in silence.
"There is a cave ten minutes away from the village, towards the east forest. Lord Sesshoumaru wants you to come there." Shizuka turned her back at the human. "I can't bear looking at your face anymore. Be sure to be there so I do not have to come to pick you up."
"I will go there." Unseen to Yuutsuki's eyes, Shizuka grinned, happy to see her plan working.
"Good. Let's hope I do not have to see you again."
"Likewise."
Shizuka left the hut, rushing towards impeding Sesshoumaru.
/
Their paths met in the middle of a meadow, the densely falling snow created a thin white layer on both of them.
"What do you want from Ren Yuutsuki? Why did you go to her?!" Sesshoumaru growled out, steam coming out along with his words.
"Your presence is well concealed, I assumed you would be with her. I have something to share, my dear." Shizuka shook the snow off her shoulders, smoothly lying in his face. "Let us take shelter in that cave."
The female lead the way, content despite the western lord's reluctant expression. She took off her outer coat and beckoned him with the hand gesture.
"Naraku came to me and tried to persuade me to join him." Sesshoumaru did not move an inch, carefully listening to her words. "He wanted me to ask your honourable mother to send warriors to kill the human and propose her to make me your intended mate."
Sesshoumaru's glare grew icier, granting doubts to Shizuka's mind.
"I declined, of course. I know you wish for none of it. But I assumed, he would try to approach me again. That's why I am going to leave the western lands."
His expression changed slightly, pleasing the female demon.
"I came to say goodbye…forever." She entangled her arms around him and began kissing his neck.
"Tell me, my dear, have you marked the human yet?" Shizuka whispered to his ear, while taking off her kimono.
"That is none of your concern." He said cooly, however no enmity in his voice.
"I see that not. Then grant me a last favour, a parting gift…" Like always, he had avoided being kissed in the lips, nonetheless he did not push her away. Contrariwise, he allowed his clothing to be removed and quickly took the lead over Shizuka's little play. It was not the one he craved for, yet he was bound to none. The demon blood boiled upon seeing his companion naked and a weird dizziness settled around his head. He blamed it on growing desire, not expecting it to be a part of Shizuka's sinister plan. Before the female gave herself to him, she made sure his back would face the entrance of the cave, for she awaited the human's miserable expression.
/
Yuutsuki found the cave easily, curious why Sesshoumaru had called her to such a place. She carefully climbed up to it, being cautious of slippery stones underneath the snow. Sounds of female's moaning reached her ears, stopping her short on her tracks.
"Sesshoumaru…" Shizuka's panting voice was well audible. Yuutsuki's heart began to pound faster, and fear as if a tight knot in the stomach stopped her from breathing much. The view awaiting her was too obvious, however, haunted with disbelief, the girl entered the cave.
The image of the lovers paralyzed her so much, that even upon seeing Shizuka's triumphant smile, she could not move, fearful to catch Sesshoumaru's attention. She urged to leave the place, remove the image from her head, but her feet did not respond, as if carved out of stone.
"Sesshoumaru, darling, someone is here…" Shizuka said, not even hiding laugh in her voice. The golden eyes met Yuutsuki's boundlessly scared face and she felt as if her body was falling down from great heights. He did not belong to her, yet the scene hurt her significantly. There were no tears flooding the dark eyes, only disbelief mixed with fear and disappointment at herself and him. She immediately regretted having shown signs of her fondness towards him, that feeling brought embarrassment with a sour bile of humiliation. Yuutsuki recalled Inuyasha's words from earlier that day and a mocking smirk cast over her face. Despite that the girl had been cognizant of their relationship, actually experiencing it with her own eyes was painful, even if she realized that Shizuka had set it all up. Turning away came easier than she had previously anticipated and she left them alone again, slowly walking towards the village.
Sesshoumaru put on his robes and with a calm, low voice he said:
"You have planned it all. You have invited her here."
Shizuka smiled appealingly, not trying to deny a thing.
"Once you will thank me for that." Sesshoumaru's head turned towards her, exposing his disturbing expression. Despite reserved face and unruffled voice, his eyes were fuming with desperation and resentment.
"You have robbed me of her trust. You have joint your forces with Naraku. You have robbed yourself of my trust. That makes you an enemy." Shizuka's grin vanished, she stood frozen, frightened of his actions. Frankly, he felt wretched, impatient to discharge his tension by passing judgement upon the sneaky woman. He would not be so strict if not for the fact that it had been all Naraku's intention, he had manipulated Shizuka in order to bring misery to them all, just like once upon killing Rin.
Sesshoumaru rapidly and suddenly grasped tightly the other demon's neck with his left hand and slowly lifted his other arm, which proceeded to take a ninety degree "L" shape, while his fingers formed a firm straight position, making his limb resemble a sharp spear. With no further announcement, Sesshoumaru sprang his right arm at Shizuka's chest, piercing it straight through, with the same velocity withdrew it and rested it while the blood dripped from his fingers.
"I did it for your benefit… Sesshoumaru!" She screamed as his iron hand squeezed her throat, letting in his deadly poison to her veins through his claws. Shizuka injured his arm, kicked him blindly with her legs, in vain for the grasp only tightened. The last thing she experienced was the view of furious, golden eyes ogling her unpityingly.
/
Yuutsuki allowed her mind to run wild during a small training, allowing her to comprehend that nothing actually had happened as only a fool could think that several flirty situations would oblige Sesshoumaru to anything. The pain she had felt upon seeing him today was due to her over-romantic nature, overgrown hopes and inability to understand their actual relation. Any further ado around the issue would only put her in an uncomfortable position.
The sun was still high in the sky, Inuyasha and the rest would not come back anytime. The girl sheathed the sword and decided to tour around the village. There was barely anyone outside, however an old woman was walking around the village's well. As soon as Yuutsuki approached her, just casually passing by, the old woman walked towards her and grasped her hands tightly. She had weirdly sunken, fogged eyes and it did not take long to understand that she was not human. The girl desperately tried to free herself, but her arms were locked in the inhuman grab. Suddenly, a slash of light cut the hands holding her and she was free again. Sesshoumaru gracefully landed next to her, just to jump again and pierce the monster. Once sliced in half, the corpse released a dosage of Naraku's miasma which spread around rapidly. The demon lord grabbed Yuutsuki's waist and took her out of the dangerous area. His kimono was different and the silver hair was tied up high, fully exposing the markings on his cheekbones.
"Be more careful." Sesshoumaru's voice proved to be harder on the ear than she had expected. His arm released the grasp and he created three steps distance between them.
"Thank you." Yuutsuki realized it had sounded indifferently, but she did not manage to say a word more, kept quiet while choosing not to meet his glance.
"I have killed Shizuka." The girl's shocked eyes immediately met his aloof expression. She could not understand why he would share this information so casually, when just a few hours ago he had mated with her.
"She joined forces with Naraku. Today's occurrence was in his intentions. I assume he wants to separate you from me. He fears the Rens' ring."
She felt the need to apologize for intruding his privacy that day, however since Shizuka was dead, it seemed meaningless at that point.
"That's cruel…" The words left her lips daringly. A gust of wind caused her to shiver in cold as he asked dryly: "What is?"
"Have you thought it was in his intentions for you to kill your own mate?" He looked at her carefully, judging her current state. Her attitude towards him seemed improbably unfazed by the events she had experienced that day.
"I am nor was a mate to no one. She became an enemy and my enemies always find their demise in my hands."
Sesshoumaru was firm in his answer, but a waft of doubt had appeared in his mind. He had noticed Yuutsuki's weirdly changed approach, and even though it was desired to avoid such personal conversation, he could not abstain from asking:
"Has this event planted a seed of fear in your heart? Did you grow to be frightened?"
"I am not afraid." She looked straight into his eyes and added: "I am not so easy to scare. I do not have the good sense of danger until it is too late, you see. Anyway, once more, thank you for saving me. I will definitely be more careful from now on." Not sure how to break that bizarre conversation, she casually turned away and walked towards the hut she had been staying in. Sesshoumaru followed closely, not entirely sure why, for there was nothing to discuss, and as for protection, he could do it from distance. The sound of crushed snow ceased as Yuutsuki stopped abruptly and he mechanically did the same. The girl's small fists tightened and her head lowered, swaying the long hair slightly.
"I am sorry to have intruded your privacy…"
The demon paid no attention to her words, sensing something odd about the environment. He looked around and sniffed the air repeatedly in order to find the source of that impression.
In an instant, Sesshoumaru relocated ahead of Yuutsuki with his sword still unsheathed in front of his face, at the same time, the familiar sound of metal hitting metal was audible and a shiny and very fine needle dropped to the ground masking itself among the vegetation on the ground.
"What was that?" The girl was puzzled at the sudden and unexpected attack. The demon had no time to answer, for he was forced to repeat the previous action, only this time many more time and in quick succession. An uncountable amount of these fine, and apparently lethal objects decorated the floor in front of the demons feet and without losing his defensive stance he uttered:
"I felt three presences for a short instant, whatever our foes are, they excel at making themselves hidden."
Such information coming from the lord of the west was worthy of special notice from Yuutsuki who also took a defensive posture. As both looked around trying to find any signs of the source of the needles, a sphere entirely composed of the same objects which were being hurled at them, fell from above and slowly rolled next to them. As if by instinct, the couple swiftly moved and each took cover behind a tree fearing an explosion from the sphere.
"Keep close attention to your ring, if our foes are Naraku's minions, it's possible they are carrying a shard among them." Sesshoumaru proclaimed while looking at the branches above him and adjacent trees. The enemies' remarkable ability to hide had struck some fear into Yuutsuki since she was not sure of being capable of reacting fast enough in case of a potential attack. She had not much time to ponder about her dreads but instead, she experienced them at their fullest due to a ghastly figure standing no more than a few centimetres from her. The presence was so dreadfully faint, that to actually see its pale face cemented the girl in her position, unable to speak, let alone shout.
Sesshoumaru found the lack of communication from his female companion odd and concluded something had happened. With a quick leap he arrived behind the tormenting figure and sliced it clean in half, the latter simply dissolved in the air as dark smoke, leaving way to the immobile girl, still insipid from fright. The demon offered his hand to help Yuutsuki onto her feet and even though still weary, she took her hand to his and gripped it. Sesshoumaru found her hand to be rather cold and her clasp unusually strong and it had not took him long to realize he was not grasping the girl's hand, but the hand of a trap into which he had fallen. Sesshoumaru reached for his sword to cut himself loose from the clench but to no avail, for it had been robbed and before he could try anything else, a large rocky fist wrapped his torso and under his feet an underworld portal had opened. Sesshoumaru recognized the portal, it was the same as his sword's and in a very quick manner, the grip in his hand loosened and the rocky creature jumped into the portal taking the demon with it.
Yuutsuki opened her eyes, still feeling drowsy as if she had been drinking, around her everything stood the same expect Sesshoumaru was not present. She tried to recollect her memory and only the grim expression of her attacker remained.