InuYasha gazed up at the clouds -just as trapped as he'd always been- and let his mind wander.
Some days he felt more like a cursed maiden than a man, but, when the walls were as high as they were and the guard as strict as could be, he found the situation to be irreparable.
Bored, he leapt off the grass and moved to wander the castle. There were two people in all of the castle who consistently kept him entertained -even if one of them was often unwilling.
"What."
It was strange to see Sesshomaru so out of sorts. Hair that usually gleamed like moonlight was instead falling around his shoulders, tangled and dull, and his eyes looked unfocused.
"I'm bored."
Normally, Sesshomaru would stand aside, rolling his eyes as he allowed his brother into his space. Today was different.
"Tough." He rolled his wrist, gritting his teeth as something possessed him, "I don't have time to entertain you today."
He'd have argued if given the chance, but then Sesshomaru shuddered and his expression went strange and that left InuYasha staring at the door.
When visiting Miroku -somehow- yielded even less in the way of entertainment he retired to his studio and took in his remaining paints. There was an image that tugged at him- a woman with ever changing eyes that looped her arm with his and argued with him about the shapes of clouds.
It was vague still, but there was a presence that tugged at his navel whenever he tried to banish it.
His claws were good for the fine lines of her curved lashes, but the pads of his fingers helped to immortalize the indescribable hue of her iris. Blues for the highlights and then greys for the darkest bits, flecks of brown and amethyst for depth… he was so fixated upon bringing her to life that he hadn't heard Kimi enter.
"Sorry to interrupt," she busied herself with the other paintings. Canvas after canvas portrayed peony lips, split from point to point in a smile, and delicate hands with slim, outstretched hands.
Some were simply lavender, yet they radiated with a power he couldn't describe.
"I wasn't doing anything important," he muttered, yet his eyes never left the canvas. It was lacking something and the longer he was left ruminating, the more agitated he became.
When he realized that those eyes were lacking kindness he scowled. Afterall, how did anyone put kindness into paint?
"Did you think about what we told you?"
He had. He hated it.
"I'm not made for leadership. I've never even seen the kingdom beyond your bedroom's vantage point. How can I be expected to rule it?" Sesshomaru's vicious teasin was hardly a reason for his lost crown. Plenty of people were cruel. Plenty of kings did questionable things.
Their younger brother's were never suddenly thrust into positions of power.
"For the sake of half demons everywhere-," but he didn't want to be their beacon. He wanted freedom and to become king would mean that he would forever be tied to the palace. In less than six months Sesshomaru was supposed to become king. He'd train under their father for another year or so and then their parents would travel the world.
Alone.
Sesshomaru would have set him free.
How long had he dreamed of that day? How long had he counted down to the moment that he would step out of the gates with a sword on his hip and set off towards the sunset?
Becoming king meant the surrender of that dream.
"I want to live for myself."
"Izayoi is confident that you'll be able to. You'll only be learning so that you have the option."
He dipped his claw in purple again, regarding the canvas with utter seriousness.
"I don't know the first thing about law. Sesshomaru's been learning since he was like… six. How am I supposed to know everything in so little time?"
"We'd postpone our travels."
Great. Another few years under their watchful eyes.
"I'm not interested."
How he wished he could be like Sesshomaru some days. He could disappoint people without another thought. Their expectations, their frustrations… he simply didn't concern himself with them.
But Kimi raised him just as truly as Izayoi or Toga and so it was difficult to watch her sag beneath his refusal. If she was only doing the right thing, then why was he making everything so much harder?
"I'll let you think about it some more."
He could have breathed a sigh of relief when she left him to his own devices. There was no need to think on anything, no need to run her words over, because -in the end- he valued his freedom above all else.
oOo
Two more days of being ignored by Sesshomaru.
Two more days of being hounded by his parents.
Two more days of the insistent tugging at his navel.
He was in the kitchen with Miroku, kneading dough in an attempt to neutralize his two biggest threats. Normally Sesshomaru would be the last person to give two shits about his day to day activities, but in the face of his greatest feat.. he couldn't risk it.
The smell of vanilla and lavender spurred him on.
It cooked the dough and glazed the treats. It dug the hole on the farthest, most hidden side of the wall that always seemed so insurmountable.
And when he was free? It led him through the dense forest that surrounded his home.
The grass was just as soft as the grass back home and the air was just as warm, but there was a giddiness to being outside the wall that he couldn't explain. For a moment he was frozen and then that moment passed and his fingers stroked the rough bark of the trees.
Laughter bubbled up inside his chest as he put one foot in front of the other again and again, faster and faster, and then he was running. Zipping. Bolting. Free.
The world didn't end.
There were no walls. No rules. And he couldn't be happier.
He ran until his bare feet protested -following the string that hummed with lavender energy with blind and reckless abandon.
People moved around him, each living their own little blessed lives, free and untethered.
There were shops lining the streets the same way the paths of his mother's gardens were lined with tulips. He didn't know where to start.
So he followed his nose. A nearby bakery was restocking their wares- cinnamon rolls, croissants, baguettes. He'd have traded anything to try one of their muffins.
"Buy something or get out," InuYasha could easily say that he hadn't expected the hostility. He usually chalked up Sesshomaru's normal cruel mood to brotherly discontent or -when he was being particularly nasty- a mental abnormality.
"Give him a chance to look around." A human woman was standing guard by the cookies, her expression hard as stone as she regarded the shopkeeper.
"Thank you," he could see massive amounts of silk and tulle protruding from behind her- almost as if she were attempting to hide an entire petticoat behind the modest robin egg blue dress she wore. "But I don't have any money."
It hadn't been on his list of things to grab when breaking out of his multi decade prison.
She snorted and he was reminded of Sesshomaru. There was nothing about her that was outwardly unfriendly, yet holding a conversation was like keeping hold of an oiled snake.
"You're not really helping your case." Still, she dug out a coin and pointed in his direction, "you wanted that muffin, right? Consider this my good deed for the day."
The more she spoke the more he was certain about his earlier deduction, but he took the coin gratefully and abstained from insulting her.
"You're human."
She may be cold, but he wasn't willing to walk away, not when there was something urging him to stay. If he could get her to loosen up then whatever she hid would come forth. He just knew it.
"You aren't."
But she was being impossible. He nibbled his lips as he took a different approach.
"I'm a half demon. My father is a fearsome demon, but my mother spends her days amongst the tulips." Better to avoid detection as a prince for the moment. He couldn't bear to have his freedom stolen away so soon. "You remind me of my brother. He's just as standoffish as you are."
"I'm not standoffish," she said absently, "I'm working and you're bothering me."
"You sound more and more like him. He always tells me I'm bothering him, but I hardly care. What are you and your fabric," he motioned to the skirts that quickly tucked themselves away, "doing out here. There aren't that many humans around."
She sighed, "sightseeing."
Gaining her trust was going to be much more difficult than he originally thought. Then she rolled her wrist and he couldn't help comparing them, "you know my brother's wrist is in on the mend as well. Same one too."
He could have jumped for joy when her lips twitched, "I doubt the reasons are similar." She changed the subject before he could question that statement, "so your brother is left handed as well? Fascinating."
"Left handed, quiet, and standoffish."
"If I'd known that buying you a muffin would make me your victim, I wouldn't have bothered."
She shifted again in an effort to hide the bell shaped skirts of what he was certain was a princess. The baker fumbled his tray and her attention left him for just long enough.
His plan was simple, bounce past her and try to see who she was hiding, but he nearly leapt into the point of her sword.
That smile had gone.
"If you ever-."
"It's fine," the voice behind her seemed to be all that saved him from being impaled and -for that- he was grateful. "I'm being silly."
"You are," the guard gave him space to breathe, "but if you want to remain hidden-."
The mysterious woman stepped forwards, "there's no point. He's not going away and it's not like he's entirely unpleasant." He'd have argued that he wasn't unpleasant at all if not for the fact that his tongue refused his orders.
If freedom had been comparable to the sky, then she was the cosmos.
"Aren't you here to secure your engagement with Lord Sesshomaru?"
So that's where he'd seen those eyes before. He could have combusted. Sesshomaru? Honestly.
"I'm well aware of my duty to my kingdom," her tiny little pout would have stolen his breath if not for the fact that she had genuine plans to pursue his elder brother.
Life truly wasn't fair.
"Excuse me," the traitorous woman turned back to him, "I am Princess Kagome of the Eastern lands. I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance."
He bowed, sucking up his disappointment and trying to silence the unruly humming of the lavender power than seemed to envelope her.
"InuYasha. The pleasure is all mine. You know," he kissed her knuckles -an idea that he'd gotten from a long forgotten book Sesshomaru once read aloud to him, "I don't think you're all that well suited to Lord Sesshomaru."
She frowned, "I don't think you're all that qualified to make such decisions."
"Sure I am. He's my big brother," he bit into his muffin, finding that banana-nut could only make his day better at that point, "and for the price of your company, I'll tell you all about him."