I do not own Inuyasha or its characters. That right belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. I am merely borrowing her characters for my own guilty pleasure. Thank you all for such kind reviews. I sincerely hope that I will get the privilege of hearing from you again soon.
Birth Right ch 12- Forcing A Change
They'd barely made it through the door of her apartment when his cell phone rang. Silently Sesshomaru cursed technology while he reached to silence the obnoxious, ill timed annoyance laying at his hip. Taking Rin's lips once again they stumbled through her living room in search of the bedroom door.
The ringing sounded again bringing forth a growl from his throat.
" You should answer that, maybe it's important." Rin giggled reaching to remove said phone from his hip and handing it to him.
Looking down at her upturned face he smiled before turning the phone to see the caller ID.
Inuyasha..
What did the mutt want now?
Flipping the phone open he nearly growled into the speaker.
" What is it?"
"Power's out at the club. Koga's taking care of it. Where are you?"
"I'll meet you at the mansion. You have the girl's- correct?"
" Yeah."
" Go out the back. My truck's in the garage. Use it!"
Snapping the phone closed he put it in his pocket then reached to cup Rin's blushing face.
" Something's wrong at the club. I need to go." he murmured, his clawed finger tracing the delicate arch of her cheek bone.
" You want company?"
Narrowed red eyes flashed though his mind and suddenly it clicked. Naraku. He'd killed Kagome's Mother- thought he'd killed her unborn babe as well. Could it be that he recognized Kagome? She did resemble her Mother.
" Yes. You can stay at the mansion. I have the feeling that something is terribly wrong. "
" Alright, just let me grab some clothes and we can go. "
He watched her disappear into the door of the room they'd only moments before been searching for. Growling in frustration he dialed Inuyasha.
It rang only once before his brother's voice sounded. " Yeah?"
" Have you seen anyone familiar tonight?"
" What're you gettin' at Sesshomaru? I ain't seen anybody out of the ordinary. And where the HELL are your keys?"
" Under the floor mat. I saw Naraku earlier this evening. I thought there was something familiar about him, but I only now realize who he was. I want you to take my truck, and have Miroku and Sango take the limo. Head in opposite directions. "
" What do you mean you SAW him? In the club?"
Inuyasha's growl resonated through the speaker as Rin emerged from her room. " Ready?" she murmured. With a quick nod he motioned to the door. Following her retreating form Sesshomaru closed and locked the door behind him.
" I will not repeat myself Inuyasha- you heard me. He was watching you and Kagome, but disappeared once he realized that I'd seen him. "
Reaching for the car door, Sesshomaru opened it and waited patiently while Rin loaded her belongings and settled herself in the passenger seat.
" You think he had something to do with the power outage?"
Faintly Sesshomaru could hear his brother relaying his instructions regarding their driving arrangements and he waited until he was finished. Climbing behind the wheel he started Rin's car and pulled out of the driveway.
" Yes. I think he recognized Kagome- or at least saw her resemblance to Kikyo. "
He could make out Kagome's soft voice in the background questioning how they'd get her cycle home.
" Tell her that I'll send someone for it shortly. I'll meet you two blocks South of the club. If Naraku is watching, he knows what I've left in. I don't want him to see us meet up. It'll throw him off once you and Miroku separate, but if you meet up with me he'll know which vehicle you're in.. "
"Fine. "
" Be there in five minutes Inuyasha. Don't make me come looking for you."
Sesshomaru could hear the familiar hum of his truck's motor before Inuyasha's growl over-rode it.
" I'll be there...and Sesshomaru- KISS OFF!"
The dial tone replaced his brother's irritation and he closed the phone in response.
" I think it better that you stay with us for awhile. " he said, his gaze touching upon Rin's beauty before returning to the road.
" What's happening Sesshomaru? " She sounded frightened.
" It's a long story."
" Well, we have a twenty minute ride ahead of us. You wanna talk about it?" Her voice sounded small, uncertain.
She was to be his mate. And she needed to know exactly what she was getting herself into.
" Inuyasha and I found a pregnant young woman in the forest twenty-one years ago. She'd been attacked..."
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Naraku watched from the shadows people rushing from the building. His claws still tingled from the rush of electricity that had pulsed through them when he'd cut the power to the building. He waited patiently, his eyes darting from one dark haired female to another in search of the woman he sought. The masses of people thinned out slowly. Vehicles of all kinds pulled out of the parking lot; he ignored them all. His eyes narrowed on the dark haired wolf locking the doors of the club. Somehow the woman he wanted had eluded him-her motorcycle was still sitting where she had parked it.
He allowed his body to dissipate until only an eerie mist remained. Skirting the ground in near nothingness Naraku yielded beneath the pressure of the wind permitting it to carry him where it would- for now. If the woman was no longer here, it had to mean she was still with the Dog. She had been picked up by a member of their pack earlier in the evening. Could it be that she was a part of their pack as well? Changing his direction he headed for the forest, and the mansion that lay within it.
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The ride home was short once they'd met up with Sesshomaru. Miroku and Sango had yet to make an appearance, though the limo was parked in the driveway. The soft glow of candle light flickered from Sango's bedroom window bringing a knowing smile to Kagome's face. It seemed they had finally managed to find some ' alone ' time after all.
Pulling into the drive Inuyasha parked the truck before reaching to take Kagome's hand, squeezing it gently.
"I need to make sure -..."
"I know what I want Inuyasha. I've been with this family long enough to know what this means." Her hand raised to caress the twin fangs marks on her neck. She paused for only a moment, her voice doubtful. "Are you changing your mind Inuyasha? "
"NO. Never." What we are...I mean, us. It's right. I know it – I feel it." Inuyasha stammered. "I just – it's all just.."
"Sudden?" She smiled at his nod-his hair swayed gently behind him with the movement.
"Inuyasha?"
Her voice sounded uncertain, and her scent confirmed it. Her beautiful smile faded.
"There's something wrong with me, isn't there. I mean, I'm human, right? Only - humans don't have fangs." She lowered her eyes, her hand releasing his to twist nervously in her lap.
"There's nothing wrong with you Kagome. We'll talk with Sesshomaru. He'll want to see them too."
"You told him then? When?"
"This afternoon after the race. I first saw them when I woke up. Why didn't you tell us?"
"It's only happened once before. Even then I thought it was merely a reaction from preventing your shift the last time I was home. It never happened again, until this morning...and tonight. I don't know what happened Inuyasha." She nibbled her lower lip, her soft blush being revealed by the truck's interior lights.
"I'm sorry I bit you." she murmured, lowering her head.
"I'm not. "
Her eyes snapped up to meet his, her surprise etched across her face. " You're...not?"
He blushed lightly before leaning closer to her. " I liked it." he admitted, his lips closing over her own in a gentle kiss.
A knock on the window had them jumping apart. Sesshomaru watched silently. Rin smiled brightly beside him.
Inuyasha growled softly. " Another time?" he smiled before reaching to open the door letting himself out. Kagome followed suit.
"I'd appreciate your make-out sessions taking place somewhere other than my truck. We need to talk. Let's go."
Turning on his heel Sesshomaru made his way into the house. Rin giggled softly and followed behind him, her words echoing behind her .
"It's about time you two got together. Now maybe you'll be less interested in your brother's love life, Inuyasha."
"Shut it Rin!" Inuyasha grouched, following her and Kagome into the house.
The living room was warm. Jaken must have lit the fireplace before they'd gotten home because its glow was dancing across the walls in feathery touches. Distantly Kagome wondered who Sesshomaru had sent to retrieve her cycle. It seemed everyone was home. Jaken was upstairs readying a room for Rin, and Mushin could be heard outside parking the vehicles. Miroku and Sango still had not emerged from the cottage. She knew that she wasn't going be sleeping in her room tonight, at least not if she desired any sleep. Those two could be quite...vocal.
Sesshomaru's appearance before her had her jumping slightly. Her hand raised automatically to rest against her thundering heart. " Geez, you nearly gave me a heart attack, Sesshomaru!"
He didn't respond. Instead he reached to tip her face up by curling his finger beneath her chin, his claw grazing the sensitive flesh of her neck. His eyes studied her quietly, the pad of his finger gently touching her lip so that he could see the infamous fangs she'd only recently acquired.
Her skin heated beneath his scrutiny. Sunlit eyes fell to her mouth before his hand dropped from her face.
This was so embarrassing.
"When did this first happen? Sesshomaru asked still standing before her.
"The last time she was home for the full moon." Inuyasha responded coming to stand beside her.
"You're sure you saw them?"
"Of course I'm sure. She couldn't have bitten me without them."
Blushing scarlet, Kagome lowered her head. Did they ALL have to hear of her strange behavior? Couldn't SOME things simply remain private?
A small growl echoed in her throat pulling both brothers' attention to her once again. Inuyasha's head tipped slightly. How could this be? He'd never heard her growl before.
Sesshomaru's eyebrow lifted, though it went unnoticed by the others. Was it possible that Kagome had learned some of their traits through the years? She shouldn't be able to vocalize her annoyance in THAT manner. It was a demon's response, not one belonging to a human female. He studied her for another moment, his eyes taking in the soft white glow that radiated from the scars on her shoulder.
"She doesn't have fangs now." Sesshomaru murmured. " What were you doing when you first noticed them Kagome?"
Running her hand through her hair, Kagome thought back to the night in question. It took only a moment before her mind finally grasped the information Sesshomaru had requested.
"Bandaging Sango's finger. She'd cut it while making dinner." Kagome replied.
Inuyasha watched silently. Sesshomaru moved closer to Kagome . They stood bathed in firelight, its glow bringing a warmth to their skin and a momentary flash against the blade his brother now held in his hand.
Where the hell had that come from, and just why was he standing so close to Kagome with it?
"What the hell do you think you're-?" Inuyasha's growl was cut short when Sesshomaru pressed the blade against the palm of his hand. Pale skin broke beneath the edge of the knife, Sesshomaru's blood coating its once clean surface.
A small gasp sounded from the couch Rin occupied drawing Inuyasha's shocked gaze. Her hand was raised to cover her mouth, but Kagome's ragged breath tore his gaze away from her.
Kagome reeled, her body reacting violently to the sight of Sesshomaru's blood. She could smell it; warm and sickly sweet, and so enticing. Closing her eyes she took a step backward, her breath rushing from her lungs in a hiss that echoed throughout the room. She heard him step toward her. Her eyes snapped open when the scent of his blood became stronger, and was stunned to find his wounded palm, face-up, inches from her face.
Raising her hands she pushed it away , then buried her face into the shelter her hands provided. But the scent of his blood lingered closer, and suddenly she realized that in her haste to get away, she had gotten some of his blood on the skin of her knuckle.
Sesshomaru and Inuyasha watched in awe the transformation before them. Her mark took on a pinkish-white glow that showed even through her makeup. Her eyes, now nearly black studied the smudge of crimson life upon her delicate skin. Pink hued lips parted slightly revealing pearl white fangs which glistened softly beneath the light of the fire, and the deep red gaze of the being who watched from the shadowed darkness outside.
The rush of some foreign feeling pulsed through her. It began within the flesh of her cheek radiating outward until she felt cocooned within it's serenity.
Faintly she made out the familiar rumble of a motorcycle. HER motorcycle.
Deep seeded hunger subsided, and her hand dropped in response. The muddled haze in her mind filtered away with the faint tingle of her fangs as they receded. Footsteps made their way up the stairs, yet it seemed no one else had heard the stranger's arrival. The door opened, and in a moment of clarity she recognized the deep green gaze of her friend and trainer, her keys looped around his finger.
Shippo?
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Shippo stood stock-still in the doorway, his mind thrown back to a time best forgotten.
Kagome stood robed in the warm tones of the fire with the moon's rays glinting off her dark hair, but it was the faint pink-white glow that radiated beneath the makeup she wore that held his focus and provoked his memory.
So much like her, a woman long dead by the fangs of a beast; Kagome encompassed the same white heat that had once shown itself so many years ago in the woman he would've loved for eternity had he not witnessed her death, nor tried with his own hands to stop the blood from rushing from her body; he could have sworn that that woman and this one before him were the very same. In that moment, his heart broke all over again.
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Naraku sneered in pleasure, realization hitting him hard. At first he wasn't sure if he'd seen it- that whitish glow glimmering from the woman he'd been following -but the arrival of the red-haired demon confirmed it.
He remembered that demon, and the human wench he'd been with that night so long ago.
Shippo was his name, if memory served him correctly. He'd been with the wench on several occasions, their love forbidden. They met in secret each night after dark.
Naraku had stumbled in on them several times - until that fateful night that he'd found the girl waiting alone. He attacked, leaving her dead on the forest floor when he'd picked up the sound of her lover coming toward them.
He'd watched with sickening delight how Shippo had found her, lifeless in a pool of her own blood.
Naraku could see her body clutched within his arms, and could still hear the demon's howl of despair echo past his ears. That had been more than two hundred years ago.
Naraku could still feel the effects the wench's blood had had on him before his body had burned it away. Had he known then what she had been capable of, he never would have killed her. She had held the same glow about her as this new woman had just displayed. He'd once again found a being capable of feeding not only his lust for blood, but also his desire to feel the sun on his skin.
And come Hell or death, he'd have her; this woman the other's called Kagome.
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Hey all. I am very sorry for the wait on this chapter. Close to four weeks I think...SORRY!!!
Thank you to Azaleea for her wonderful editing skills!!!
I changed the ending a bit..And I should let you know that Shippo's lover was NOT Kikyo..lol. I know it's kinda confusing, but I shall reveal her identity, and hopefully clear up any confusion in the next chapter.
I also need to let you know that my surgery has been scheduled for March 27th. I am uncertain if I'll be able to get another chapter out by then, but I shall do my best.
I do hope all of you and yours are happy and healthy.. Thank you all for such wonderful encouragement and motivation, and for all your support and kindness. I have found a great many friends through writing, and I can't thank you all enough for your sweet words, as they leave me happy and smiling.
Until next time...Neisha