Chapter Seven: The Scent of Spider Lilies

Weeks had passed since the group left west on their search for the jewel shards. The group began walking up a mountain path that was steep and very unstable. Akio had almost fallen a few times since they've been walking and soon started to drift slowly to the inside of the group. Akio made her way up to where Kagome was and began walking beside her as Kagome rode on her bike. She looked over at Akio and smiled. Akio just nodded her head and continued to walk forward. Kagome looked at her for a moment with a confused and sad look on her face. "Are you ok Kagome?" Shippo asked from her bike's basket. "Hm; oh I'm fine. Thanks for asking Shippo." Kagome said with a smile as she continued to peddle forward. Strangely enough, she couldn't keep up with Akio's quick feet. Akio looked to her left as she approached the very front of the group, which happened to be at Inuyasha's side. Inuyasha walked looking straight sniffing the air every so often.

Inuyasha came to a halt all of a sudden and looked every on edge. The ground began to tremble and loud rumbling sounds started to emulate from above them. Akio looked up behind herself. Her eyes shot wide open when she saw a bolder rolling off a cliff. "Move stupid!" Inuyasha screamed as he tackled her out of the way. Akio and Inuyasha rolled across the ground and straight into Kagome's bike, knocking her over as well. Kagome, Inuyasha and Akio quickly got to their feet. They stared up as the trembling didn't stop. "Run for it." Akio said calmly as she started to move slowly forward. "Are you crazy?" Inuyasha questioned. "We need to go that way, right? So we need to make a run for it." Akio growled. "I agree with Akio." Miroku interjected. "I second that." Sango chimed in. "You people are crazy!" Inuyasha said in aggravation. "Fine" he growled. Akio took a head start on everyone and started running up the rest of the mountain, the group trailing behind her.

Akio and the group could almost see the steps at the top of the mountain as they got closer. Inuyasha once again came to a screeching halt and sniffed around. Akio was so ahead of everyone that no one could simply pull her back if danger were coming her way. And it was. An avalanche was happening and Akio was about to be crushed under it any minute. Inuyasha ran farther ahead of everyone else "Stay back you guys! There's an avalanche coming!" he called back to everyone as he ran toward Akio and once again tackled her to the ground. Just in time too, because all the boulders came tumbling down right after that, creating a wall that the group couldn't even climb over; breaking the group into two separate groups.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome began screaming from the other side of the rocked wall. She turned to the others, worry painted over all of her features. "What do we do now?" she asked; worry resting on her every word. Shippo came running toward the rest of the group that remained together. "There was a cave just a little back that way. It may lead to the top of the mountain." Shippo informed as he pointed behind him. "Let's check it out." Miroku stated with Sango in agreement. Kagome looked behind her once more, wishing she could go over the wall or at least switch places with Akio. Kagome nodded in agreement. "Inuyasha; there's a cave a little ways behind us. We're going to go see if it leads to the top of the mountain." Kagome called to Inuyasha and her friend. Her head lowered in sadness. "Hopefully we'll meet you on the other side." She added softly after. "I'll see you guys there!" Inuyasha called back. "Be careful, Kagome." He told her, his voice softer than its normal state. Kagome nodded her head and walked off with the others.

Inuyasha looked over at Akio, who was now standing at a distance from him holding her left arm in her hand. She looked as though she were in pain. Inuyasha went to walk just a little closer to her and she jerked herself away from him. "Are you ok?" he asked as he quickly walked closer to her. Akio didn't answer him but attempted to back away from him once more. Only this time she stepped too far back and her foot almost went over the edge of the mountain. Inuyasha grabbed her by the arm she had been holding earlier and pulled her forward. Akio let out a loud scream of pain as she fell to her knees. Inuyasha looked at her in surprise and confusion. "What happened?" he asked in a panic. "I dislocated my shoulder!" she screamed at him, tears staining her cheeks. Akio looked up at him for a moment, looking him over a few times. "Give me your arm." She said sternly. "What, why?" he asked confused. "Just give me your arm damn it!" she screamed. Akio was very agitated and in an immense amount of pain. The last time she dislocated her arm so badly was when she was 13 and taking a jujitsu class with her could. When he flipped her, he did it too hard and pulled her arm out of its socket.

Inuyasha approached her slowly; unsure as to why she wanted his arm. Akio grabbed hold of his arm for a moment, then wrapped up the sleeve of his shirt and bit down on it as she began to take a tight hold on her left arm. Akio took a deep breath and glanced up at Inuyasha, her eyes still watering from the pain. Akio gripped her arm and counted to three. After three, she popped her arm back into its socket. She had bitted so hard on the sleeve of Inuyasha's shirt that she had actually broken a few holes in it with her teeth. Once her arm was back in place, it was still sore and almost unmovable. Letting out a shaky breath, she sat down on the floor, tears streaming down her face. "God damn…" she said softly as she caressed her shoulder. "Are you going to be ok?" he asked, concern filling his vocals. Akio nodded her head as she looked over the edge of the mountain. "Thanks." She said softly. "What for?" "For saving me not once, but three times in one day." She laughed when she said those words. She never thought Inuyasha would go out of his way to make sure she was safe. To Akio it seemed he would only do such a thing on Kagome's behalf. "Can I help you up?" he offered softly as he put his hand out to her. Akio smiled up at Inuyasha as she took his hand in her own with a tight grip. Inuyasha pulled her to her feet and smiled at her. "Let's get moving. The others will meet us on the other side hopefully." Akio nodded and followed behind Inuyasha quietly.

The sun had finally begun to set slowly over the horizon. Akio stopped for a moment and look out at the view. "This is absolutely beautiful. I don't remember the last time I watched the sun actually set. We've just been so busy that sometimes I don't even realize the sun is setting till there is barely any light left in the sky." Akio said softly with a smile. A sweet breeze blew through them at that moment, making Akio's hair take flight all around her. She raised one hand to move the hair from her view and watched the sun slowly descend behind the trees below. The hues of orange, pink, purple and even red danced amongst themselves as the yellow like orange orb finally vanished from sight but left a tint of light on the usually blue surface above head. Inuyasha inhaled deeply as he, too, watched the beginning of the sun's journey to parts unknown. The sweet scent of spider lilies filled his senses. He glanced over at Akio who then let out a soft sigh of pleasure. "I'm happy I got to watch it for once." She stated happily and smiled up at Inuyasha. "You ready to go on?" she asked softly. Inuyasha nodded his head, his voice caught in his throat. The way the remaining sun light slowly cascaded on and off Akio's black and white hair gave it is sweet shimmer. The purple highlights that often hid in Akio's blue eyes became more visible. Akio walked closer to his as they began to walk forward, to find a place to rest for the night. Just as she passed Inuyasha just a little, he then discovered when the scent of spider lilies came from. It was the natural scent that rested on Akio's skin.

As Inuyasha looked up at the sky, he realized a bit late that the moon was nowhere in sight. Indicating one thing: tonight was the new moon and his demon powers would be gone till sunrise. Having come to this realization, Inuyasha begun to speed up and nearly leave Akio behind him. "Slow down Inuyasha." Akio said completely breathless. Inuyasha looked back at her, his eyes looked worried but the rest of his face looked agitated. "We need to get somewhere safe. Now!" he growled as he then grabbed Akio by her wrist and dragged her with him. Akio practically ran after Inuyasha, tripping every here and there and stumbling every so often trying to keep up with his speed as he dragged her along with him. "Is something wrong?" Akio asked in an annoyed tone. "No." Inuyasha answered bluntly as they, too, came across a cave that looked as though it had steps deeper inside and traveled throughout the entirety of the inside of the mountain. "Maybe the rest of them will come up through here." Akio said out of breath. Inuyasha simply nodded his head and looked out behind him as the sun finally vanished from the sky, leaving it almost in darkness except for the small lights that illuminated the night sky.

Akio looked up at the night sky briefly and took a deep breath as she pulled her own hair over her shoulders. She watched it for a moment and frowned as the black in her hair slowly began to vanish and turn white like the rest of her hair. For once, Akio was grateful for the darkness the feudal era. Inuyasha sat further back inside of the cave as his own hair turned black and his eyes brown. Inuyasha was also grateful for the darkness on this night. 'God please don't let Inuyasha come near me right now… I couldn't handle it if he found out about me on nights like this… he would never trust me…' Akio thought as she sat close to the entrance of the cave hugging her legs close to her. "Are you alright up there?" Inuyasha asked her. His voice sounded unsure, as though he wasn't sure he wanted her anywhere near him in his human form. He had every right to feel that way too. He hadn't known Akio that long, but then again; she would eventually find out somewhere along the road of being with them. "I'm fine thanks…" Akio said softly. She was really trying not to be near Inuyasha in her current state; whatever this state was.

'Should I go up there?" Inuyasha thought as his body clearly answered him. Inuyasha stood up and began walking over to Akio. 'She can't just sit up there by herself. It's already getting cold and we've no idea what's up here. I have to make sure she's ok, for Kagome's sake…' Inuyasha thought. Then he realized he sounded like he was trying to convince himself of something. "Akio?" He called to her in a low voice, trying not to startle her. Akio glanced behind her and saw how close Inuyasha was to her. She panic and in an instant was out of his sight. She ran off to another dark corner of the cave, trying her best to keep out of Inuyasha's eye sight. Inuyasha looked startled himself. "Something wrong?" he asked as he tried to walk over to where she now sat in the darkness. "I'm fine. Just stay over there." Akio said through a shaky voice. She was shaking from both the cold and the fear of being rejected by another person for being strangely different.

'She must be cold, her voice sounded like she was trembling.' Inuyasha thought as a frown formed on his face. "Akio, its ok; just come here." Inuyasha said. His words felt so warm and Akio could see him putting his hand out for her to take. "I have to stay over here." She said, her voice still shaking. "Why?" Inuyasha asked a little annoyed and confused. "You can't see me tonight… no one can…" she said softly as she began to ball up to keep herself warm. Inuyasha took another step toward her and Akio without thinking backed away from him and directly into the light of the night sky. The light from the stars made her now white hair seem like it had light in it. The blue in her eyes were completely come and all that remained were the purple hues that normally hid behind the blue.

Akio could feel the star light on her and instantly froze. 'What do I do, he saw me… What do I even say to excuse my appearance?' Akio thought as she tried to make out Inuyasha's face in the darkness. All she could see was his silhouette standing before her. "What happened to your hair?" He asked. His voice came out angry and worried all at once. Akio couldn't even find the voice to explain what was going on with her. Inuyasha really looked at her and then pulled his own hair over his shoulder. 'I know something was off about her from the start, but this wasn't exactly what I expected. She comes from Kagome's time… none of this makes any sense…' Inuyasha thought for a moment. He really looked at his own hair that was normally white but now hung as dark as the cave. Inuyasha took a deep breath and stepped into the star light himself. 'Better now than later…' Inuyasha looked at how frightened she looked. 'It's better she know that she doesn't stand alone right now…' he thought. He could remember the distance people would take from him just by him being different and how it hurt. He couldn't let this girl feel the same way and especially not by him.

Akio looked up at Inuyasha. His dog ears were gone and his hair had run black. The beautiful gold that his eyes normally were turned brown; her eyes widened as her voice slowly began to return to her. "How…" she said softly. "My mother was human, so on nights with the new moon, I revert to exactly that, my human form." He stated. Akio could feel herself shaking, but not of fear or cold. She felt safe about herself for the first time in a long time. She wasn't the only one who would change during the new moon. Only difference, she didn't understand why she changed. Akio quickly got to her feet and leaped into Inuyasha's arm. She held on to him tightly as she buried her face in his chest. She felt so accepted, so… safe.

Inuyasha looked down at her in surprise, and then wrapped his arms around her. Inuyasha took a deep inhale of Akio's fragrance and he felt like he would melt in that instant. 'Why does she smell so… amazing? The fragrance is intoxicating. I feel like I can't even control myself around her.' Inuyasha thought as he held her closer to him. Akio also took a deep inhale of Inuyasha and smiled. "Cherry blossoms and blood…" she whispered and looked up at him as she began to pull away from the embrace. "What?" "You smell of cherry blossoms and blood." Akio restated as she looked up at him. She never fully understood how tall Inuyasha really was till just then.

A cold breeze came into the cave at that moment and Akio began to shiver. Inuyasha instinctively grabbed her and held her close to him for warmth. "What are you doing?" Akio asked softly. "What does it look like? I'm keeping you warm dummy." That was the Inuyasha that Akio was more familiar with; even though she preferred the one that was holding her tightly and caressing her hair.

Inuyasha eventually sat down and refused to let Akio out of his arms. Something about her scent kept him drawn to her in way he never felt around Kagome or even Kikyo. Something about Akio felt familiar, felt right… it felt almost perfect to him. Holding Akio in his arms felt like he was at peace and it felt as though it had been forever since he held her. But wait, this was the first time he's ever really held her in such a manner. It felt like deja'vu. Inuyasha looked down at Akio and for a moment didn't see Akio. Akio looked up at him and all Inuyasha saw was a girl with short white hair and eyes of crimson. He held his eyes shut for a moment until Akio's voice broke through to him. "Promise me you won't say anything to everyone else…" she said softly. "I don't want them to know about me." Inuyasha opened his eyes and saw Akio's light purple eyes looking back up at him. Her hair was much longer than what he thought he just saw and it spread around her body like a blanket. "I promise." He said softly. It felt as though he would do or say whatever Akio wanted at that moment.

"Are you ok Inuyasha?" Akio asked as she ran her fingers through his long black hair. Inuyasha smiled softly and nodded his head. "I'm just fine." He said sweetly. Akio wasn't sure what to make of Inuyasha's behavior in the cave tonight, but she didn't want it to end. For the first time in a long time she felt like someone was seeing her for the first time. Akio felt as though Inuyasha was looking at her with new eyes for the first time in this cave. 'Maybe I should try… If he pushes me away or jerks back, I'll know it's not meant to happen…' Akio thought as she started to lean up toward him. 'But if he does it back… then… then maybe this isn't one sided…' Akio thought hopefully as she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around Inuyasha's neck.

Inuyasha looked down at Akio and felt himself drawn to her in a way that he couldn't pull away from. He cupped Akio's soft cheek in his hand and leaned down to her, closing off the gap between their lips. Akio felt fire run through her as she pulled herself closer to his body, pushing her breast against his chest. Inuyasha felt the flames rise up in him as well. This was a feeling like no other. Kagome never made him feel this way. Kikyo's kiss couldn't have even amounted up to what he was feeling right now. The question though, is it lust or passion. Akio quite didn't care and she could feel by Inuyasha's body actions he clearly didn't either. Inuyasha wrapped his free arm around Akio's waist firmly, making sure she stood close to him. He slowly began to caress Akio's back as though getting ready to remove her clothes. Akio let out a soft moan from Inuyasha's touch. No one had ever touched her in such a manner and it gave Akio chills. Akio let out another soft moan as Inuyasha began to trail kisses down her neck. Akio could feel her nails digging into Inuyasha's clothes. Her body began to tense up. Akio could feel her nerves getting the best of her. Not a soul had ever touched her, the way Inuyasha was at this very moment and it was the most mesmerizing thing Akio had ever encountered.

"Is it feeling familiar yet, Inuyasha?" Inuyasha could the voice of a woman, one that sounded as though she were in the cave with them. Inuyasha glance around them, but never stopped his advances on Akio. "Do I taste the same in this body? Do you recognize my scent?" The voice continued as Inuyasha licked Akio's neck slowly. Akio let out a light shivering moan as she gripped his shirt tighter. "That's right Inuyasha, remember my touch… Remember all that I was to you." The voice seemed to be beckoning Inuyasha to continue. The scent of spider lilies strengthened as Akio began to caress Inuyasha's chest as she slipped her hand under his clothes, a smirk resting on her lips. Suddenly the very timid and unknowing Akio had all sorts of sexual knowledge. She let out a seductive giggle and began pulling Inuyasha's shirt off of his shoulders. "You remember our last night, don't you; my little mutt." Her voice seemed to have had an echo to it, as though she weren't the only one speaking to Inuyasha at that moment. He stopped and looked into her eyes to see the crimson ones from before staring back at him with pure lust in her eyes. "Remember when you let that stupid priestess take me down…" she growled out. "Ami?" Inuyasha questioned in a low voice of shock. Suddenly a loud crash of thunder hit with lightening brightening up the sky.

The sounds of thunder straddled both Akio and whoever was speaking through her. Akio fell backward from Inuyasha, completely returning to her senses. She looked up at the half naked Inuyasha and her face shot red. "What did I miss?" she asked with a half-smile trying to make light of the strange situation in front of her. All Akio could remember was leaning in for the kiss and feeling an insane surge of energy. She could feel all the sensations her body was receiving but she mentally wasn't conscious for any of it. But who was? Inuyasha looked at her lost and in shock. Inuyasha just stared at Akio for a moment, trying to put two and two together. "Ami…" he restated as he pulled himself closer to Akio. "Who's Ami?" Akio asked. "She was someone I knew. A demon; I was never sure exactly what type of demon she was though…" His voice lowered as he looked at Akio. Then it clicked. Koga was right; there was a demon living inside of Akio.

"What's going on Inuyasha?" Akio asked her voice fragile. "He was right." Inuyasha said as he looked at Akio. "She does live in you…" Akio looked confused for a moment, and then finally understood what Inuyasha was saying. She had inherited her ancestor's demon. The Demon god of death was living in her blood stream and there was no way in getting her out. Everything about Akio's life started to make sense in that very instant. The changing of her hair, the fact that it was part white all the time, her eyes, how they were never one color alone. Her inhuman like strength, skills and abilities. Everything made perfect sense. Akio was born to bring hurt, damage and death to others and she never realized it could even be in her nature.

Akio looked down at her hands in disbelief. "But I would never hurt anyone. I never have!" She cried. Akio began shaking. Even though everything finally fell into place it terrified her. Akio could never see herself as anything harmful or evil. She wasn't sure what to do. And so, she did the one thing she could think to do and that was to release all her mixed feelings through her tears. She hugged herself tightly and began crying softly. "I don't want to be bad! I can't be, I have to be the good guy! I don't want a demon in my body! I don't want to be this…. This killing machine!" she screamed in frustration. Inuyasha looked at her, understanding of the fear she felt flowing through her. He knew it well. Inuyasha himself feared the monster he became when his demon blood over took him.

The thunder roared loudly once again, causing Akio to let out a small scream. Inuyasha move himself closer to her and grabbed hold of her, trying to keep her calm. "I understand, Akio…" He let out a sigh and lowered his eyes to the ground behind her. "I know that horror of becoming a monster. But you don't have to worry about that. You are strong. No demon will take over you. You have control of yourself. You just need to remember that and be strong. Ok?" He told her softly as he held her tightly. Akio nodded and took a deep breath as she calmed down. "You get some rest, ok?" "What about you?" Akio asked as she looked from Inuyasha's chest with concern. "Don't worry about me. I'll just watch over you." He said softly with a welcoming smile. Akio leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you." She said in a sleepy like tone and snuggled up to him for warmth and comfort. Inuyasha looked down at her with adoring eyes and then leaned his head back against the cave walls, looking up at the ceiling of the cave itself. 'No one can ever know about to night or even Akio's demon…' Inuyasha glanced down at her and inhaled her scent again. 'For Akio's and Amida's sake, no one can know about them. I have to keep her safe… but which her am I really worried about?' Inuyasha thought for a moment, truly contemplating whose well-being he was really worried about. Inuyasha softly petted Akio's hair as he stared out at the storm outside the cave. "It doesn't matter whose well-being I'm protecting… she just has to be protected, regardless. " He stated to himself and held on to the sleeping form of the girl who was now creeping her way into his heart and the other creeping her way back in.

Authors Message: Hey everyone! I'm so sorry it took so long to get a new chapter for this story out! But we all have lives outside of the internet, right? Ok, that's not an excuse... I've just had really bad writers block for this story. But I'm back up and running! The rating has officially changed from T to M because things are starting to get heated and I don't want the wrong rating up there, so its been changed. I hope you guys enjoy it and forgive me for such a long delay! Also, let me know about how my progress in my writing has gotten. Do you think its enhance, Do you think I need more practice? you guys let me know either via review or even inbox, I'm always open to those! Thanks for being dedicated and I hope for you to read again some time soon.

Big Hugs and Lots of Love;

Lawliet ^_~