Chapter 9 -
There were not twenty four hours between when the pair had shared that one, brief moment of shared passion and when Inuyasha's system was declared to be free of toxins. Though there had been some tissue damage, leaving his left leg considerably weaker than the right, he was able to walk effectively without causing himself pain. Of course that's not to say that he took advantage of the newfound ability to move freely, he spent the vast majority of his time in the little cove for 'rehabilitation' purposes. Of course Deidara made no protest, merely circling the man lazily while he exercised the damaged thigh, brushing him teasingly with the ruffled end of his tail whenever he became bored.
There came a time, however, as the day was cooling off and the stars were gradually beginning to pick their ways across the deepening hues of the sky, when a troubling notion came into Deidara's mind. With a prompt cry, the blonde called Inuyasha, who had been marveling in the beauty of the early sunset from the beach, back into the waters. With the gravity of his sudden realization weighing heavy on him, like a stone in his gullet, the ningyo gave the arm of his charge an urgent tug. The hanyou only chuckled, finding the sudden insistence to be relatively charming, unaware of the importance of what Deidara was so impatient to tell him.
When finally he dipped his head under the water such that he could hear the other man's urgent information, he was startled by the lines of worry creasing the merman's brow. Gently the young ningyo reached out and caressed the other male's cheek with the edges of his pointed claws as if trying to soothe him even before he expressed what it was that troubled his mind.
"Inuyasha… you are cured of your poisoning un… and this was my initial purpose… do you not now believe it is time that you returned to the mainland un? Do not think for a moment that by this I mean that I wish for you to leave… I just want for you to know that you are no prisoner hear, and at your first whim, I will carry you back to the true shore un."
The hanyou stared disbelievingly at Deidara, as if his words were spoken in a different language and simply made no sense. Gradually the lack of breathing began to give Inuyasha a pain in his chest and he was forced to the surface, sucking in several deep breaths white the merman too surfaced and watched, waiting nervously for a response. When finally his breathing evened out, the half demon looked down at his companion's worried face, his own brow becoming creased as the new thought was forced into his brain. Truthfully, he hadn't even begun thinking about what the next step would be after he had healed entirely, and to be entirely frank, there was a part of him that wished not to leave the alcove very much. There was something about being secluded with the other male that made him hope that their time together might last for an eternity, but surely that could not be so. As fond of, and attracted to Deidara as he was, the hanyou did have friends back on the mainland who would be worrying for his sake. If given enough reason to be concerned, Inuyasha wouldn't put it past Miroku to sail into the bay with a harpoon rig and begin to kill the merfolk until he was given his friend's whereabouts. As much as he hated to admit it, there was a point to the blonde's words.
Sighing, the silver-haired man let his shoulders slump slightly, sinking in the brine until he was at eyelevel with the other male. Carefully so as not to harm the delicate face of the ningyo, Inuyasha brushed the golden tresses away from Deidara's face so that both of his bright cerulean eyes were clearly visible.
"You… you're right… as much as I hate to admit it, Deidara, I do have to go back… my friends will be worried sick by now…" He could tell that his words made the blonde rather sad as his eyes turned downward dejectedly. "Hey, kid…" The half demon murmured, tucking his index knuckle beneath the ningyo's chin and tilting his head upward such that their eyes met once again. "I didn't ever say that I didn't want to stay here… I do… but don't you believe that my friends deserve to know that I'm alive?" Still with a bit of a disappointed frown turning the corners of his lips downward, the blonde nodded, knowing that such things were the unavoidable truth.
There was suddenly a pair of warm lips pressing against Deidara's clammy cheek as the hanyou leaned in to give the merman's skin an affectionate peck. Inuyasha gave the back of the other male's golden head a tender stroke, making the koi tail give a little squeak of surprise, though the noise was in no way negative.
"Tomorrow, whenever you are ready, you may swim me ashore… but I would like it very much if you would wait for me… As for right now, I believe it is about time that you gave me another check, to make sure that the poison is truly gone…"
As the words were leaving the silver-haired man's lips, Deidara could feel the churning tightness in his gut that he had felt only the evening previous, and simply for sanction of reaffirming the feeling, grazed his own tongue over his Jacobson's organ. The taste of the hanyou's masculinity and lust was fresh from the night before and put shivers down Deidara's spine. Nervously, his hands cupped behind the half demon's neck and he gave a brief tug so as to coax the other underwater. As Inuyasha obeyed silently, exhaling a few bubbles from his nose as he submerged, he suddenly became aware of warmth he had never felt in the ningyo's skin. For the most part, the blonde remained a lukewarm temperature, matching the water in which he lived; but suddenly his body heat exceeded that of the cove, and it felt soothingly hot as the merman nuzzled his cheek and jaw affectionately.
The gentle nudging only lasted a moment before again the tow mouths were connected and the very different tongues met for the third time. Though Inuyasha remained silent, save for the bubbles that sprung from his mouth and nose, all the while Deidara made quiet sounds of contentment, humming into the kiss in a way that expressed the new emotion of desire that filled his roiling belly.
The dawn broke with a spiteful brightness on the glittering expanse of saltwater, forcing the eyes of the half submerged hanyou open as the new sun squeezed light between his loosely shut lids. There was a general awkwardness between the two as the day they had agreed upon had finally arrived yet both were reluctant to see the parting through. Deidara still performed his natural hunting ritual to provide for the hanyou's needs, but his own stomach was still to mixed up from the past two nights for him to have any want of food. Instead, he lay patiently in the shallows and watched the silver-haired male as he ate, silently telling himself that it was all for the better, that he had been planning to release his charge the whole time and second thoughts ought not to be humored.
By the time the sun burned high in the sky, even all of his internal deliberation had not helped the ningyo to feel better about parting ways with Inuyasha. Still there was that foreign feeling that somehow the strange and marvelous sensation of being held and kissed by the land male could never be equaled by any other creature of land, air or sea. As many have said before, 'the first cut is the deepest,' but at the same time, it was not in the nature of merfolk to attribute much to the theory of love. Such personal relationships were infrequent as the main driving force behind intimacy was faceless satisfaction given by the pleasurable recreation of rubbing skin on skin. There was little connected personally in the functions of the ningyo, of course they were all just animals satisfying their instincts, right? Their lives were far too long for any sense of loyalty to one mate to survive once the pleasure faded.
At the same time, as mating and reproduction were not tied together, there was very little sense of responsibility to one creature or another. Of course there was a singular obligation for a father to protect his spawn until the ningyo larva hatched, but afterwards, care of the juvenile is again transferred to the female which provides nourishment to the underdeveloped infant through protein-rich milk. As such, even after offspring are created, there is still very little loyalty between the parents, and once the young ningyo is chased off, it would be as if the bond between mother and father had never existed. In this respect, Deidara was at odds about the sudden desire he had to continue his general relations with the hanyou. It was as if with the sudden exposition of raw and strange emotions, all of nature was defying itself and a ningyo, a man of the sea was feeling intimate loyalty towards a half demon of the land who, to make matters all the more unnatural, was male.
The forbidden fruit was always the sweetest. And yet, there was nothing sinful about this apple, it was simply a very drastic deviation from the normal instincts of merfolk for Deidara to be so attracted to him that is was completely unheard of.
Still the time for Inuyasha to be delivered back to his home on the mainland was eminent, and after the hanyou had finished his late breakfast the moment was upon them. Not minding as much that his clothing was getting soaked, the silver-haired man waded out into the cove where instantly the koi-tail was circling his legs, feeling the scarlet fabric of the hakama with sensitive fingers and lips. When finally his head emerged from the brine, the blonde gave Inuyasha a look that silently asked if he truly had to leave. The half breed smiled softly and ran his thumb across the tender cheek of the merman, wiping away a bead of saltwater that still clung to his supple skin.
"Hey, kid, don't feel so bad… I promise I won't be gone for long. If you wait for me near the coast, I'll be back as soon as I've assured my friends that I'm alright. Is that alright with you?"
The forlorn look on the ningyo's face instantly dissolved into a wide grin his throat erupted with a very high-pitched squeal of delight. Almost not realizing it, the blonde male threw his arms around Inuyasha's torso and arched his spine backwards, churning his tail in the water to give him a little extra height such that he could reach the half demon's lips with his own. Though the peck was brief and chaste, it was full of obvious warmth, not only desire but honest affection.
Linking arms back to back the way they had originally, the merman swum his fully recovered charge back to shore in a matter of minutes, though at his full speed, he was quite exhausted afterwards. Once Inuyasha had waded ashore from the shallows, the ningyo kept his word and remained close to the shore, watching the breaking waves from a safe distance while waiting for the half demon to return as he had assured the blonde he would.
Still further out in the bay, there was unrest brooding amongst the Akatsuki. There was a kind of anticipation that put every one of the pod on edge; scraps were far more frequent between the merfolk and tempers were relatively short. It was clear and evident to anyone who so much as looked upon her, but Konan was beginning to grow round with the growing roe within her body, causing the fierce anticipation of the season of must. As such, the male hormones were raging and a kind of subconscious feud struck out between all of the mermen.
Of course Deidara, having spent the past four days apart from his pod to care for the injured half demon, was completely unaware of the impending season and the prospect of new posterity among his clan. Of course with the distraction of Inuyasha riddling his young mind, there was no guarantee that even had he known of the imminent spawn to be delivered unto the Akatsuki, he would pay the attempt at fertilizing the ova any mind. So focused he was on the new fascination with the hanyou that he might be totally blinded to instinct to father an offspring.