CHAPTER 4:
She wasn't happy with her workout, she was short in breath, she couldn't concentrate and she was coughing all the time. This was bad... Inhaling the cold air, made her dizzy and then lost herself in a coughing fit. She was so not going to have fun today… Inhaling again she rubbed her nose and walked through the corridors, up the stairs and toward the kitchen.
The nightmares and visions had finally taken its toll… on her HEALTH! She grunted as she came into the kitchen and was met by loud noises, laughter and the light that was called the sun. She screwed her eyes shut and tried to concentrate on the silence that she so desperately needed. Saffa looked at the door when she came in, hurried up to her, felt her forehead, which was burning and demanded that she returned to bed, immediately. When Faya began to protest Saffa growled at her, causing Faya to jump back, comply and went back to the servants quarters. Saffa was scary when she growled.
Not one second after she had stepped back in bed the door was smashed open making her yelp and the Lord of the House was standing in the door opening. The covers slid off of her body exposing her beautiful breasts and lean stomach that she had developed during her relentless training and heavy work in the House. 'My Lord…?' she asked and then sneezed. 'What are you doing here?' Sesshoumaru demanded in a restrained voice. Faya raised her eyebrows and said 'I'm sick… so I went back to bed… Saffa's orders…' She said as she swallowed to get rid of the upcoming sneeze. 'Be sick in your own time… You need to work… now…' He told her. As an answer to his demand she sneezed. 'I expect you to be fully dressed and waiting in the hallway, within the hour…' He continued. 'Yes, My Lord…' She said in a sneeze. Sesshoumaru left the quarters again and Faya fell down on her bed.
He was not worthy to be called a demon… he was a fucking Hellhound! Faya put her pillow over her face and screamed out her frustration at the hellhound… After a long scream and releasing her fury on the pillow she sat up again, redressed and went upstairs again.
She met Saffa in the kitchen, her face was turned toward the sink and she didn't turn around. 'Saffa?' She asked as she walked up to her and lay a hand on her shoulder, causing her friend to flinch. Faya made her turn around and saw a shallow gash going from the corner of her left eye all the way to the corner of her mouth. It wasn't deep and when it would heal it would leave no scar, but still. Were Faya's eyes dull when she woke, fire blazed within them and they grew dark. 'How dare he?' She hissed. 'It was my own fault, I shouldn't have given you an order like that without consulting with him first.' She answered. 'That is ridiculous! You gave that order for my best interest, and that of the others.' Faya said outraged. 'Yet I didn't consult with him… His house, his rules, we are mere servants…servants can be replaced within a second…' Saffa said shrugging. 'Put those fires out, Faya… put a mask over your face and keep on going… besides he has his nice sides.' Saffa finished. 'His nice sides?' Saffa chuckled at the face Faya made and shook her head. 'He can be very generous…' Faya shook her head and crossed her eyes. 'Generous…?' She echoed blocking the incident during dinner the night before. 'You just haven't seen them yet…' Saffa chuckled as Faya took the cloth away from her, made it wet again and pressed it against the thin cut. 'I'll be going upstairs to clean the rooms.' Saffa nodded at her friend.
Faya left the kitchen and shook her head in disbelief as she moved up the stairs. Generous, yeah right. Generous in torturing people, she meant. Generous in making people lives more difficult and loving their pain.
She opened one of the rooms on the first floor and went in. She opened the curtains and then the window. 'Oh, just bite me…' She hissed furiously, answering her own train of thought. 'Question is where…?' Faya jumped in the air, hit her shoulder on one of the shutters and looked at the person behind her.
Sesshoumaru-sama was standing behind her, towering over her with the huge aura that he had. 'I wasn't talking to you… My Lord…' She said and rubbed her head. Great, if she didn't have an excruciating headache already, she could just go and die of her shoulderache right now. 'Is that a human trait… to talk to themselves, and then answering themselves? Is it contagious?' He asked her, his eyes unreadable, and smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. Oh, how she wanted to beat that smirk off of his face. 'The difference between humans and demons, My Lord, is that we actually have a conscious.' She hissed at him as she passed him and walked to a cabinet.
Apparently, that was a wrong thing to say, because the next thing she knew she was laying at the other end of the room with a few sheets on top of her. 'Whatever did you do that for?!' She yelled at him 'I tell you the truth for once, and you blast me through the room! What is wrong with you? Can't handle the truth, even when you have asked for it? That is exactly why I refuse to even begin telling you the truth in the first place. Damn it, I don't have these sharpened senses for fun you know!' Before Faya knew what was happening to her she was smashed into the door, hanging an inch from the ground with the demon's claw around her neck. 'Do you seriously have a wish to die so early in life?' He hissed at her. 'You are driving me insane with that rebellious behavior of yours. It makes me want to hurt you so badly…' Faya looked at him and her eyes darkened. 'Now, I know where you got those scars from.' He growled at her. 'You know nothing about my scars, My Lord…' She hissed furiously at him, inferno's blazing in her eyes, but there was also hurt deep within those fires, which took him by surprise.
Faya was so furious and so hot tempered that she lost all demeanor for the Lord of the House and before she knew she had hit him in the face. Surprised yellow eyes met shocked green ones. 'Oh oh…' she whispered as she saw surprise turn into full hatred. 'How dare you, human, to raise your hand against me….?' He growled and smashed her in the door once again, causing Faya to gasp for air. 'Apologize…' He hissed at her. 'Never… you deserved it, you stubborn, arrogant demon…' She hissed back at him. Why did she do this again? They both wondered at the same moment when Faya was thrown across the bed and landed on the floor next to the bed. 'I have to warn you human… my bite is worse than my bark…' Faya's face screwed up and pretended to sneeze instead of laugh. 'You seriously had to say that, huh?' Faya asked as she locked eyes with him. 'You just don't know what that means in the human world.' A triumphed smirk was visible on her face as Sesshoumaru lessened his grip on her throat. 'What does that mean…?' He asked her. Humans were unpredictable and so he never knew what to expect from them, and especially not this one. 'Look it up…' She said with a challenging voice and painful smirk as she stood up. She saw how he doubted between beating it out of her, or do as she said and going to the library and look it up. He chose the latter and disappeared.
Faya chuckled and then lost that laugh in a harsh cough and continued cleaning the room, ignoring the fact that her whoel body was battered and bruiced, right now, and that she, quite literally, wanted to die. She didn't see the Master for the rest of the day and it made her smirk. And thus, the scores were even once again.
Sesshoumaru learned that he had made a huge mistake, by calling himself a dog and therefore lowering himself to a level a mere humans companion. Furious with himself and Faya he had locked himself up in his room and emerged when he was called for dinner. Faya heard him come downstairs and brought him the starters. She came in and put the plate in front of him, but couldn't hide the smug smirk that had been visible on her face the whole day already. 'I wish you a lovely dinner, My Lord…' she said with a tone of triumph in her voice and left the room.
When dinner had been served Sesshoumaru called for Saffa and told her about things that would happen the coming three weeks. Everyone looked up terrified when three minutes later Saffa barged into the kitchen and told the others that they were expecting unannounced guests in three days, and that they would be staying for three weeks. The Lord of the House had decided to throw a party, his reasons were unknown to her, and he had told her that there would be sixty noble Youkai coming from the neighboring countries. The whole household was in distress. Faya and Saffa raced up the stairs to prepare the guestrooms, and the others took control over the kitchen.
'I can't believe he didn't mention this earlier to us.' Saffa whined as they started to clean the first room. 'He didn't, cause he wants to see us suffer…' Faya answered she opened the window. 'He is a sadistic, incoherent, pathetic excuse of a… Saffa are you listening?' She turned toward Saffa, who on the other hand was looking at the door with huge, fearful eyes. 'When will I learn…?' Faya sighed defeated and looked at the door. Sesshoumaru was standing there, leaning against the doorframe. If the Hellhound still had both his arms, he would have definitely crossed them over his chest. He had a smug smirk on his face, one that Faya still wanted to beat off of his face if she was strong enough. 'Oh, please, don't let me stop you from what you wanted to say…' He said and Faya turned around. She was so going to regret this '… pathetic excuse of a Hellhound youkai…' she then finished her sentence and closed her eyes for a brief second.
'Saffa, leave us…' Sesshoumaru said, causing the half demon to tremble and then look at Faya in despair. Faya didn't tremble, was not scared at all. She just raised a typical eyebrow and then looked at Saffa. 'Go, you can't refuse the master of the house… I'll be fine' Faya said. 'I don't think I…' But she was cut off by two voices that screamed "NOW" in unison. Saffa looked at Faya who flushed a deep color of red. Saffa scurried out of the room, and Sesshoumaru closed the door with a soft click. 'Before you start, my lord… may I remind you that there are guests coming to stay and that there are other rooms that still need to be cleaned?' Faya started as he looked at her. What was wrong with her? Did she not know that he, Sesshoumaru, could kill her in a second? Yet, she kept on defying him with those green eyes of hers. She just didn't know what she did to him. He walked up to her and she didn't back away. Faya stood her ground, she wasn't scared of him. If he wanted to kill her, there would be no change of escaping him. He was faster, stronger and more powerful than her. She was a mere human so she wasn't able to match him. She took a breath and locked eyes with him. Those cool, uncalculating, yellow eyes searched for something within the green orbs, as he did not find it he turned around. 'Keep on doing what you did… they'll be arriving soon…' He said and walked toward the door.
This time Faya sagged through her knees and sat there on the ground 'What do you want from me…?' She whispered. 'What do you need from me? Why do you let me live after what I've done? Do you like to see me suffer so much?' There was something in her voice that was new to Sesshoumaru, there were tears in her voice, yet she did not show them, and he looked down at her. 'I've defied you so many times, yet you refuse to either kill or punish me… Tell me, why?' Faya looked up at him. 'At the moment I need you to do something for me.' He said and pulled her to her feet and looked at her with dark shimmers in his eyes. Faya listened and her eyes grew wider as she understood what he asked of her. 'Do you have any idea what you're asking of me? Do you?' She asked in a whisper and with a pale face. 'You do remember that I'm a servant, right? And above that, human. Look at my mouth here, I am hu-man. They will be able to smell me from a mile away. May I remind you that I'm missing a few extra things in order to pull this off.' Sesshoumaru looked at her and smirked wickedly. 'I don't think I like that smirk…' Faya said with a bothered face which made Sesshoumaru smirk even wider as he said: 'Everything can be arranged, are you willing to sacrifice something for it?' bearing his fangs at her. She looked at him 'Like what, you already took everything from me that I held dear… my freedom and, oh yeah, my purity…' She said as she crossed her arms over her chest. He wanted to speak but Faya beat him to it. 'I'm not done yet… May I also remind you that we have two evenings and two full days to prepare all this?' Sesshoumaru loved seeing this side of her and said 'Then we'd better get started.' Faya swallowed, he was serious about this. It spelled disaster, she knew it. She knew that he just loved to see her all tangled up in things that went way above her head. 'But I'm sick…' She said as last resort. Sesshoumaru inspected her from top to bottom, lingering at her chest. 'You don't look any different to me.' Faya raised an eyebrow and gave him an indignant huff as she glared daggers at the freaking Hellhound in front of her. He was so not impressed with her.
'Saffa!' He then called and the half demon servant entered two seconds later. 'My Lord, you called?' She asked as she curtsied. He nodded and told her what needed to be done. As Saffa listened her eyes grew in size, and Faya feared that they would fall out of her sockets. 'That is impossible…' Saffa whispered at the end. 'I have no doubt that she will be able to do that… but I don't think the façade will last…My Lord' She said and looked at Faya. 'Did I ask for your opinion, Saffa?' causing Faya to shiver and Saffa to tremble. 'No, My Lord…' He wanted to lash out to Saffa but Faya threw herself on her and they both fell to the ground. A few hairs fried in the blast but both were unharmed. Furious Faya looked at Sesshoumaru who was thinking about killing them both, with his eyes. 'You want me to do this, fine… I'll do it, but don't you dare go and hurt Saffa because she gives her opinion…' She hissed. 'You want me to do this, fine I will do this, but I want something in return… Me and the servants stay unharmed… there will be brought no corporal punishments on them.' She continued.
The Lord of the Western Fields was pissed enough to transform and eat them both at the point. 'One wrong move and I'll tell the guests everything… and that would mean you lose face... and I know how that feels like to a demon lord, like you.' Faya told him as she stood up, pulling Saffa with her but kept looking at Sesshoumaru. 'Is that your ultimatum?' He asked her causing Saffa to hide behind Faya and tremble in fear. Faya on the other hand stood firm and with head held up high and looked at him as she stuck out her chin. 'It is…' she said. Sesshoumaru huffed, and passed them, he opened the door and walked out. 'Fine…' he said and was gone. Saffa looked at Faya with growing fear in her eyes. 'You are so much scarier than Lord Sesshoumaru-sama is sometimes, did you know that Faya?' She whispered as she looked at the other servant. Faya sagged through her feet and hit the floor 'But it takes so much energy to do that…' Faya answered in a whisper and took a deep breath. Why was he like this?
Sesshoumaru appeared somewhere in the middle of the forests and a few lower demons jumped in front of him. Sesshoumaru just looked at them as they caught fire and screamed their last scream. There was a young demon exterminator who he fought. The young boy didn't stand a change and as Sesshoumaru walked away the young boy fell down the ground. The young boy hadn't felt pain, it was quick and painless. Oh Hell, he was getting soft. Damn the human… what the hell happened after that one night… But she was the one who offered herself to him. The human mind was something he did not understand, and especially the female mind. They were so different and so unpredictable. Rin would've just followed him everywhere, would have listened to his every command.
He stopped dead in his track. Rin… It was the first time that she had crossed his mind in two years. Rin, the annoying little human girl that had followed him one day and did the impossible, she had snuck into his heart and he became attached to her, until that that night. He closed his eyes, he so did not want to remember that part.
Saffa had fled into his studyroom with panic in her voice telling him that Rin had fallen ill. He had shot up and raced down the stairs, fear gripping his heart and found her bathing in sweat in her bedroom, he thought she would be okay but told Saffa to get a medicine woman. Saffa had nodded and raced to a nearby village to get one, she brought the old woman to the House. She examined Rin and started to concoct potions. Late that night she came to Sesshoumaru and told him that she was beyond healing, the only thing that was left for him to do was say goodbye to her. He had entered the bedroom of Rin and sat behind her and held her tight. Coughs had wrecked her fragile body and smiled that wonderful smile that had made his heart melt. He held her close and nuzzled her neck she loved so much whispering at her that she would soon be free of pain and would be happy. Rin had chuckled and lost her breath in another coughing fit, when she regained her breath she told him that she wouldn't be happy there without her father. She then closed her eyes with a smile whispering that she was so blessed that she had met him and could stay with him, with that she let go of her last breath. She went limb in his arms and… He had pulled her close and rocked her back and forth like he had done so many times in the past, hoping that she would wake up. It was the first and only time that Rin had called him father. He wished she had said earlier. It was the first time that there were tears falling from his eyes and he was surprised at the emotion. He then let out a roar and had almost brought the house down in his fury. Her death had almost caused the loss of his sanity, he went to full demon rage and the only one that got killed during his rage was Jaken.
After that he had disappeared for weeks. Only returning bloodied and full of open. His fury had made him fight powerful demons and went into self-destruction mode. One that left him on the brink of death. He almost succeeded, that was until he met Faya at the slave auction, and was lost at her sight. Yes, that was right, upon seeing Faya he decided to buy her instead of killing himself, which he had been planning to do that very day. Faya, who had saved him from his destruction mode. Faya, who gave a little light to the darkness that he had been in. Faya, who he... Sesshoumaru let out a feral roar and smashed the trees that were standing nearby. He would ask one of the servants to pick it up later, they were in need for new fire wood.