A new chapter, a new beginning.
Let's get on those darn disclaimers now, shall we?
I do not own anything that you see in this fic, except for the OC's and the plot.
Chapter nine: Lord Toshimaru
XoXoXo
"Couldn't you at least help me out of here?" Helen complained loudly as she eased herself out of the Bone Eater's Well. "It's kinda hard to climb while wearing a dress!"
Sesshoumaru looked blankly at her. "Humans…they are too slow," he murmured but then he reminded himself that the woman with him was just as good a youkai as he was; the only difference was that she was bound in a human body.
"Hurry up, wench," he said. She glared at him.
Why did I ever agree to come back with him?
She had decided right then and there that the earth ought to swallow her whole. She sighed as she walked up to him. "Don't you think where we're going is a little too far?" she asked.
"To humans it is," he replied dryly.
"Why do you hate humans so much? Rin is human and I don't see you glaring at her."
He didn't respond. Instead he began walking away. Helen sighed as she looked at his retreating back. "I should've stayed in the modern era," she muttered.
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Helen felt out of place. Being the only human in a room with about a hundred more noble youkai did nothing to improve the out of place feeling that she felt either.
A hand touched her shoulder. Turning, she saw Lady Shinsuke smiling fondly at her. "You look beautiful," Shinsuke commented.
"Thanks…" Helen grabbed her hand and walked to a corner of the room. "Listen, I feel out of place here…They're all youkai and I'm the only human in this room," Helen said blandly.
Shinsuke looked calmly at her. "Why are we here anyway?" Helen asked.
"Lady Takeida has invited us here to welcome her nephew," the demoness answered.
Helen raised her eyebrows. "Sesshoumaru has a cousin?" she asked in disbelief. Shinsuke nodded. "And he is quite a dashing young man."
Helen looked at all the youkai in the room who were preoccupied with mingling and chatting. "They behave just like humans," Helen said. "Speaking of which, where is Sesshoumaru?"
Shinuske smiled at her. "Have you finally gotten along?"
Helen gave her a weak smile. "No…but he is the only one in this room whom I am comfortable with."
Shinsuke's lips curled upward in a half smile. "Then you dad better do some mingling!" With that, the demoness left.
Helen watched her go then she stared at everyone in the room.
"Into the fire," she muttered.
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"Where is Helen?" Takeida asked Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru extracted himself from Lord Ashiro's presence and turned to his mother.
"Hahaue?"
"I am asking if you have seen the young lady anywhere," Takeida said smoothly. "She must feel awkward being the only human in the room."
Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes. "Why are you so inclined to force her on me?"
"Am I now?" Takeida narrowed her eyes at her son. "I didn't notice."
Sesshoumaru looked at his mother and said in a low voice, "That girl is a hindrance."
"To what, your relationship with Kagura? Well if you will not accompany her, then why don't you accompany Toshimaru?"
Sesshoumaru set his mouth in a grim line. Meeting his cousin again did not bode well for him. Most of the youkai in the room preferred Toshimaru to Sesshoumaru and they only showed the young youkai respect either out of fear or pity. Sesshoumaru loathed the latter and preferred the former. Sometimes he had the feeling that his mother preferred Toshimaru rather than him but he knew that wasn't quite true.
"Sesshoumaru, have you even welcomed him back?" his mother asked.
"Of course," Sesshoumaru said grimly. His mother nodded in approval and walked off. Sesshoumaru sighed and disappeared within the crowd.
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Helen walked gladly out of the castle and into the garden. The youkai she had managed to engage in conversation looked as if they didn't want to talk to her, particularly the woman who hid half her face behind her fan.
She decided that the only reason the youkai in the room tolerated a human in their midst was because she was Shinsuke's daughter. Still, she hated it in there and decided that she had best get out and take a stroll in the garden.
At least plants don't mind me, she thought as she appreciatively walked around. The moon's glow cast a silvery light in the garden which she thought looked beautiful. Too bad the glow of the lightened lanterns spoiled it.
Sighing, she sat down on a stone bench and looked up at the starry sky.
"I didn't realize I had company," a silky voice said. The voice sounded almost like Sesshoumaru's that Helen expected to see the daiyoukai glaring at her. Instead a young man walked out of the shadows of a few trees. He had the same silvery hair that was tied into a ponytail at his head, his eyes were a darker shade of amber and the only markings that he had were two black stripes on either side of his cheeks that contrasted against his pale white skin. Helen also noted that he looked more good looking than his human hating cousin.
Helen stood up and quickly bowed. The man whose name she did not know looked at her and said, "You're a human-"
Here's another human hater, Helen thought.
"-which means that you are probably my cousin's betrothed."
Helen looked at him. So this was Sesshoumaru's cousin Toshimaru.
Probably a human hater.
"Yes…unfortunately, I have the grim honor to be just that," Helen said. He nodded sympathetically. "I hope he treats you well?" he said. Helen rolled her eyes. "No…"
"I see…Lady I have not earned the honor of knowing your name." There was a twinkle in his eyes and Helen had the feeling that he wasn't quite the same as Sesshoumaru. She relaxed a little and gave him a small smile. "My name is Helen," she said.
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Helen…of Troy?"
She gaped at him. "How is it that a demon such as you would know that?"
He gave her a small smile. "I have traveled beyond these lands…I have been to far places and on my travels I came across a fascinating book that spoke of a woman whose face was said to have launched a thousand ships."
She decided she liked him. Though not like like. He was-it seemed to her-very intelligent, learned and he didn't seem to be ashamed that he had read something that a human would write.
"And I do say, Lady Helen, you deserve your namesake."
Helen went a soft shade of red. "Would you do me the honors of accompanying for a stroll in Lay Takeida's gardens?" he asked.
She smiled at him.
He is such a smooth talker.
XoXoXo
"Lord Sesshoumaru!" a voice called. Sesshoumaru inwardly groaned as a youkai, one of his father's advisers, approached him.
"Yoshiro." Sesshoumaru didn't call them 'lord' since he only reserved that title for youkai who were higher than a mere adviser.
"My Lord, I have heard that you found yourself a mate!" his adviser was jubilant.
"Yes…unfortunately," Sesshoumaru said dryly.
"Why the frown?" the man was obviously drunk since he would not talk this to the youkai lord when he was in a sense of sobriety. "Just because she's bound to a human body, doesn't mean she's human! Unlike the little girl you travel with! Speaking of which, where is little Rin?"
"Somewhere with Jaken."
"I see…then introduce me and the rest of us to your future wife!"
Sesshoumaru cringed. He suddenly looked over the man's shoulder. Beyond he could see a woman just in time as she lowered her fan.
It was Kagura.
The wind witch smiled at him and covered her face with her fan. "Excuse me," Sesshoumaru said as he extracted himself from the intoxicated youkai's presence. A few youkai bowed in respect as he passed. He reached Kagura's side and quietly drew her with him to the well lighted hallway out of the room.
"What are you doing here?" he murmured, wondering why he didn't detect her scent before. Kagura only smiled at him. "I came to see you…and make sure that she keeps her hands off you."
He half-smiled at her protectiveness. "Naraku will find out," he suddenly warned.
She frowned at him. "No he won't," she said. There was a hint of confidence in her voice. "Kanna will make sure of it."
He sighed and drew her into a tight embrace. "I fear for you…If Naraku kills you…"
She chuckled as she wrapped her arms around him. "Please…That bastard will never know."
A loud clapping suddenly brought them back to reality. Turning, he and Kagura saw that the entire crowd of nobles was standing in the hallway.
"So this is Lady Helen!" Yoshiro said. "I thought she was a human!"
Kagura looked taken aback and felt slightly insulted at being mistaken for Helen. Sesshoumaru stood closer to Kagura and smiled. "Human? You think that I would mate a human?"
XoXoXo
"I can't believe that you've actually read something that a human wrote," Helen said as she and Toshimaru stopped walking to stare at the pond in front of them. Fireflies were flying lazily over the water casting a soft glow all around.
"True…The mainland has a lot to offer and besides…That book was interesting," Toshimaru said calmly.
"I take it you are different from Sesshoumaru?" Helen asked.
"Or so they say," the youkai lord replied.
"They?"
"My advisers…They feel that the Northern Lord should be different from the Western Lord." Toshimaru paused as he looked at the fireflies. "Besides I do not see what is so bad about humans…Is it true that you were sent to the future?" he suddenly asked.
Helen looked at him. "Yes…and in the future, humans have made so many differences…so many inventions…"
"Such as?"
Helen smiled and from a purse she was carrying, she took out her cell phone. Toshimaru raised his eyebrows as he took the phone from Helen.
"What is this?" he asked.
Helen chuckled softly at his intrigued expression. "It's called a cell phone and humans use it to communicate."
She watched as he pressed a button. A loud beep sounded from the device and Toshimaru raised his even higher. "Fascinating." He handed it back to her.
A loud clapping suddenly echoed from the palace.
"It seems that some sort of commotion is going on," Toshimaru remarked. "Come, we must see what it is."
They made their way to the palace and they went to the edge of the crowd that had gathered in the hallway. Helen's eyes widened and Toshimaru looked shocked. Sesshoumaru was standing with Kagura, but what made Helen upset the most was that everyone seemed to think that the wind witch was her.
"She is beautiful, Lord Sesshoumaru!" a youkai called out.
"Long live Lady Helen!" Kagura seemed to relish the moment.
"I will not put up with this!" Helen said angrily. Toshimaru watched as she made her way into the crowd.
Helen pushed past a few youkai and soon found herself facing Kagura. Kagura paled while a mild look of surprise appeared on Sesshoumaru's face.
Helen felt the rage bubbling up inside her like boiling water. Why was she so enraged that Kagura impersonated, she would never know; but now, that rage, she felt, was uncontrollable. She glared at Kagura and slapped her-hard.
Everyone in the hallway exclaimed in shock surprise, Sesshoumaru looked enraged while Kagura seemed taken aback.
"How dare you…!?" Helen hissed.
Sesshoumaru suddenly grabbed her wrist and held her tightly. "Wench!" he snarled.
"What is going on here?" a voice called. A moment later, Takeida and Shinsuke made their way over to them.
"Sesshoumaru what-?" Takeida looked at Helen whose face registered pain and she looked at Kagura.
"This pathetic human slapped Lady Helen!" a youkai called out. "Kill her at once!" A few nodded their heads in agreement. Takeida looked at Sesshoumaru, a light of understanding in her eyes.
"Lady Helen?" Takeida said. "The woman who was slapped is an impostor; the one who did the slapping is the real Helen."
"But she's just a human!"
Kagura looked as if she wanted to melt on the spot. Helen jerked her wrist from Sesshoumaru's iron grip and looked at him. Everyone suddenly seemed to vanish, as she glared at her betrothed, she didn't know why tears suddenly sprang to her eyes. She knew it was humiliating to cry in front of all these youkai, so she pushed her way past the crowd and ran back out into the garden, Toshimaru following her.
XoXoXo
Helen continued walking angrily until she reached the pond. "Helen!" a voice called. Toshimaru stopped beside her. "Really! What you did back there"-she glared at him-"was quite exhilarating."
Helen sighed and stared at her reflection. Perhaps she had gone a little too overboard, she mused.
"I take it that that woman was Sesshoumaru's lover?" he asked gently. She nodded. "I heard rumors that he found himself a lover, but I never thought that they were actually true."
"He is a bastard," she said as she wiped away her tears with her hands.
"Well, yes, sometimes he can be," Toshimaru agreed. "Is there anything I can do for you, Lady Helen?"
Helen looked at him and gave him a small smile. "Yeah, first call me 'Helen' second, could you please take me to the Bone Eater's Well?"
Toshimaru looked puzzled. "Bone Eater's Well?"
She gave him a small smile. "You'll see."
XoXoXo
Takeida had never felt so enraged with her son like she was now. As soon as the guests had gone back to the ballroom she had taken her son and his lover aside. Shinuske was looking at the pair with a cold expression in her eyes.
Takeida walked over to Kagura, who cringed as if the demoness had brandished a whip at her. "So this is the woman whom you are so proud of?" she asked. Sesshoumaru didn't answer. "And you"-she looked sharply at Kagura, who winced-"how dare you impersonate royalty? You do not even have a soul…Leave before I kill you."
Kagura bowed hastily and left. With Kagura gone, Takeida turned her attention to her son. "How could you, Sesshoumaru?" she said in a low dangerous voice. "I have never expected this sort of behavior from you…" Her voice trailed off.
"You should not have said those things to Kagura," Sesshoumaru suddenly said. Takeida glared at her son; he had never talked back to her before, particularly not in the disrespectful tone he was using.
Enraged, the inu demoness backhanded her son. Sesshoumaru's eyes widened while Shinsuke said, "Takeida!"
"Apologize to her Sesshoumaru." Takeida used the same deadly tone she used when she was about to kill. Her son glared at her. "No."
"You are just like your father," she snapped. "Taking two mates. Izayoi cost him his life."
"Unlike Chichiue you have thrown Helen on me." Sesshoumaru, too, was using the same deadly tone that he used when he felt blood thirsty.
"You are so unlike Toshimaru," Takeida said. "At least he had the decency to accompany the poor girl! Ssshoumaru…If you refuse to apologize…I shall…"
"You shall what?" Sesshoumaru's tone hinted a challenge.
His mother glared at him. "I shall take back the throne…and relinquish it to Toshimaru!"
Shock clearly registered on Sesshoumaru's face. It was bad enough that his mother would take his position of power away from him, it was even worse that she was going to give it to Toshimaru. And if there was one thing the youkai lord knew, it was the fact that he valued power more than he valued his relationship with Kagura.
"Fine," he snarled grudgingly. "I shall apologize to her."
Takeida's expression seemed to soften a little as she escorted Lady Shinsuke out of the palace to return to Eastern Lands.
XoXoXo
"You live down there?" Toshimaru sounded skeptical as he and Helen approached the well.
"Of course not…It's more of a link from here to the Modern Era," Helen explained. She stared down at the well's dark depths.
"One question," Toshimaru said. Helen turned to him. "Why is it that you go back down there and not back to the Eastern Lands?"
"Well…" the young violinist began. "I haven't really quite gotten used to living here."
He smiled at her. "I hope you start getting used to it…I shall see you again, I hope."
She nodded. He took her hand into his and kissed it. Helen blushed as he let go of her hand. He bowed low to her and walked out of the forest. Helen sighed and jumped down the well.
Unknown to her, Sesshoumaru had been watching from behind a tree. His eyes were narrowed at the well. So Toshimaru is attracted to her, he thought savagely. He seemed bothered by that. He told himself it only because his reputation would be soiled if people found out that his would be mate had taken a liking to his cousin instead of him.
Scowling, Sesshoumaru walked back into the darkness of the forest.
XoXoXo
"He was so…dashing!" Kagome watched her cousin fall onto her bed. Kagome had been shocked to learn that Kagura had impersonated Helen…She was even more shocked when Helen announced that Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha had a cousin who, according to Helen, was quite the dashing debonair.
Kagome nodded. "He seems nice…But what Kagura and Sesshoumaru did! You say you slapped that witch?"
Helen nodded. "Served her right," Kagome scoffed. "Anyway, what are you going to do now?"
Helen shrugged. "I dunno." She hugged a pillow. "I don't wannna go back…I'd have to face Sesshoumaru again…"
Kagome narrowed her eyes at her cousin. "do you like him by any chance?"
Helen shook her head. "I like Toshimaru, did you know he's read Helen of Troy?"
Kagome's eyes widened. "Whoa."
"He said I deserved my namesake."
Kagome smiled at Helen. "So you're never going back?"
"No… When the exchange program's over, I'm going back to the States."
XoXoXo
Done and done!!!
Review please!!