A/N: 'ELLO CAPTAIN PLANET! WHAT?! YOU HAVE RABIES?! YOU INFECTED ME?! NOOOO!!!
TODAY'S MY BIRTHDAY! I'M GETTING MY PERMITY TOMORROW! WOOT!
Anyway...
Wow, I got wonderful reviews last chapter! THANKS A LOT GUYS! IT MADE MY DAY/WEEK/BIRTHDAY! Keep it up!
Disclaimer: I don't own Winnie the Pooh, or any of the Inu people. I own my dog. And the Tablecloth of Destruction is credited towards DX Fan! THANKS FOR YOUR GREAT IDEA!
WARNING! Events in this chappie may...um...anger some of you animal lovers out there. But trust me, every one has a happy ending because I'm a sappy, corny person at heart! Despite my psychotic weirdness and sadistic streaks...
PuppiesAreAdorable: I have to get back to you on your review! Geez, this week has been so hectic for me I have like no time to do anything! So, if you want, you can continue the role play and I'll get back on track after today! I gotta go watch me a movie about a baby being possessed by its mother's dead husband's spirit... O.O
Enjoy the chappie!
Oh My Gods! 26
Rin was in love with Winnie the Pooh...so much that she wanted to marry him.
Pooh bear, Winnie the Pooh bear...
It was her favorite song... She decided she was going to visit to Pooh Land and kidnap the object of her affections--all she required was a jar of honey and rope. Yeah...she'd kick Sesshoumaru off their bed and let Winnie the Pooh sleep with her...
She'd be warm all night long...
This is what a half-awake Rin was pondering on an early Monday morning: abducting Winnie the Pooh. Her obsession with the bear ran deep; she had pillow shams of him, pajamas, slippers, plates, shirts, underwear... Pooh Bear had been her savior in the orphanage, the one thing she looked forward to everyday--she used to wake up extra early to watch the show.
She smiled at the thought of kidnapping him, as though he was actually real.
Heheheh...
In her foggy mind, they were frolicking in a garden of honey, about to be married...um, forced into marriage on the bear's part. Ah, their children were going to be adorable...
...and then she'd eat them.
Well, her Pooh Bears solely ate honey, so shouldn't they taste like it, too?
Rin's lips curved into a satisfied smile. "Mmm...Pooh Boor...our kids taste like honey..."
"I hope eating children isn't a secret fantasy of yours."
Her cinnamon eyes popped open, and she groaned in annoyance, desperately wishing for her fiancé to disappear and allow her five more minutes of sleep...or dazing about eating her and Winnie the Pooh's children. Either was fine with her.
"Sessh...go back to sleep..." Rin yawned and curled under the warm comforter covering he torso, yet growled once it was snatched away. She glared at the damnably sexy dog demon decked in dark blue satin sleeping pants standing beside their bed, comforter in hand. "Give. It. Back."
She made sure to enunciate each word clearly incase his pea-sized brain failed to register her annoyance.
Though, he shook his head defiantly. What a merciless, sexy bastard! "You have to get to class. Besides, you shouldn't be angry on your birthday."
"Then don't make me angry!" Right! Today was her birthday--she was finally eighteen! Wonderful...her day of celebration was on a school day...gods, she wanted to sleep!
"Get up," Sesshoumaru firmly stated, leaving no room for argument. His fiancée had no other choice but to comply, even though she first grumbled about what an ass he was.
He was right, however; she only had an hour to get ready for her first class of the day, as much as she would love to skip it and stay in bed. The dark-haired teen sighed and slowly sat up on her queen-sized bed, groggily rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. It was then that a solid object wrapped comfortably around one of her fingers nearly scratched her eyes out.
Rin furrowed her eyebrows in confusion--she didn't sleep with jewelry on, especially not rings. Hmph, did she even own a ring? "What the heck...?" She stared at her left ring finger, and her mind went blank.
An engagement ring materialized out of nowhere onto her finger...
It was a finely crafted piece of jewelry, without a doubt. A classic round diamond sat in the center of two princess-cut sapphire gems on a simple platinum silver band. Rin couldn't keep her eyes off of the attractive ring on her finger, but shifted her gaze to lie on her fiancé, who took a seat beside her on their bed. He seemed aloof as always.
"Sesshoumaru..." Rin was breathless with restrained joy. The fact that he even thought about her to purchase...dear lords! "Did you...was it you?" Who else would it be?! Of course it was him! But her brain refused to process anything!
"Would you care to elaborate?" His golden honey eyes remained glued to the 'engrossing' business magazine he was now intently reading. "Hn...the stock market crashed again and Riyo Explosives went bankrupt. Interesting..."
"R-Ring...on finger...you..." Her hands were trembling in excitement! She needed a yes or no answer from him now, dammit! Oh my gods, oh my gods, oh my gods--OH MY GODS!
She was seconds away from morphing into a psycho fan girl!
"Oh, that?" The demon god finally glanced at the glittering object, momentarily admitting that it was so brilliant it should be considered holy. He merely shrugged it off, however, acting as though he barely cared. "It certainly wasn't me. Winnie the Pooh probably did it."
Had she been talking in her sleep again...? Crap! Rin wished her dreams weren't so weird. "Stop playing around!" He was taking this all too lightly! "Why...?" She had never asked for a ring, not even hinted towards it...and suddenly, it popped out of thin air!
Sesshoumaru shrugged once more. "Now people know you're mine." Figured it would be due to his possessive canine nature. "Happy birthday." At least he was kind enough to mutter it. He wasn't singing the song, though.
"Aren't you supposed to propose?"
"...no."
"Why not?"
"Proposing means you have a choice. You will marry me. Period."
Geez, can someone say control freak? "So...we're getting married?"
"Weren't we to begin with?"
"This is serious, Sessh--I have a ring on my finger." She snatched his magazine out of his hands, grabbing his full attention. "Maybe to you it means nothing, but to me it means everything."
"Hn." He made barely decipherable sounds when he didn't know how to respond, apparently.
"Before I can accept this, I have to know your intentions."
Rin refused to wear this supremely gorgeous ring if it only meant her fiancé possessed a large amount of money. She couldn't bear wearing it if he merely bought it to outshine the one his younger brother presented to his fiancée on her birthday, too--the two demon gods were extremely competitive by nature.
Sure, he already clarified that he had no intention of divorcing her soon after their marriage...
But...
...was he alas taking into consideration her human heritage? Was this a sign that he was finally accepting her as a weak mortal woman not nearly as eloquent and skilled as a demoness? Engagement and wedding rings were mortal customs, after all.
Or perhaps Rin was reading his actions incorrectly. At least Kagome knows Inuyasha cares about her and vice versa. At least she knows their future together isn't as bleak as a lifeless forest. So when Inuyasha gave her a ring symbolizing their engagement, she accepted it without doubting his feelings. Sesshoumaru is another story.
Sesshoumaru sighed and faced his expectant fiancée, having anticipated her inquiries before she voiced them. Today should be marked in history as his day of personal confessions and sounding totally unlike his normal, proud self.
Yup, his overbearing inner demon was on vacation for the holidays...
That is the only reason why I'm doing this, the dog demon mentally amended. Either that, or his inner demon met its soul mate and felt it trivial to intervene any longer. Hm...
He stared into her glittering cinnamon eyes, which failed to restrain her hope and barely contained anxiety. Mistakes weren't a part of Sesshoumaru and he wasn't about to make one now. He was always one to seize what he desired... Hell, he knew what he desired at the moment and for the rest of his life...
"Rin," he began, his voice deepening an octave unintentionally, though it made Rin shiver in delight, "you're already bound to me in every single way except carnally. All that is left is actualizing the ceremony, which I will initiate after our wedding."
"What ceremony?" Sesshoumaru ignored her questioning gaze; he wasn't explaining. "Fine, leave me hanging. But you are aware I aspire to be a mother as much as the next girl does, right?"
"Of course."
"Hellooo--anybody home? That means I want kids!"
"And I understand." He believed he made it clear with his former statements, sheesh.
Rin snorted and crossed her arms. "Are you sure about that?"
"Positive."
"Then we won't be married for long. I'd say...five years or less." And she used her fingers to do the math so it wasn't wrong! Yay for kindergarten addition!
"...?" He quirked an eyebrow in response. What was she trying to say?
"Poor Fluffy-kun," Rin sighed in dismay, shaking her head when he alas didn't comprehend her meaning. "Obviously I can't have my seven billion kids with you."
Ah, that was what she meant! "Sure you can't--you'll eat them. And I can't afford seven billion pups. At least settle for a million." Gods, he'd have to sell his kingdom! Not only that, but who would babysit them when he wanted 'alone time' with Rin?!
"I'm serious! Human plus demon equals hanyou. It's a simple equation!" The demon god never ceased to assert his loathing for half-breeds--how could he not recall that?!
'Listen, half-breed--my heirs will be immortal purebloods. Don't forget that.' And she never forgot what he icily declared to Inuyasha a few months ago...
Apparently, Sesshoumaru was thinking along the same lines and growled low in his throat. While mentally berating humans and their damn emotions--and how Rin made him feel guilty all the time--the dog demon reached across the bed only to carry the rather guarded teen into his lap.
She remained indifferent as he wrapped his arms around her waist, her back to his bare, chiseled chest, yet lost her composure once his lips settled in the crook of her neck, pressing lightly into her sensitive flesh.
The teen bit her lip. This reminds me of the morning after we met, when he was kissing my neck in his sleep. Mmm...it stills feels good...
Hmph, and just like last time, once he nipped her neck ever so lightly with his fangs, it reeled her nerves and hurled them on a pleasurable high. Any and every muscle in her body relaxed and ceased to move as she leaned on him, enjoying his ministrations, though not understanding why he was assaulting her neck in the first place.
But it felt really, really good! Sooo damn good...gods, she couldn't wait until their honeymoon!
And it was an exact repeat of that fateful morning seeming like ages prior!
"Rin..." Sesshoumaru's lips were millimeters away from her ear, caressing it with his warm, tingling breath while he spoke in a husky whisper, "you felt it, didn't you?"
Was he referring to how merely a brief nip at her 'sensitive spot' rendered her speechless and immobile, or how her emotions--including pleasure--heightened and became more in tune with his body? Or how she felt like they were wrapped tightly in a coil allowing them to connect mentally, physically, and spiritually?
In that brief relapse, it was as though they ceased to be two separate entities and joined together as one. It sounded terribly corny, but it was true!
She couldn't...it was...he...indescribable...
Her world shifted back and forth in only one second...
The dog demon took her silence as a plea to explain her transcendental feelings. "It's our bond, my Rin," oh yes, his and only his, "our Bond of Mates." It had always been in tact; in his sleep a few months back, his instincts and inner demon noticed it.
Denial had kept him from contemplating the matter...until he realized...
"As long as you are their mother, our pups will be nothing less than perfect in my eyes."
...Rin was meant to be claim by him and no one else, though not because of his possessive nature.
But because...he desired her--mind, body, and soul--just as much.
Rin wanted to cry. She wanted to cry out to the world her happiness, but she was in too much shock to move a single muscle. Gods! Sesshoumaru was probably taking some drugs behind her back and was currently zoned out--but did she care?! No!
He just...he just admitted something very important...
...implied what she deemed impossible...
"Well," her lips curved into a beaming grin as she lightened their intense moment with her jovial tone of voice, "I'm gonna have to tell my pimp I'm someone else's ho. But, Sessh, if you ever decide to cancel our engagement, I'm still keeping the ring!"
There was no way it was coming off her finger now! She'd glue it on if she had to!
"I bought it for you, anyway. It's yours, unless you want me to wear it for you." And he would, too. "Oh, and please inform your 'pimp' that you are now my ho; but he has great replacements--my poison claws."
"Hell no! I need ma money, Fluff-dawg!" Rin grinned and turned in his firm hold, wounding her arms around his neck as she hugged the life from him. "Fluffy-kun, you do care!"
Why had she taken to calling him Fluffy-kun?! "I have a sneaking suspicion that Winnie the Pooh is your pimp... You truly are insane--he charges less than I do an hour." It was all business to him...
Rin laughed. "I am sane!" He raised an eyebrow at her incredulously. "Ok, maybe just a little. And if you kill Winnie the Pooh, I will make sure Lil' Fluffy can't give me any 'pups'." Her fiancé gulped. "Anyway... Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you--thank you!!!"
Sesshoumaru barely knew why giving her a much needed engagement ring was such a big deal--or his uncharacteristic admittance--but he accepted her excitement, nonetheless. He could learn to live with Rin's unnerving bouts of happiness.
Hn...perhaps shopping with Inuyasha and that boy, Souta, a month ago hadn't all been a waste of my time... And then Rin showed him how thankful she was by planting her lips on his, delighting his senses with her sweet taste and tantalizing vanilla and lily scent.
He growled in protest when she pulled away and jumped off their bed, most likely to prattle to Kagome about their identical rings and definite futures. Those two were inseparable lately... Note to self: go shopping for Rin more often.
It kept her happy and, most importantly, away from him...
"This is fucking insane!"
"Kouga, please--"
"NO! I'm sick and tired of this shit! TIRED OF IT!!"
He was having a mental breakdown--literally. His veins threatened to pop and his claws itched to tear into his face and rip his eyes out. Hell, he felt like shredding those uncaring assholes to bits! How dare they tell him to calm down!
At this point, he was going to rip his hair from his goddamn skull! Gah, he wanted to make himself and anyone around him bleed!
If he wasn't going crazy, then what the fuck was happening to him, dammit?!
No...he was on the edge of a killing field...
Bloodlust consumed him... It was either kill someone...or kill himself.
Ayame gazed at the raving wolf demon in deep concern and empathy. She knew what he was going through--she'd be lying if she didn't feel the same way. Kouga ceased to listen to anyone, however: not her, Miroku, or Sango. He needed to reason with himself, she supposed.
His frustration and anger had led to these frightening turn of events. He was to be handled with caution...or he'd lose all self-control and drag any one of them to hell with him.
Miroku sighed, his handsome face withholding an uncharacteristic grim expression. His dark blue eyes followed the furiously pacing wolf prince in front of him, savagely growling at an unknown enemy. Sango sat beside him on their apartment's living room loveseat, indifferent to the pain revolving around them every minute of their lives.
Their future was bleak...
...but the ones living in the dorm across from them had the bleakest.
"Kouga," the ex-monk carefully said, his voice as deadpan as his expression, "you agreed to it when the opportunity was presented. You consented without any qualms."
"Damn you, monk!" The demon god shouted, turning to him with crazed azure blue eyes. He viciously growled as he restrained himself from strangling his 'friend'. "I know what I fucking did and I regret it! This life is hell! It. Is. HEEELL!!!"
"Look, my love," Ayame was next to take a shot at assuaging his blazing fury, "you're not the only one suffering. We all are! But you can't torture yourself--"
"No, you're all torturing ME!!!" BAM! Kouga glared at the damn coffee table he had kicked, wishing it would burst into flames and swallow him whole. "How can you all sit there and do nothing while the whole world is crumbling right as we speak?! We can be doing something to prevent all the shit that's going to happen but we're fucking not!"
"They told us not to, Kouga, remember? Or were you too busy ranting and raving like a terrified little wolf to have paid attention?" Sango's darkened eyes revealed her exasperation with his tirade. They narrowed when he furiously reeled at her.
"Now you listen to me you fucking deceiving bitch--"
"Don't overstep your boundaries, wolf, or you and I will have serious problems." Miroku steadily glared at the wolf demon, daring him to continue babbling nonsense. "The past repeats itself. Their fate was already chosen, and they could do nothing more than assent. The only one in denial is you."
The wolf demon threw his hands into the air. "Fuck the past! Fuck fate! I am Kouga! I am the Prince of Enma! I am a rank eight demon god! I have all the power in the world, and I'm not going to sit here like you people and watch them suffer again!"
"Kouga, don't even think about it!" Ayame cursed his stubbornness, his arrogance, his--argh! Curse him all together! "Stop being so self-centered! Do you think I want to live knowing what's going to happen to my closest friends? No! But what can I do about it?!"
"First of all, we can stop acting as though we have no memory of what happened and--"
Ayame stood up in a rage. "And do what?! Tell them that we already survived the events of the future?! Tell them that becoming a king also means to die?! Tell them that the only reason they're alive is to suffer, suffer, and suffer a-fucking-gain! Hold yourself together, dammit, and think for once!"
Kouga heavily panted, staring at the emerald-eyed demoness contemptuously. Yet, he refrained from commenting again and began to pace around the living room once more. He raked a trembling hand through his sable bangs and took a deep breath, settling his raging emotions. It was an impossible feat, however.
It would take a lifetime for him to calm down.
"Rin's eighteenth birthday was yesterday. Everyone is now the age they are supposed to be for the highly anticipated 'time' to come." Sango broke the tense silence that had enveloped the room with a collected and steady voice, and she levelly stared at Kouga. "I need to know if I can trust you to keep your end of the deal."
Hmph, the deal. The oath he swore to a hanyou prior to the end--or new beginning--of his life. He regretted ever uttering words of acquiescence. He should've denied their friendship and chosen to have his memory erased. But, dammit, he hadn't.
And now he was stuck five years in the past.
He should be twenty-three years old. But he was only eighteen.
Again.
"We were so happy..." Kouga said, sounding as though he was speaking to himself and not his three dorm mates, "...and then that goddamn bastard had to ruin everything. I don't understand him. I never will."
"King InuTaishou's older brother is an arcane demon god," Miroku sighed, leaning his head back on a burgundy pillow. "I agree that he set this cruel cycle in motion, using his sons as mere chess pieces in his game of life. Vengeance is an intoxicant to him--he will never get enough of it."
"If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have to deal with Naraku--twice." Ayame crossed her arms, glaring at the beige carpeted floor. "Hell, if it wasn't for him, InuTaishou and Izayoi wouldn't be dead."
Sango nodded. "Yet, we are here in his stead to ensure the protection of his sons and their mates. You guys, they need us--they're vulnerable in their current states! They know nothing of who they really are and what they are truly capable of! We can't afford to lose our minds and abandon them." She glanced specifically at Kouga.
"Which is why we must focus on the present--not the past or future," her boyfriend added while briefly shutting his eyes. "Assuming that Meimori is unknowingly executing his father's wishes and reviving Naraku as we speak, the days left are limited until we reach the next step to the time Lady Izayoi foresaw."
Kouga scoffed. "What do we have to face now? I might as well know so that I can practice my act in front of the others." Yup, his charade of an oblivious, arrogant wolf demon pining for a certain raven-haired miko obviously belonging to a certain hanyou.
Acting was tough, especially when he was forbidden to speak of impending events.
"If Miroku and I are correct," Sango began, facing her friends with grim eyes, "then Yuka is currently planning ways to prove Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha's immortal identities. Things start to go downhill from there. "
Ayame smiled wryly. "Yup, and now we're going to need a new coffee table."
-XxX-
Inuyasha glared at his self-satisfied fiancée, crossing his arms and twitching his ears in annoyance. She walked in front of him with an overly chipper smile adorning her face; though, he'd rather believe it was a result of her cryptic sadism. Damn her! The last thing he wanted to do was take a stroll in the fucking city filled with shit-smelling cars and a damn crowd of people following him wherever he went!
But nooo, the wench couldn't stand to be alone! She had to drag him out of bed and force him to accompany her, as though it was his undying wish to walk in busy Tokyo streets! They could've borrowed his bastard brother's car--it took him a while, but he attained a driver's license--yet, of course, the wench just had to feel like walking today.
Grr!
"You know, if you keep glaring at me like that, I'm not paying for your lunch."
The hanyou snorted, glowering at the human teen tilting her head back at him. He was still content with treading behind her instead of next to her. "Keh! Why the hell did you have to drag me along?! I'm hungry, I'm tired, and most of all, my nose is gonna explode!"
Millions of distinct smells were bombarding his senses at the same time, dammit! The wench couldn't empathize because she didn't have his sensitive canine nose!
"Come on, like you don't have any Christmas shopping to do." Kagome shook her head, smiling to herself. Her irritated fiancé rolled his eyes, though she dismissed it. Oh well, he was the one being tortured, not the other way around!
"I don't know why we even celebrate this 'Christmas' crap."
"I dunno, either. It's an American holiday that most Japanese adapted--we give presents, set up Christmas trees, decorate houses, and other stuff." The miko shrugged. "I'm glad that we have a two-week vacation because of this. No other school in Japan can claim to have Christmas vacation."
"Yeah, pretty much." Even Inuyasha had to consent. Two weeks of no classes were two weeks of no homework! Well...then there was his literature project...whatever.
"Oh my gods--look! There's a sale in Harajuku! What?! Seventy-five percent off on hoodies?! Hurry, Inuyasha--that green hoodie is mine! AH! That hussy with the miniskirt better not touch it or I'll purify her ass!" Since her hanyou wasn't moving fast enough for her tastes, the miko ended up grasping his hand and forcing him into a fast jog alongside of her.
All the while, Inuyasha stared at their linked hands. He knew she only did it to make him run with her, but... The feel of her warm, slender fingers intertwined in his...just thinking about it caused his inner demon to hum in content as a blush rose in his cheeks. It was the first time they held hands like this...he didn't mind doing it more often, actually...
And the best thing was, Kagome never let go, even after reaching the store.
The rest of their shopping trip was mostly uneventful. After she purchased her green hoodie--the 'hussy' watched it disappear right before her eyes--Kagome hauled Inuyasha into various stores not of his liking, fussing over clothes at fifty-percent-off and similar sales.
He wasn't sure what he was supposed to be doing; should he purchase presents for his friends?
Hmm...
In the end, he chose to copy his fiancée, if only not to feel left out. First he shopped for Rin; she was currently obsessed with Winnie the Pooh, so she wasn't hard to shop for. Next...um...he'd get back at Miroku for giving him a freakin Kama Sutra book on his birthday! The nerve of him!
Inuyasha's face had been permanently red after he read the first two pages of the book...yes, his curious mind forced him to read an extra page...
But he still didn't know what to get for Sango. And Sesshoumaru was the hardest--what the hell did that bastard like, anyway?! Well...both Sango and Sesshoumaru adored coffee...perhaps they'd each enjoy a coffee maker?
It allowed them to have espresso coffee whenever they pined for it...hmph, now they wouldn't be so cranky.
So that left Mrs. Higurashi, Souta, and...Kagome's grandfather had gotten him a present--some weird, ancient relic he took one whiff of and handed to Buyo--so he had to return the favor. For 'Mom', he purchased a lovely--and expensive, dammit--wind chime for her house, and Gramps would love it if he attained a pair of sacred prayer beads from the immortal realm...
...but what should he get Souta?
"Hey wench, what sort of stuff does your brother like?"
Kagome blinked and glanced at her fiancé, who suddenly decided to walk beside her from their latest store-hopping adventure. He stared back at her with big, inquisitive golden amber eyes, and she stifled a giggle. Inuyasha had the cutest expressions ever! He was her life-size puppy!
"Hmm...Souta loves Dragon Ball Z, but he probably has everything involving it, so I wouldn't recommend that category." Actually, shopping for Souta was not very easy. "Now that I think about it, I don't really know. I'm just getting him a gift card for a video game store he likes."
"Are you sure there's nothing else? Anything at all?" Inuyasha was skeptical of 'gift cards'. How the hell could someone enjoy being given a piece of plastic?!
"Souta is obsessed with animals. I think he's aiming for a puppy this year; he says Buyo needs a companion to get him off his lazy butt." Kagome shrugged, glancing at the numerous bags she held in her hands. "Maybe we should head back--my fingers are becoming numb."
"Keh! 'Bout time!" A puppy, huh? The hanyou mulled over this new fact. Souta loved animals--no wonder he admired his 'dog brother' so much. But where can I find a puppy?
Hmm...Christmas was in a few days...there was still time for him to ponder it.
The couple trekked towards their boarding school, fleetingly cursing themselves for not acquiring a car and making the trip easier. What possessed Kagome to suggest walking to and from school?! At this point, she might call Sesshoumaru to come pick them up--Rin would force him if necessary.
The idea was very enticing, especially since they only just arrived at the forest bordering the city and Imei Academy--it was still another fifteen or twenty minutes until they reached the school. The miko seriously felt like collapsing, and she was about to stop and whip out her cell phone until she noticed the absence of her fiancé.
She blinked and spun around, only to see him standing before the entryway of an alley some few feet back, gazing at something with a blank expression on his face. If she didn't know any better, she'd say he was witnessing an atrocious deed--his pale face and lax hands proved her theory.
And it was then that she felt it. Gods, it clenched her heart...paralyzed her muscles, hitched her breathing... She felt like she was being strangled! It was a horrible, dark feeling, yet so entangling and powerful...it was a finely spun web that clung to her and would not let go no matter how much she pleaded.
She hated it...she wanted it to go away! Why wouldn't it go away?! W-What...what kind of monstrous thing was it?! A feeling so bleak and lonely...incapable of compassion and devoid of kindness... It left her weak in the knees with an aching heart and soul as well as a spinning mind.
For a second, Kagome felt lower than scum.
She felt like...she felt like she didn't deserve to be on this world...to have ever been born...but she knew it wasn't her own feeling. No, this detested and petrifying sentiment was not hers to bear. It was originally someone else's...
A lump soon settled in her throat and threatened to suffocate her as her chocolate eyes widened, her hands drifting to her chest only to fist into the soft fabric of her lilac sweater. Now she understood perfectly... Perhaps it came to her through her Bond of Mates, but its origin hardly mattered...not when he...dear lord...
What was she feeling?
"I-Inu...Inuyasha..."
All Kagome knew...was that her hanyou was suffering...
...and it was killing him inside.
He couldn't understand what he was seeing right before his eyes. The image was not correctly perceived by his brain, and his body was therefore in complete shock. His shopping bags laid entirely forgotten at his side while his surroundings faded into a dark nothingness, laden with voices mocking him...excruciating pain igniting his nerves...
And the tears that washed away the grime on his pudgy cheeks...
"Stupid half-breed! Did you think just 'cause you're a prince you can get away from us?! Idiot! You're not like anyone else--you can never fit in! Why? 'Cause you're a freak!"
A five-year old Inuyasha wanted it to all stop--the hatred, the pain, the taunts. Gods, why wouldn't it stop?! The group of three human boys barely listened to his protests, and he wouldn't dare physically defend himself in fear of hurting them. The last thing he needed was for their parents to beat him as well.
Blood dribbled from his chin and seeped onto his red haori as he tried to lift himself on all fours and crawl away from his torture. His dull amber eyes refused to focus on a single object, and his haggard body protested so much it was unable to move. A sharp kick to his ribs ended his attempt at a sweet escape.
"M-Mom...Mommy...he-help..."
"Come on, Matsuro! Throw harder! Don't let the mutt get up and run away! It's filthy!"
"Eww! It really needs a bath! We're doing the world a favor!"
"Ha! The thing never should have been born--what a waste of life!"
Inuyasha couldn't force his horrid memories away, not with this brutal scene. A group of three boys no older than nine were... For fuck's sake, they were mercilessly throwing sharp stones at a pup! The puppy couldn't have been alive for more than seven weeks! It was helpless!
Its solid white fur was coated in muck and its eyes were clenched shut as it whined and yipped in pain. He understood the poor thing; being a dog demon he comprehended the speech of most dogs.
The pup was whimpering for her mother.
Gods...the puppy, a female Akita Inu mix breed, was unable to walk...it couldn't even see! Her jaw was too small...fighting back was not an option... She could only whimper for a lost comfort far from her grasp...
How could those brats...? They had no respect for life!
A bloodcurdling growl emanated from within his chest, even though his perk, bristling ears hardly registered the feral sounds. All he knew...all he could see...was a bunch idiot kids punishing a half-breed for his mixed heritage.
All he could see was himself lying in a pool of his own blood...
...just for being born a hanyou.
"You never should have been born! My Papa said that wretch Izayoi is gonna die one day because of you! I hate you!"
"If it wasn't for you, this kingdom wouldn't be so worthless! Who wants a half-breed as a king, anyway?!"
"Hmph! I wish you would die right here and now! But we're gonna make sure you never walk again, mutt!"
"Please..." The hapless hanyou coughed up blood a couple of times, taking the chance to inhale precious air in between blows to his abdomen and face. "Stop!"
He hated how weak he sounded, how useless he was. Sesshoumaru was right--he was pitiful. But he was young--didn't that count? He still believed that someday he would find at least one person who showed him unconditional compassion. He still believed that he was worth loving.
Yet...when was the day approaching? How much longer would he have to wait?
His head was pounding and by now he was covered in blood. Thoughts were far from coherent in his head and rushed through mind at alarming rates--the world was spinning right in front of him.
Once again he needed to be saved. Once again he refused to save himself.
Was it wrong to want to protect others before himself? His claws...he never wished to tear them through flesh--mortal or immortal, human or demon. Kindness resided in his heart...but it was gradually dying, killing him inside. It burned him from the inside out, and hope heaved from his stomach once a foot collided with his gut.
"Ew! He puked!"
"Gross! It almost got on my hakama!"
"What a disgusting animal!"
This...was what kindness and love gave him.
Pain.
"Please stop..." He was silently whimpering for his mother like a broken, preyed-upon pup that had wandered from his pack, curling into a ball to prevent further blows from landing on him. "Just stop..." He willed them away, urged his father or brother to come save him, but it was futile.
This was what a hanyou deserved, he supposed.
"M-Mommy..." He wished his head was currently on her lap as she brushed strands of silvery white hair from his face...singing softly to him...telling him she loved him with every ounce of her soul...
Though it was only a wish.
"Make it stop..."
Wishes never came true.
"P-Please...sto-stop..."
Because no one listened to him.
"Stop!"
Not like they ever did.
"STOP!"
The three boys immediately gasped in response to the furious bellow they heard behind then, and snapped their heads towards the source. A hanyou with a powerful aura stood at the entrance of the alley, his eyes covered by his unruly silver bangs, his lean body tense as he viciously growled. The boys gulped and stepped away from the mangled puppy lying prone on the cemented ground, dropping their rocks and raising their hands into the air in submission.
Inuyasha hated the innocent looks on their faces. He absolutely hated it! Why were children so...so...argh! He didn't have a word for it! Nothing could describe the horror he had lived and seen!
Were people so simple minded to allow this to occur? Did mortals not discipline their little brats?! They were a danger to society!
Who the fuck would be so cruel to beat a helpless puppy because it was a mutt?!
Fuck these nine-year olds--they should all burn in hell! There was no excuse for such an atrocity!
"You..." His voice came out in a deep, bestial growl, making the boys flinch in terror. His eyes were still shielded by his bangs, but if they weren't, any one would recoil at the pools of blood red that would instantly devour them. "How dare you..."
The urge to sink his claws into flesh was overwhelming, but he couldn't lay a hand on these fools. Argh! What was he supposed to do to relieve the agony enveloping his heart?! The hanyou flexed his claws in warning and as a way to settle his growing bloodlust...anger was slowly consuming him...
...anger and hatred that had gradually amounted since his childhood...
And he could barely suppress it.
A/N: END!
