A/N: Well, I did promise this chappie, so here it is! Ow, my tooth hurts so I won't rant too much! I want to go to sleep...New Year's took a lot out of me...
HAPPY NEW YEAR! WOOT!
ACK! STUPID ZUNE! Did anyone's 30 GB Zune die on New Year's Eve? It was so freaky! I woke up at four in the morning and saw it own with it frozen on the loading screen--I thought my house was haunted!
STUPID MICROSOFT! I COULDN'T USE MY ZUNE FOR AN ENTIRE DAY!!!
Oh well! I had to resort to a CD player, as much as it sucked...but my Zune is reborn! MUAHAHAHA!!!
Um...I guess half of this chappie is dedicated to fangremtom2! Half of your ideas are in this chapter, and the rest will be in the next! :-D
And i forgot something! CHAPPIE EIGHTEEN IS ALSO DEDICATED TO PuppiesAreAdorable BECAUSE SHE GAVE ME THE ICE CREAM SCENE IDEA A VERY LONG TIME AGO!
Enjoy the chappie!
Oh My Gods! 32
"Please, m'lord! Have mercy! King InuTaishou told me to do it!"
CRASH!
"I-I'm SORRY!"
BOOM!
"No...not the table...please not the table...NOOO!!!"
BANG! THUD!
"Perfect a-aim...Lord S-Sesshou...maru..."
Rin wondered if the sounds she was hearing from out in the living room were supposed to be a normal occurrence. Was it everyday that her fiancé threw tables at people? Perhaps. Not like she remembered anything...
...she felt like she was hangover.
"Maybe I sleepwalked into a night club," the cinnamon-eyed teen yawned, slowly climbing out of bed. Immediately her head threatened to burst in reaction to the congestion of her sinuses. "Great, I'm still sick." She sighed in dismay. "At least it's the weekend and I don't sound funny."
Heheh...the last thing she wanted was for Inuyasha to keep complaining about her nasal voice.
Anyway...
Rin gradually made her way out into the hall only to meet with utter chaos. A typhoon completely demolished the living room! Well, she hoped it was a typhoon because if it was Sesshoumaru...
He's one dead doggy.
Shards of dinner plates littered the floor, cups were rolling about in freedom, the coffee table was in pieces, stuffing from the couch pillows acted as fluffy white marshmallows topping the entire mess—what the hell happened?! She gaped in disbelief; she must be dreaming this scenario.
Yup, back to bed!
"Lady Rin! You're finally awake—thank goodness!"
It had to be around five in the morning since the sun was barely up yet; therefore, it wasn't Rin's favorite time of day. She was obviously not a morning person, and in her standards, morning came after the sun completely rose...
So, she had a reason for picking up one of her fiancé's business magazines and swatting an annoying flea demon with it. The poor paper-thin retainer slowly floated onto the shredded couch.
"Where's Sesshoumaru?" Because of the claw marks claiming the hunter green couch, she discerned the cause of this mess to be a certain silver-haired immortal. Rin's eyes narrowed in contempt. "I'll torture him very slowly..."
"L-Lord Sesshoumaru is—" Myouga's explanation was cut short when a shriek resonated throughout the apartment. Uh oh... "Well...he is—"
"LADY RIN! CONTROL HIM!!!"
Whoa, a terrified imp just wrapped around her legs! And why was he wet?! Rin glared down at Jaken, who was virtually shaking in fear, and glanced up, though her eyes soon grew wide. Her fiancé had to be more than just cranky to even think about...
Shit, their microwave was in his hands...and it was recently set on high if the steam coming from it was enough proof...
Sesshoumaru was glowing in sadistic euphoria—a malicious smile highlighted his regal face and the glint in his honey eyes matched the smooth, black shine of the microwave he held over his head. It was aimed towards Jaken, but he was hiding behind Rin... Hn, what a devious little toad.
Oh well, he was about to die anyway!
"Please help us, Lady Rin! He's been in murder mode since last night!" Myouga frantically jumped on top of the teen's head, knowing full well that he was safe wherever she was.
"Please please please PLEASE!!! I don't want to explode!" Jaken was on his knees begging for mercy Sesshoumaru wouldn't grant, yet his fiancée might. Depends if she was more shocked than pissed, though...
After a while of processing the sight of the living room in turmoil and her fiancé with a deadly weapon in his hands, Rin sighed and took a step towards him. In the meantime, Myouga and Jaken played it safe right behind her. "Sessh, we can talk about this... Just put the microwave down gently..."
"Jaken must die..." His words sounded like a mantra, as though he repeated the same chant in his head over and over again.
"What did Jaken, your faithful, loyal retainer, ever do to you?" Ugh, she felt like she just spit out sour milk.
Sesshoumaru snarled. "Faithful? Loyal? He lied to me!" He glowered at the imp, who merely cowered in fear and began to pray for a quick, painless death. "And Myouga should die as well because he did the same."
"Err...okay..." Rin didn't know what to do beyond this point—asking him what the imp had lied about would probably make him more homicidal. "Well, I need to use the Microwave of Extermination for my breakfast, so would you kindly put it down?" He lowered his arms. "I meant put it down in the kitchen, duh."
"..."
"Sesshoumaru, I'm warning you. I'm not the happiest person in the world at five in the morning."
"..."
"I know you can do it!"
"...grr..."
"Don't growl at me, Mister Smarty Pants! You're getting ten minutes of time-out!"
"...?"
"What? Geez! I just felt like saying that!"
This was going nowhere. Apparently, Sesshoumaru wasn't budging from his spot inches away from eliminating Jaken from the face of the world. Myouga fled from the trio, sensing danger the moment Rin failed to subdue her berserk fiancé.
Hm...what to do now? She couldn't fathom another way to—
"Hmph, worthless human...can't even control her own mate..."
Rin instantly tensed. Toadman better have not said that! "You know what...I'm hungry. I'll meet you in the kitchen when you're done, Fluffy-kun. Kill him...painfully."
Sesshoumaru smiled while tears flooded Jaken's large yellow eyes. "With pleasure, my lady." And he raised his arms up again...
SLAM!
...but he never brought them down.
Everyone froze in the middle of what they were doing—even Jaken stopped pleading for the mercy of any higher entity. The door to a room just slammed opened, and their suspicions turned out to be correct when a raven-haired miko ran out of the room and into the living room, though she seemingly disregarded its entropic state.
Her blue-black hair resembled a lion's wild mane and her frenzied chocolate eyes were desperately searching around the apartment for someone... No one could mistake the identity of this 'someone'.
"Where is he...?" Kagome mumbled as in a trance. "Where's Inuyasha?" It hardly bothered her that Sesshoumaru was seconds away from smashing a pathetic looking toad demon with their microwave while Rin almost walked away. All that mattered was finding her fiancé.
"Umm..." Rin glanced at her fiancé, who merely glanced back. They both acknowledged the miko's conspicuous worry for the hanyou.
"He went to see the sunrise in the forest nearby. You'll probably find him by the small lake to the north end," the silver-haired dog demon responded, abruptly back into 'cold and serious' mode. He must be bipolar...
Hm...the lake...she had been close to a lake the day she found Inuyasha on her way to her family's shrine home...it was his favorite place for that reason.
Kagome nodded in thanks, but she bolted through the apartment's entrance before anyone could utter a word. She truly was worried because she just ran off in her pajamas without brushing her hair or putting proper shoes on! A pair of slippers were on her feet and nothing else!
Rin didn't know what to think of it. I hope she's not in a panic because Inuyasha is in danger. She shuddered at the thought of adding to their lists of stressful matters.
Now that she thought about it...did she miss something yesterday? She couldn't exactly remember any details, yet she swore she had woken up at some point after she fainted due to Jaken and Myouga confirming the reality—or near reality—of her dream. That reminds me, I have to tell Sesshoumaru about it.
"Die!"
BANG!
"AH-YAH-AH-YAH-AH-YAAAHHHHH!"
"LADY RIIIN!!! JAKEN MIGHT EXPLODE! DUCK AND COVER!!!"
Eh, I'll tell him about it later. And with a small smile, Rin stepped into the kitchen, all the while ignoring the screams of agony coming from the living room.
Wait—someone was screaming?
Hm...she never noticed...
The sun was slowly peeking out from the horizon, and the glowing orb cast out orange, yellow, and red rays across the clear morning sky. Glittering diamond shards covered the serene lake he faced like a warm blanket reflecting the sun. It almost coaxed him to reach out and lift the blanket onto himself.
A smile tugged at his lips.
Nature was rubbing away the remnants of sleep, as well. Small forest animals scurried about, scavenging for food now that the predators of the night retreated. Crystalline dew drops rested on the blades of foliage, moistening his fingers as he glided a hand across a patch of grass beside him.
Inuyasha admitted that he loved nature, and he sorely missed the abundant lands of his homeland—the Western Lands. Ranges of hills and groves of forests were scattered about the region, yet they were all within reach. Here, the only place he could settle peacefully was a diminutive forest incomparable to the ones at home.
He sighed and absentmindedly picked at the grass beneath him. Perhaps life in the mortal realm wasn't for him. The pollution in the air heavily taxed on his tolerance—not to mention his poor nostrils—and how could one live with the noise of the city?!
Even after five months living in Tokyo, he still jumped at the sound of a truck!
Hmph...with the destruction he caused in the city yesterday, he was sure the mortal realm would love to see him leave. A volatile hanyou who constantly lost control of himself didn't belong among millions of people.
A volatile hanyou didn't belong near Kagome...
Inuyasha growled in fury, and pounded his fist against the ground. What was with the pity talk?!
Why was it he who didn't deserve her?! Why couldn't it be the other way around?! Why was it always the goddamn hanyou who was banned from playing with others, who was the laughing stock, who was the beaten whelp, who was—
Gods...if this is what I think of myself, then why the hell am I still alive? Am I fighting for something? My life means nothing! Another fierce growl emanated from within his chest. His golden eyes fleetingly bled red. I have nothing tying me to this life.
His mother and father were dead. His uncle and cousins hated him. His brother was only beginning to tolerate his existence. His brother's fiancée was naturally kind to everyone.
His future kingdom was a bore. His future subjects would never accept him. His power was too much to handle. His current residence would drive him to insanity.
And his fiancée...
...oh, right. He ceased to have one.
Of course, he kept the ring Kagome threw at him yesterday in hopes of returning it to its rightful owner, but... After what occurred, would she even think about stepping near him? Surely she watched him destroy the city she was born in, ruthlessly murdering people, attempting to end the lives of people she knew and loved...
He was a monster.
Monsters were supposed to be hunted and killed.
Stop it already, dammit! What the hell was wrong with him?! This is what happens when my visions come true and I can't stop them from becoming reality.
Inuyasha tried not to hate himself and he tried not to pity himself. It was a means of survival—if he started to pity or hate himself, he would never see another day in his life. Even when he was a young pup and he screamed his frustrations to the world, he still continued as though nothing happened.
So he incited one little argument with Kagome and everything was over for him?
He lost just a little bit of self-control and he immediately wanted to die?
No! He wasn't some kind of pansy! He wasn't a wimp like Hobo!
Surely if he was meant to die, he would be dead. The gods knew he narrowly cheated death in his life thousands of times, and he was half-immortal—he was actually able to die unlike most of his enemies. Inuyasha would be foolish to cast aside his past struggles over something he could and would forget.
The silver-haired hanyou sighed once again and allowed his upper body to fall against the ground. With his long, thick tresses of hair fanned out beneath him, his limbs stretched out on the grass, he gazed up at the sky, searching for answers he might find in its blue-gold depths.
Even now, in his most serene of moments, suppressed energy was sizzling under his skin, brimming with excitement, waiting to be unleashed again. Keh! Not going to happen.
His long lashes teased his cheeks as his eye lids fluttered closed, and Inuyasha then deeply exhaled his troubles.
All he wanted...was peace and quiet.
That was...until a jasmine scent he recognized filtered through his nose...
"Inuyasha!"
Shit! He sat upright in a split second, appearing like a dear caught in headlights. How had Kagome found him?! Great! This was why no one could trust Sesshoumaru with secrets—he either kept them a too well guarded, or immediately spilled his guts!
"Inuyasha!"
She sounded desperate...should he stay and confront her or just leave and find peace elsewhere?
Inuyasha quickly stood from his spot and began to walk away. Why he was walking...he didn't know. Running was an option...even jogging was...and yet, he was walking. Perhaps he inwardly desired Kagome to find him so that she could ease his frustrations.
Perhaps.
"Inuyasha! Wait! Stop!"
He shook his head, knowing that she was running only a handful of meters behind him. For some reason, he couldn't stop and face her. Facing her meant facing what he lost and a purity a hanyou like him would taint.
They were ying and yang; oil and water.
Good and evil shouldn't mix.
"Please stop!"
Just shut up, shut up, shut up... Inuyasha bit his upper lip to keep from exclaiming his frustration and continued onward without looking back. His blood was boiling...the snake from yesterday was restless again... Shut up, Kagome, shut UP!
If she didn't shut up, the snake would burst out of him and wring her neck!
Couldn't she understand that he didn't want to hurt her?! He was in an unstable state—his youki was imbalanced! His entire body was alien to him now! He couldn't fucking reign his immortal power!
Why the fuck couldn't Kagome comprehend it?!
"I-Inu...Inuyasha...ple-please..."
No...don't start crying, Kagome! Don't cry—anything but that! He gripped his head and finally stopped, but whined low in his throat. Inwardly it was like a fierce storm was battling with a determined ship on an uneasy ocean; the tide could turn in either's favor.
Don't cry...because I will kill you for it...and I'll never forgive myself.
The hanyou sensed her tentatively treading closer...stepping slowly towards him... She reached out her hand to touch him...he imagined a smile surrounded by tears on her beautiful face...
He knew she sensed his distress.
He knew she scrambled to relieve it.
"I'm..." No, Kagome! Don't say it! He mentally pleaded with her, but his voice refused to beg the same. Hell, his lips were so numb he was unable to part them. "I'm...sorry..."
He hated pity.
He hated sympathy.
But he detested her apology more...
...because Kagome had nothing to apologize for.
"I'm sorry..." Why was she repeating it? Inuyasha heard a sob catch in her throat, and angrily hoped she choked on it if only to prevent her from speaking again. "I'm so sorry..."
And she tried to touch him this time...to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder...
...but she never saw the moisture gathering in his amber eyes...because he knew he couldn't restrain the furious snake for much longer...
"R-Run..." Inuyasha attempted to warn her, yet it was hopeless. I don't want to hurt you, Kagome...I don't want to kill you. It was too late, however. "Run, Kagome!" I can't fucking control it! I fucking CANT!
Of course she wouldn't understand...of course she'd stubbornly hover around...
"I-Inu—"
He was protecting her...and she was blind to it.
No, Kagome...! "RUUUN!!!"
BOOM!
Meimori left...he's not even in this realm...
Dammit! She was supposed to have gone before him! Then it must've finally occurred—Inuyasha, along with the others, awakened. Of course, this meant nothing good for her, especially with what Meimori planned...
"I have to stop him!" But how?
Kagura paced in her room, constantly growling, constantly biting her lip, constantly mumbling to herself—obviously she was distressed. Here she was living in this goddamn palace Meimori secured for Naraku, doing absolutely nothing but worrying her ass off!
Why the hell was she living with Naraku, anyway?
Because stupid-ass Meimori thought it befitting after his battle with his cousin destroyed her home in the Valley of Sephiroh! Even so, she could've refused—only if he hadn't decided to reside with her. ARGH!
With all the things she did for him—he still failed to return the favor! That wasn't doing her a favor!
The demoness sighed in order to calm her growing rage. She should be forming a plan, not adding to Meimori's infinite list of faults. "Okay, so he's going after Inuyasha first. Kikyou already knows what's happening...and I still have time to warn Sesshoumaru about Rin."
Everything was working out perfectly! She just needed to leave now before—
"Going somewhere, Kagura?"
Fuck. I forgot about him. Kagura swiftly turned around and masked her surprise at seeing Naraku of all people inside her room, appearing smooth and collected as always.
She closely watched his crimson eyes glance around her ornate chambers, from her four poster bed draped in burgundy silk to her several ebony wood furnishings—each provided by Meimori.
His lips curved into a devious smirk while the wind sorceress scowled.
Meimori, whose sharp tongue kept Naraku in check—as well as away from his property AKA Kagura and Kanna, was currently absent. Not good. Oh crap, not good.
"What the hell do you want?" Kagura hated Naraku; simple as that. She loathed him, and the way she fought back a snarl as he treaded closer into her territory proved it.
Meimori was ignorant of what he had asked her to do when he begged her to join his campaign to revive this bastard. Since she cared for her best friend, she abandoned her past suffering—the suffering caused by a certain evil demon god—and became the inuyoukai's loyal accomplice.
This time, however, she wasn't allowing Naraku to do as he pleased solely because he sealed her beloved sister Kanna in Nirria, unbeknownst to his dog demon ally.
But gods! Who the hell did he think he was sauntering into her room as though he owned the place?! He was presently alive due to Meimori's desire to kill Sesshoumaru—nothing more! That hardly issued him the right to stop her from leaving!
Naraku's smirk was firmly held in place as he strode closer to Kagura, much to her discomfort. His beady white pupils, inhuman and almost indemon, actually caused apprehension to bubble in her stomach. Heh, he possessed the ability to terrify even the most evil creatures...the devil wouldn't dare cross him...
"My dearest Kagura..." His voice was a smooth caress on his tongue, deep and chilling to the bone. The demoness narrowed her eyes once she caught herself in a daze. He wants something... "My dearest, traitorous Kagura..."
Traitor... Oh no...he knew about her intentions to betray Meimori!
"Back off, bastard!" Kagura pushed against the demon once he invaded her comfort zone, but was unable to make him move an inch. Yet, she was undeterred to slap his hand away when he reached to stroke her cheek. "Remember that I'm not afraid of you and I won't fall for your manipulations! Get the fuck out of my room and leave me in peace."
"You should be afraid of me...everyone should be afraid of me..." His smirk...his amused, arrogant, victorious smirk was what tore the demoness's defenses for a split second, but it was already too late.
It took half a second for him to grasp her delicate throat in his large, right hand. It took another for him to disarm her of the metal fan tied on her belt. It took one last to slam her against the wall, choking her, preventing her from inhaling precious air.
She clawed at his merciless hand fruitlessly, her expression plainly displaying her desperation to breathe. Her ruby eyes searched his face for an indication that he was about to release his hold on her...but there was nothing but amusement.
His damn crimson eyes...it was like staring death in the face.
"I won't let you ruin my plans, Kagura. Meimori is my tool for vengeance, not vice versa. I control him...and through him, I control you." Naraku's smirk widened into a devilish grin, and his eyes glittered like diamonds dripping with blood. "I'd just kill you, though I have other plans for you."
Black dots began to cloud her vision. Being immortal, she knew she couldn't die...he was merely torturing her. No...he was trying to render her unconscious! Kagura wildly fought him, yet she couldn't concentrate enough to summon energy from her core and blast him to bits.
Her claws left trails of blood on his hands, but his exhilaration only increased.
Her fists and legs collided with any part of his body, but his eyes were still pure hell.
"M-Mei..." He was her only hope! He was the one who protected her from Naraku, even if it was unknowingly! The possessive dog demon would never allow this bastard to harm her; therefore, the devil in disguise remained a safe distance in his ally's presence!
Now, however...he wasn't here.
Damn him...damn Meimori! He was blinded by a prize too grand to achieve. His father's desire for vindication against the former King InuTaishou splayed over to his eldest son...
And that wretched Rima...how she coiled herself around him...barred his mind so that no other rational thought not involving her entered...
"M-Meimo—" She was interrupted by a coughing fit. Naraku was deliberately making this torture slow and dreadful... It was everyone's fear to suffocate and die, wasn't it?
She tried so hard to breathe but no air would enter her nostrils. Her instincts screamed at her to break free from his hold, but she couldn't! She was at his mercy...no! No! Kagura the Wind was not controlled by anyone!
This couldn't be happening...
...this was what occurred when she permitted herself to care for Meimori!
Fawning over Sesshoumaru only fortified her resolve to remain by his cousin's side at all costs. Her freedom...her life—each of them she valued above others—were the highest costs to pay.
"Ku ku ku..." There was never a moment when Naraku refrained from enjoying the torture of others.
His grin was so wide that his lips were curling enough to expose his gleaming pearl white fangs. He knew that Kagura, in her desperation, was thinking of her beloved, of her Meimori. It was quite touching...to others but him.
Yet, the poor mutt was a fool to ignore his best 'friend'. Oh well—not his problem.
"While Meimori is away...Naraku will come out to play." And he would play...no one could tell him otherwise.
This time...Kanna wasn't essential to subdue Kagura. He accomplished it himself.
Heh, she was just that pathetic.
Sesshoumaru stared at Jaken and Myouga as though they were aliens from planet Glykamon. Were they insane? Did they need medical help? He could admit them to the nearest mental care facility—hey, he sold Rin to them for a year. "You must be lying to me again."
Well, he should start finding another microwave!
"Sessh, I think they're serious..." Then again, her sickness might allow Rin to trust a flea demon and a toad-in-denial if they said it was raining tractors. "On second thought, I might just head to the nearest hospital."
Yeah, the doctors would give her some medication...right?
After Sesshoumaru appeased his inner demon—ahem, the Sadist—the couple, along with the two retainers, settled down enough to have a highly 'professional' conversation. This time, tearing apart the dorm and chucking household items everywhere was not included.
For now.
Sesshoumaru and Rin sat on the couch—or what was left of it—staring at Myouga and Jaken, who stood before them, with confused expressions on their faces. They haven't heard of Inuyasha or Kagome since the last fifteen minutes, but it wasn't as though they remembered their own names, anyway.
Myouga cleared his throat as he bounced on top of Jaken's head to make himself more noticeable. Yup, the imp miraculously survived electrocution and, to his master's chagrin, failed to explode. "Unfortunately, it is all true, m'lord and m'lady."
"How is it possible that Inuyasha, Kagome, Rin and I all...died previously? What kind of nonsense are you two fools spewing from your mouths?" They were just uttering excuses for lying about his amnesia! Sesshoumaru hated being lied to!
"Myouga, I think it's time you tell the story of how it all unfolded," Jaken croaked, still recovering from his recent beating. His master was a ruthless lord...
"Should I start from the beginning-beginning?"
"Start with the 'Long, long ago' story, you old coot!"
Rin blinked. "What 'Long, long ago' story? Is it gonna crumple my brain? I kinda use it for school, ya know..." She already felt it throbbing in pain...poor brain.
"Just pay close attention, m'lady." The old flea demon crossed his four arms and briefly closed his large eyes in preparation for story time. "Long, long ago, there lived a family of powerful dog demons in the immortal realm. The patriarch of this family was a dexterous dog demon named Lord Shintaku."
Lord Shintaku... Sesshoumaru's golden honey eyes widened. "He was my grandfather..."
His fiancée placed a finger on her lips in a contemplative gesture. She probably deemed it cool...
"Correct! Lord Shintaku was your grandfather—the father of Lord InuTaishou who was responsible for unifying the vast Western Lands and creating a prosperous empire." Jaken was obviously in awe of the deceased dog demon with the way stars shined in his eyes. He returned back to normal once his master threw a couch pillow at him.
Myouga intercepted the pillow and jumped onto Rin's lap—the safe zone. And now that he thought about it...the view from his current spot was fantastic... The perverted flea grinned as he glanced up at the teen's chest.
Um...was there supposed to be growling in the background?
Okay, back to the story before he was killed! "Yes, ahem. Lord Shintaku presided over the Western Lands along with his mate, Lady Dariya. I had the opportunity to meet her once...ah, what a beautiful demoness...such delicious blo—"
"You're getting off topic, flea," Sesshoumaru said, but he sounded like he was growling the words. It bothered him that the damn insect was on Rin's lap so he couldn't slash at him.
"Excuse me for the interruption! Anyway, as you are well aware, Lord Shintaku had two sons: Princes Seiryuu and InuTaishou." Rin shuddered at the former name, recalling her dream. "In actuality, however...he had three sons; Prince Kurayami being the eldest."
"What?!" Sesshoumaru for once exclaimed his surprise. "Are you saying my father killed—?"
"—his own brother?" Myouga finished his sentence. "Yes, he did, and that was how he became King of the Western Lands, for Kurayami was Lord Shintaku's heir. It caused him much grief, though, and Seiryuu still hates him for it."
"Why?" Rin whispered, shocked at the revelation. She wondered how her fiancé must be feeling knowing that his father was capable of murdering his blood relative while he failed to do the same. "Why did he kill his brother?"
"Prince Kurayami was...pure darkness, per say," Jaken took over the story, since this part he did witness. "He was born with black markings and dark abilities that overwhelmed even his father's. Naturally Lord Shintaku was afraid—he cast aside his first born in fear of his power."
"This only allowed for the darkness in the young prince's heart to grow, and before long, he roamed the Western Lands, terrorizing villages and ending lives to mask the pain of his rejection. It was how he and Lady Midoriko met. Ah...she was also beautiful...so—"
Again Myouga strayed from the topic! "Be quiet and continue with your narration so we can arrive to the part where we all die." It was the only reason why Sesshoumaru was listening to this.
Yeah, sure...
"Yes, of course. Lady Midoriko was a miko, and like all priestesses, she was compassionate and lived to help others. Yet, unlike others, she was a warrior at heart with enormous power." Now that Myouga was finished describing the beautiful miko, Jaken jumped in.
"I'm not certain of the exact details, but one day, Midoriko planned to put an end to Kurayami because he was causing too much destruction. She found him wounded—what a fool—and felt sympathy for him—hmph, she's another fool. I guess they fell in love and stuff during the time she spent nursing him back to health."
Why she even bothered to aid her enemy, Jaken didn't know.
Rin shook her head in dismay. "Only you, toadman, can make it sound so unromantic." No, Sesshoumaru could manage that as well...
"Hmph, whatever!"
"Back to the point." Myouga bounced on Rin's lap to catch everyone's attention, but merely earned himself another warning growl from his master's brother. Whoops! "Prince Kurayami and Lady Midoriko fought side by side many times to ensure the safety of the Western Lands. But then entered a man named Onigumo..."
"Ugh! Onigumo—I detest him so much!" Jaken nearly spit on the carpeted floor after uttering his disgraceful name, yet one look from Rin stopped him.
"He is quite a traitor. He was discovered in a field severely injured, and obviously Midoriko wanted to help him, but Kurayami was solicitous. The couple fought, and in the end, Midoriko helped Onigumo by herself while Kurayami went elsewhere."
"At this point, Kurayami received a letter from Seiryuu warning him that InuTaishou planned on dueling him." Jaken crossed his arms and rolled his eyes in disgust. "Lord InuTaishou was the favorite of Lord Shintaku and was very easily manipulated by him. After Lord Shintaku discovered his son's affair with a human miko, he sent his brother to exterminate him."
"Why is it so bad to be with a miko?" Rin asked, substantially confused.
"Because they're the only ones who can battle demons and win," Sesshoumaru replied in a solemn voice. He knew where the story was about to end... "Mating a miko is like mating your murderer. She can purify you in an instant, especially a powerful one like Midoriko."
"But she wouldn't purify her own mate!" Rin wasn't even mated to him and wouldn't have had the guts to do it! "I know she wouldn't!"
"Even so, Midoriko was a threat to Lord Shintaku. Yet, instead of demanding her dead, he chose Kurayami. Lord InuTaishou had no choice but to pull through with his father's wishes despite his feelings on the matter. Midoriko warned Kurayami not to battle InuTaishou, but the young lord was stubborn—not even Seiryuu, his closest brother, could change his mind."
Sesshoumaru briefly shut his eyes after Myouga paused. "And then Kurayami was killed."
"Precisely." Rin was still having a difficult time believing it, but Myouga resumed the tale. "It is said that before his death, Prince Kurayami cursed InuTaishou—"
"Oooh, oooh! I know the exact words!" Jaken sounded a little too excited, but whatever! He cleared his throat before he said in a low, haunting voice, "'I curse you, my beloved brother, for my blasphemy will now be yours. You will take a human miko as your mate, and she will bear you a half-breed son—but before that, an unhappy marriage will result in a pureblooded heir. Heheh...I, the Darkness, Kurayami, will live in your two sons as the terrifying Osore no Tama...and my blade, my soul, will be their nightmare'."
"Wow..." Rin breathed, "that was intense!"
And completely accurate, a certain silver-haired dog demon bitterly thought.
"Around the same period of time," Myouga alleviated Sesshoumaru's tension by changing the subject, "Midoriko encountered a fully recovered Onigumo...except that he was no longer human, but a half-demon named Naraku."
"He suddenly morphed into a half-demon?" The cinnamon-eyed teen cocked her head. Heh, can I transform into a ninja turtle? It would be totally awesome!
"He sold his soul to a band of demons since he was dying and desired to live. Naraku was more evil than Kurayami was and wanted to kill Midoriko, perhaps because she was a threat to him. She had no choice but to fight him for seven days and seven nights. On the last night, she knew she was going to perish, and bound herself to Naraku, creating the Shikon no Tama."
"That blasted Naraku!" Jaken yelled. He was very emotional today... "Midoriko was only able to bind his dark human soul to hers in the damn jewel! In that manner, Naraku became a full demon! What a foolish human!"
"So both Midoriko and Kurayami tragically died." Sesshoumaru was the opposite of Jaken, however; he was cold and calculating. "Continue." Apparently, this 'brief' history lesson was either affecting him...or becoming very boring.
"This story is getting long..." Rin groaned and leaned back against the couch. "Do I come in yet?"
"Actually...you do!" Myouga said. "The Shikon no Tama was bequeathed to someone—to this day, I still don't know whom—to protect it, but it was one day handed to is true keeper: Lady Kagome."
A/N: END!
