A/N: Okay, so this website that we're all reading/writing on has been having some technical difficulties lately. As you can see, the story's summary has yet to reflect the update (I'll fix it as soon as the modulators of this site put down their donuts and coffee). I offer a big THANK YOU to the Yahoo! Answers community and the LJ network for posting the solution to updates during the FF system's error.
A/N: Forgot to mention in the last chapter…LOOK on the ingredients listed on a package of Goldfish snacks. They ARE made with smiles! …Moving on…
Cold Fish
Eyes that were an unsettling shade of yellow flicked back and forth between the two demons. One of a stoic reputation, the other a known goofball, and neither with their proper expressions. Tensai shook his head and sighed. "Only you, Kichiruka…"
The tall, silver-maned demon squeaked, "I'm sorry, master."
"Don't apologize to me! You bloody went and tarnished..." Tensai's anger cumulated into a frustrated snarl. Pressing his palms to his eyelids, the swordfish had to bite his tongue to keep from swearing in the Western Lord's presence. Gods, he wanted a stiff drink right now.
Then he sensed a mounting presence at his back and whirled around before Sesshomaru got too close. The taut, displeased expression that was foreign to Kichiruka's face prompted Tensai to reassess the situation at hand. "I suppose you're hoping for me to restore you both?"
"I expect it."
Tensai snorted, fighting down the urge to reprimand for such presumption. It was Lord Sesshomaru, after all. And who gives a hang? Tensai hated greater yokai who thought they were high-and-mighty enough to issue commands with a snap of their fins or, in this case, claws. "I'm not sure if it's within my capacity."
"Please won't you try?" Rin asked.
"I didn't say I wouldn't," Tensai returned. He looked askance at Kichiruka, the boy's emotions were etched plainly into the strange face he wore; fear, worry, and desperation wrinkled his brow and pinned down the corners of what would have been a smile. Tensai glanced at the daiyokai inhabiting his student's body. In a single scowl Sesshomaru fractured all of the cheer and good will Tensai had seen light up Kichiruka's expression.
When Sesshomaru sullenly shoved his hands into the dark blue sleeves he noticed that the flesh under the swordfish's eyes pinch. This bothers him, too.
"Were you aware of this?" Snapping his wrist, Sesshomaru gestured between Kichiruka and Rin.
"Only of recent." Tensai's answer came simply. Truthfully, Sesshomaru discerned.
"And you did nothing to discourage your pupil?" Jaken railed. Tensai ignored him. That imp had an irritating voice. But then Sesshomaru tilted his head toward him as well. "Did you?"
"My relation to Kichiruka is academic," Tensai said clinically. "It is not my place to give approval or to condemn. Lord Ichikawa issued his approbation and so it is." There was "one snap of fins" Tensai could use for cover.
Sesshomaru's mouth remained a flat line. The swordfish was smart, answering only within his own realm.
"But how did your lord know of this girl's affiliation?" Jaken pressed.
Tensai's mouth finally got the better of him. "Well, there aren't too many daiyokai wandering around with human children at their heels, now are there?"
Biting his tongue, Tensai didn't need to hear the stifled squeak in Kichiruka's throat to know he had misspoken. Fortunately, Sesshomaru had also considered it a stupid question. His curiosity had instead been roused elsewhere. "Do you have any familiarity with these arrangements?"
"All of Lord Ichikawa's plans are arranged –"
"I meant," Sesshomaru clarified, "are you familiar with human-yokai relationships?"
Yellow eyes flickered a moment before Tensai smoothly answered, "It is uncommon, but not unheard of."
Sesshomaru watched the demon for further signs, but his expression remained the standard scowl he had arrived with earlier. Or maybe it hadn't been anything at all and Sesshomaru was just jumping to the conclusions he wanted to suspect. He wished he could smell for any deceit on the water-demon, but his new nose was dull and vapid.
"Was I not called to remedy your situation?" Tensai folded his arms and angled his jaw. It helped that Sesshomaru looked and sounded like Kichiruka at the moment. "My student's personal life is none of my concern, so picking my brain for information won't yield anything to you."
Sesshomaru arched a brow. "You certainly answered his call in a familiar manner."
"Oceanic customs are different from those of dirt—er, terrestrial yokai." He cracked his knuckles. "Now then…we'll need to fix this." Leaving no time to entertain the Western Lord's inquisition further, Tensai whirled to his student. "Kichiruka?"
"Yessir?" The young demon promptly snapped to attention.
"How old were you during the Mainland Invasion?" Tensai quizzed.
Kichiruka scratched his head. "Only a child…maybe a handful of decades. It's when I lost my…Master Tensai, do we have to bring this up now?"
Without answering Kichiruka, Tensai asked a completely different question. "What are the properties of Tenseiga?"
"The what?"
Rin canted her head to one side. "Those are some odd questions…"
"He's checking to see that our memories are whole," Sesshomaru stated.
Tensai quirked a half-smile in Sesshomaru's direction. "Very good."
Sesshomaru huffed. He didn't care to be praised like this third-rate demon's student.
"See? Why can't you be that smart?" Tensai waved a hand in Sesshomaru's direction.
"What? You didn't ask!" Tensai watched with private amusement and relief as Kichiruka's regular habits resurfaced and the dolphin cowered to automatically cover his head with hands.
"Hey, are you actually conducting anything or are you just a charlatan wasting Lord Sesshomaru's time?" Jaken piped from below.
"Look, you little turkey," Tensai growled, "For a vassal, you are only encumbering the man trying to help your master. So shut up and keep out."
"Who are you to—"
"Jaken," Sesshomaru bellowed.
Rin debated sitting down in the soggy grass. Given the melee of personalities present, this could take a while. But before she could make up her mind, Tensai resumed his overview, studying the colorful patterns on the dog-demon's face, then walked over to Kichiruka's body and inspected for any similar signs.
"We've interchanged bodies," Sesshomaru pointedly observed.
"I can see that," Tensai snarled. "But depending on the extent of the switch you might already be taking residence in each other's new forms. As a daiyokai, your presence could destroy a weaker body simply by being there." From somewhere behind him, Tensai heard Kichiruka gulp.
"So Sesshomaru's killing me without even trying?"
"I don't know, you moron!" Black robes swirled as Tensai wheeled on Kichiruka. "That's why I'm checking. But if you die, it's your fault, not mine."
"No one was blaming him for anything," Rin mumbled, glancing at Kichiruka.
He nodded quietly. "I think we know that."
Engaging Sesshomaru's reluctant attention, Tensai checked for any additional information the dog-demon might have required in this mind swap. Finally, after feeling assured his evaluation was thorough, Tensai sighed. "All right."
Four sets of eyes weighed on him for the verdict.
"It's reparable."
Jaken blew his nose into his sleeve. Thank goodness! Sesshomaru exhaled slowly, then snarled a biting "get away from her" when Kichiruka tried to hug Rin.
"However," Tensai added once the small crowd had calmed down. "I cannot conduct the exchange here on land."
"No," Sesshomaru said stubbornly. "Have whatever materials you need moved here."
Damn, Kichiruka, how badly do you want to get into this girl's "family"? Because Sesshomaru certainly made for uncompromising diplomacy. And to say "diplomacy" was stretching a point. "Do you have an alabaster floor with all the necessary inscriptions at your disposal up here?"
On another day, Sesshomaru might have gone; but as of the moment, he didn't have his perfect strength. He flexed the strange claws at his sides, but there was nothing behind it. No venom. No power. This body was a demon's, but it was weak. He might as well have been stuck in Inuyasha's mongrel form. At least that blood was closer to his own, and might have given him a fighting chance in a foreign environment. "You had just said that you it's not your place to approve or condemn Ichikawa's orders. How do I know you aren't following them?"
"He's fair," Rin vouched, but Sesshomaru kept his eyes trained on the sea demon. "Hey, don't ignore me!"
Sesshomaru's reply, when it came, was full of the most scorn he had ever directed toward Rin. "Your recent judge of character and decision-making has only proved your immaturity."
Rin felt her lower lip quiver, and bit it. She wanted to say something back, but nothing was coming to mind right now. And if anything did, it didn't feel like her voice would work. Sesshomaru's icy response had just frozen her vocal chords over. Was she that much of a disappointment?
"This way please." Tensai's gruff offer cut through the silence. Without looking back, he stepped into the brook. Sesshomaru could follow him or stay, and, if gambling were among his vices, the swordfish would have bet which option the daiyokai would select.
Kichiruka glanced at Sesshomaru, but soon tramped after his instructor. Rin followed after Kichiruka. Then felt a strong yank on her collar.
"You are to stay here," Sesshomaru ordered. Rin wanted to argue, but Sesshomaru was going with Tensai. Who said she didn't have any discretion?
"Indeed, the open sea is no place for a human girl," Jaken opined, following after his lord into the brook.
"Jaken, stay with her." With one hand, Sesshomaru tossed his retainer back on the bank.
"But sire!"
Kichiruka smirked. Then slipped in the water with a heavy ker-splash! How many tons of armor did Sesshomaru honestly think was necessary?
"Does underwater breathing come naturally for this form?" Sesshomaru asked, pointing at Kichiruka's body.
Tensai nodded. "Yes, water yokai automatically transition to their element. It's our subspecies that determine whether or not we need to make adjustments for the terrestrial plain." The gills on his neck flared with the next huff. Looking to his left, Tensai advised, "Kichiruka, you may want to cast an adaptation spell for that body."
"My body doesn't require breath," Sesshomaru said loftily.
"You will if you plan on talking to anyone," Kichiruka pointed out.
Sesshomaru tilted his chin so that even at a slightly shorter stature he appeared to be looking down on the dolphin in his body. I do not care to speak, his gaze clipped.
"I plan on talking," Kichiruka said with a touch more authority. "And we can either use a bubble or a seashell."
Well, bubble just sounded undignified. Tides of annoyance rolled off of Sesshomaru. "How does the latter apply?"
"Oh, it's a regular shell that expands over your face like a demonslayer's mask and filters air from the water," Rin explained. Blue eyes became ice chips again, and she quickly caught herself. "Well…that's how Kichiruka has explained it to me."
"He's tried to coerce you into going to his realm?" Under Sesshomaru's influence, Kichiruka's voice was sharpened to a dangerous edge.
"No, no – it was just mentioned in passing conversation once," Rin said, hoping that without his dog's nose Sesshomaru would have more difficulty detecting a lie. Not that it mattered; Sesshomaru looked like he was going to tear Kichiruka apart if he didn't need the body being occupied.
Kichiruka cleared his throat. "So…does anyone actually have a seashell?"
"You don't?" Sesshomaru cocked a brow.
"If I did, they've probably been crushed to smithereens after being turned into a dog-demon's chew toy."
"Then we're not going." Although he didn't leave the brook, Sesshomaru stood looking oddly smug.
Rin saw a hard frown level Tensai's face. He reached under his shirt's collar and, with the sharp nail of one finger, slit a few stitches. From the gap he removed a fine string of several clamshells. They were yellowed and chipped at the edges – obviously quite old. Tensai delicately handled the last one on the chain. Then quickly jerked it off before he changed his mind.
Sesshomaru folded his arms into Kichiruka's voluminous sleeves, eyeing the seashells. "You keep those handy all the time?"
"Something like that," Tensai answered distantly. He blinked quickly, then – for all the time he spent studying it – tossed the half shell carelessly to his student. "Make use of this, boy."
Kichiruka nodded. The tips of Sesshomaru's claws were sharp enough that he could write the incantation into the shell's hollow.
"Is that supposed to work without your typical attributes?" Sesshomaru inquired blandly.
"It should work regardless of my condition. I strove to learn all of my techniques," Kichiruka stated with just a touch of superiority. To underscore his point, he touched the tip of the shell to his and in the next instant it grew to cover the lower half of his face. The few holes for filtering air were as plainly visible as the cocksure in Kichiruka's eyes. It was, for once, an expression that belonged on Sesshomaru.
A droll look crossed Rin's face. I sure hope he's not getting too used to that body.
Without skipping a beat, Sesshomaru snorted. "It was the least you could do to attempt compensation."
Tensai cleared his throat audibly. "We can get going if everyone will please grasp one of my sleeves."
Sesshomaru hesitated, remembering what Kichiruka had said was responsible for the mix-up in the first place. "I don't know our intended destination."
Tensai folded his hands together. "You don't need to. Since you presently inhabit a water demon's body we are somewhat alike now." A self-satisfied smile lurked in the corner of Tensai's mouth as he watched the disdain on Sesshomaru's face just barely flicker to the surface. "That said," he continued, "simply let your mind rely upon mine."
Grudgingly, the dog-demon finally nodded. "See you soon, Rin!" he heard the optimistic prawn call. Then his ears were quickly water clogged. Sesshomaru felt the rush of the current, failing to keep his eyes open in the sudden onslaught. And then, for a split second nothing, he felt nothing at all. With the delay, the next wet, cold wave almost caught him off guard. He gasped; for all he knew, he had but a few seconds to figure out how this wretched element would affect him. Sesshomaru fought for his next breath.
Feeling the frantic pulse of the demonic aura next to him, Kichiruka called out to Sesshomaru. "Please, sir! Try to relax!" The mouthful of fur he took somewhat muffled his advice. The dog-demon's ridiculous accessories weren't the most suitable for swimming. When Kichiruka managed to get the massive quantity of fur under control, he checked to see that Sesshomaru had ceased his floundering and now studied the ominous entrance to the underwater cove before them.
"Where are we?" the daiyokai asked of no one in particular.
Pushing the cumbersome fur aside, Kichiruka drifted over. "We're outside of Master Tensai's study."
"And where is…?"
A large swordfish with fins marked by swirling yoki clouds pointed its needle nose toward a small cavern. His yellow eyes had lost their pupils, but the terseness around them was still there.
"Does teleportation always do this to his constitution?" Sesshomaru said it less like a question and more as an insult.
"No," Kichiruka answered on behalf of his teacher, remembering how excruciating the change between the swordfish's terrestrial form to his preferred state was. He must have reverted to the true state to avoid the indignity of pain. Tensai always was a touch too honorary.
The swordfish curled on itself and in the next puff of yoki, Tensai emerged in the shape Kichiruka knew best. Sesshomaru smirked. The large yellow eyes reminded him a bit of Jaken.
"Kichiruka, you know my study. I request that you remain here with Lord Sesshomaru."
"Yessir."
"Why?" Sesshomaru growled impatiently. "We're here where you said you had all your materials."
"Some of which need to be picked up," Tensai snipped. "It's not every day that someone around here switches bodies with another."
Sesshomaru crossed his arms.
Tensai rolled his eyes. "Really. We don't."
"And you wish for us to idle here?"
"Oh?" The cobalt skin of Tensai's brow rippled in a challenge. "You would like to come with me and have it paraded that the Western Lord has deigned to tour Lord Ichikawa's territory?"
Sesshomaru groused. "I will come with you and he" – a claw stabbed in Kichiruka's direction – "will wait here."
"Acceptable," Tensai said with unusual cordiality. "But please bear in mind, Lord Sesshomaru, that it would draw less attention to us if you mimicked the mannerisms of Kichiruka."
"I will make no such effort."
"Fine. But he is a popular fellow. Expect to be swamped by friends. They're going to wonder what's wrong with you, if you've been feeling all right lately, taken ill, how they might assist…" Tensai continued enumerating all possible concerns on his fingers.
With an exasperated huff, Sesshomaru whirled into the cavern.
With the Western Lord's back to them, Tensai flashed his student a wry smile. Kichiruka made the expression for a wordless "heh," but it was quickly replaced by a pleading look. You're going to leave me alone with him?
"Quit acting like an idiot." And with a rough slap from his caudal fin, Tensai sent Kichiruka inside after Sesshomaru.
oOo
If one ignored the circumstances of his arrival, Sesshomaru could agree that the ocean was a particularly remarkable place. And Tensai's study was a trove of some of the finer specimens. There was a tight order to everything, of course, but Sesshomaru didn't plan on touching anything. He liked picking out the details with his eye. So far he had found five different colors of starfish, eighty-six varieties of seashells, and the patterned runes on the floor that Tensai had deemed so vital. The glowing sphere in one corner had caught his attention, but he let it be in favor of seeing everything else in the cavern. He could save the best for last.
Kichiruka watched Sesshomaru give himself a private tour of his instructor's study, getting lost in all the knickknacks and potion vials. He had considered explaining some of the odder stuff, but then it almost seemed rude to disturb someone so absorbed in his own thoughts.
Kichiruka's fears of him being the one to interrupt Sesshomaru's musing were brought to an end with a sudden thunder above the cavern. The quake sent a couple of vials rattling in place, but – to Sesshomaru's mild surprise – a bright band of blue energy activated, strapping all the vials into place on their shelves. It must be the instructor's precaution. He glanced to where Kichiruka had taken cover by the swordfish's desk. Definitely.
When the shaking settled, Kichiruka poked his head back out. "Something's landed out there!" Tracing his hand over the colorful sphere that Sesshomaru had eyed earlier, Kichiruka brought up a view of the cavern's exterior. An enormous sturgeon, easily twice the size of the cruise ship Kichiruka lived in, clung to the side of the cavern. The demon had a serpentine tongue that didn't quite match and flicked it in and out, presumably tasting the current. Alongside its lateral fins were human-looking arms. The grotesque limbs allowed it to crawl over the rocky surface. Red eyes narrowed to focus as it tilted its head upward. Kichiruka's fingers skimmed the face of the sphere to follow the sturgeon's line of vision. Up at the surface floated the sturgeon's next meal, but to Kichiruka it looked like an unassuming human fishing ship.
"It's going to hurt someone if we don't stop it," Kichiruka said, coupled with a sharp intake of breath.
"They're just humans," Sesshomaru dully remarked from over Kichiruka's shoulder.
"They're innocent!" he cried.
"Their lot was cast when they set out into your waters." Sesshomaru shrugged and leaned against Tensai's stone desk. "Besides, your teacher insisted that you stay here."
"How can you be so callous?" Kichiruka asked, though after his clash with the Western Lord it wasn't too difficult a concept for him to fathom anymore. "I thought you liked humans?"
"I have selective tolerance."
"No kidding," Kichiruka grumbled. He wrung his hands on the conch staff for a second. And without another thought to how he looked or what attention he drew, he swam out the cavern toward the danger.
With a warning squeal that keened high and loud, Kichiruka called to the sturgeon. "Please don't go after those people!"
The beast ignored him.
With a burst of yoki, Kichiruka zipped toward the monster. Readying his claws, he struck the first blow. The sturgeon's hide was tough, but more damage was done than if the claws had been anything less of daiyokai. With a pained and ferocious screech, the sturgeon rounded on Kichiruka.
Got his attention now. Kichiruka repeated his request.
In awkward, oceanic gurgles, the sturgeon returned, "Dinner…interrupted."
"Find game elsewhere," Kichiruka clicked.
"Okay." With its mouth wide open, the sturgeon dove toward the interfering demon.
Kichiruka dodged the attack in one fluid motion. Grace was innate to the daiyokai's form. And Kichiruka had time to be mildly perturbed that Sesshomaru's body didn't face any difficulty adapting to the environment. Everything comes to him so easy!
From the corner of his eye, he saw Sesshomaru exiting the cavern, apparently following. And for the first time since seeing his own body, Kichiruka saw it as small and weak. He hadn't been envious of greater demons before – especially when someone as foppish as Ichikawa was the example – but now, feeling their full potential course through his veins to energize every move and pulse, the prospective became a tempting one.
I could…I could keep this body if I wanted. He's really not strong enough to stop me.
The sturgeon cut through the current at an alarming rate, reset toward its initial target, and Kichiruka immediately refocused. He just barely managed to catch hold of one of the sea demon's limbs. What had been a normal yank in his own body turned into enough force to tear off the arm completely. The sturgeon roared in pain and turned back to Kichiruka.
He went for his first weapon of choice; the conch staff was poised ready in his hand. But then Kichiruka noticed the selection of sword hilts at his side. If I were Sesshomaru..."Which would I use?"
"Neither." When he reached Kichiruka's side, Sesshomaru indecorously grabbed the Bakusaiga. The finely etched hilt felt smooth and familiar in hands. But his fingers suddenly twitched. The tremendous power of the Explosive Fang made the arm of the lesser yokai's body quiver in a vain attempt to control it. I can't manage my own weapon?
"Everything okay?" Kichiruka blinked with wide, amber eyes.
The blade bucked in Sesshomaru's hands. "Put this away."
"Maybe I can use it."
Sesshomaru drew his lips back in a baring of teeth. "Don't you—"
The sturgeon's mouth popped with a loud smacking noise as it tried to engulf both yokai. By instinct, Kichiruka went for the conch staff. Lacing the fingers of one hand over the shell's spikes, Kichiruka turned the staff upside-down so it looked more like a pike. In a breathless series of clicks, he conducted the next spell. Kichiruka prayed that the staff would work in spite of the fact that he no longer inhabited a water-demon's body. Master Tensai said the staff is a conduit. It didn't run on demon power like Sesshomaru's blades, the conch channeled it.
With the squeal of the last syllable, the water immediately surrounding the staff and Kichiruka's hand condensed into ice. Sesshomaru's eyes widened at the sight. An icicle sword!
It's not so heavy now either. Kichiruka had little preference toward this technique when Tensai first introduced it and learned it only because it was on the following week's exam. The icicle had always been a pain to haul around, even becoming a running joke for Kichiruka when he had to learn something useless – not that he ever let Tensai in on it. But now…Speeding through the water, Kichiruka made short work of the sturgeon. Dehydration might have been ineffectual underwater, but the brute strength of a well crafted weapon was good enough for the overgrown fish.
When his task was finished, Kichiruka spoke softly to break the icy bind. He wiggled his fingers. "Your body recovers from pain quickly," he observed, feeling the numbness swiftly leave his hand.
"It is mine," Sesshomaru asserted.
I know. Kichiruka grumbled sullenly, but couldn't bring himself to look Sesshomaru in the eye, too ashamed of the thoughts he was having.
"Your instructor has trained you well."
Kichiruka looked up. "Izzat a compliment?"
Sesshomaru hummed in a way that meant everything and nothing at all. "It would be too much to assume that you learned such a technique all by yourself."
Kichiruka opened his mouth to retort…then saw a small figure bobbing toward them in the distance. "Quick!" He pushed Sesshomaru back to Tensai's study. "We don't want anyone spotting us!"
Sesshomaru huffed irritably as he watched "himself" torpedo like an idiot back into the darkness of the cavern. If he was lucky, the swordfish would return soon. The dog-demon flexed the spotted hand that he temporarily called "his."
Luck isn't something counted on around here.
.
A/N: Because one reader requested to see Kichiruka in his true form: feral-instinct. deviantart. com/#/d3bwslm (please remove spaces) And now I revel in Spring Break! Thank you for reading!