"My son's scent clings to you like a second skin."
"Tch, what of it?"
"I am merely making an observation, wind user…"
"And what business is it of yours?"
"It is my business when the bitch in question values some things over others…"
"And what do I value that is so important to you?"
"Was it not you who sought my son out to win your freedom? Would you be willing to give that up so easily?"
"I have the freedom to make my own decisions."
"I hope you make the right one, then."
Kagura took another gulp.
"Mou, Kagura-chan, maybe you should calm down a little…?"
"Maybe you should shut up." Kagura hissed at the fox, one side of her lip curling up into a snarl.
Hotaru's eyes flicked between the wind witch and the inu worriedly, "Ah, I think I'll just leave this here, then…" she muttered, setting down another bottle before the ill-tempered woman. She threw one last look over her shoulder before scurrying away.
"Kagura, she's right…" Noriko started.
"Shouldn't you be sucking off your boyfriend right about now?" Kagura slumped over, resting her elbow on the table and her chin in her palm. It's not like she had to keep up appearances anymore, her little skit was over. She had no obligation to stay any longer. No official one, anyway.
Noriko sighed. "I'll have you know, Kenta is standing guard right now. Shouldn't you be servicing our lord?" Kagura just glared at her from the corner of a crimson eye, and she rubbed the spot on her chin where Inukimi had grabbed her.
She didn't understand the game the old dowager was playing at, was she telling her to leave? That would make sense, seeing as she was not of "respectable origins", but that was Sesshoumaru's choice, not his mother's. Kagura raised her head to look at the inu-youkai across the room, still seated in the same position as before, looking calm and collected, as a lord should. She noted the lone feather still clinging to his fur, and it brought a small smile to her lips. She was tempted to get up, to go pull it off him, but was distracted by the sudden increase in servants.
Noriko sat up straight, sniffing, picking up the scent of whatever food stuffs had been prepared. Kagura was able to smell it several seconds later, when the servants began to carry the large plates in above their heads. Bowls of succulent meats, of rabbit or cow or assorted youkai. Some raw, some cooked to the point of being charred black.
There were a few cheers at the sight of the meal, eager hands reaching for bits of flesh as the assortment was set down before them. There were a few shouts and whispers of "itadakimasu", though it was barely heard about the crunching and gnashing of teeth against tender muscle.
There was silence a second time when the shoji screen at the other end of the room opened with a loud clatter. A mass of brown fur was the only thing Kagura could make out of the huge beast held aloft upon a large plate above the servant's heads.
A giant boar, layed on it's back, it's hooves sticking up towards the ceiling, a pink tongue just barely visible through a gaping mouth. It's throat split with blood still trickling from the wound, pooling around it's head and clinging to it's fur. Most likely the beast had been killed just moments before the servants had brought it in. Some of the youkai lords paused, lifting their heads to watch the small procession. They stopped in the center of the room, setting down the load in a space that had just been cleared.
The servants bowed low towards Sesshoumaru and then shuffled out. Kagura glanced at him, wanting to see his reaction. Nothing special, the same indifferent face. Her eyes fell back on the boar, as two inu bitches approached it. One sank into a crouch, long silver hair splaying out around her and touching the floor. Kagura tilted her head slightly, trying to see their faces.
The other girl stood, holding out an empty platter as the one on the floor reached for the boar's chest. With what seemed like an agonizingly slow movement, she slit the beast's chest clean open. Careful not to dirty her silk kimono with the animal's blood she reached both hands inside, and ripped out it's heart. She held it aloft, as if inspecting the dripping organ for imperfections. Finding none, she placed it upon the platter, either not noticing or uncaring that her hands were still stained red.
The pair stood and shuffled towards the lord. Placing the still twitching organ before Sesshoumaru with a barely audible "douzo, Sesshoumaru-sama." and two deep bows, the girl's silver hair brushing against the floor. The two stood quickly and shuffled off.
Kagura kept her eyes on Sesshoumaru, wondering at the significance of this little ceremony was, if there was one at all. He did not notice her stare as he reached out and took the heart in his hand. He brought it to his lips, uncaring that red lines had begun to dribble down his forearm, staining his sleeve. It reminded Kagura of an apple, as his fangs skimmed across the slimy surface of it when he bit down, more blood staining his lips and chin.
The wind witch kept staring, even as the other lords and youkai had turned away, returning to their own meals, she watched him, only realizing that she clutched at her own chest when her collar began to tighten around her neck.
Kagura shook her head and looked away, reaching for another cup of sake. As she sipped at the drink her eyes slowly traveled back towards Sesshoumaru. His claws still slick with blood, he used the thumb of his clean hand to wipe his lips.
Kagura blinked, and when she looked up again two golden eyes were staring back at her.
Inukimi's eyes crinkled with a smirk and she nodded slightly as she popped one of the boar's eyes into her mouth.
"Shit!" Kagura brought her sleeve to her chin where she had spilled the sake, leaving several skin colored streaks. "Mataku, I hate this fucking makeup." She rubbed both sleeves across her face, bringing the silk vigorously across her skin until the blue was a dull shade of grey.
Noriko turned back to her, gave a disapproving look, and sighed again. "Come on, let's go get you cleaned up…"
.~*~.
"No, really, what is it? He never told me, never talks about it. It just slinks around. So. What. Is. It."
"Kagura, some things are better left unanswered. Even I don't know and I'm an inu-youkai." Noriko muttered, pushing the wind witch's head back over the side of the deck. "Just make sure to get all of that off your face."
"But it moves! That doesn't make sense! Is it his tail? Is it a pelt? Maybe… but his mom has one, too. It's really soft-" she shrieked when Noriko poured water down her neck.
"How about you just ask him tonight?" the girl sighed, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring down at the crouched woman.
Kagura said nothing, but continued to scrub at her face with the cloth she had been given. "Why do I have to do this here?" she whined.
"Because I'm not taking you back to your room." Noriko looked away, glancing over her shoulder back towards the lights of the festivities. "I actually want to be there, see?"
"You don't know that I don't! I could want to be there, and you just think I don't. You just assume things. Where's Hotaru? Fucking fox probably snuck off with some lord. For always complaining about not getting any, she's been working hard tonight. Oh, what if she-"
"Kagura, please shut up." The inu-youkai rubbed her eyes. "Do you want me to take you back to your room, is that it?"
Kagura snorted as she curled into a ball on her side, lying on the deck, but not before taking another long swig from the bottle near her hip. Her voice was low and when she spoke it was with an almost melodic inflection and placed too much emphasis on her t's. "Whatever, you know, it doesn't matter. Do what you want, Noriko. I'll just sleep here. That's fine, right, Noriko? I like your name, it's nice. Except when I first heard it I thought of seaweed, is that gross? I mean-"
"Kagura! Damn. Fine. Let's go. Get up." Noriko grabbed the cloth at Kagura's shoulder, tugging her into a sitting position.
The wind witch narrowed her eyes into the darkness before her. "Can't."
Noriko rolled her eyes. "Why?"
"'Cause Kize thinks I'm irresponsible."
"What?"
"I don't think you're irresponsible, I just think you're a bit stupid sometimes." The man muttered, forming only several feet in front of them.
The fan in her sleeve was out and in her hand before she even realized there was nothing to it, leaving Kagura waving the two lacquer pieces in front of her. She glared at the empty space where paper should be. Kize chuckled, she glared at him and chucked the useless thing to the side.
"Noriko, was your name? I can take her back if you want to return."
The girl looked confused, but then nodded, giving Kagura one last glance before she turned back to the light.
.~*~.
"Why are you still here, Kize?"
"I would ask you the same, but I already know the answer to that."
Kagura glared at him. "I meant in my room."
"You invited me in!" he threw his hands up defensively. She stared at him, trying to remember doing so. She shrugged when nothing came to mind.
"Whatever. Sleep." She nodded and let herself fall sideways, burying her face in the thin sheet of her futon.
Several moments passed before she felt a weight settle next to her. She didn't need to look up to know that Kize now lay next to her, she heard him exhale a long breath.
"I miss this."
"Not now." There was no force behind her words, just an exhaled breath.
"I'm serious."
"Me, too."
He sighed. "You can't even look at me properly anymore."
"Probably because my eyes are closed." Was the mumbled reply.
The weight on the futon left, but Kagura still felt the man next to her, felt his presence smooth over her, the sound of cloth shifting with the breeze. The weight settled in front of her. She didn't even have the energy or the motivation to shove him away.
Kagura barely felt the hand that settled on her shoulder, it held no warmth, the same temperature as the air, and she absently wondered if she was the same in that regard. Wondered if it ever bothered- oh.
She should have expected that one, really, when a barely there pressure settled over her lips.
It wasn't… bad. There just wasn't anything there, and she wondered if her foggy mind was accountable for that, but she doubted it. There was no heat, no playfulness behind the act, no passion, no-
And then there truly was nothing, nothing except snarls and the sound of wood snapping.
She sat up, probably not quickly enough, and even when she was upright she had to keep herself from toppling to the side. It took her another second longer to recognize what she was seeing.
A clawed hand held Kize by the throat, pinned to the opposite wall. The opposite wall, which was in actuality, the hallway, as the shoji screens had been broken and ripped and lay in a crumpled heap along the doorframe. The amount of youki the lord exuded was starting to become suffocating, making it impossible for Kize to merely transform and escape.
"You will not touch her. And if this Sesshoumaru lays eyes on you again, you will die." The inu-youkai growled through clenched fangs.
Kize nodded rapidly against the hand below his chin, blue eyes wide and terrified. This was not a battle he could fight and win, kaze-youkai were not fighters, Kagura being a rare exception. But even she was crippled under the weight of the man's flaring youki, furious energy that whipped around him in thick tendrils. No, he had no chance of winning. He would not try.
He was released, and had transformed before he could even hit the ground, leaving the daiyoukai and the woman crouched on the floor.
Sesshoumaru did not acknowledge her, did not even turn to glare or growl at her. He just turned and left.
And suddenly Kagura had the energy to move.
"Sesshoumaru! Wait!" her mind reeled with possible explanations, excuses and apologies, and reasons why he shouldn't banish her or cast her out, or at the worst kill her.
But the man before her only continued on, storming down hallways and round corners. Kagura stumbled after him, her mind clearing with each step. He turned a corner and she reached a hand forward, making contact with the mokomoko-sama- And suddenly found herself pinned against a wall.
A tight fist gripped her collar and held tight against her clavicle, the other had been slammed into the wall near her head. Only now could she see the jagged lines across his cheeks, red-rimmed blue eyes, and fangs poised dangerously at her throat.
Seconds ticked past too slowly, and his breath washed against her neck, scorching and sending a tingle down her spine. Her chest rose and fell too quickly, and she tried to focus on reading his eyes. Eyes that weren't even looking at her, focused on some space behind her shoulder.
"Sesshoumaru…"
Fangs retracted and he righted himself, raising his head so that he finally met her eyes.
"Sesshoumaru, I-" he leaned forward, and she thought he might kiss her, the fist at her collarbone tightening – she didn't care, as long as it was something besides those livid eyes – but he pulled away with a sneer and a barely intelligible growl:
"I suggest you cleanse that wretch's stink from your tongue, lest I rape you here."
And no, no, no.
She slipped from his fingers, her mind shutting down, her limbs freezing. She could not even find it within herself to fully transform, instead only making it halfway, a smoky grey puddle that dripped to the floor, clinging to his fingers and rushing away, away, just away. But only making it as far as the opposite corner.
Sesshoumaru's eyes gradually faded back to gold, the red fading away, but the stripes remaining jagged. Only now could he truly see her, see the terror in her wide eyes. See the way she clutched at her now loosened collar. How she huddled against the wall, her knees drawn to her chest. He could scent her fear, hear the panicked breaths and the acceleration o her pulse.
Something lurched in his gut.
And he ran.
…
Oh SHIT.
Sorry for the long wait, guys. My baby died and I had to wait hella long to go to the store to get stuff off the hard drive.
Reviews PLEASE.