Chapter 33
Sai woke up the next morning with Kaze's arms around her. She felt wonderful. Last nights events ran through her mind. The reception was mostly a blur, but what happened afterwards was fresh and clear. Sai shifted her position in bed. Kaze stirred.
"Hey babe. You awake?" He asked, sleep heavy in his voice.
"Yeah." She said, "Did I wake you?"
"Don't worry about it. As long as it's you that I wake up next to, it's alright." He kissed her neck and began to feel up her body. Sai smiled and turned around in his arms.
"Again huh?" She asked, smiling.
"Hey last night was amazing." Kaze said, "Plus, that smell is still all over you."
"You know it is." Sai winking, kissed him, and rolled over on top of him. They were loud enough that Sai wouldn't have been surprised if everyone could hear them this early in the morning. Then again, they were all probably sleeping off hangovers from the night before.
Once both of them had finished, they laid in bed side by side. Sai had her head laid on Kaze's chest.
"So what you wanna do today?" Kaze asked.
"Stay here." Sai said, yawning.
"Yeah, I could go for that too." Kaze told her, "But I feel like we should do something special for our honeymoon."
"I kinda like what we've been doing." Sai said, snuggling closer to Kaze's well muscled body.
"Oh don't worry. That's gonna keep happening." Kaze laughed, "But I want to treat you, take you somewhere nice. You're my woman, my mate, and I love you. I'd do anything for you, so just name me a place you want to go and we'll go."
"Kaze, where'd you learn to be this charming? Makes a girl horny as hell." Sai joked.
"I've got two sisters, remember? Both of whom are infamous for their... Exploits with men. I've learned a few things." Kaze told her.
"You just better not have learned one certain habit." Sai threatened.
"I don't know..." Kaze said. His hand snaked down her bare back. Sai knew what he was doing and let it happen with a smile.
"As long as it's me you're feeling up, I kinda like it." Sai admitted.
"Oh really?" Kaze said, intrigued.
"Well I am just a horny teenage girl at heart." She raised her head off his chest and kissed him and winked. "But I'm also a really jealous one, so keep your hand on my ass and no one else's."
"You don't have to worry about that babe. I don't think I could live with myself if I hurt you like that." Kaze told her.
"Good." Sai said happily. She got up out of bed and threw some clothes at Kaze. "Now come on. As much as I want to stay here all day, we've gotta pick up your sword from Totosai." Kaze nodded and disappointedly looked on as Sai covered up her flawless body with pesky clothing. He sighed and got up out of bed to do the same.
Once they had gotten dressed, they walked out into the sunshine. The village streets were empty. Empty except for two certain twins that were looking at them with knowing grins.
"Sounds like you two had a good morning." Nami said.
"And a good night." Umi added. Both Sai and Kaze blushed.
"You guys heard that huh?" Sai asked, embarrassed.
"If they weren't still asleep, so would half the village. Fortunately enough for you, it seems that we and Akage were the only ones who didn't get all that drunk last night." Nami explained.
"Akage heard too?" Kaze asked.
"Probably." Umi said. Both Sai and Kaze sighed.
"Hey guys we're not judging." Umi assured them, "We don't really care and fully approve of what you two are doing."
"Thanks Umi." Sai said sarcastically.
"No problem my little screamer." Umi said in her typical cheery voice. Both of them sighed again in defeat. They could tell that the twins probably weren't going to let this go for a while.
"Well it's been nice discussing our very personal life with you, so now if you'll excuse us, we have things to do." Kaze told his sisters.
"Oh I'm sure you do." Nami said, grinning. Neither Sai nor Kaze bothered to respond. They simply sped off in the direction of Totosai's scent.
Once they had gotten far enough away, Sai turned her head to Kaze.
"So my guess is that we're never going to hear to end of this." Sai said.
"Probably not." Kaze agreed, "At least not for a while. Maybe after Akage proposes to Nami, it might go away."
"And how long do you think that will be?" Sai asked.
"Who knows." Kaze said, "That kid has no idea what he's doing."
"Yeah I know." Sai agreed.
"So what kind of abilities do you think Totosai is going to put in my blade?" Kaze asked, changing the topic.
"Don't know." Sai admitted, "Probably something that will complement mine since we're mates and all."
"Well your swords affect time and earth. What complements that?" Kaze asked.
"Guess we'll find out." Sai told him. With that they continued their way to the place where Totosai lived.
The mountain was steep and would have been impossible for any human to get up. That's exactly why Totosai had moved there. He wanted no inference from the empire. For Sai and Kaze, however, the trek was more or less easy. They reached Totosai's workshop in no time and walked calmly inside. The demon was asleep in a chair.
"Totosai!" Sai called out, "Wake up old man!" He still didn't get up. Sai walked over and knocked him in the head just hard enough to wake him up, which was pretty hard.
"I'm awake! I'm awake!" Totosai yelled, rubbing his head, "There's no need for that." Sai rolled her eyes.
"You missed the wedding you know." She accused.
"Did I now?" Totosai said, scratching his head, "I guess I did. Well I have your wedding present. That sword you asked for is leaning against the wall.
"My sword?" Kaze asked, turning to the blade.
"Yes. The one made from your fang." Totosai told him, "It's a straight blade of the same style as Sai's."
"What is it's name?" Kaze questioned as he picked it up.
"Jinsei. The blade of life." Totosai said, "It is vampiric blade of sorts. It gets stronger every time you slay a demon. From your power alone it is strong, but it has limitless potential to get stronger."
"That's amazing!" Kaze said. Totosai nodded.
"Plus it will make it easier for you to learn. Most have to deal with the full strength of the blade from the beginning or rely on the strength of an ancestor. The blade's ability, however, will allow you to adjust to the power as it grows along with your own." Totosai explained, "In addition, it is also the perfect complement to the blades of your mate. You now have power over matter, time, and life. Quite the combination."
"Indeed." Kaze agreed, "Thank you very much for this Totosai."
"Don't worry about it. Now you will need to learn the abilities of the sword. As with all demon blades, it has the ability to produce sword pressure, but this blade can also use a technique called the Blood Scar. Somewhat like the Wind Scar, but especially devastating to living things, though it will still do damage to the surrounding environment. Its ultimate technique, however, is called Reaper's Breath. This attack creates hurricane force winds that will steal the life force out of anything you allow it to. It can also be concentrated into a direct attack." Totosai explained. Kaze simply nodded, taking in all of the information.
"Seems like you have a pretty powerful blade in your hands Kaze." Sai said, impressed, "Nice work Totosai."
"That's high praise coming from you Sai. I'll take it for what it's worth." The old blade master said with a smile, "Now go on. Get out of here. I've got work to do." Both Sai and Kaze nodded, waved goodbye, and set off at a run out of the workshop. When they reached the edge of the cliff, both of them jumped. They were flying through the air, falling hundreds of feet. Where they finally touched down, they immediately hit the ground running.
As they ran, a scent filled their lungs. It was oppressive and thick in the air.
"You smell that?" Sai called out to Kaze.
"Yeah." He responded, "Demons. Humans too. Lots of them."
"The demons aren't giving off any aura and the humans reek of blood and smoke." Sai pointed out.
"Must be one Konton's armies. Never seen him make humans and demons work together before." Kaze said, pondering the situation.
"Well, they aren't heading towards the village and can't sense us from where they are. What do you wanna do?" Sai asked.
"I don't know." Kaze admitted, "Let's get back to the village. We need to tell the others about this." Sai nodded and the two sped up their pace.
It wasn't long before the village came into view. Their friends and parents were waiting for them. Sai and Kaze reached them quickly and could easily discern the concerned looks on all of their faces. Sai looked to her father.
"You smell it too?" She asked.
"Yeah." He said simply.
"You're not planning to go after it are you?" Kagome asked, worriedly.
"Kagome, you don't need to worry." Sango assured her, "These kids have taken down larger armies than this before."
"Yeah and my daughter almost got killed." She shot back.
"Mom!" Sai interjected, "We don't know what we're gonna do yet. We're not strong enough to face Konton and we still don't have any leads on whatever this embodiment of love is. Since it's likely that that army was heading back to Konton, it's unlikely that we will follow it now." A look of relief came over Kagome's face.
"So what are we gonna do?" Umi asked.
"Well, we've really only got one logical option." Akage pointed out.
"We've gotta find this embodiment of love." Nami said.
"That would be great to find, but it's like Sai said. We have no idea where to look." Kaze said.
"I believe I can help you out with that." Came a familiar voice from behind them. Everyone turned to see Sesshomaru approaching them.
"Sesshomaru?" Inuyasha said, questioningly.
"Hello little brother." Sesshomaru greeted him coldly.
"What do you mean you can help us?" Sai asked directly. Sesshomaru responded by pulling a sealed scroll from his robe. He threw it to Sai, who caught it easily.
"Check the symbol on the seal. I think you'll find it familiar." He told them. Sai did as she was told. Her breath caught in her throat at what she saw. Kaze noticed.
"Sai, what's wrong?" He asked, concern thick in his voice.
"It's... It's... It's that symbol. The one that was burned into the inn." She said, looking up to Sesshomaru, "Where did you get this?"
"That's unimportant." He said, "What is, though, is what's inside. That will help you beat Konton."
"If you had this information Sesshomaru, then why haven't you acted on it and gone after him yourself. Don't put my daughter in danger." Inuyasha growled.
"You're a fool Inuyasha!" Sesshomaru barked back, "I have an empire to protect. Konton's armies are constantly at my border. The one that just passed by this area is nothing compared to what I deal with on a daily basis! I cannot leave my land to crumble! I cannot leave my family!" This stopped Inuyasha in his tracks. He immediately calmed down and nodded in understanding.
"That last reason is one I can respect Sesshomaru." He said calmly. Sesshomaru nodded and turned to leave.
"Hold up Sesshomaru!" Sai yelled at him. He stopped and turned to face her.
"What's in this scroll and how is it going to help us?" Sai demanded.
"You'll have to open it and find out for yourself Saiai." He told her, "After all, this does center around you." With those final words, he flew off leaving everyone stunned into silence.
After a few moments, Sai was the first to find her voice again.
"Dammit!" She cursed loudly, "Why the hell does everyone keep saying that this is all on me? I mean, what makes me so damn special?!" Kaze walked up to her and put his arm around her. She jumped in surprise at first, but eventually relaxed and buried her face into Kaze's chest and began to cry. Kaze pulled her in close and began to strike her hair.
"Hey it's gonna be alright. You hear me? It's gonna be fine." He soothed, "This isn't all on you. You've got me and Nami and Umi and Akage. We're all here for you and we won't let you go through this alone. No matter what, we'll be right beside you." Sai removed her tear soaked face from Kaze's chest and looked up at him with desperate eyes.
"You mean that?" She asked as fresh tears continued to fall.
"Absolutely." He assured her, pulling her into a tighter embrace.
"You're the best Kaze." She said before burying her face into Kaze's chest once again with a renewed batch of tears flowing straight into his clothes.
"C'mon Sai." He said, picking her up bridal style, "Let's get home, okay. We can check out whatever that scroll says tomorrow. Right now, you need to relax." And so they did just that. Kaze took Sai home, followed by all of her friends and family. They spent the rest of the day comforting her and assuring her that she would never be alone and that they could win this fight. Well into the night, Sai finally fell asleep in Kaze's arms. Once that happened, everyone returned to their own homes and Kaze quickly followed his mate into sleep.