disclaimer: i don't own InuYasha; my OCs belong to me.
Chapter 04: Begin (With an Ending) - Lesson Learned
It wasn't difficult for him to pinpoint the whereabouts of the sulking princess.
She was staring into space, sitting atop a high oak tree, almost concealed in the greenery of the leaves. A soft breeze tugged at her ebony hair she kept in a high ponytail, making the leaves dance around her; she'd changed out of her dirty training clothes hours earlier, now having donned a casual kimono that was red with white lotuses on the left shoulder and right hip, a loose purple sash tied around her waistline, her feet bare.
His familiar scent blew on the breeze, making her ears twitch; brow furrowing, she glared into the clear blue sky beyond the oak's shelter.
"Come to gloat?" She wondered as he came to a halt short of the base of the tree, feeling his gold eyes lift up to find her hidden in the leaves.
"I wasn't aware you had an affinity for hiding in trees." He remarked.
She ignored the vein twitching on her brow at his remark, huffing. "Just tell me why you came to pester me and then leave. I'm not in the mood." She snapped with thinning patience that was clearly evident in her voice.
He scowled up at her and exhaled, shaking his head. "Come down here, then; it's easier to talk when I'm not shouting up at you." He requested.
Since when is he so nice? She thought, huffing again and shifting her weight on the thick branch she was perched on. "Nope; you're just going to have to be a good puppy and bark up at me like a hound should rightfully do." She said nonchalantly.
His brow twitched in annoyance at her insult; gods, you're impossible, he thought with an inward groan, the muscles in his legs tensing for a spring. "Since you're being so damn difficult…" He leaped up in a single bound to her branch, making her almost jump as he landed gently, watching her head bump into a low-sitting branch overhead.
"Ow!" She yelped, rubbing her head gingerly and grimacing.
His shoulders shook with silent laughter, gold eyes amused at seeing karma in action. Karma really is a bitch, my impossible princess, he thought with a smug grin.
Getsu stared up at him through one watery silver eye, catching the grin on his lips and the hidden laughter in his gold eyes, as she rubbed her head soothingly. "S-stop laughing!" She snapped.
Sesshomaru crossed his arms in the sleeves of his kosode, smug and content in the same time. "Not even; this is too amusing. Besides, you deserve it." He replied coolly.
She glowered at him with both silver eyes, bristling. "For what, pray tell?" She bit out.
He looked very content with himself. "Tricking me into sparring with you this morning, and then those insults you spouted the other day… There's more, but I seem to have forgotten at the moment." He shrugged, slipping his hands free of the folds to list the reasons off on his fingers.
Getsu grumbled and leaned back against the tree, folding her arms over her chest, looking away as she blushed embarrassedly at having her plan foiled by an insolent bastard like the one present before her. "Piss off." She growled.
Sesshomaru mirrored her and exhaled. "Temper, my princess." He usually wasn't prone to being this smug and airy, but while she was still pissy and sulking… What the hell?
Her cheeks flared as red as her kimono and she sent him a steely glare. "Don't call me that! Besides, we aren't even married, you arrogant mutt." She spat, looking away again.
He looked content again at seeing her squirm. "Not yet. Though I think I can get used to seeing this side of you… It really makes you look attractive, or at least more attractive than when we first met. Enough to almost make me forget your atrocious behavior…" A spout of leaves was thrown at his face, catching him off guard; he deadpanned, spitting out a leaf that had landed on his tongue.
Getsu guffawed, grinning cheekily. "Karma, milord, karma." She said simply, happy with herself.
Sesshomaru growled as he yanked the leaves out of his silver hair, gold eyes flaring. "Childish brat!" He snapped.
She shrugged innocently, "what're you so huffy for? Unless you've got a problem with it?" She teased, keeping the cheeky grin on her lips.
His claws carved crescents into his palms. "You damn well know I have a fucking problem with it." He growled lowly.
"Milord, shame on you, speaking so callously infront of a princess! My poor virgin ears!" She declared, draping an arm over her brow in mock dramatics as crocodile tears fell down her cheeks.
A small branch was thrown at her head, making her yelp and almost fall off the branch; she blinked and shook her head of the twigs that got in her face, rubbing her eyes with her fists as she heard him chuckling.
"Bastard git!" She barked as she lunged at him, temper flaring, her clawed hands flying to his neck.
He caught her wrists, blinking as the end of the branch he sat on creaked before both daiyokai fell down from the tree when the branch snapped.
Getsu yelped and clung to him out of reflex, burying her face in his chest.
Sesshomaru swore when his back hit the hard ground, having landed in a small patch of grass concealed by the brush from prying eyes.
She slowly looked up from having buried her face in his kosode, looking down at her cushion to see him rubbing his head with a hand gingerly, looking down into his gold eyes. "Are you okay?" She asked concernedly.
Wait, did she just sound worried for him? What was wrong with her?
"Yes, my back broke my fall." He replied sardonically, looking up at her silver eyes and perking up: was that worry in her eyes? He mentally surveyed that she was lying on his body, blinking once when seeing the kimono she wore had risen up to her upper thighs from the fall, barely covering her backside, his own legs slightly spread when he'd landed on the hard grassy ground.
Getsu smiled in relief at his sarcasm, her ears twitching as she distinctly felt something on his lower person poke her pelvis, particularly the lower region… She squeaked and scrambled off him, sitting up and blushing furiously, cheeks blazing as red as the kimono she wore when she noticed it had risen up on her thighs, almost flashing… Her cheeks burned a shade of dark red. "Y-you didn't see anythin'!" She stammered, trying to get up and rush as far as she could get away from the attractive daiyokai that had been turned on at their latest position.
"Wait," he caught her wrist, surprising her, watching her cheeks flare a reddish pink that made her look beautiful; she looked at him shyly. "W-what is it?" She demanded, trying to muster her usual tough composure.
Sesshomaru sat up a little, seeing her sink onto her knees in response, feeling his manhood harden at having her so close to him, so close to… "I wanted to see if you were… alright, from this morning. I would imagine losing to a man who's courting you was hard on your pride." He declared quietly, seeing her ears twitch.
Getsu blushed more and looked down, feeling his reflexively tight grab on her wrist loosen gently, making her shiver as her beast growled in heat at being so close to the dog demon's well-toned body he hid beneath his gray kosode and blue hakama. "It was, yeah, it was hard." She saw his cheeks color pink and his gold eyes briefly look away before quickly looking at her, her own cheeks burning. "But I'm okay. I... I guess I just have to get used to losing once, to a male of all people." She shrugged, laughing weakly.
He smiled a little out of relief. "I'm glad." She blinked in confusion. "I mean, that you aren't injured from falling." He covered up quickly, a light blush of embarrassment stain his cheeks.
She nodded, slipping her wrist free of his grip, looking at the inner recesses of the mansion beyond the brush that concealed them from prying eyes, rubbing her left arm. "Is your back alright?" She wondered quietly, making his ears twitch.
He rubbed his back, wincing. "Sort of." He mumbled.
She looked at him, shuffling to her feet and extending a hand of aid. "Come on, I'll look at it inside." She offered.
Sesshomaru blinked in confusion; was she going to tend to his injury? This was a new one, even for her. "Right," he nodded, taking her hand.
Getsu blushed as she noticed her hand fit perfectly inside his larger hand, squeezing slightly before she spirited to the main building.
:::::::xXx:::::::
Having her in his room was… different.
It was a different case the other morning because the situation was different. He hadn't been turned on, then. Nor had she practically flashed him, then, either.
She looked at the fair skin of his back he presented to her after shrugging his kosode off, lifting her palms up as a soft lilac glow came to life. "This might hurt for a moment, but bear with it," she warned quietly, eyeing the bruises that had formed particularly around his upper spine.
He nodded, perking up when she placed her palms on his back and a searing heat washed over his back. A soft growl was uttered between his teeth before he bit the inside of his left cheek to quiet himself, a cool rush extinguishing the heat that had overcome him, as her palms roved over his back; he shuddered quietly, his shoulders slumping.
She finished tending to his bruises, letting him shrug the kosode back on, sitting back on her knees. "Better?"
He nodded again, fixing the collar and looking at her, at her slightly disheveled black hair that was loosened from the fall earlier; a smirk playing at his lips towards the break in formal monotony. "How are you able to do that?" He asked, seeing her ears twitch, as he shuffled to sit before her.
She looked down at the hands in her lap, shrugging. "My mother's bloodline, the women in her clan were gifted with the ability to heal. Being the firstborn, I also inherited the same gift, only according to Mother, 'the gift is stronger' with me because of my being a purebred wolf demon." She smiled thoughtfully, looking up at his gold eyes and holding his stare. "Healing bruises is child's play." She shrugged again.
Sesshomaru tilted his head to one side, earning a faint smirk from her. "Why did you want to heal my bruises, if they're simple enough for a demon like me to recover from?" He asked.
Getsu's cheeks warmed and she shrugged again. "I guess I felt the need to apologize for how I've behaved the majority of the week you've been here; mending an injury seemed the easiest to do, to me." She explained humbly.
He lifted a brow before he smirked again, "I suppose we've both been acting childish, haven't we?" He wondered.
She laughed quietly and waved it off, "yeah; talk about irony." She rubbed her neck absently, the blush staining her cheeks a light pink.
He smiled slightly. Perhaps he had underestimated her after all… "Your hair looks like a bird nest," he commented, perking her ears.
Getsu blushed again, huffing and lowering her gaze; she reached to undo the hairtie she used to keep her hair up, pulling her hair down and running her claws through the ebony locks, combing them out. "At least I didn't land on my back." She sniffed.
Sesshomaru chuckled, seeing her ears twitch again. "Cute."
She blushed more and spluttered another huff, raking her claws through the last few inches of her hair, wincing a little; she caught him staring and blushed again, scowling. "What?"
He shrugged and turned his gold eyes to the cluster of lotuses embroidered on her shoulder. "It's nothing." He replied simply, shifting to that aloof tone once again.
Getsu huffed, shaking her head before she shuffled to her feet and moved to the door. "If you say so. I'd better get going before Korihime or someone finds me here," she mumbled.
Sesshomaru nodded, eyeing the curve in her hips momentarily before his gold eyes lifted to her silver gaze. "Don't want that spreading, do you?" He mused, trying at a joke.
She blushed and laughed sheepishly, nodding. "Nope, not here anyway." She slid the door open before flashing a light smile at him. "See ya," she said, slipping outside and closing the door behind her wake, shuffling down the porch to her room.
He watched her leave and sighed once she was gone, lying on his back on the tatami mat.
It might've been his imagination, but he could swear that there was a spark, an attraction (once they put aside their stubborn-child-antics, that is) in that moment... It felt nice.
"Lady Getsuei," a polite knock sounded on her door the following afternoon.
She grimaced and stretched her arms to the ceiling with a loud yawn, scritching the back of her head with a hand. "What is it, Ayame?" She asked sleepily after having taken a short nap before lunch.
"Lord Kiba requests your presence in the meeting room; there's a business client there." Ayame informed, her voice muffled by the sliding door.
Getsu shuffled to her feet and tugged on the hem of her off-red casual kimono that had black cranes on the right hip and shoulder and a gray sash at her waist; she grimaced again at the business client thing, already knowing just who it was. Again? Doesn't that man ever learn? She wondered, sighing. "I'll be there in a sec; thanks, Ayame-chan." She replied kindly, pausing in the vanity mirror by her door and fixing her hair.
"Yes, milady," the maid shuffled down the hall and left her be.
A soft frown furrowed her brow when her silver eyes stared at her in the mirror's reflection; she exhaled again and ran her claws through her hair like a comb's teeth, reaching to tie her hair back into a loose ponytail, shrugging the ebony locks onto her right shoulder, slipping out into the corridor and making her way to the meeting room where her father was.
As the firstborn child in the family, Getsu was required to be her father's advisor when it came to business issues; most of the men who had come with proposals for him were treated kindly and were respectful towards her father, mostly because they feared his power as a strong daiyokai, but there were those that respected him enough to not cross him or swindle money from the clan's wealth.
But this latest one… She shook her head. There was something off about this latest client, and frankly, it pissed her off to not know what that something was.
Every word that came out of his mouth made her feel as if she was watching slime drip from his lips, poisonous slime, to top it off; he reeked of deceit and malice… and her father wasn't blind to this.
Her father, being kind-hearted, respectful and honest as he was, disliked this client; of course he would never break from chivalrous mannerisms embedded for centuries in his head to rip the client's head off his shoulders like a barbarian. Her father wasn't that kind of man… When he wasn't on the battlefield, that is.
She was at least grateful her father was on the same thought wave she was on.
"Onee-chan," her sister popped out from the courtyard to sidle up to her side, stirring her from her thoughts.
"Hey Kori," she greeted.
Her light demeanor faltered as she sensed her sister was tense; she glanced at her from the side. "Another business meeting?" She wondered.
She nodded, "it's that man again. The one that's been begging Father to work with him in the East?" She informed.
Korihime bristled slightly, "ah that one. Why is he here anyway? I thought Father had said no, a few years ago." She wondered, looking thoughtful.
Getsu bristled as well and huffed, "No, you know Father is too chivalrous to outright tell him 'no'. Besides, hopefully he'll turn him down this time around. That man sure is a persistent bastard." She mused grimly.
She nodded and sighed, clapping a hand on her shoulder. "Isn't that the truth? You do know I'm going to eavesdrop this time right? Incase Father contemplates burning his head off." She reminded, seeing her ears twitch.
She smirked at the thought and nodded. "Fine with me; though if you get in trouble with Mama, then you're on your own, ice queen." She ribbed her gently, playing a pun on her name.
She chuckled and elbowed back. "I'll survive; if you can survive Mother's lectures, then I surely can, too."
Getsu slid open the door to the meeting room once they finished their trek, her sister ducking behind her and hiding behind a wide red support beam near the doorway as she stood before the room. "You rang, Father?" She asked calmly.
Lord Kiba smiled in elation and happiness at seeing his 'business advisor' present. "Getsuei, come! Look who's here," he welcomed, nodding to the client that stood to his feet at seeing the she-wolf present.
A pale man with long wavy brown hair draped over his shoulders down his back wearing an elegant blue and violet haori over a dark gray kosode and brown hakama stood to her father's left; his red eyes glittered at seeing the lovely wolf princess present.
She fought the urge to bristle and flash her teeth in threat, nodding and bowing respectfully. "Welcome back, Naraku. I hope your journey here was safe." She greeted with the usual formalities, feeling like she was swallowing poison with each polite word she uttered.
The man nodded and smiled smoothly, making her insides twist in revulsion. "It was, thank you, Princess Getsuei, for being so kind as to listen to my business offer once again." He replied in that silky drawl that sent goosebumps down her arms.
She caught her father's likewise silver-eyed gaze and nodded, flashing a polite smile, before shuffling further inside the room to sit at his right across the table from their client and let the meeting commence.
There was something really off about Naraku: he practically oozed toxic poisons that made her sick just to look at him... It was almost like watching a spider inspect its future prey.
A/N: as i said in ch. 3, remodeling again. i'll admit most of the story doesn't need much tweaking, so i feel proud of that. (: anywho, enjoy the rest of the story!
also, a small spoiler, i AM making a story for the movie(s) (ie: Swords of an Honorable Ruler/ Fire on the Mystic Island) because, let's face it, those two movies are the shit. lol