In The Blood

By: Ryu Katanna

Beta:

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter Five

It had taken them three days to get everything prepared. Raizen had not been told anything yet as he may not have agreed to Kagome's plan if he knew what all it entailed before everything was ready. He would be told after Kagome and Yusuke were alone in the throne room with him. As those three days passed, the King's roiling stomach could be heard louder than ever before.

Yusuke and Kagome shared a silent look first with each other and then their advisors. Now ready, Kagome followed her brother as he burst into the throne room in his typical fashion. This time though he pulled a rope as he hauled a large squealing pig into the room. Looking up the teens caught the briefest look of incredulous shock on their demonic father's face before the door slammed closed behind them and it smoothed back over.

Yusuke took a small delight in the fact that he had caught that look. In the little over three months he had been there, that was one expression he had never thought to see. Raizen may have shifted back to the look of cool assessment he normally received, but he knew they had caught the old man by surprise. He watched as his sister moved forward, and Raizen's gaze softened by the smallest fraction as he watched her.

'She's really turned into a daddy's girl." Yusuke thought with some sarcasm as he watched the two.

"What is this? For what do I have a squalling swine in my throne room?" Raizen's voice was laden with disapproval and some curiosity.

"Don't look at me. This whole thing is her idea." Yusuke said flippantly as he pulled the pig closer to stand next to the other teen.

"Kagome?"

His voice left no room for her to do anything but be completely honest with him. Instinctively she lowered her eyes in a submissive gesture at his tone. He was not in a good mood today it would seem. As the sound of his stomach reverberated through the room she knew what the reason was.

"I have consulted with the Miko Midoriko of the Shikon. She has told me how I may help to ease the pain from your starvation. I have spoken with Yusuke as well as Seitei and Hokushin about it. They have agreed to this plan if you would but listen and allow me to do what I can."

Kagome went on to explain what she would do with the pig and how it would help his hunger though it would do nothig to prevent the inevitable. Taking a deep breath she then went on to explain the conditions Yusuke had set and why he had set them. Raizen listened quietly as she explained everything before looking to her brother who jerked his head in a nod of confirmation.

Yusuke had remained silent for once and did not interrupt. Raizen could see that he did not fully agree with her plan, but had gone along with it. He did not quite believe what he was seeing at first. These two, who had fought with each other at every turn since they had been reunited here, were finally working together on something after reaching a compromise between them.

For this reason alone did he approve and watch on as Kagome took a blade to the squealing pig's neck. The smell of fresh blood filled the room as she made quick work of cutting the animal into pieces to be more easily consumed. Her movements were quick and efficient as she did so. This was a skill gained while traveling, and it was evident that she had done this many times as she didn't even flinch at the pigs dying cries. Blood covered her hands and some splattered up her forearm as it pooled on the floor around her by the time she rested her hands over the flesh.

The room lit with the pink glow of her reiryoku as she purged the meat. A few minutes later she pulled back to let the power settle. Playfully Kagome turned to Yusuke to flick some of the excess blood in his direction. Raizen gave a grumble of amusement at Yusuke's hiss of displeasure before she channeled her youki through her hands and into the flesh of the pig.

A few minutes later and she was done. Taking a small strip into her mouth she sampled it. The power of her youki made for a heady rush as the blood filled her mouth and she smiled as she motioned Raizen over. Coming to crouch in front of her offering he took a moment to smell it before his lip curled in distaste.

It did not whet his appetite at all, but the look he received from his daughter had him pulling the meat to his lips despite that. Once he started it wasn't long before his hunger took over and the raw meat disappeared quickly, and Kagome licked the blood from her own fingers, hand, and arm to clean it away. It didn't fully satisfy his tastes, but he was starting to feel a bit better even as the pig flesh and Kagome's youki filled his empty stomach. When the meat was gone he moved back to his throne with Kagome refusing to leave his side. After he was settled she relaxed at his feet before resting her hand on his stomach. Raizen could feel the thrumming of Kagome's youki radiate out from her hand steadily as his stomach settled from where it had started to churn.

The next two hours passed quietly as Yusuke watched on. The silence that had settled around them was almost comfortable in the shared space between them. Both males felt as her power receded before she moved her hand away and took a deep breath in and then out. Looking up at her father she gave him a small smile before speaking.

"Any better?" The question came out almost like a sigh as they could hear how tired she was from the drain.

Not enough to satisfy, but enough that the hunger pains receded for the moment, Raizen gave her a nod before he stood. Lifting Kagome into his arms, he carried her out of the throne room and down to her bedroom, Yusuke following behind him. Gently, Raizen laid her down on the bed and carded a clawed hand through her long dark hair as she settled and her eyes slipped closed. Eyes traced along the markings so similar to his own as she drifted into sleep.

Yusuke couldn't help but watch as the demon he had always thought was just a hard-assed old bastard treated his twin so carefully. He didn't get it. Raizen was just going to leave them like their father did before they were even born. The human man may have still been alive, but he was as good as dead since he'd left. They weren't even his children directly, and yet Yusuke couldn't deny what he was seeing, no matter how much he wanted to. Was this what Kagome had seen in the man since she had met him, or was this a result of how she looked at him and acted around him? Having never known a father before; he couldn't be sure.

Yusuke had always wanted to be Kagome's protector, but growing up the way they had didn't allow for it with how much they were separated. He had honestly been upset when he had learned of her travels in the past. She had faced so much danger, and he hadn't even been aware of it. Now here she was in Makai, but this time he was determined to be there for her.

Yusuke just didn't know if he could really trust Raizen so easily with Kagome yet. He had not spent enough time with him to fully trust the old demon. Not with her. They had not spent enough time with each other for Yusuke to do so, but that was something that could only be done with time. Time that they would hopefully now have just a bit more of while Kagome carried through with the plan she had come up with.

Raizen straightened before turning and walking out of the room. He left the door open and waited for Yusuke to follow him before shutting it as softly as he could so as not to disturb her. Not able to find the words Yusuke followed Raizen back to his throne room and waited until he was seated before settling himself against a wall as he thought about all that happened today. Was it worth it? All the preparation, and Kagome's exhaustion?

"Did it really help, or are you just saying it did for Kagome's benefit?"

"Heh. I would not lie to her after what she just did. The hunger is still there, but the driving need to feed has abated to a tolerable level." Raizen responded with a deep sardonic chuckle.

"She's grown pretty attached to you. Just don't hurt her." Yusuke said before he moved to leave the throne room and head down for training.

"I can not know what you mean." Raizen replied causing Yusuke to pause in the doorway.

"I mean the guy who knocked up our mother ran out on us, and Kagome got shoved off onto other family members because he wasn't around. She can be so strong sometimes, but to those she considers family, Kagome is the most vunerable. She always has been." He said before slamming the door shut and walking away.

'That's right. She's why I started fighting as a kid. Mom hurt her so bad I've only seen her once since we were ten. I always thought I should have protected her somehow...'

123

A week passed, and then two, and they had fallen into a comfortable rhythm. Kagome and Yusuke would visit Raizen once in the morning and once in the evening. Seitei and Hokushin would wait outside the throne room until either her fatheror brother would carry the little female to her room, or Yusuke would leave Kagome with Raizen if she wasn't too tired. Raizen and Yusuke had not spoken much since the first day, and Kagome would be the one to try starting any conversations.

He knew what she was trying to do. She was trying to get them to talk, but Yusuke really didn't feel like it. Instead, he took the time to watch and listen to their interaction. This was the old bastard who had taken over his body and killed Sensui. That battle had been his! It still made him angry to think about how that had been taken from him. How his body had been manipulated by another. It resonated in his mind even now as a hollow victory.

Kagome became used to the drain on her energy and soon picked back up on her training. Seitei had not received any word of her friends yet, and so not much had been done other than falling into a new routine. She was gaining better control of her youki, and the training with Hokushin, Seitei, Yusuke and the others helped her improve her reflexes, speed, and stamina. Still, she knew that it was nowhere near good enough. The future was uncertain, and she was determined to be prepared for it.

Raizen was better than before, but he had starved himself of human flesh for so long that it would not be enough to stop the process that had already started. The roiling of his stomach could still be heard through the air like clockwork. Kagome was only happy that she could ease his pain in some way and the inevitability of his death plagued her as time went on into the next month.

"Will you not be going to train with the brat today?" Raizen's voice reached her ears after she had pulled away and did not leave.

"No. I would spend the day with you if you would allow it. I want to get to know you better. Every time I have visited with you it's always been talking about me. I know what is coming, and I don't want any regrets." Kagome replied with her usual smile looking a bit sad.

Raizen seemed to study her and weigh her words for a moment before he released a deep chuckle.

"It still surprises me how different you two can be."

"We may have been born at the same time, but the worlds we lived in were different. They still are." Kagome admitted softly as she settled a few feet from him in a habit she had settled into after daily visits.

"You are both here now." Raizen grumbled in response as he listened.

While Yusuke refused to speak to him much unless it was to try defeating him, Kagome had never done the same. She had not taken the same offense her brother had to his interference after her awakening. Instead, she had seemed more intent on him getting to know her, and her knowing him in return. It had been a bit strange to him for the first few weeks after she arrived.

"Yusuke may be here, but his heart remains in the human world. I know you see that. You are no fool." Her voice gave away nothing and Raizen knew that she was right.

"Yet yours does not?"

"I... My human family is still there, but I have no desire for us to torture each other as they grow old. The demon world has started to feel like my home now. My friends and my son are here somewhere if they yet live. You and Yusuke are here, and for now, that is enough." She replied and Raizen almost would have believed her.

"You know I will not be here much longer, and you are not enough to hold your brother here. The search for your friends could take years, and you may not like what you find. Can you really be content in that time?" He questioned her now in order for her to question herself.

She took a few moments before she spoke. In his own way, this was Raizen showing he cared. Kagome knew that, and she appreciated it.

"I know I can not tie Yusuke here. I know that, but I will remain as the sister he can return too when the time comes. As much as he may try to deny it, Yusuke isn't a human anymore. The girl he loves will one day die as will most of the humans he cares for within the next one hundred years. Be it from an accident, sickness or old age. I will continue to look for my friends and my son even if they are gone. I want to know what happened to them. To find my son, who is still young enough to still have use for his mother for a few centuries yet." Kagome grew quiet before she looked up at him with an expression that showed her resolve before continuing.

"Even once you are gone, and Yusuke leaves for the human world, there will still be people here. Seitei and the others. Time will pass and I will meet others still. I will find purpose as I continue to defend the territory and wait for Yusuke to return. I am content, father."

It was then that he could see it in her eyes. A glimmer of something all too familiar to him. He had seen it once before in a human, and it brought him a pleased smile as he watched her. He had seen his downfall in that woman's eyes, and it was then he knew she would be just fine. The Makai could be a cruel and unforgiving world to live in, but she was not the complacent little lamb she was making herself out to be.

"You are so much like her." His voice had softened at the memory.

They took the rest of their time talking as he told her of the human woman he had loved. Of the reason for his vow. She learned of things he had lived through, and people he had met along the way. She learned so much more about who he was in the days spent with him after that. Knowing that Yusuke would choose a life in the ningenkai they spoke often of the politics of Makai. Kagome learned so much of what she would need to know when the time came.

The stories he told, the knowledge he passed on, and the time they spent together would be only a short time in her long, long life, but she would always remember and treasure those days with her father.

123

Months passed, and now Kagome watched as Yusuke sped off to go and challenge Raizen once again. She knew the time drew short as the days had passed. Her father had refused to see her for two days now, and she could feel that he was trying to protect her.

From himself.

It had been nearly a year now since she had arrived in Makai, and the war that loomed was daunting. The balance of power would soon shift. Yusuke and Kagome both had nearly doubled and matched in strength since beginning their training here, but would it be enough? With Raizen's death, Yusuke would be the new King and inherit the territory, and she would be his second and expected to support him.

The question that came ever closer was what kind of King Yusuke would be. Kagome knew well that he would return to where he had left his heart. She and Raizen had spoken of it often enough. Kagome was determined that if that was the case then she would remain, and be sure he had a place to return to when the time came.

"That boy is relentless." To-Oh commented, drawing a fond gleam to Kagome's eyes.

"Like his father." Jun replied with a smile as they watched him run toward the tower.

"That's odd." Seitei's calm voice chimed from behind her.

"What is?" To-Oh asked as he looked over at Seitei and Hokushin.

"The King's stomach growl is off schedule." Seitei told them before everyone looked a bit startled as they realized he was right.

"Oh no..." Hakushin gasped in worry as they all looked first to the tower, and then to Kagome.

Kagome gave them a somber look before nodding. She had known two days ago when she had been refused entrance to the throne room that this day would soon be upon them. When they all moved to run toward the tower she stopped them.

"No, Yusuke needs this last talk with our father. He hasn't taken the time to know him as I have. This may be the last chance they have." Her voice chimed clear for them to hear as if it was a signal for the explosion that rocked the area.

Looking up they could see the two figures of Raizen and Yusuke gaining distance from the tower as they flew out from the high walls of the throne room. They watched in surprise as they felt Raizen's massive power surge. Kagome closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. It was time now.

"Stay here. I will be return with Yusuke."

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Edited: 06/22/2023