Author's Corner

Sorry for making you wait! The summer holidays are officially over so I'm back at work full-time (rip). Updates may be a bit slower than usual leading up to Christmas as I don't have a lot of free time, and I'm hoping to participate in NaNoWriMo this year, so my schedule will be pretty full. I have a few ideas for what I'm going to write, but if anyone has any suggestions please feel free to send them my way!

Fortunately for all of you, the next few chapters of this fic are already written. They just need editing and posting. I'll try to space them out strategically lol. In the meantime, please consider following me on Tumblr and Instagram. My handles are kagkik (Tumblr) and magadraws (Instagram). There might be some new drawings of Octavia if you fancy having a look ;)

Thanks as always to my wonderful friend victoriarogue. ❤️ If you're a fan of Inuyasha comedy fics, I highly recommend The Dark Parts of the Internet and Internet Spiciness – both of which are available to read over on ArchiveOfOurOwn :)

Trigger warning: sexual content.

EIGHTH BLOOD

Chapter 113: Insomnia

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Thump! The arrow struck the centre of the target with enough force to skewer a grown man's torso.

Inuyasha watched from afar as his wife lowered her bow and proceeded to retrieve her arrows. She was dressed warmly, adorning a thick white kosode and bottle green hakama trousers. Her chest guard was made from dyed leather – as was the protective covering on her left arm – and she had traded her sandals for a pair of sturdy winter boots.

"I know you're there, Inuyasha," she barked suddenly. "What do you want?"

He sighed in defeat. There was no fooling her.

"I hope it ain't my head you're imagining in the place of that target," he said as he walked towards the archery range.

She snorted. "Not this time."

She notched an arrow and aimed it at one of the targets on the far wall. Her eyes narrowed as she drew the bowstring tighter. Releasing it, the string snapped back into place with an audible twang and propelled the arrow forwards. It hit dead centre again.

Kagome smiled triumphantly. Inuyasha did the same. She'd come a long way from the girl who hadn't been able to loose an arrow to save her life.

"How long have you been out here?" he queried.

"I'm not sure," she replied without meeting his gaze. "An hour or two, maybe?"

His eyes slid to the darkening horizon. "It's getting late. Have you eaten yet?"

"I'm not hungry."

"Me, neither," he said with a shrug. "I am pretty exhausted, though. How about you wrap things up here and then come up to bed—"

"I'm not tired yet." She finally looked him in the eye and said, "Don't wait up for me. You've worked hard these past few days, making sure that the refugees from the South have everything they need. You deserve to rest, too. I'll join you when I'm ready."

"How long will that be?"

"I don't know. I'll try not to wake you, though."

I won't mind if you do, he thought glumly.

She hadn't been herself lately. Her mood was generally sullen, and her temper flared more often than he was used to – and he was used to a lot – making her difficult to converse with. Even Shippo had grown weary of her snide remarks and sour temperament, opting to leave the stronghold to pursue a life of danger with his new comrades. Although Kagome tried to appear unaffected, the fact that he'd left without saying goodbye had wounded her greatly.

Inuyasha felt his resolve strengthen as she notched another arrow. "Can I give that a try?" he asked, pointing at the bow she was holding.

She furrowed her brow. "Why?"

"I want to know what it feels like."

She gave him a dubious look.

He pouted. "C'mon. Don't be like that. I ain't gonna break it if that's what you're worried about." A taunting smile pulled at his lips. "Unless you're scared of being humbled by a newbie?"

She scoffed. "Like that would ever happen."

"Prove it, then."

Rolling her eyes, Kagome shifted closer and handed him the bow. It was heavier than he'd expected. She showed him how to hold it and walked him through the process of notching an arrow. He let her mould his body into a more suitable position – secretly relishing in her closeness – and waited for her to give him permission to release the bowstring.

The quiet was suffocating. It burrowed under his skin to feast on his brain and other vital organs. Blood rushed behind his eardrums, amplifying the sound of her breathing.

"Kagome?" he began hesitantly. "We can fix this, right?"

"Fix what?"

"Us." He felt her stiffen behind him. Swallowing, he lowered the bow and whispered, "I know you're disappointed that we haven't—I mean, I get that it's been hard for you. It's been hard for me, too. But Miroku said it can sometimes take a while for—"

"It's not that," she murmured. "Yeah, it sucks. But given everything else that's happening, it's probably better that we haven't . . ."

The sentence ended prematurely, but her meaning couldn't have been clearer. After all, the battlefield was no place for an expecting mother and her unborn child.

Scooting backwards, she gestured for him to take the shot.

He missed his target by a landslide. The arrow barely punctured the ground and toppled onto its side to lie feebly in the grass. Cursing under his breath, Inuyasha moved to retrieve it, only to be stopped by Kagome reaching for his hand and interlocking their fingers. The bow slipped out of his other hand and landed on the ground with a soft thud.

"How much longer do we have to stay here?" she asked. "I thought we'd stay for a few weeks to let the dust settle, but we've been here for months. When are we going home?"

She was obviously referring to their village, but his version of home had very little to do with geography and almost everything to do with the people he cared about. Without Kagome or the rest of his loved ones, he had no home, but with them by his side, home was everywhere.

"You don't like it here?"

She shook her head.

"Why not?"

"Look around you, Inuyasha. It's a beautiful place, but it isn't us. We don't belong here."

He crinkled his forehead. "And? I'm a hanyou. I don't belong anywhere—"

"You belong with me," she cut him off sharply. "You always have. Who cares what a bunch of stupid bigots think? I sure as hell don't, and you shouldn't, either. Besides, they don't speak for everyone on this godforsaken rock. They like to think that they do, but trust me, they don't." She tightened her grip on his hand, crushing his fingers with her own. It was a good thing that she was human because she would have definitely broken them otherwise. Her eyes shone with tears as she said hoarsely, "I know you don't believe it, but you are loved by so many people, and by no one more than me."

His throat and chest felt unbearably tight all of a sudden.

Sighing, she let go of his hand and blinked hard. "You're not the only one afraid of losing the people you care about. The longer we stay here, the lower our chances of survival become. Those fanatics have already massacred two strongholds. I don't want to be here when this one falls. We should all evacuate before Octavia-chan's brother has the chance to—"

"Sesshoumaru would never agree to that," Inuyasha argued tactfully. "And he'd be right. These people are fucking relentless. Do you really think they'd leave us alone just because we ran? It ain't only pure-blooded demons they have a problem with. It's hanyou and humans who aren't prejudiced against those with youkai blood. They wiped out an entire island's population in less than a day! Imagine what they would do to us and the rest of our village." He grabbed hold of her shoulders and said fiercely, "We can't let them keep doing this. We have to fight back!"

"You think I don't know that?" she snapped. "I agree that someone has to stop them, but there's nothing we can do. This isn't like how it was with Naraku and the jewel. For once, things are completely out of our control. All we can do now is hide and pray that they don't find us."

Inuyasha scowled. "The old Kagome wouldn't have given up so easily. She would have ignored the odds and fought for what she believed in. Especially if it involved saving lives."

"I'm trying to save your life!" She wrenched herself free from his grasp and glared at him. "Sesshoumaru might not give a crap about it, but I do. That's the real reason you're doing this, right? To prevent that future you saw from becoming a reality? The one where he died and you regretted not helping him? I don't know what he said to you that night, but if he were in your shoes, do you think he'd fight so hard to keep you safe? Because I don't."

I am sorry for all that has transpired between us. My actions towards you were inexcusable, and I regret them more and more with each passing day. I was wrong to treat you that way. I should have taken care of you . . . I wish that I had.

"You're wrong," Inuyasha mumbled. "But even if you weren't, I couldn't just walk away. I told you as much before we leapt into that portal in our backyard, and you accepted it then." He softened his gaze. "I can't do this without you, Kagome. 'Where you go, I go.' Remember?"

A solitary tear escaped from her eye and rolled down her cheek like a raindrop. Cupping her face, Inuyasha lowered his eyelids and touched his forehead to hers. He heard her sharp intake of breath and waited for her to pull away, but she subverted his expectations by fisting her hands in his haori and shoving her mouth against his.

She had kissed him thousands of times by now, but never like this. Her lips tore at his possessively, demanding retaliation, whilst her tongue seared the inside of his mouth. He responded by slicing open her hair tie and raking his fingers through the dark tresses. Her scent ripened when he grazed her bottom lip with his teeth, clouding his senses with desire.

They had just enough restraint to wait until they were in the privacy of their own room before ripping each other's clothes off and resuming their warmongering.

He made short work of her undergarments, then pinned her against the wall beside their bed. Her fingernails dug into his forearms as he kissed her harder, assaulting her lips until they were flushed and swollen from his advances. She gasped for breath when he finally broke the kiss, but there was no relief in her expression as she peered up at him with half-lidded eyes. There was only hunger.

He held her gaze as he sank to his knees and stroked her thighs. Her breathing hastened when he hooked one of her legs over his shoulder. She cried out when his mouth descended on her without warning, slamming a hand onto the wall to steady herself.

"Oh, gods," she gasped. "Don't stop. Please!"

The fever lasted for hours. He had never known anything like it. Sex with Kagome was always an overwhelmingly positive experience, but this was something else.

Her moans were like music as he plundered her from behind, snapping his hips and hitting that sweet spot of hers just right. She screamed into the pillow as she came, and his grunts became louder in response to her quivering sex. He pressed a knuckle to the bundle of nerves between her legs and increased the tempo of his thrusts, trying to coax another climax out of her, but she was well and truly spent.

His own release was equally as intense. He groaned loudly as he spilled his seed inside of her, filling her completely, then held her whilst he waited for his mind to clear.

"I'll stay," she whispered without turning to look at him.

"Hmm?"

She reached for his hand and threaded their fingers together. "I said I'll stay. I hate that I have to say this, but you're right. We can't run away with our tails between our legs. We have to fight them. If not for us, then for all the innocent lives they've taken thus far."

He smiled into her shoulder. "Keh. There's the Kagome I remember."

She rolled over so that they were facing each other and returned the smile. "She might have to go into hiding more often. That was the best sex we've had in ages."

His cheeks warmed. "Really?"

"You don't think so?"

"That's not what I—I mean . . . It wasn't too much?"

Her smile widened. "Oh, Inuyasha. There's no such thing."

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"Are we boring you?"

Rin cringed at the sound of Kannika's voice. She and Nagisa had paused their conversation and were staring at her intensely.

"Well?" said the demoness. "Are we?"

"No," Rin mumbled. "Sorry. I'm not much of a morning person."

Kannika's brow crinkled. "You used to be. Are you still not sleeping?"

Rin shook her head.

"I imagine it is difficult to sleep when one has been blessed with the gift of foresight," Nagisa said, refilling their teacups. "Or should I say cursed? You have my sympathy, sweetling. Daiyoukai can survive for weeks without slumbering, but for humans, sleep is a necessity."

Rin looked away guiltily. She had confided in them about her visions, but she'd deliberately omitted the part about her heritage. Cyril had made her promise to keep it a secret, and she wasn't about to risk putting her friends' lives in danger by sharing potentially dangerous information with them.

"Is there no way to stop the visions?" Kannika asked. "Or at the very least delay them?"

"If there was a way, she would have done it already," replied Nagisa.

"Can she not sleep during the day? I'm sure Sesshoumaru-sama would understand—"

"She already does. The problem lies within the quality of her rest. Isn't that right, Rin?"

"Yes, Nagisa-sama."

Rin sipped at her tea miserably. As exhausted as she was, it wasn't the cause of her absentmindedness.

She kept replaying the events of that night in her head. Her heart still raced when she thought about the kiss. She had gone looking for him the following day, only to learn that he had departed early without an explanation. He probably had a perfectly good reason for leaving without telling anyone, but Rin couldn't help but feel that she was the one responsible for his sudden disappearance.

"The taijiya has been asking after you," Nagisa stated casually.

Rin choked on her tea.

"At first, I didn't understand why he had come to me instead of speaking to you directly," the sea dragon continued once Rin had finished coughing. "But he seems to be under the impression that you're avoiding him."

"I'm not," Rin insisted quickly.

"Aren't you?"

Kannika frowned. "Isn't he your friend, Rin-chama? Why would you be avoiding him?"

Sighing, Rin stapled her gaze to the floor and muttered, "It's not important."

"It was to him," said Nagisa.

Rin's chest contorted with guilt. What was she supposed to do with that information? He'd made his decision. It wasn't her fault that he had chosen to lay with a demon as opposed to a member of his own species. Plenty of humans favoured youkai over their own kind – herself included – so it was hardly surprising that he had invited that demoness into his bed instead of her.

Her eyes widened. Where had that come from?

Kohaku was one of her closest friends. He was certainly an attractive young man, but she wasn't interested in him like that . . . Was she?

"That reminds me," Nagisa started, tilting her head towards Kannika. "Whatever happened to that handmaid of yours?"

Kannika's cheeks turned rosy. "W-Which one?" she stammered.

"The tanuki girl. The two of you were inseparable the last time I was here, but I only ever see you with the red-haired one now. Does the former no longer serve you?"

Her blush darkened. "That is correct."

"I presume there is a reason?"

Rin leaned forwards eagerly. Kannika's favouritism had been obvious even to her, but she'd failed to notice the rift that had formed between the pair in recent months. Come to think of it, Fuko no longer accompanied Kannika on strolls through the gardens as she once had, and they now dined separately—something they had never done in all of Rin's time at the stronghold.

"It wasn't her fault," Kannika murmured softly. "After the invasion . . . I'm still me, I think, but when they clipped my wings . . . I couldn't bear for her to see me like this—reduced to a mere shadow of the woman she once loved."

Rin's gaze shifted to the overabundance of scar tissue on her patagium. "I understand," she said. "Tsunayoshi took so much from us. What's done can never be undone." She laid a hand over Kannika's and squeezed it tightly. "But we're still here. We made it. I know it's hard, but he can't hurt us anymore. And you're not a shadow. If anything, you shine."

Kannika opened her mouth to respond, but Nagisa was faster. "It's true," agreed the sea dragon. "We're not defined by the things we can and cannot do. A person's worth is measured by more than what has been taken from them." She emptied her cup and rose from her seat gracefully, then smoothed out the wrinkles in her pink and turquoise junihitoe. "You'll have to excuse me, ladies. There is something I must attend to. Please enjoy the rest of the tea. It would be a shame to see it go to waste."

Rin flashed her a small smile and nodded empathetically. "Of course. Take care, Nagisa-sama."

She returned the smile. "And you, sweetling."

Kannika waited until she was out of the room before whispering, "How strange. I wonder where she's going."

Rin shrugged. "If she wanted us to know, she would have told us."

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Sesshoumaru paused his reading when a knock sounded at the door to his study. He rolled the parchment into a cylinder and walked towards the closed shoji screen. He hadn't been expecting anyone to pay him a visit that morning, least of all the former heir to the Northern Lands.

"I want to join the search for the mage and his disciples," Nagisa announced upon entry.

He looked at her disapprovingly and said, "That would not be wise."

Her eyes blazed with defiance. "Why? I'm good at keeping a low profile. I stowed away on Namida for years without being discovered."

"And look where it got you. Widowed and disinherited within the same moon cycle. Not exactly something to boast about, is it?"

Her mouth twisted into a grimace. "You can't stop me, Sesshoumaru. I didn't come here to ask for your permission. I came to say goodbye."

"This is not a harmless fishing expedition with your fellow islanders," he countered. "My scouts will not accept you without receiving my written consent. You may have been born a princess, but their loyalty lies with me, not you."

"Then give me your consent! Have I not proven myself a valuable and trustworthy ally? What more must I do to earn your respect?"

He smelled her tears long before he saw them.

"I can't do it," she said in a hoarse voice. "Not again. It was bad enough the first time, but after what happened in the South . . . I can't be behind these walls when they get here. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Sesshoumaru felt his jaw clench. "I do."

He would gladly face a billion enemies all at once if it meant never setting foot in the tombs again.

Nagisa sniffed. "So, you'll let me go?"

"On one condition."

"Name it."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Do not engage."

"I wasn't planning on it—"

"Don't lie to me. I know perfectly well how alluring vengeance can be."

She sighed through her nostrils. "I suppose you do, don't you? Very well. I will be your eyes, ears and nose, but nothing else. Is that acceptable?"

He nodded. "It is."

Smiling faintly, her eyes slid down to the roll of parchment in his hand. "What's that?"

"A letter from my mother."

"What does it say?"

He unfurled the paper and handed it to her. "See for yourself."

Relief softened her expression as she read.

Sesshoumaru,

Apologies for not writing sooner. All is well here. Arashi and Maiha have agreed to fortify the Northern Stronghold and are in the process of stationing guards along the border. They also received a letter from Prince Yuudai with the same contents as ours, so it didn't take much to convince them. They have sent a messenger to the Southern Stronghold to request a meeting with Taiki, but we are still waiting on their return. Have you heard from Nagisa yet?

Mother.

"She doesn't know about the South," Nagisa muttered, her relief eventually giving way to panic. "That messenger may never return. Sesshoumaru, you have to write back!"

"I was about to before you turned up out of the blue and started making demands."

Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the letter tightly. "If anything happens while I'm away—"

"I will not keep you in the dark," he assured her. "Should the mage choose to set his sights on the Northern Stronghold, you will be among the first to know. I give you my word."

Her eyes shone with gratitude. "Thank you, my friend."

She waited for him to finish writing a memo to the head of the scouting party, then left with it tucked safely inside her robes. When she was gone, he picked out a fresh piece of parchment and began drafting a reply to his mother.

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