InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ The Intertwined ❯ Touché ( Chapter 14 )

Disclaimer: All characters are products of Rumiko Takahashi, and Togashi Yoshihiro's minds, not mine.

 

 

 

A/N: I realize that most of you must think I'd died. Well, the most I can say is that I'm sorry for having become somewhat of a recluse. I did promise that I wouldn't let this story die and I won't…it was just very low on the “things-that-need-to-be-done” totem pole. It still is, but I find myself randomly thinking of scenes as I'm in line at the bank and whatnot, so it won't let me ignore it. ^^;

 

As far as the things that have kept me away…starting from October of last year, one of my sisters died, I began going through a divorce, I broke my arm, then my Grandmother died, job woes, no electricity for about a month, school started, broke my computer, the list goes on. As it is, I didn't feel much like writing about people (or demons, as the case may be…) falling for each other when I was facing my own failed relationship. XP Still, I'd say I'm pretty much on the road to getting back on my emotional feet, so to speak. *cross fingers* ^_^ Much love! (Don't hate me)

 

 

 

 

The Intertwined

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 14

 

 

 

He gave the woman some credit. For her sheer willpower alone…sure, as a slayer she had likely been engrained since birth about the importance of showing no weaknesses to any demon. But she was sweating with the effort of holding back her pain.

 

She breathed heavily and shivered against his chest, occasionally holding her breath to stifle what he was sure would have been a whimper. When she held her breath for too long, he would apply a film of his poison over the damaged skin, designed for a numbing effect. He continued through the skies in this manner with the wind whipping at his trailing Mokomoko-sama, mixing it in with the silkier texture of his hair in the breeze. At the current season the cold had begun to bite harder on the humans, and he was quite certain that humans generally did not sweat in the cold.

 

A strong gust tore through his hair and the fur in his hold, the woman underneath finally letting out a whimper, “Ka…ge,” she chattered out between her broken breaths, the sound muffled by the pelt surrounding her.

 

Much as he tried to dismiss the internal ache it gave him, he continued to feel rather uncomfortable about the women's plight.

 

 

~~~~~~~

 

“It's not necessary, really,” the distraught miko insisted with another slap at the pale hand.

 

“Oh, come now, Kagome. Do you really think that I would take advantage of this very serious situation merely to see more skin? Need I remind you that I have seen more…” the owner of the hand reasoned as he reached in for another try, the words seeming odd coming from him without an accompanying smirk.

 

Kagome scowled, “That's not fair, and it really isn't necessary,” she pinched Youko's hand and pushed it away from her, well aware that he was only allowing her to do so. He was looking at her in a way that made her feel like a child resisting cough medicine. She was still a little baffled at Inuyasha's strange trade-off to Youko; he'd indicated softly that she needed pain relief, and then he immediately went about collecting their bedrolls. Was he mad at her?

 

Kagome's attention snapped up when Ayame walked forward. Her face held another of those looks that said she felt partly responsible for not joining them again, “Kagome, even I wonder if the feelings you seem to share with Sango would present visible marks…maybe if you let me look instead…” she caught her lip gently under a small fang.

 

Releasing Youko's hand and sighing in defeat, Kagome watched Ayame give Youko a look that clearly meant she expected him to turn around. He raised a brow and snorted, leaning forward to lift Kagome's nightshirt, giving himself and the female wolf a view of her hip.

 

Nothing. No marks decorated her hip, and as Kagome's face dusted pink she swatted Youko's hand away again and righted her shirt. He merely went back to being mirthful and chuckled.

 

“Alright everyone…let's go. We don't want to be too far behind them, so we're gonna book it to get there as soon as we can,” Inuyasha announced, unknowingly confusing some of the group with Kagome's future slang.

 

“Book it?” Kanaye cocked his head, his dusty curls shifting with his position.

 

Inuyasha glanced in Kanaye's direction, “Yeah… `Go really fast',” he answered, shouldering Kagome's backpack.

 

“Oh,” Kanaye frowned, understanding that there was meaning behind the group's strange speech patterns, he just couldn't pinpoint what. It quite obviously centered on the woman with the shocking blue eyes.

 

Still, he was up and ready to move on as the group piled on for their fastest mode of travel: flight. With only three humans among them, it would probably only take a few hours to reach Musashi by flight instead of half a day as they'd planned by walking.

 

With Rin and Kagome on AhUn and Miroku on Kirara, the demons of the group took up their fastest speeds on the ground.

 

 

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The last of the lanterns was extinguished within the village as Kaede prepared more of her herbal tea. As her age advanced past sixty, she found it increasingly difficult to fall into sleep for more than a few hours at a time. Stirring the tea, the miko of the village ambled over to her bed mat and warmed herself with the fire's heat. The weather ensured that several would be sick in a couple weeks' time. Kagome more often than not had saved lives with her remedies, and Kaede couldn't be prouder of the girl. She had grown quite…

 

Opening her good eye quickly, Kaede set her tea aside and arose as fast as she was able. She was sensing disturbance in the air to the north, so she pulled aside her tatami door and withstood a cold rush of air to see what may have caused it. As it approached, all she could see from the distance was a shock of white. Thankfully, she knew enough about this demon to recognize his aura from where he was. And he was carrying someone.

 

Kaede nearly gasped when she felt the brilliant-bright aura around the person in Sesshomaru's grasp. It was laced with physical pain through the baser layers, making it appear dimmer than it should be.

 

The demon lord finally landed and Kaede exited her hut to find out the reason for his much unexpected visit. The demon's pelt moved aside and Kaede's eye popped open when she saw the cursed needles from a middle porcupine covering Sango's left hip. She was unconscious, and it was clear now that the inhuman aura she'd detected was coming from her alone. Amazing.

 

A glance at the demon's face relayed nothing, but his eyes were boring into her, “You have removed these before,” he stated flatly, obviously referring to the quills.

 

Kaede briskly turned into the Healer as she examined her slayer friend's leg, “Indeed I have, Lord Sesshomaru. Please follow me,” she answered without preamble. The old miko quickly made her way back to her hut, Sesshomaru following closely with his long strides, “Place her there,” she indicated as they entered, her mind reeling that one such as he had been the one to bring Sango home. Where were the others? When had they joined forces? Why in Heavens was Sango practically glowing so all of a sudden? Her own answer to these questions was that they had obviously done much on their trek to find the sorceress. Perhaps they were diverted somehow? And it didn't skip her attention that Sango was mostly nude.

 

Gathering some cloves and witch hazel, Kaede removed her teapot and placed a new kettle of water over the fire, finally turning to see that Sesshomaru had actually stayed within the hut, “It is fortunate that it seems she was struck with no cloth in the way. Such contaminates inside of the wounds would surely have caused infection,” she mumbled mostly to herself and then looked up at the demon lord occupying her doorway, “How long has it been?” she tried to decipher her answer by the bruising patterns making their way over her skin, and easily noted the shimmering green that littered the wounds.

 

“Two hours,” came the lord's short answer. All she needed. Nodding her grey head with her normal bun in a braid instead, she added more wood to her fire to speed up the boiling when Sesshomaru spoke again, “Miko, how long will this take?”

 

She continued mumbling to herself for a moment, the scent of cloves becoming nearly overpowering as she ground it up, “It will take some time…ye should expect to give it a couple of hours. I am sorry, but it is a delicate process,” she said over her shoulder, the motion of grinding the ingredients distorting her sentences, “Where are the others, Lord Sesshomaru? May I ask how ye ended up bringing her here?”

 

Still standing regally in her doorway, he appeared smaller without his Mokomoko-sama wrapped around him, “The others will arrive shortly. The young miko feels this pain; she will likely do her best to be here before too long.”

 

Kaede stopped her grinding, “Kagome can feel this pain as well?!” she couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Sesshomaru merely watched Sango as she struggled in her fevered state, still wrapped in his pelt, “H…How?”

 

“Naraku.”

 

She watched Sesshomaru depart the hut, likely seeking to escape the incredible scent of cloves within. Kaede ground her jaw at the implications of that one name and her lone eye hardened as glanced back to her patient; easily seen as a surrogate daughter through the years that have passed. `Oh, what has he done to ye now…'

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It was easily past midnight by a couple hours or so when Kagome looked up from Rin's sleeping form, her hair flailing about as she finally saw the solitary firelight coming from Kaede's hut. Without bothering to try and hold her hair, she located each member of their group as they steadily moved closer to the beacon in the dark. Kirara was ahead of her with Shippo and Miroku still not having slept a wink, the wolves had likely already made it there, and Youko still ran next to her with Inuyasha directly ahead of them both. She hadn't said anything yet, but she'd begun to feel a decisive tugging on her flesh about an hour ago. She supposed it meant that Kaede had finally begun extracting the needles after having prepared them for the removal. The pain was steadily getting worse, though she hadn't thought it possible.

 

Another tug.

 

Biting her lip for the third time since the tugging began, she felt AhUn descending into the open streets of her home village in this time period to land next to Kaede's herb garden. They had made it in only a few hours.

 

“If you continue torturing your lip that way, it will undoubtedly begin to bleed,” Youko's smooth voice pulled her face to his as he gathered little Rin off of her lap and then handed her off to Ayame. Turning back to Kagome, he began to help her down, “I know you are hurting, but you will only be mad at yourself later,” he said softly as she slid to the ground.

 

On her feet, Kagome had trouble putting weight on her left leg, but her attention was demanded by Youko as he still hadn't backed away. His brilliant golden eyes shimmered in the dim light as he lifted one clawed hand and ran a finger over her reddened bottom lip, as if to heal it. Kagome's heart had to have been the loudest thing in the street as she felt the heat of his hand on her face. She couldn't deny to anyone that she was immensely attracted to this demon, and the attention he was giving her only made it easier to fall. Lifting his eyes to hers, he dropped his hand and then turned to see Inuyasha approaching.

 

“Can you walk?” he asked Kagome, briefly looking at Youko. Kagome answered in the affirmative and started into the hut as Inuyasha looked back to Youko. The fox quirked a brow and the hanyou nodded once. If anyone had looked, they wouldn't have caught the unspoken exchange between the canines. Truce.

 

They would need to address some issues later, though.

 

 

 

Kagome entered the warm hut where her nose was assaulted by cloves, and her eyes immediately found Sango. The slayer was clearly awake, still wrapped in the fur Sesshomaru had brought her in and reclining awkwardly on her pallet as she grasped Miroku's proffered palm in pain.

 

“Sit down, child. Ye may not bear marks, yet the pain ye bear,” Kaede turned toward her fire and indicated a bowl as Inuyasha entered, the hanyou retrieving it for Kagome.

 

“You need to drink this,” he said softly, sounding very much not like Inuyasha, “It's not as good as the medicines you have back home, but she says it will block some pain.”

 

Kagome still stood and watched the hanyou say this in as much of a pleading tone as he'd ever used. Still…she'd seen Sango sweat and hold face toward the nasty foot-long needles in her hip, and she felt it was the least she could do to provide understanding to her sister. Sighing as her skin burned with pain, Kagome raised her head, “Will it help with her pain too?”

 

Inuyasha drew a blank and paused at that thought, turning toward the other three across the fire. When they'd started, they had been unable to give Sango any of the pain killer with the danger of mixing potions meant to restrain poisons coming from the needles; some medicines could counteract others quite easily. So Sango, short of being knocked out, had uncharacteristically screamed at Kaede to “Just get it over with!”

 

But what none of them had thought of in the immediate situation was the connection between the women. Since Kagome could feel Sango's pain, it stands to reason that Sango would be able to feel Kagome's relief…right?

 

Kaede deposited another quill with the other five she'd already extracted, “Ye are…”

 

“Just take it!!” Sango gritted out, interrupting Kaede with her reddened eyes on Kagome, “Please…” The miko and slayer held eyes for a moment before Kagome held out her hands to receive the bowl from the dog demon beside her. When it was placed in her grip, she swigged the cloudy liquid.

 

It tasted like warmed over mulch with mustard, but she managed to get it all down. Inuyasha took the empty container from her and forced her to sit before she got lightheaded. It didn't take long for the medicine to start making her feel unstable, but it did allow her to remain awake.

 

***

 

 

“How is it in all the time I've known you, I'd never learned your brother's name?” Youko sat cross-legged at the top of the shrine steps on the tree line, tall ears attuned to the hut at the bottom.

 

“Half-brother,” Sesshomaru automatically replied, angling his sight at the other white being, “…kit.” Seeing Youko's eyes flick to narrow at him, Sesshomaru marked with a smirk that things hadn't changed much between them since their last meeting fifty-five years ago. As to the fox…he looked much the same, though Sesshomaru had never before seen him so emotionally distracted. He briefly wondered why, discounting the current issue. Perhaps the bandit was less immune to the two women's charms than he himself had been in the beginning…

 

Youko sniffed, “I am no kit, just as calling Inuyasha your “half” brother is merely mincing words,” he returned his eyes to the hut, “You've changed a bit, Sesshomaru,” he observed, the other silently watching the same hut. Turning back, Youko cocked his head, “How did you come about little Rin? I would not have foreseen you taking in a human ward, my friend.”

 

No, he agreed, that would have been something unforeseeable, “How did you come upon the miko and her group, and then decide to be known to them with no other agenda but to be known?” Sesshomaru pressed back, not missing a beat.

 

The fox's brow lifted on the right side, “Maitta,” he nodded, conceding. He stood fluidly and faced the demon lord casually, “We understand each other,” Youko said quietly before turning his head again at a whimper from inside the hut below. That one was Shippo. He had somehow been unable to stay unaffected by all of the members over the course of the last month. He had no idea how they had done it, but regardless of the means, they had accumulated a large pack. …To say nothing of how unusual they all were together; even he had thought so when they first came across him. And that had been without himself and Sesshomaru's group. Nevermind the wolves' pack traveling with them…

 

The taiyoukai watched as several thoughts clouded Youko's eyes. He could easily pick out the uncharacteristic concern in his comrade where someone lesser might not be able. Sesshomaru also looked toward the old priestess's hut, noting how the large fox ear twitched in his direction when he next spoke into the silent air, “It is one that will have a penchant for drawing trouble,” he openly advised of their rather large group, his thoughts quickly coming to rest on the miko's specialty in the area even before recent events took place.

 

“Mm,” Youko absently answered before turning his head again, “I distinctly dislike the alternative of moving on for that very reason. However their new power was manifested, it appears to be something that will not bode well for Kagome or Sango. Especially considering the source,” he said, frowning darkly by this point. Shaking his silver head, he quickly looked back to the hut, “I do not know how it happened to me, but I cannot see them in more pain than I already have.”

 

Sesshomaru stood still with his golden eyes still on the hut. Sighing almost inaudibly, he turned his head to regard the fox he was allied with, “The impulse to protect happens even when one fights it. You will get used to the feeling of vulnerability, yet it will not hamper you. If anything, it does quite the opposite,” the wizened dog imparted grudgingly, thinking deeply of words his father had once hounded him with. It still spurned him that his brother had somehow understood this before he did. Humility was not a good color for him. Either way, the women hadn't been so much of an issue to him before now; they had merely been respected as tolerable company that could be trusted. Still a reputable feat of course, but now…

 

Sesshomaru narrowly avoided sighing again. Things would have been simpler if he'd only kept his distance. Instead, he'd had to go and train all of them when he acquired Kohaku's company. That fire-cat of a woman called Sango had simply refused to let Kohaku continue on following his stoic self when she'd caught wind that it was intended to be done indefinitely. She had clearly been unreasonable at the time, but she finally relented with the assurance that she would be allowed to visit her brother, within reason, and her beloved group would get some training while she did so. It was Kagome that had negotiated such a one-sided agreement, but Sesshomaru found he could not see fault with what she'd suggested.

 

“Are you going to stay here and continue brood with your inner musings, Lord Sesshomaru?” Youko broke into his thoughts with a playful lilt to his tone, obviously on his way back to the ground level where the hut was, “I'll leave you two alone, then,” he said with a wink on his way down, earning himself a slightly annoyed growl from the demon lord.

 

Insufferable kit.

 

 

***

 

Somehow, things were finally on their side for the night and they'd discovered another of the quirks in the system of conjoined spirits. Shortly after Kagome took the drought, Sango found that the pain had lessened to be tolerable enough not to want to chew through her tongue to avoid screaming. She hadn't really cared if it benefitted her, really. It actually pained her more to see Kagome remain in pain the way she was, merely to be there for her.

 

Now Sango was curled up in Sesshomaru's Mokomoko-sama, not missing that she'd recently fantasized about such a thing, and winced when Kaede gently pulled on one of the last of the needles. There were only a few left.

 

Miroku had long since fallen to sleep next to her after needing to take some of the pain killer himself. She looked down at him apologetically; she really hadn't known she was squeezing his hand so hard…he hadn't said a word. He only quietly asked for the foul smelling medicine after her pain ebbed, shortly falling to sleep after the long day. She herself was beyond tired, but she wouldn't be sleeping at least until Kaede was done.

 

She winced again as her skin pulled away with the quill. Blasted creature…at least it was already dead. Curling up in the warmth of the fur around her, she wondered where Sesshomaru had wandered off to without it. She could scarcely remember more than a single time that she'd seen him without the pelt…and it made her blush every time she thought about it. She'd been so embarrassed at the time…

 

Sango took a deep breath as Kaede began working out another of the stupid needles on her hip, pausing briefly to put more salve on the wound before coaxing it out some more. Looking over the fire, the slayer watched Kagome struggle valiantly with sleep, only barely keeping her eyes open. She'd been that way ever since taking that…stuff about an hour ago. The woman only barely stayed upright by leaning heavily on Inuyasha, who really was still quite awake. He'd recently taken to holding her around the shoulders and patting her softly, trying to coax her to sleep like a child. She stubbornly refused, grumbling in indecipherable words as she tried to straighten to prove her point.

 

“Kagome, you really need to let yourself fall to sleep,” Sango spoke softly, trying not to damage the quiet of the hut too much, “I'll be sleeping in no time as soon as Kaede is done.”

 

Kagome looked up from under her heavy eyelids to her and sighed, “I don't want to.”

 

The injured slayer only frowned disappointedly, ignoring another twinge of pain as the quill came out, “You're putting up a fight that you're loosing. I would rather have taken that hit rather than have had to drink that nasty medicine, so you deserve it,” Sango looked at Kaede, “No offense.”

 

Kaede chuckled tiredly, “Nay, that I would not have, either. Still it worked for all that it smells,” she said as she concentrated on the last quill.

 

Sango smiled, looking back across the fire to again try and convince her sister to go to sleep, only to find that she'd finally done just that while she'd talked shortly with Kaede. Kagome had slumped over pillowing her head on Inuyasha's shoulder, and he was looking at her with a rare look, clearly satisfied with the arrangement.

 

 

~~~~~

 

 

**Maitta is more or less the Japanese word for Touché in that it basically means “I give up” or “I'm beaten”.

 

A/N ~ I had really meant to put a bit more in this chapter, but that conversation between Youko and Sesshomaru bullied its way in. Still, it needed to be in here somewhere, so I didn't complain. I'm just happy that the words are flowing for the time being. Please, please, please tell me whether or not this chapter meets well with your absurdly long wait (if there are any of you still reading this story, anyway). I humbly stand before you and await the fruit because of my absence. ^^;