InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Case of Double Personality ❯ Tenseiga Always Acts for a Reason ( Chapter 11 )

Chapter XI: Tenseiga always acts for a reason

 

 

 

Naraku observed Kanna's mirror with attention.

 

From the moment his Saimyoshou had made their appearance, he was able to see everything that went on through their eyes.

 

 

Bankotsu was going to kill the Miko, yet the wounds on her body didn't seem to come from his halberd. They seemed more like something Jakotsu's snake-sword would provoke. And if that was true, why didn't Jakotsu finish the job? He couldn't think of anyone that could have interrupted the mercenary, since Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru all arrived afterwards and Kouga was busy with Renkotsu.

 

 

Naraku decided to let it drop for now. He had seen Bankotsu's moment of hesitation in killing the girl. Humans did such a lousy job in hiding their emotions.

 

 

It mattered not, she was probably going to die anyway. It would take a miracle to save her now, he thought, his red eyes gleaming with satisfaction.

 

 

 

ooooOOoooo

 

Sesshoumaru flew high above the clouds, as fast as he could in the given condition. He was careful not to move the girl from her current position and his mind worked quickly to find a solution to this problem. She would not die.

 

 

He would take her to his castle, where she could be treated. Of course none of his servants had the faintest idea about treating a human, except maybe Jaken who knew his herbs well.

 

 

For the first time, he was thankful to his father for giving him that lecture about the differences between the human and the youkai body.

 

 

Sesshoumaru pulled away from his thoughts for a moment to cast the girl a glance. Her blood had spilled all over his clothes and armor and he couldn't bare the scent of it. That was actually very strange, since he had smelled human blood before and very often had it on his claws. It didn't seem to bother him then, why would it now?

 

 

Another question he decided to drop, because a small part of his mind offered him a simple and obvious answer, which he decided to ignore.

 

 

Her heartbeat was so weak that he could barely hear it and his speed increased as he headed for the Western Lands.

 

 

Just why did she have to be there early anyway? Humans were usually unpunctual from what he knew. This one seemed to be different.

 

 

Kumiko was struggling with death right now and he knew it. If only the strong heart would have come with a stronger body...

 

 

The fragile shell her soul was imprisoned in was so ephemeral...

 

 

His castle was now just moments away, hidden by the clouds. No human could enter this establishment on his own, considering the altitude.

 

Normally, he would change into his demon form while entering the castle, but now it was out of the question.

 

 

“My lord!” A human-looking youkai with long, blue hair greeted Sesshoumaru with an astonished expression on his face.

 

 

“My lord, please forgive us, we were not told of your arrival and have not prepared...”

 

 

His sentence was quickly cut off by a wave of Sesshoumaru's hand as the daiyoukai entered the castle, holding the injured girl in his arms.

 

 

“Send a youkai to the Central Forest to retrieve Jaken and the others.” he ordered, with his back on the other demon.

 

 

A couple of youkai with humanoid shape that were guarding the castle gates started to whisper to each other something about history repeating itself, when the blue-haired one, that seemed to be in charge, yelled at them:

 

 

“Silence, you maggots! Lord Sesshoumaru's decisions do not concern the likes of you! One more whisper and I will personally cut off your heads.”

 

 

“Yes, Menoumaru-sama, please forgive us.” they pleaded in a low voice, standing like statues in front of the gates.

 

 

Menoumaru seemed satisfied with the answer and entered the castle to find a fitting a youkai and carry out his master's orders.

 

 

Sesshoumaru wasted no time and entered his room, placing the girl gently on the tatami. With a deep breath, he unsheathed Tenseiga and pointed it towards her, concentrating.

 

 

No blue light radiated out of the sword as it stood lifeless in Sesshoumaru's hand.

 

 

“Tenseiga, I order you...” he said in a low voice, his hand tightening on the hilt of his sword.

 

 

Her blood was spilling all over the silver sheaths and her face was so pale that he could barely tell it apart from the white fabric. Her once shiny hair was now covered in blood and the daiyoukai turned away from the horrifying sight as the sword lay dead in his hand.

 

 

“Useless...” he said to himself with anger, throwing the sword to the other corner of the room.

 

 

The damned thing had a mind of its own and, usually, it always acted for a reason. But now it was refusing to heal a pure and innocent being and he could find no reason for the sword's decision.

 

 

He had to find another way, if Tenseiga was no use. She would not die.

 

 

The taiyoukai turned around to exit the room, in order to get the necessary items and see personally if the youkai he had sent after Jaken had left.

 

 

“Sesshoumaru...” he heard a faint whisper behind him and the next moment he was by the girl's side, looking at her with worried eyes.

 

 

“In my bag...there's a first aid kit...it has bandages and...everything.” she found it hard to speak and there were deep breaths between the words.

 

 

The demon lord took the bag off the floor and quickly slashed it with his claws, lacking the patience to open it properly. All sorts of weird things fell on the floor and he suppressed his curiosity, trying to find the “first aid kit”.

 

 

“The white box...with a cross...on it.” Kumiko spoke weakly.

 

 

Sesshoumaru took the weird thing in his hands and refrained from opening it in the same way he did her bag as he figured out its mechanism.

 

 

It contained all sorts of tiny bottles, which he eyed with interest, and bandages, which he immediately took out.

 

 

The ones that Kagome girl had applied were filled with blood already and he thought he had to stop her bleeding somehow, since those bandages didn't seem to do a good job.

 

 

“Listen. My saliva contains a coagulant. It's common for higher level poison youkai.”

 

 

The girl opened her eyes weakly and their dark color contrasted beautifully with her pale skin. She nodded her head in understanding, giving him a warm look, filled with gratitude.

 

 

He lay on the bed next to her as she struggled to keep her eyes open.

 

Careful not to cut through flesh, his claw slowly ripped apart all the bandages. After that he took a moment to analyze her wounds. The cuts were clean, Jakotsu's snake-sword had left thin wounds that were, nonetheless, very long and deep.

 

 

His saliva also held a substance that helped wounds heal quicker and leave no scar, but with her frail skin some of the injuries would still leave scars. Like the one on her thigh...that one was especially deep, he could almost see the bone through the bleeding flesh.

 

 

Sesshoumaru slowly uncovered all of her cuts, freeing them from the ragged pieces of clothing.

 

 

He didn't know how she managed to blush with all that blood loss, but she did so nonetheless when he uncovered almost half of her breasts.

 

 

She was thankful though that Jakotsu's sword didn't cut even further when his mouth leaned slowly onto the cuts. She felt his warm tongue trail across the length of her wound and closed her eyes, breathing hard. Apart from the many attributes his saliva held, it felt strangely pleasing too and slowly her pain diminished and he moved on to next injury.

 

 

As his mouth moved further south, she felt more and more embarrassed and her body trembled slowly as his tongue tasted her blood.

 

 

After the cuts on the stomach area were taken care of, the daiyoukai proceeded to deal with the one on her thigh.

 

 

To her relief, the cut was located on the outer thigh but it was still too close to her “southern extremity” and she gave a little yelp when his claw cut through her now red warm-ups to reveal the whole wound.

 

 

The demon lord ignored her and his lips gently touched the deep cut as his tongue started to stroke it with slow motions. Kumiko soon found that the pain faded in intensity with every lick he gave to her wound.

 

 

After finishing with this one, he looked at the final cut that remained unattended. He had left it to be last because it was the less dangerous one and it wasn't as deep and long as the others.

 

 

A small cut traced down her left cheek, ending close to her lips.

 

 

Sesshoumaru gently put a clawed hand under her head, lifting it up a little and allowed himself a second to observe her reaction as he leaned closer. The warm dark eyes that were staring into his were puzzled and he idly wondered why. He didn't know that his golden eyes were shining in such a warm way that she had never seen before and never actually thought possible. His eyes were always so cold and emotionless that the change left her breathless. But he didn't realize that as he leaned even closer and she felt his warm breath on her skin.

 

 

Kumiko closed her eyes when his mouth touched her skin and his tongue stroked the cut, getting dangerously close to her lips. And in that moment she wanted him to touch them, she wanted to feel his lips over hers so bad that it hurt and feeling them so close was driving her crazy.

 

 

As his tongue trailed along the cut, Sesshoumaru thought the exact same thing and as the cut was ending, he didn't stop and instead his lips trailed on until they found hers and tasted them gently. Now he could hear her heart clearly and it was racing as heat started to circulate through her body again.

 

 

His tongue slowly stroked her lips, opening them and she surrendered, letting him taste her tongue and never wanting the moment to end.

 

 

Unfortunately when you don't want something, that something actually happens and quick.

 

 

A knock on the door made them both pull away as Sesshoumaru got up, knitting his brows:

 

 

“Enter.” he said in a bitter tone.

 

 

“Excuse me, my lord, Jaken, Rin and Ah-Un are here.” Menoumaru spoke, bowing as he entered the room.

 

 

“Good.” Sesshoumaru replied.

 

 

“Get a woman to bandage her and after that I want her out of these rags and into proper clothes. Prepare a room.” The daiyoukai ordered.

 

 

The blue-haired demon bowed and exited the room, closing the door behind him.

 

 

Sesshoumaru turned to the girl to see that she had fainted again. But the impression only lasted for a second, as she opened her eyes and cast him a distrustful glance.

 

 

“Why?” she spoke slowly, more to herself than to him.

 

 

“Midoriko.” he said.

 

 

“How do you always know which one is in charge?” The Miko wanted to know, while pulling the blanket over her torn clothing.

 

 

“It's obvious.” he answered, like that explained everything.

 

 

“I am in debt to you, thought I know not why you did it.” she said slowly, lowering her eyes.

 

 

“I gave my word that you will not die. I always keep my word. That is all.” the daiyoukai replied in a frozen voice.

 

 

“Is it?” she wondered in her mind.

 

 

“You will remain here in the castle until your condition allows you to travel. See that you get well fast, I do not like to waste time.” Sesshoumaru informed her sharply as he exited the room.

 

 

Midoriko took a moment to acknowledge her surroundings. The futon she was laying on was covered with a fine silver fabric. On the wall in front of the tatami stood a giant painting of what seemed to be a dog demon. It was standing on clouds and below, humans made futile attempts to hit it with their arrows. The demon dog's appearance radiated power and pride, but more importantly it seemed to have a certain softness.

 

 

“I'm reading too much into this.” Midoriko thought, not being able to pull her gaze away from the painting. It wasn't Sesshoumaru, because...she didn't know how to explain it, but it just didn't seem to be him.

 

The demon dog's attitude seemed totally different from Sesshoumaru's. Moreover, it lacked the daiyoukai's distinctive marks: the indigo stripes and the crescent moon on his forehead.

 

 

The Miko finally broke away from the painting, studying the rest of the room. A soft, white fur covered the floor and, by the looks of it, it seemed to have belonged to a bear youkai. A huge bear youkai, Midoriko corrected herself after taking note of the room's dimensions.

 

 

She weakly tried to get up, by holding onto the bed and ignored the pain in her wounds as she succeeded to sit in a vertical position. From this angle, she could see the room's balcony, partially hidden by silver drapes.

 

 

On the right stood a small white marble table, very elegant in design and a silver velvet pillow stood on the floor in front of it. Now that she gave the room a second look, she noticed that the painting's frame was gold and she realized she must have been really lost in the image not to see that in the first place.

“Such luxury in this era...where hundreds die of hunger every day...” she said to herself, feeling a little angry.

 

 

She knew that he was a daiyoukai, but that was not all, he seemed to be one of the highest rank in demon society.

 

 

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door as a human-looking woman entered the room timidly. Despite her human form, this woman had youki, not to mention orange eyes.

 

 

“Excuse me, my lady, Lord Sesshoumaru has ordered me to show you to the bathroom and bandage your wounds...” she started in a shy voice.

 

 

“What's your name?” Midoriko asked.

 

 

“Sayuri, my lady.” The demon woman answered, taking a bow.

 

 

“Sayuri...My name's...Kumiko.” She said, figuring it would be a good idea not to let the demons in this palace know who she really was.

 

 

“Kumiko-sama, can you walk or should I carry you?” The young woman asked.

 

 

“I'll walk.” Midoriko answered, thinking she would rather feel intense pain then let her dignity take another beating.

 

 

She got up slowly, breathing hard and Sayuri quickly caught her before she fell back down.

 

 

“Please forgive me, my lady, but you are in no condition to walk.” she said in a soft tone, hauling Midoriko up like a child.

 

 

Walking slowly, Sayuri proceeded to slide the door open and carried the Miko through a long corridor, her footsteps leaving echoes on the wooden floors.

 

 

She stopped in front of a huge door and opened it with one hand, the other sustaining Midoriko with no difficulty.

 

 

The sight she laid eyes on was fascinating. The bathroom was made entirely out of white marble and large columns surrounded a giant, round pool of fuming water.

 

 

Sayuri gently released Midoriko and she grabbed on to one of the marble columns as the youkai woman quickly removed the bloody rags that covered her body. Placing one hand around her waist, Sayuri slowly guided her into the enourmous bathtub and helped her sit down in the hot water. Many rose petals floated around her and tiny scented candles lit up on the pool's rim the second she entered the water.

 

 

“Amazing...” Midoriko said to herself, staring at everything with large eyes.

 

 

She let herself be washed by Sayuri, although the fact that she was a youkai slightly bothered her. Actually, everything in this castle was bothering her. First of all, no one should have such wealth while so many others suffered in poverty and second of all, the whole place was filled with demons!

 

 

Now that she felt better, she could sense it clearly. Youki, all types of youki, coming from all shapes and sizes of different demons.

 

 

Mostly she felt relatively weak youki, but there was one higher level demon somewhere around here and his youki was still weaker than Sesshoumaru's, who's demonic energy dominated everything.

 

 

Nonetheless, she was thankful for the royal treatment and really, no one could stay tense in this water...

 

 

When Sayuri finished cleaning her up, she proceeded to help her out and bandage all of her wounds.

 

After being almost completely mummified, Midoriko stood still as the youkai woman disappeared for a few seconds just to come back with one of the most wonderful kimonos she had ever seen.

 

 

It was white, like everything else around here seemed to be and it had a pink and black floral pattern. Midoriko allowed herself to be dressed in it, although she would have preferred to ware her Miko outfit.

 

 

Still she was grateful for being finally clean and made no more protests when Sayuri carried her out of the bathroom.

 

 

The destination this time, she noticed, was not the same as the demon woman took a turn on another corridor and stopped in front of a door.

 

 

“This is your room now, my lady.” she informed the puzzled Miko.

 

 

Midoriko allowed herself to be set on the ground gently and slid the door open to find a more suitable room, for her tastes anyway.

It wasn't as gigantic as Sesshoumaru's, nor was it all white. The futon was pretty big, but it still seemed cozy and the dozens of colored pillows around it gave the room more “life”.

 

Now that she thought about it, she could figure out what was wrong with Sesshoumaru's room: it seemed lifeless, huge and untouchable it gave her the impression of cold. His room suited him perfectly, she thought, while sitting down on the tatami.

 

 

“I will bring you dinner, my lady.” Sayuri spoke, exiting the room with a bow.

 

 

The things that Kumiko had brought back from her world were settled in a corner of the room. The room had a small table, made out of dark wood and two red velvet pillows stood next to it.

 

 

There were paintings of nature, birds and animals playing in a spring, sun reflected in a waterfall. Everything about this room expressed softness and tranquility.

 

 

She sighed happily, feeling grateful that Sesshoumaru had given her this room. Why would he even have a room like this? Maybe it was Rin's?

 

 

No, that coulden't be, the futon and tatami didn't look suited for a child...there was room here for one or maybe two adults...

 

 

Midoriko decided she was more tired than hungry, so she lied down on the tatami, and cuddled inside the soft blankets.

 

 

When Sayuri returned with a tray, she found the human girl asleep and decided not to wake her. She placed the tray of food on the table and got out of the room, sliding the shoji on her way out.

 

 

 

ooooOOoooo

 

Sesshoumaru was sitting on a chair in his father's meeting room. His meeting room, he corrected himself. It was still hard on him to think that his father was no more.

 

 

“How could you have been so foolish, father?” he asked in his mind, closing his eyes.

 

 

The room he had given the girl had brought back unpleasant memories.

 

 

“You asked to see me, Sesshoumaru-sama?” Jaken made his appearance, bowing so low that he almost fell to the ground.

 

 

“You know of herbs that heal cuts?” The daiyoukai got straight to the point.

 

 

“Yes, my lord, but herbs that accelerate a youkai's healing power are better to use on cuts because they heal in a matter of seconds and....”

 

 

“They are to be used on a human.” Sesshoumaru cut him off in a frozen tone.

 

 

“Oh! A human? Is the Miko here, my lord?” The toad youkai wanted to know.

 

 

“Bring me those herbs.” The demon lord ordered, ignoring Jaken's question.

 

 

Still Jaken wasn't going anywhere and instead was staring at his master with saucer-sized eyes.

 

 

“Now, Jaken.” he said in a calm voice, narrowing his eyes.

 

 

That seemed to have awoken Jaken from his reverie as the toad youkai took another bow and ran out of the room.

 

 

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes, knitting his brows. He knew what the servants were whispering about him and the human girl. They all thought he was going to do what his father had done: take a human mate. They were all wrong.

 

 

He would not repeat his father's mistake.

 

 

 

A/N:

 

I know, poisonous creatures are supposed to have anticoagulant in their saliva, but this one has coagulant! Why? Because I am the game master and they are my pawns, I control their destiny! Mwahahahahahahaha!

 

And seriously now, dog saliva does help the healing process. Trust me, I know. My dog's pretty affectionate. (it would lick your face for hours if you'd let it =))

 

 

Reviewer response:

 

 

Mari: Hope you're having fun on your family vacation! It's new year's eve and I'm supposed to go party in a few hours and here I am redoing this chapter like the fifth time. Wanna know why? His darn castle :) The first time I did it, it was only my imagination speaking like: white marble columns, fireplaces, chairs and all sorts of things. Then I thought...what the HELL are those things doing in feudal Japan? So I replaced the huge beds with tatamis and futons, the fireplaces...with...well...nothing T_T and I just didn't have the heart to change the bathroom too. I'm sure it seems out of place compared to the rest of the castle, but...wouldn't anyone want a bath like that? :)

Anyway...I'm not extremely proud of the castle's description and I may redo it...one day. If you're wondering why it's up in the clouds it's because of the manga edition when they showed Sesshoumaru's mother and the castle seemed to be up in the clouds.

I know what you're saying about putting yourself in the character's shoes. Sometimes I find myself writing a scene and then...wait a minute...he'd never say that, or he'd never do that. It is crucial to know the characters well.

I'm gonna end this reviewer response right now before it becomes longer than the chapter! :) I have to go take a bath anyway...they cut off the hot water today of all days...can you imagine? T_T