InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A New Sibling ❯ She loves him... ( Chapter 15 )

New Chapter! Hurray for Taiyoukai!

A quote, ne? Let's see here:

"The naming of cats is a difficult matter. It isn't just one of your holiday games. You may think, at first, I'm mad as a hatter when I tell you a cat must have three different names…" - T. S. Eliot.

My cat's name is Phobos Apollo Ares…

Movie quote, yes? Okay, here goes:

"You can't help that. We're all mad here." - The Cheshire Cat from "Alice in Wonderland".

I love that cat! Anyways, on with the fanfic!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~

*Dungeon…^. ^**

"It won't be easy to get them from her."

"I have to have the keys to get out of here."

Sesshoumaru stepped away from the door to the back of the cell again. He had gotten out of the ropes earlier that day (he had had much practice in his youth).

Kuzume walked up the stairs and toward Ayumu's room. She would simply wait until Ayumu left her room, then sneak in and grab the keys! Simple as that, right? She could do this, right? Right…

She hesitated, taking a huge breath when she reached the end of the corridor to Ayumu's room. Kuzume continued on, not sensing Ayumu in her room.

Get the keys, and get out. Get the keys, and get out. Kuzume repeated it over and over in her head as the giant shoji doors of Ayumu's room loomed eerily in front of her.

She glanced behind her and silently opened the door. The room inside was almost pitch black - the new moon was approaching. She looked around, seeing mere silhouettes of various objects and pieces of furniture. Kuzume walked through a door in the back of her chambers that led to a small hot spring. On a counter next to the wash basin was the ring of keys. Kuzume quietly tiptoed toward them, relieved when she successfully wrapped her hand around the metal ring.

"I see that you are sure enough of your position to go snooping in other people's personal chambers, Kuzume…"

Kuzume spun around at the ice-cold sound of Ayumu's torturous voice.

"I-I…"

"Come now, Kuzume. Hold yourself together." Ayumu took a menacing step towards her, blocking the doorway and the only way out. "You got all the way into the springs without my knowledge. Why stop when your `freedom' lies just beyond myself?"

Ayumu side-stepped slightly to her right, allowing just enough room for Kuzume to slip by without disturbance to Ayumu, but too small to be assured that she wouldn't be stopped by the older youkai.

Kuzume studied the gap between Ayumu and the doorway, and then looked over the icy smirk on her face. She took off as fast as she could toward the door only to be intercepted a few feet before her goal.

Ayumu tackled Kuzume to the ground, hitting them both against the hard stone floor. As the two women struggled for control of the small battle, they started a conversation.

"Why do you want the keys so badly as to fight me for them?"

Ayumu took a swipe at Kuzume, but it was ducked.

"I think you know," Kuzume tried to run again, but Ayumu grabbed onto her ankles. "that I want Sesshoumaru out of that dingy cell!"

She swung her claws, catching the billowing, transparent sleeves of Ayumu's top.

"Well, then," she took a stab at Kuzume with her claws, only succeeding in ripping the strap of the bag she carried. "why do you want him out so badly?"

Kuzume ducked another swing from Ayumu, and tackled her in the stomach as she yelled, "Because I love him, you over-egotistical jerk!"

Ayumu went soaring into the stone wall beside her bed, sliding down to land on her knees, gasping for breath. When this was regained, she looked up at Kuzume with a bewildered look clearly written on her face for a moment. <Did she just say what I think she just said…?> She stood up and walked into the springs, closing the door with a snap.

Kuzume stood where she was for a moment, staring at the door. Ayumu had suddenly stopped her assault. What did I do to cause that? Kuzume thought as she heard a rustling of clothes and a small splash.

She turned around, waiting for Ayumu to just be pretending to bathe, then decided to not let her have the chance, and left toward the dungeon.

~*~

<Uh…No, she couldn't have said that!>

Ayumu sat in the hot spring, replaying her small brawl with Kuzume in her mind over and over and over. She was concentrating more on the conversation going on, though.

<~ "…why do you want him out so badly?"

~ "Because I love him, you over-egotistical jerk!">

Because I love him, you over-egotistical jerk! Because I love him…! …I love him…! …love him…! …love him…! (A/N: Is there an echo in here? Hello? ..hello…hello…hello…)

Those two words stuck out in her mind. She couldn't figure anything out any more. She had seen the way Sesshoumaru had looked at Kuzume. She had never seen him look at anyone else that way. The way she returned that look, the way they held each other, it all came back to what Kuzume had said to her.

<She actually loves him…as far as I can tell, she's not like the others…from what she said, she's here because of love, not because of greed, not because of power, and not because of money…she truly loves him…the problem is I don't think she and Sesshoumaru know this exactly, yet…I will stay on my guard around her nevertheless…>

Ayumu stepped out of the water, dried off, and got dressed in a pair of her white pants and her favorite tube top with mesh sleeves, body, and turtle neck.

When she walked back into the room, Suzuka was sitting on her bed, awaiting her arrival.

"You are troubled about something, yes?" (A/N: Okay, think about this. Suzuka is from the Northern Lands, she has an accent. So, she'll speak a little weirdly at times.)

Ayumu looked at Suzuka when she spoke. Her calm nature and whispery voice always calmed everyone else down. They were practically sisters; they were so close to one another. Suzuka was seven years younger than Sesshoumaru and Ayumu, though.

"It's Kuzume. She said…She-said-she-loves-him." Ayumu rushed it out as fast as she could, in one huge exhalation of breath, flopping down on the other side of the bed, her back turned to Suzuka.

"I see." Suzuka waited a moment, the silence almost deafening, turning to face Ayumu's back. "So, what will you do now? Do you believe her?"

"I do." Ayumu turned to face Suzuka. "But, I will be on my guard, nevertheless."

"You can be too precautious sometimes."

"Perhaps, but don't worry. If I'm lucky, I'll live to see the day that Sesshoumaru decides I'm too much trouble to keep around anymore!"

Both women started laughing but didn't move another muscle when the heard something that could freeze the small beads of sweat forming on their foreheads.

<We…are…so…dead…>