InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Simple Legacy (I) ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and its characters are created by Rumiko Takahashi, not me, but the new plots are mine. This fanfiction had been written for entertainment purposes only and without intention of infringing upon any copyright.

 

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A Simple Legacy by elle6778 - Chapter 6

 

 

She was late.

She was late and he, Sesshoumaru was reduced to waiting for her, a mere human wench. It was unacceptable. He watched the path she had been taking for the last three week, his temper turning fouler by the second. He was impatient to get the training over with so that his arm could grow past his elbows.

His initial suspicions about her powers had been confirmed. The miko had been utilizing her powers inefficiently, thus unnecessarily draining herself. Ever since she had gotten her power in control, the progress had been rapid. Not to mention she had stopped resembling the dead each time their sessions concluded.

But now, the wench had the nerve to be late. Irritated, Sesshoumaru growled softly under his breath.

“Sesshoumaru-sama?” Rin's questioning voice reached his ears.

He looked down at his human ward.

“Where is Kagome-neesan?” the little girl asked, her eyes bright with question. “Is Kagome-neesan in trouble?”

Sesshoumaru looked at the path again. Rin had a point. The girl had probably gotten herself into trouble. From what he could tell so far, getting into trouble was something she excelled at.

The image of her with Inuyasha tagging along a week ago came to mind and his eyes narrowed. That hanyou was probably causing problems again.

“Is Sesshoumaru-sama going to find Kagome-neesan?” Rin questioned again, completely unperturbed by his lack of response.

He gave her an affirmative nod. “Wait here with Jaken.”

Then he took off into the air.

It did not take him long to find them. In fact, it looked as if the human girl had been on the way to meet him but was intercepted by Inuyasha. The wench and the hanyou were standing facing each other. She had managed to hold her own against Inuyasha for a while now, it seemed, but not without consequence. She was worn out, her breathing clearly ragged as she dragged in gulps of air.

With his sharp eyes, Sesshoumaru noted that the rosary that usually surrounded Inuyasha's neck was now lying broken on the forest floor. Inuyasha had already transformed into his youkai form and was eyeing the girl with an unmistakable look of possessiveness and lust.

“Pathetic,” Sesshoumaru muttered under his breath, wondering how the uncontrollable hanyou could be related to him.

Right at that moment, Inuyasha charged forward, forcing the wench to take a step back as she fired an energy ball to his feet. So that was how she had been keeping hanyou at bay, Sesshoumaru thought as his eyes flicked between them.

He continued to watch with growing impatience as she continued to fire at Inuyasha's feet, deliberately avoiding the body. The foolish wench still refused to harm the worthless hanyou even though she was in danger. Where was her sense of self-preservation?

Much as Sesshoumaru balked at the thought of rescuing the wench, he realized that he had no choice. Not if he wanted his whole arm back. With that thought, he launched back into the air and landed gracefully opposite the red-eyed hanyou turned full-youkai.

“Sesshoumaru!” Kagome exclaimed in astonishment.

To Sesshoumaru's surprise, for once, she looked relieved to see him. It was such a change from her usual wariness that for a second, he just stared at her before he realized that this was no time to mull over the idiosyncrasies of human reactions.

“Get out of my way!” Inuyasha snarled viciously as he swiped wildly in the air.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes. He hated getting caught in his brother's affair with the wench, but this time, he had a stake in it. A dead or even injured wench was something he could not allow. The wench needed to survive long enough to complete their agreement.

“You bastard! I said, GET OUT OF MY WAY!” Inuyasha snarled again and immediately charged like a maddened bull.

Sesshoumaru sidestepped the attack easily, keeping his eyes trained on Inuyasha's bloody claws. The wench's blood. A quick glance at the wench told him that his half-brother had managed to injure the girl's arm.

The arm that she needed to regenerate his limb. A soft growl escaped his lips as Sesshoumaru's blood simmered.

“You will cease, Inuyasha.” His words contained no lack of warning.

Inuyasha's eyes burned redder. “I will not let you have her!”

Sesshoumaru resisted the urge to roll his eyes. The hanyou must have completely lost his mind if he thought that he, Sesshoumaru, would want to steal a mere human girl.

No, he did not want to have her. He only needed her skills to restore his arm.

With that thought, Sesshoumaru began to attack.

He unleashed his Whips of Lights, directing the golden strands of energy towards Inuyasha. Unfortunately for him, Inuyasha seemed to have expected it. Either that, or it was pure luck that the hanyou had managed to sidestep the whips.

With a roar of rage, Inuyasha charged again. Dealing with his blows was not difficult. The hanyou was too unfocused, his attacks too wild and unplanned to hit the intended target.

In the background, he could hear the wench screaming for them to stop, but he ignored her. However, he promised himself that he would remind the wench of her side of the agreement. The wench had agreed not to stand in his way during his battles. If this was how she planned to honor her promises, this Sesshoumaru shall take the appropriate steps to remind her of her place.

“Stop it, the two of you!” her shrill scream rang in the air, piercing his ears.

Distracted briefly, Sesshoumaru did not see Inuyasha until the hanyou was practically on top of him.

Inuyasha's claw flew at him, and with a rip, Sesshoumaru realized that he had sustained an injury. The stinging in his right shoulder confirmed as much. With a growl of irritation, he snapped his only arm out and caught the Inuyasha in the face, throwing the hanyou against a tree. The trunk cracked at the impact, and broken tree barks exploded around them.

Before Inuyasha could get up, Sesshoumaru planted his feet on his chest and sank his claws around the hanyou's neck. Inuyasha let out a frustrated snarl, his chest heaving from his previous exertion.

Sesshoumaru could hear the rapid footsteps of the girl approaching him.

“No! Sesshoumaru, don't do it!”

His eyes not leaving Inuyasha's blood-red ones, Sesshoumaru bit out, “He will not interrupt again.”

“If you kill him, I won't heal you!” she threatened, her voice breaking slightly.

His head snapped back to look at her, his eyes narrowing. “You will keep to your end of the agreement, wench.”

Her chin tilted up stubbornly, a look he had grown to understand in the past weeks. She was not budging from this, he realized with irritation. But he guessed that if he harmed Inuyasha, she would no longer require his assistance. As a result of that, she would see no reason to restore his arm. He was not stupid enough to let that happen.

With a snarl, he raised his arm and delivered a blow to Inuyasha's head, knocking him out cold.


***


Kagome sighed wearily as she sneaked a glance at the unconscious Inuyasha. He was now secured to a large tree by ropes. Jaken had been sent back to locate Tetsusaiga and had found it back in the campsite. The katana was now sheathed securely to Inuyasha's waist. She hoped that when he would remain unconscious at least until her session with Sesshoumaru was done.

He had scared her again. Really scared her. She reached up to touch her blemish-free neck. And he had tried to bite her neck, much to her alarm. That had been when she decided to fire her energy balls to get him off her. Kagome closed her eyes in despair. This agreement with Sesshoumaru was too long. From the looks of things, Inuyasha might even manage to ravage her before the end of the deal.

A string of muttered grumbles reached her ears and she looked down.

Jaken's expression would have been funny if Kagome was not feeling so agitated by the entire incident. He was standing on the log she was sitting on, tending to her injured arm. Waves of resentment hit Kagome each time he tightened the bandage on her arm.

Rin, on the other hand, was beaming with childish vigor as she tried to assist the toad youkai. Kagome did not have the heart to tell the enthusiastic child that Jaken probably preferred not to treat her injuries at all. And that he was only doing it because Sesshoumaru ordered him to.

Surreptitiously, she snuck a glance at the silent taiyoukai across the clearing, sitting with an arm propped on his knee. His head was slightly bowed, appearing to be deep in thought.

She was surprised that he had actually listened to her when she asked him to stop during the fight. She had been afraid that he would just kill Inuyasha off.

As if he sensed her perusal, the taiyoukai lifted his head and their eyes clashed, golden meet dark brown.

At that moment, Jaken hopped off the log and walked towards Sesshoumaru. With a respectful bow, he said, “The wench had been tended to, Sesshoumaru-sama.”

Sesshoumaru have Jaken a short nod, not breaking his gaze from her.

“What happened?” he asked curtly.

Kagome blinked blankly at the question, not exactly sure what he was asking.

“Inuyasha. Why was he following you?” he clarified his question.

Her expression cleared. “Oh.” Tearing her gaze away from him, she frowned slightly. She did not know why Inuyasha had followed her, or even why he had suddenly abandoned Tetsusaiga.

“I left them at the camp, as usual and walked here. Inuyasha suddenly jumped out from nowhere in his youkai self and started snarling at me.” She paused and sighed. “It's the usual thing. He called me Kikyo, and looked like he wanted to kill me and then when I corrected him, he seemed to realize I'm Kagome and he…he…” she faltered, remembering how Inuyasha had pounced on her.

She remembered the lust in his eyes. And she remembered how he had refused to let go until she hit him in the jaw exactly like how Sesshoumaru had taught her just a few days ago. Not knowing what else to do, she had fired her energy balls at him to keep him at bay.

“He lusted after you,” Sesshoumaru added flatly. “It's not hard to say.”

Kagome snapped her eyes up and glared at him. “You're not the one being attacked, so how would you know?”

“Hn.” After a short pause, he asked, “What happened to your subduing charm?”

She shook her head slowly. The power of the rosary had been wearing out recently. She should have expected this to happen. “It broke. I subdued him once too often and it broke.” Her voice was small.

Grimacing, she recalled how Inuyasha had looked then. His gleefully satisfied expression when he had realized that she had no way to subdue him without the rosary gave her shudders. It was as if she had let loose a wild beast, or rather, a wild youkai.

A moment of silence passed.

“You defended yourself.” It was a statement, not a question.

She looked at him, a little surprised that he had acknowledged it. “Yes. I tried. I got in a few hits as well, but he just wouldn't go down.”

“Your human skills are far more inferior to his hanyou strength. You should have used your miko powers to gain advantage.”

“I did,” she gritted out. “I fired energy balls at him.”

“You aimed at the ground. It was ineffective and a waste of your powers,” Sesshoumaru pointed out disdainfully.

Kagome bristled. “We've been through this before. I don't want to harm Inuyasha.”

“So?”

Kagome flung her arms up in frustration. “Forget it! You won't understand.”

“You insult me, wench.” His voice was cold, and a frisson of unease swept through her.

But she refused to let him intimidate her. Eyes flashing angrily, she snapped, “Look here, Fluffy-boy. We have an agreement. And that agreement does not include me holding my tongue.”

His eyes flickered, but his expression remained stoic. “You overstep yourself, wench.”

She stiffened. She just about had enough of all these inuyoukais, hanyou or not, they were all full of themselves. What was wrong with them? First it was Inuyasha, now it was Sesshoumaru. What was so difficult about calling her by her name?

“DON'T call me wench!” she bit out.

Sesshoumaru just stared at her silently. Then he seemed to arrive at some sort of decision.

“Very well…Miko.” He sounded bored, like the issue was not worth arguing about.

She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying not to groan. It still was not her name, but at least it was better than being called a wench, she thought irritably. Perhaps, one day, she might be promoted to a `Kagome'.

Wearing a thoughtful look, Sesshoumaru stood up. “You will not return to your camp.”

Her jaw dropped in shock. What the hell did he mean by that? “What are you talking about? I will go back after we're done today.”

He shook his head. “No.”

Planting her hands on her hips, she glared at him. “Do you care to explain why?”

“You're exposing yourself to harm, Miko. That is unacceptable as long as the healing of this Sesshoumaru's arm remains uncompleted. You will not return to them.”

Her eyes bulged. She could not believe she was hearing this. Did he expect her to wander around by herself? “And where am I supposed to go?”

A moment of silence passed as they regarded each other wordlessly.

Then he broke the silence. “You will come with this Sesshoumaru.”

Stunned into complete silence, Kagome just gaped at him.

Inuyasha would not like this.


***


Sesshoumaru gazed down at the hesitating human.

Much as he despised the idea, he had no choice but to bring her along with him. With the responsibility of his lands he had no time to keep an eye on her to ensure that she remained intact long enough to heal him. The only solution was to bring her home with him. His castle was impenetrable, making it the perfect place to maintain her safety.

A human in his house. The thought did not sit well with him.

Rin was different, somehow. But this wench, this miko was a real human. A wench at it. Sesshoumaru swallowed a groan, telling himself that it was only going to be for a short period until his arm was fully restored.

He had been able to tell the exact moment she realized the wisdom of his words. Her eyes had flashed in confusion, followed by indignation and when her expression finally cleared, there had been an unmistakable look of weary acceptance in it. Good, she was not stupid.

“Alright, you win,” she said grudgingly.

Hardly, he thought to himself. Winning did not involve having a wench in his castle.

“You will gather your belongings.”

“My things are at the campsite.” She paused. “How about Inuyasha?”

Sesshoumaru turned to Jaken. “Jaken. Place the hanyou on Ah-Un.”

It did not take long before they arrived at the empty campsite. Vaguely, Sesshoumaru wondered where the rest of Inuyasha's companions were. The fire at the centre of the camp was smoldering, telling him that they had not returned for a while.

Remaining on the outskirts of the clearing, Sesshoumaru nodded for Ah-Un to drop Inuyasha in the camp. As expected, the miko followed them, wearing a worried look. The wench cared too much of others, Sesshoumaru thought, mildly disgusted.

Rin had spotted a patch of flowers in the forest, and came running to him, her rounded face alight with excitement. “Sesshoumaru-sama! Can Rin pick flowers?” she asked hopefully.

He nodded slightly. As she ran off, he turned to Jaken. “Watch her.”

Now used to the command, Jaken nodded. “Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama.”

Left alone, Sesshoumaru settled himself some distance away from the wench's campsite. Wearing a mildly bored expression, he watched as she fussed over the just awakening Inuyasha.

“Inuyasha. Are you okay?”

Inuyasha groaned and his eyes opened. They were golden. “Kagome?”

Sesshoumaru's amusement grew when he detected the exact moment his half-brother remembered what had happened. The hanyou's face paled and his body shook, a sight that he, Sesshoumaru would remember fondly for some time to come. Then the hanyou's arms reached out and squashed the girl's small body into his chest, ignoring her squeak of surprise.

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and searched for patience as he deliberated whether he should order Inuyasha to remove his person from the wench. Miko, he corrected himself reluctantly. After all, this Sesshoumaru did not need the miko to sustain additional injuries. Her wounds might reopen at Inuyasha's inconsiderate treatment.

“I'm sorry, Kagome. I didn't mean to hurt you,” Inuyasha mumbled into her hair.

The miko's laugh filtered through the air. It sounded forced. “It's alright. You're not yourself, Inuyasha.”

Inuyasha lifted his head to gaze into her eyes and then he looked down in remorse. His eyes sharpened. “The rosary…” he gasped as his fingers went to his chest, grasping for the beads that were no longer there.

“It broke. It couldn't stand the strain of your full-youkai blood, I think. After all, it was made to subdue a hanyou,” the miko explained softly.

Sesshoumaru could see the myriad of emotions flash across his half-brother's face. Shock was dominant, followed by relief and then, to his surprise, sadness. Why would Inuyasha mourn the loss of something which had the power to subdue him? Why mourn the loss of such indignity? The human blood in Inuyasha must have made him this way, Sesshoumaru thought in disgust.

Tired of waiting watching the shameless display of emotions, he decided to interrupt.

“Miko. Gather your belongings.” he ordered calmly, but loud enough for her to hear even with their distance.

Inuyasha's ears picked up, and then he swung around, instantly on his feet. His eyes flashed angrily. “YOU! What are you doing here?”

Before Sesshoumaru could put the insolent hanyou in his place, the human girl interjected, “It's okay, Inuyasha. I'm just going with him until our agreement is over and we sort this mess out.”

Inuyasha's eyes bulged. “You're going with HIM?” The rims of his eyes begin to redden.

Sesshoumaru decided that it was time to interject before Inuyasha unleashed his uncontrollable youkai self on her again, deliberately or not.

“Calm yourself. Or do you wish to harm her again?” His voice was smooth, almost indifferent. But inside, Sesshoumaru was feeling anything but calm. He knew that with her injuries, it was unlikely that she would be able to progress with the healing of his arm tonight. And that irked him.

Inuyasha growled, his irritation clear for all to see. “Why you…”

The miko stepped between them. “Stop it, you two.” Then she turned around to Inuyasha. “Please, Inuyasha. It's just for a few weeks until he gives us his fang and you'll be back to normal. It's not safe for me to be here.”

“I can protect you!” Inuyasha yelled.

“You endangered her more than once,” Sesshoumaru pointed out flatly. Why was Inuyasha so reluctant to let her go anyway? Surely the hanyou wanted the fang for the Tetsusaiga.

“Shut up, you bastard!”

Sesshoumaru growled.

“Inuyasha!” the wench admonished.

Sesshoumaru willed himself to hold back the urge to beat the insolent hanyou to a pulp. The only reason he was holding back was so that Inuyasha would not transform again into his youkai form. It would only make things more complicated.

His senses suddenly told him that something was approaching. Sesshoumaru immediately went on the alert.

“KAGOME!”

The high-pitched yell reached Sesshoumaru's sensitive ears, making him wince involuntarily. A red-haired kitsune appeared just then and launched himself clear across the campsite, headed straight for Kagome. With a speed that could not be discerned by human eye, Sesshoumaru dashed forward and grabbed the over-enthusiastic kitsune by his red tail.

The red hairball yelped in alarm, his green eyes going impossibly large.

Bringing the struggling kitsune close to his eyes, Sesshoumaru stated flatly, “She is injured.”

The struggling ceased, and the kitsune slumped as he peeked at the wench. “Kagome, you're hurt?” he asked in a small voice.

“Let him go, Sesshoumaru-sama. He means no harm,” the wench pleaded.

With a last warning glance, Sesshoumaru released the kitsune and watched as he scampered to the wench, slowing down just as he reached her.

“Kagome-neesan, we tried to stop him, but he was too fast,” the kitsune said, his eyes watering as he glanced at Inuyasha accusingly.

Sesshoumaru watched with interest as the human girl picked the fox youkai up in her arms, soothing him. The kitsune called her sister, but Sesshoumaru could tell that the little youkai had adopted the human girl as his surrogate mother. It was an odd thing indeed.

The bushes to his left separated and the taijiya and the houshi ran towards them. Their steps halted when they saw him. The suspicion in their eyes was not hidden.

“Kagome-chan, are you alright?” the taijiya asked cautiously.

The miko stepped forward. “I'm fine. I'm just telling Inuyasha that I'll be traveling with Sesshoumaru for a while until our agreement is over.”

Three pairs of eyes widened incredulously. “WHAT?”

The houshi gave her a look of concern. “Why?”

Tired of the incessant chatting, Sesshoumaru interrupted. “The hanyou is unable to control himself around the miko. She will be safe with this Sesshoumaru.”

The taijiya and the houshi glance at their friend, noticing her bandaged arm, and then to Inuyasha before their eyes landed back on the miko. A look of horror came across their faces as they realized what had happened. Good, Sesshoumaru thought.

Touching the bandages lightly, the kitsune's lips trembled, and then he began to wail mournfully. Looking distressed, the miko murmured soothingly to him.

Irritated at the sound, Sesshoumaru gave the fox youkai a warning look. Much to Sesshoumaru's relief, the wailing instantly stopped and the kitsune gulped convulsively.

“Miko, we will depart,” he stated stonily. “Now.” If he did not remove himself from the presence of these fools, Sesshoumaru feared that he might just slaughter them all, arm or not.

“She WILL NOT go with you!” Inuyasha snarled, taking a step forward.

Sesshoumaru looked on impassively as both the taijiya and houshi grabbed the hanyou between them.

“K-Kagome-neesan?” the kitsune said waveringly.

The human girl glanced at Sesshoumaru, and then looked down at the kitsune in her arms longingly and then back at him.

Understanding her unspoken request, Sesshoumaru sighed inwardly in resignation.

“The kitsune may come with us.”


***