InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ All Things Come Full Circle ❯ Chapter 15 ( Chapter 15 )

Chapter 15

When Inuyasha stepped into the small camp all alone and looking pensive Kouga and Kagome were the first ones to their feet.

“Where’s Inukigo?” Kouga asked, concern evident in his voice.

“She’s still with Sesshoumaru,” Inuyasha replied, “They needed to talk privately.”

“You left her there alone?”

Inuyasha nodded.

“If you’re worried about Sesshoumaru hurting her, don’t be. He might be a bastard, but he’s no liar. If all he says he wants is to talk, then that’s really all he wants. Besides,” he added quietly, “They’ve made up.”

Everyone’s eyes widened at that statement.

“Really?” Kagome asked, “What happened?”

Inuyasha sighed and sat down beside her and facing his other companions.

“He said that he regretted what he had done to us, and that he was sorry. It was so weird,” he commented, a confused look on his face.

“Yeah,” Sango commented, “Sesshoumaru has always seemed cold and unfeeling. It’s a shock that he would actually regret something, much less admit it to anyone.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” a frown then came to his face, “Inukigo might have forgiven him, but it’s gonna take a hell of a lot more than that for me to forgive him.”

“I can’t believe that she would forgive him so easily,” Kagome commented, “I’m surprised that she would, after what he’s done to her…”

“I was surprised too,” he replied, looking thoughtful, “But now that I’ve had time to think about it, it’s not that strange. She was very close to Sesshoumaru when we were pups, and she’s always missed that closeness.”

“I thought that she hated Sesshoumaru,” Miroku said, sounding a little confused, “There were a few times that one of us compared her to Sesshoumaru and she grew rather angry.”

“Yeah, I know. But that anger was never directed at Sesshoumaru, no matter how she tried to make it seem that way. It was more towards herself, for not being able to hate him for everything that he did. She was also using it to cover up the sadness that she felt over his rejection.”

Kagome looked at him sadly.

‘Just like you do, Inuyasha. The two of you are so alike.’

“So what do we do now? Just wait here for them to come back?” Kouga asked, sounding a little irritated.

“Yeah, unless you want to be the one to go interrupt their conversation,” Inuyasha answered with a hint of a smirk in his voice, “I don’t think Inukigo would be too happy about that.”

Kouga immediately shut up at hearing that. Inuyasha laughed to himself.

‘Already has you wrapped around her finger does she, wolf?’

“I’m sure they won’t take too long,” Kagome reassured, “Sesshoumaru wouldn’t leave Rin-chan for very long,” she pointed out, looking over to where Rin and Shippou were playing not far away.

The two children laughed happily amongst themselves, while Jaken sat far away from everyone with a scowl on his face.

Kouga remained silent after that for a few moments, but then spoke up again.

“Ooi, Inuyasha.”

Inuyasha’s attention was caught immediately and he looked up from his conversation with Kagome to look at Kouga.

“Huh? What?”

Surprisingly, Kouga looked away as he spoke reluctantly.

“Can…can I talk to you for a minute?”

Inuyasha eyed him curiously.

“I guess so. Why, what do you want?”

“Actually,” Kouga replied, still looking away, “I would rather that it be private.”

Inuyasha looked around at his other companions, who were just as bewildered as he was by Kouga’s request.

‘What in the Hell does he want?’

He looked to Kagome, who just shrugged at him and motioned for him to go and see what Kouga wanted. Heaving a sigh he nodded and stood up, causing Kouga to finally look at him.

“C’mon then and let’s get this over with.”

Kouga nodded and stood up as well, then followed Inuyasha away from the group and into the forest, in the opposite direction that Inukigo and Sesshoumaru were in.

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

Inukigo sat patiently on a fallen log, waiting to see if Sesshoumaru would be the first to speak. They needed to talk, both of them knew it but neither really knew where to start. After about five minutes of very uncomfortable silence, Inukigo finally took the plunge and spoke.

“That little girl that you had with you…what’s her name?”

“Her name is Rin,” Sesshoumaru replied calmly.

Inukigo nodded and decided to keep with the current topic.

“I caught your scent awhile ago, I was surprised when I picked up her scent with yours. I never thought that you would have a young girl with you. What’s the story behind her?”

“Some time ago, Inuyasha injured me, and she discovered me while I was recovering. She approached me without fear, and kept returning even though I repeatedly told her to leave. After I had recovered, I found her dead in a forest path, having been killed by wolves.”

Inukigo’s eyes widened.

“She was dead? Then how…?”

“The Tenseiga allowed me to revive her.”

“The sword father left you? But I thought that you couldn’t use it, unless…”

“Unless I felt compassion, yes I know. I don’t know what came over me that day, but I wanted her to live, and the Tenseiga responded to that. I think it happened because she had no fear of me, and…she reminded me of you.”

“What?” Inukigo gasped in shock.

“When I spoke to her, the way she smiled reminded me of you when you were young. As time went on, she followed me like a shadow. It was like you had been reborn as a human child, there were times that I feared that had been what happened to you.”

“You…You were worried that I had died? But why? I was sure, especially after last time, that you really wanted to kill me.”

Sesshoumaru shook his head.

“I tried to make myself believe that was what I wanted, but I don’t think that I ever truly desired your death.”

“T-Then why?” Inukigo pleaded, hers eyes pained, “Why did you cause us both so much pain if that was never your intention?”

Sesshoumaru was silent for a few moments to gather his thoughts.

“I don’t really know how to explain my actions towards yourself and Inuyasha. When Chichi-ue died, I remember feeling an extreme anger towards him. That a demon of his status, a taiyoukai, could be defeated was something I couldn’t believe. In my attempt to find some sort of explanation, I concluded that his weakness had been protecting you and your mother. And thus, my anger transferred over to you and Inuyasha. At first, I contented myself with forcing you out of our home, but then I began to grow angry at myself for not taking my proper revenge for father’s death. That’s when I started to attack the both of you, but I could never carry out what I had intended…”

“We were the one’s you blamed for father’s death, but you could never kill us,” Inukigo confirmed.

Sesshoumaru nodded then continued.

“That in turn made me angry towards myself. I, my father’s oldest son, could not bring myself to take revenge for his death.”

“And that too was directed at us,” Inukigo stated, and hung her head.

Sesshoumaru remained silent and she took it as confirmation.

“Father may have died protecting us,” Inukigo said quietly, “But he was never weak. Having the courage to protect those precious to you is not weak.”

“I understand that now.”

“Rin,” Inukigo stated.

“Yes, Rin,” Sesshoumaru replied with a nod, “She has shown me that having someone or something to protect can be the greatest motivation and bring out a person’s greatest strength. I have seen this in our brother as well, when he protects the miko.”

Inukigo smiled.

“He would give his life to protect Kagome. The have marked each other, and plan to complete the mating when Naraku is defeated.”

Sesshoumaru’s eyes widened slightly, though having noticed the closeness between the two during his encounters with them, was not surprised.

“I see. She is a good woman for him. Hopefully she will be able to temper his tendency to be stubborn and rash.”

Inukigo laughed lightly.

“I wouldn’t say that. She can be just as stubborn and rash as him at times. Though she does have a calming way about her.”

Sesshoumaru nodded, then seemed to grow thoughtful for a moment.

“How much does either Inuyasha or yourself know of properly performing the mating ritual?”

Inukigo was startled by his question, but paused for moment to give it thought. She shook her head.

“I never really considered it before. Next to nothing. We’ve always known that there is a ritual, and the first mating takes place during the ritual, but neither of us know how to perform it. We believed that it was instinctual and we would know when the time came.”

Sesshoumaru sat down beside her on the log.

“It is not instinctual. It is something that you must be taught. When Inuyasha and the miko decide to complete the ritual, come to me beforehand, and I will explain the process.”

Inukigo looked at him wide-eyed, having not expected this from him.

“Arigatou.”

Sesshoumaru nodded in acknowledgement, and both were silent momentarily, not sure where to continue from there.

“Inukigo,” Sesshoumaru asked carefully, “What happened to you fifty two years ago? I discovered that Inuyasha had been sealed by that miko, but you seemed to disappear.”

Inukigo remained silent for a moment, contemplating what exactly she should tell him. Before she could register what she was doing, she had begun talking. She told him all about when she had been sealed, and the two years that she spent alone before that. She also shared with him the nightmares she had experienced while in her sleep, which led to her telling him about events that had happened after her and Inuyasha’s mother had died. She sat there spilling out everything to him for nearly an hour before she realized that she was rambling and stopped talking.

Sesshoumaru sat there silently for a few moments, taking in everything that he had just heard.

“I am sorry that I was not there for you at that time. Perhaps if we had been on better terms, you would not have felt that a necessary option.”

“Maybe,” Inukigo agreed, “But it’s okay. The past is the past. If it would change how my life is today, I would not change a thing about my past. A lot of it was painful, and I admit that some of those things are still with me, but what’s important to me now is my present and my future.”

Sesshoumaru nodded in understanding, but then got a gleam in his eye that Inukigo didn’t recognize.

“I don’t suppose that your present and future would happen to include a certain wolf demon?”

Inukigo’s face flushed deep red and she started stuttering.

“I-I…Uhh…How…?”

“H ow did I know?” Inukigo nodded, “His scent is very strong on you. He is also very protective. You are in the first stage of courtship?”

“Hai,” Inukigo replied, still slightly embarrassed, “He found the field where you and I last battled. He’s been sticking pretty close to me ever since then. I’m surprised that he backed down so easily when you first showed up. He was very angry when he found out that it was you that hurt me.”

Sesshoumaru turned to look down at the ground beside his feet.

“I am ashamed of my actions on that day. It wasn’t until Inuyasha’s woman spoke that I truly realized the impact I was having on you and Inuyasha,” he lifted his head to look at her, “I had no idea that you still felt love for me. I believed that you long ago began to feel nothing but hate because of all that I had done to you. Why is it that you do not?”

“I don’t know,” Inukigo replied, “I tried to, and when I realized that I couldn’t, I tried to make it seem like I did. Inuyasha has always seen through it though.”

“Is that what you were trying to prove in your fights with me? That you hated me?”

“Partly,” Inukigo explained, “I was also trying to prove that I was above…needing you. But I always did…I still do…I guess,” she admitted sheepishly.

“Do you truly wish for me to be a part of your life?”

Inukigo glanced at him from the corners of her eyes.

“Yes.”

“If it is what you truly want, then I shall become a part of your life again.”

Inukigo’s head shot up and she stared at him in disbelief.

“Really?”

Sesshoumaru nodded.

“As you yourself said earlier, this Sesshoumaru does not lie. I speak the truth.”

Inukigo looked back down at her hands folded in her lap.

“Thank you.”

Sesshoumaru gave her no reply, but instead stood up from the log.

“We should return. Inuyasha and the rest of your companions will begin to worry.”

Inukigo nodded in agreement and stood up to join him, and both began walking back to where the rest of the shard hunters had made camp.

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

Upon re-entering camp, Inukigo took in the sight of her companions. Shippou and Rin were playing happily under the watchful eye of Kirara, while Jaken sat off to the side, looking rather annoyed with his current situation. Kagome and Sango were working on lunch, and Miroku seemed to be questioning Inuyasha, who for some reason had a very smug look on his face. She then laid eyes on Kouga, and one eyebrow cocked in confusion. He sat away from everyone and looked extremely…embarrassed? She immediately turned her gaze back to Inuyasha, and began to grow suspicious.

‘Okaaaaay…what happened while I was gone?’

Kagome looked up from what she was doing and smiled.

“Inukigo-chan! You’re just in time, lunch is ready,” she then looked to the tall inu-youkai at the female hanyou’s side, “Will you be staying as well, Sesshoumaru-sama?”

Inuyasha sent her a look that said he wasn’t happy about her using an honorific, but it went unnoticed.

“I have no need of human food. We are leaving.”

Kagome laughed nervously.

‘Of course, the great Sesshoumaru has spent enough time around us already, I suppose.’

Inukigo glanced at him from the corners of her eyes.

‘And he’s back to being all stuck up and arrogant. I guess it can’t be helped.’

“Rin. Jaken,” he spoke in monotone. Both mentioned rushed to him without question.

Jaken was silent as they left, probably happy to get away from the ‘irritating’ humans. Rin however turned and waved as she walked.

“Goodbye everyone! Goodbye Shippou-chan!”

Everyone, minus Inuyasha and Kouga, waved back, and Shippou sported a bright blush. Sesshoumaru glanced over his shoulder and his eyes locked with Inukigo. She saw what he was trying to tell her and sent him a smirk.

‘Yeah, I’ll see you soon Aniue.’

When the trio had disappeared from sight, Inukigo looked down at the little fox kit that had made his way over to Kagome.

“Well, well, Shippou. It appears as though you and Rin got along very well. You got a goodbye all to yourself.”

Shippou glared at her even as his face glowed red from embarrassment. He crossed his arms and turned his back to her in a pout, and Inukigo couldn’t help but laugh. Kagome and Sango began serving up lunch, and all laughter was forgotten as the entire group gathered around to get their share. When Kouga sat down beside Inukigo, she saw him send a glare Inuyasha’s way, though he still looked thoroughly embarrassed.

“Hey,” she said softly, catching his attention, “What’s wrong?”

Kouga looked at her, and if anything, he looked even more embarrassed.

“N-nothing. What makes you think anything is wrong?”

Inukigo eyed him sceptically.

“You’re acting weird…what’s going on?”

“It’s just your imagination. Nothing’s wrong.”

Inukigo knew that he was lying, but it seemed to be something that he didn’t want her to know about, so she left it alone. A muffled snicker from Inuyasha’s direction had her turning her attention to him, and the overly innocent look on his face told her that he had done something. No one else present hinted as to what was going on. None of them knew exactly what had happened between Inuyasha and Kouga, but they had all been told by Inuyasha to not breathe a word to Inukigo that they had even gone off on their own to talk. Kagome had her suspicions, and she was determined to get answers from Inuyasha when they started moving again.

When everyone was finished eating, Kagome and Sango went about cleaning their dishes, while Inuyasha and Miroku cleared out the camp. Shippou and Kirara just sat around and waited for everyone to get ready. Kouga pulled Inukigo off to the side and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“I’m gonna head back to check on the pack. I’ll see you in a few days, okay?”

Inukigo nodded and smiled up at him.

“Thanks for staying all this time. I know you were worried about your pack too.”

“I know that they can look after themselves.”

“Oh, and are you saying that I can’t?” she asked with a false angry glare.

Kouga caught on to her playing and smirked.

“Exactly.”

Inukigo smacked him playfully on the arm, earning a chuckle from the wolf youkai that held her within his embrace. He leaned down swiftly and planted a quick kiss on her lips before pulling back slightly.

“I’ll see you soon. Be careful, okay?”

“Mmhmm, you too.”

Kouga smirked and gave her a wink, which had Inukigo blushing lightly, then released her and turned away. Before taking off he looked over his shoulder and waved, said his farewells to the group, then was gone in a cloud of dust. When Inukigo went to join the rest of her companions, she saw that they all sported amused looks, and remembering that they had all just seen Kouga kiss her, blushed an even deeper red. Inuyasha, however, didn’t appear amused so much as he did annoyed.

“Try to keep it to yourselves will ya? Nobody asked for a show.”

Inukigo growled as her embarrassment completely vanished.

“Excuse me?! Maybe you should try taking your own advice! I’ve seen you and Kagome kiss plenty of times, and I’ve never complained about it.”

Inuyasha’s cheeks gained a pink tint from her words. From the look on her face, she was telling him that even though she hadn’t said it, she wasn’t referring to just the kissing that she had witnessed…

“Keh!”

“I think that you’re very right, Inukigo-chan,” Kagome added, “And I think it was very sweet. There’s nothing wrong with public displays of affection.”

Inuyasha growled and roughly grabbed Kagome’s now fully packed backpack.

“Could we please just drop this and get going? We’ve wasted enough time here as it is.”

The rest of the group laughed at Inuyasha’s dismissal, earning a glare from the annoyed and embarrassed half demon, then followed along behind him to continue the search for Naraku.

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

“C’mon, Inuyasha! Tell me, please?”

“I said ‘no’ Kagome.”

“Pleaseeeeee….”

“No!” < p>“Why not?” Kagome asked with a pout.

“I already told you ‘why not’.”

“But Inukigo-chan is all the way up there, and she’s talking to Shippou. She won’t hear us.”

Inuyasha realized that she was right, and that he had no other reason to keep it from her.

“Oh…alright, fine,” he grumbled.

Kagome giggled at his expression.

“So…spill it. What did Kouga want earlier?”

Inuyasha sighed. Kagome could be really nosy when she wanted to be.

“He wanted my permission to ask Inukigo to become his intended mate.”

Kagome’s eyes widened and a huge grin split her face.

“Really?! That’s great!” she then sobered just a little when she remembered how Kouga had been acting when they returned, and leaned over his shoulder a little, “You did say ‘yes’, right?”

Inuyasha snorted and gave her a tolerant look from the corners of his eyes.

“Of course I said yes,” Kagome gave a sigh of relief, but it cut off at his next words, “Doesn’t mean that I didn’t have a bit of fun first though.”

“Inuyasha…” she started, her voice hinting that he could be in trouble, “What did you do?”

“Nothing serious,” Inuyasha tried to explain before she grew angry, “I just messed with his head a little before I told him yes. Pretended that I didn’t know he could provide for her or handle her, stuff like that. It was totally harmless.”

“That still wasn’t very nice Inuyasha,” Kagome chastised, “Kouga really likes Inukigo-chan, and you made him think that you might not let them be together.”

“Maybe,” he replied and shrugged his shoulders as best he could while still running, “But it sure as hell was funny watching the wolf squirm. And that’s not even the best part.”

“I’m not sure that I want to know…”

“You know that in order for a male to take a female as his intended mate, he needs to have permissions from the female’s parents?”

“Yeah…” Kagome replied, not really sure what he was getting at.

“Well, in the event that neither parent is living, the decision goes to the female’s closest family member or the head of the family. Before, the decision was mine, because I am Inukigo’s closest family member, but now that Sesshoumaru has accepted her as his sister again, the final decision goes to him.”

“What!” Kagome exclaimed, but kept her voice too low for Inukigo to hear, “You mean that Kouga has to go ask Sesshoumaru for permission to mark Inukigo-chan?”

“Yup. Didn’t you notice that when Kouga left he went in the same direction as Sesshoumaru? That’s in the opposite direction of his pack’s den.”

“Whoa,” Kagome breathed as she took in the situation, “Sesshoumaru won’t say no, will he?” she asked worriedly.

Inuyasha’s face grew thoughtful as he considered it.

“I don’t think so…he saw how protective Kouga was earlier and probably asked Inukigo about it. If Kouga has the brains to mention that I said yes, then he shouldn’t have any problems at all. Sesshoumaru may have the final say, but as her closest family, my opinion does count. If he knows that I agreed to let him mark Inukigo, then Sesshoumaru will know that Kouga has been doing something right.”

“I hope that Sesshoumaru agrees,” Kagome replied, her voice laced with concern, “They’ll both be devastated if they can’t be together.”

“Yeah, I know,” Inuyasha said, then rubbed her thighs reassuringly, “I’m sure everything will work out fine. Try not to worry too much about it, okay?”

“Okay,” Kagome agreed, nodding against his shoulder, “I just hope that you’re right. They both deserve to be happy.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m sure that Sesshoumaru would never do something like that to Inukigo. Everything should be fine,” he replied reassuringly, though Kagome couldn’t see the look of uncertainty that flashed across his face.

‘At least, I hope it will be.’

********************************************************* ***************

Okay, first things first, *ahem* GOMEN NASAI!!!! I’m sorry, I’m sorry! This is what happens when I promise to have a chapter out in ‘a week or two’. I end up taking over a month *sigh*. I really am sorry that I didn’t update when I said I would, it’s just that my brain just stalled whenever it came to writing something for this. Thus, the reason for this chapter being quite a bit shorter than my previous ones - I left you guys with no update for far too long and I felt that I could safely end it here and give you a chapter. I’m trying to work on the next one, but it’s not turning out much better. Sooo…since ideas for this story are slow in coming…I’m wondering if I should go ahead and start posting an AU fic I’ve started working on. I didn’t want to until I was done with All Things Come Full Circle, since I thought it might be hard to maintain two stories, but judging by the pace of this story, I don’t think that will be a problem…(-_-) Well, it’s titled ‘Shigetsu Incorporated’, and I’ll give you guys the summary so you can let me know if you’re interested.

Shingetsu Inc., one of the top electronics industries in Japan, has been in the possession of the Taisho family for generations. Their ownership has never been challenged - until now. An evil business tycoon has his eyes set on the multibillion dollar company, and is willing to use any means to get it, however dirty they may be.

Kagome Higurashi, a new student to Shikon High, finds herself drawn into the middle of the power struggle, when she becomes involved with the youngest of the three Taisho siblings, Inuyasha.

Will they be able to put an end to the scheming of Onigumo and Naraku, or will more be lost then just Shingetsu Inc.?

It’s kinda original and not so original all at the same time. The last names (Taisho, Taijya, Houshi, etc.) have been used countless times before, but I like them so I think I’m going to keep them. Let me know if it sounds decent, and I’ll post the first chapter either later tomorrow or the day after. Um…I think I said everything that I needed to, so on with the reviews.

-- MM . ORG --

SilverShadowKitsune - I’m glad that you like Sesshoumaru again. I can see him regretting, but I can’t really picture him apologizing either, but one of the good things about fan fiction, is that you can make up background information that will explain the OOC-ness of the characters, lol. Let’s pretend that Sesshoumaru didn’t become so cold until his father died, and now that he’s realized the ‘error of his ways’ (that sounds so corny), he’s slowly returning to the way he was before. Maybe not completely, but partially (If you’ve seen the third movie, then you know that it makes him out to be cold and stoic even before his father dies, but I’m not going by anything in that movie). Sorry, no fluffy Inu/Kag moment (I’ll try for next chapter). As for your picture…I got side-tracked again, sorry. It was almost done, and I just forgot about it. I’ll try to finish it by the end of the week (I promise).

Jenner93 - Glad you liked it. Yeah, it’s OOC. I think he is capable of regretting, just not admitting to it or actually apologizing. It works with the story, couldn’t have them fighting for the whole thing, and I can’t see Inukigo forgiving him unless he apologized first.

ninja-of-the-night - Maybe I’ll have to get Inuyasha to spill his guts a little bit later on (OOC-ness all around…), and have something happen that will contribute to him forgiving Sesshoumaru (more OOC-ness…). Kouga will be marking Inukigo soon, maybe chapter 17. I find Miroku and Sango stuff a little hard to write (I don’t know why, it isn’t as if I don’t like them), but I’ll get around to a scene or two for them too.

-- FF . NET --

Patriot1776 - No worries, Kouga would never stoop that low. I’m just developing a little difference between dog demon mating and wolf demon mating (that I totally made up, of course). Dog demons will only have sex with their mates, and the first time is during a mating ritual. Once they mate, they are bound to their partner. Wolf demons can have sex without being mates, and they are not bound until a ritual is performed (This will be important much later). I hope I portrayed the reasons behind Sesshoumaru’s actions well enough (not that any reasons would truly justify what he did, and he knows that). Inuyasha will forgive him in time, I’ll have something happen later that will help it along.

Skitzo - Yeah, I know. He was really OOC. I think it would have been OOC no matter how much time I gave him, and I didn’t feel like dragging that part out.

InuYasha Obsession Grizzly - I’m sorry for making you wait so long (grr…stupid brain). I know you weren’t saying to write the lemon right away, I was just bringing up what a few people once said to me a while ago. I’m glad that I inspire you J . And thanks for reviewing on Long Awaited Reunion. I was disappointed that I got so few reviews. They’re nice to have, and I love hearing from readers. Thanks for the compliments, I hope that my slowness doesn’t affect your enthusiasm towards my story.

Akuda - Hi, thanks for the review. Hope you didn’t lose interest because it took me so long to update.

SesshouMaru's Kitty - Thanks for the review. Sorry that I didn’t update so soon.