InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Batsu ❯ Sesshomaru's Demand ( Chapter 7 )

Strong arms had wrapped around him. Warm breath ghosted along his shoulder - he could feel it through the sleeve of his kimono, though at what point Kouga had dressed them both, he couldn't recall. A slight pain had announced itself in his backside but none of that really seemed to register to his sleep-deprived mind except one thing. He'd submitted to Kouga. That single thought ran over and over again in his mind. He'd submitted to Kouga . . .

 

Tears welled up in his eyes as shame began to burn his cheeks. Inuyasha began to shiver, shrinking in on himself. Absently, he rubbed his wrists as phantom pains shot all the way to his elbows. Confusion cluttered his mind. He hadn't wanted to be hurt again. Not like that. But he wasn't supposed to have felt pleasure when he'd submitted to Kouga, either. The wolf had already proven that to him from their first encounter. He was a half-breed and half-breeds were disgusting low-life creatures. They were only good for sport and the pleasuring of others. Yet Kouga had gone out of his way to pleasure him. His stomach lurched at the way his thoughts were running in circles, words of violence competing with sweet promises. Inuyasha let out a choked whimper, his hands covering his mouth.

 

“Inuyasha?”

 

Next to him, he felt Kouga move. The wolf's warm body left him just before the youkai lifted him and cradled him close.

 

“What's wrong?”

 

“Nothing,” he replied quickly, his voice hoarse. “I'm fine. I just . . . I feel a bit sick . . . that's all.”

 

“No, you're not,” Kouga murmured. “That isn't all . . . You're shivering . . .”

 

“Really, I'm fine . . .” Inuyasha faltered when his eyes met Kouga's.

 

“Kami, you're exhausted,” came the soft exclamation, a hand caressing his cheek. “Didn't you sleep at all last night?”

 

“Not really,” Inuyasha slowly confessed. He didn't dare tell the wolf that his actions last night had confused him to no end . . . and upset him.

 

“And your friends are going to want to see you today . . . By the gods, the last thing I want to hear is Kagome bitching about you not getting enough sleep . . .”

 

Inuyasha's eyes widened and he stiffened. Another choked whimper escaped him, but he couldn't move away. Kouga had his arms wrapped around him tight.

 

“I can't see them . . . I can't . . .”

 

“You can and you will. I'll be right there with you,” Kouga soothed. “I'll be watching over you.”

“But they're . . .” He couldn't finish what he wanted to say. They were angry with him for having been gone for so long. He knew it. He'd seen it in their eyes, on their faces . . . especially Kagome's eyes. They weren't going to listen to him. They hardly ever did. To them, he was their loud-mouthed, arrogant, ill-mannered hanyou friend who was also an insensitive jerk and in need of a good sitting every now and then. They never asked him why he did the things he did, why he behaved in such a brash way. All that mattered was that Kagome not be hurt so they could continue the search for the jewel shards. She was the one who held the group together. Not him. Kagome was always right. Not him.

 

“They're not going to do anything to you, Inuyasha,” Kouga assured him. “I told them about what happened. I had to . . . it was the only way to bring Kagome down from her little tirade . . . before AoiAme got a hold of her.”

 

“They know?”

 

“Hai . . . they know . . . they're not going to do anything to you . . . Not without having to fight the whole tribe to get away. Come on. You can't stay in here all day.”

 

Having said that, Kouga rose to his feet, dragging Inuyasha with him. With a steady hand guiding him, Inuyasha was led out of the cave and into the world that had always been cruel to someone like him.

 

* * *

 

From the corner of his eye, Kouga watched Inuyasha's slow and steady movements as he led the hanyou to a nearby hot spring for a bath. Something still had the hanyou spooked. He just couldn't figure out what.

 

`Maybe I shouldn't have taken him again last night,' Kouga mused. `Hell, I shouldn't have taken him at all. Ayame's going to be my mate. Not Inuyasha. But I can't just mate with her and leave him like this. He needs me . . . He needs to know that I'm not going to hurt him anymore . . . that he's worthy of being happy . . . Kami, what the hell have I done?'

 

* * *

 

“Inuyasha? Are you all right?”

 

Miroku frowned as his hanyou friend barely lifted his head to look at him. It had taken quite a bit of convincing on his part but he'd wanted to be the first one to talk to Inuyasha. Alone. When the wolf tribe's healer realized he was a monk and what he was able to offer to the hanyou, she'd quickly agreed, as had Kouga. It had been Kagome that had really needed the convincing but he'd managed.

 

“Yeah,” the silver-haired male nodded, his voice just barely above a whisper. “I'm fine.”

 

“You look exhausted,” he commented, sitting across from Inuyasha. A faint smile tugged on the hanyou's lips.

 

“That's what Kouga said this morning . . .”

 

“I can imagine,” Miroku murmured. He reached over and clasped one of Inuyasha's hands with his own. “We know what happened, Inuyasha . . .”

 

“I know . . .”

 

“I'm here if you want to talk about it . . .”

 

“There's nothing to talk about,” Inuyasha stated quietly. “I was stupid . . . I knew it was a trap and I still ran towards it . . . That's all there is to say . . .”

 

“No, there isn't,” Miroku interjected, his tone firm, “and you know that, Inuyasha. I want to help you . . .”

 

“You can't help me, Miroku. No one can.”

 

“I don't believe that. Not for one moment. There is something we can do . . . you just have to let us . . .” He paused when the silver-haired hanyou turned his head away, his lithe form trembling slightly then he let out a sigh. Kouga had really done a number on the hanyou. Kagome's `sit' command hadn't helped matters any, either. “Inuyasha . . .”

 

“What?” The hanyou kept his gaze averted.

 

“Look at me . . . Please . . .”

 

Inuyasha exhaled at that moment then slowly moved his head to look at him once more. Then the hanyou's eyes grew as big as cups and he scrambled to get away as best he could. It was obvious there was something wrong with the hanyou's wrists. He could barely hold himself up on them, acted like they still pained him, but he was putting pressure on them. Miroku started to say something when he felt an ominous presence behind him. Before he could turn to face the youkai behind him, he flew to one side, crashing into the wall and losing consciousness.

 

* * *

 

There was something wrong. He knew it the moment he saw his brother's golden eyes. Of course, he had felt it for several days now and it had compelled him to seek Inuyasha out. Locating his brother hadn't been easy, either. Inuyasha wasn't at the village he liked to stay at and neither were his human friends. It had taken him some time but he had finally managed to pick up his brother's scent then followed it . . . right into the wolf's den, he'd noted with disdain. He went to the cave where his brother was staying, smirking, if only to himself, as the wolves kept their distance from him. Then, when he saw his brother, the knowledge had hit hard, especially when he'd smelled blood on the half-breed, blood that indicated innocence.

Sesshomaru knelt in front of his sibling, his eyes intent. Fear permeated the air, coming off the hanyou in waves. Under normal circumstances, he would have relished the scent of fear that came from Inuyasha but not now. Not when it had become obvious Inuyasha had been punished for a crime he didn't commit. Before the half-demon could escape, Sesshomaru caught his chin. Immediately, Inuyasha went limp and whimpered. Crimson began to stain his eyes. Anger started to rise within Sesshomaru. This was inexcusable.

 

“What happened?” he demanded softly. “Why are you here?”

 

* * *

 

Kouga watched with baited breath as the silver-haired inuyoukai entered Inuyasha's cave. His instincts were screaming at him to go after the male, that the male was a threat to the hanyou and his unborn pup. But Gekido, Ginta, and Hakkaku had stopped him. Something in the elder's behaviour told him it would not be wise to cross the taller male. Of course, Kagome and the taijiya had come running out of the cave they were staying in, both prepared to attack. Then silence had fallen over the wolf tribe. That had only been a few minutes ago, but Kouga couldn't stand the silence any longer. He glanced at Kagome.

 

“Who the hell is that?”

 

“That's Sesshomaru . . . Inuyasha's older brother . . .”

 

“What?!” Gekido exclaimed, glancing at her alarm. His outburst surprised her and Kouga as well.

 

“That's Sesshomaru,” she repeated, her expression puzzled. “He's Inuyasha's older brother. Well, half brother . . . They have the same father . . .”

 

“Their father . . . was he the Lord over the Western Lands?” The elder's eyes had nearly bulged out of his head and his entire body shook.

 

“Yeah . . .”

 

“Gekido,” Kouga interrupted, “what is this all about?”

 

“I know that youkai . . . I met him once before, nearly two hundred years ago . . . Kouga . . . that hanyou . . . he's . . . he's the son of a demon lord . . .”

 

“So?” he shrugged. “Inuyasha's not like any other hanyou I've ever come across. I kinda figured that . . .”

 

“Dammit, Kouga, he's not the son of just any demon lord . . . he's the son of the InuTaisho . . . the most powerful youkai these lands have ever seen! I know you're not that stupid as to realize what this means . . .”

 

“It means,” a cold voice stated, “that I have the right to demand proper punishment for the insult to my family's bloodline and the fact that my brother has been permanently rendered helpless. Or atonement. Take your pick.”

 

Kouga felt the blood rushing from him as he turned to face who had spoken. Behind him stood the one Kagome had identified as Sesshomaru, Inuyasha standing in front of him. The hanyou's expression of pure misery tore at him and Kouga wanted nothing more than to just get Inuyasha away and keep him safe. The hanyou had been through enough. He didn't need to go through anything else.

 

“Kouga's punishment has already been decided by our council,” Gekido frowned. “What more would you ask?”

 

“So Inuyasha has told me,” Sesshomaru's eyes flashed. “That is for the dishonour he's brought your tribe, however. Not for the insult and shame he has brought my sibling.”

 

“Since when did you care about any insult tossed at Inuyasha?” Sango spat. Kouga's heart sank at the taijiya's words and the coldness that seemed to have deepened in Sesshomaru's eyes. This did not bode well. “You've done more than your fair share at trying to kill him!”

 

“That's different, Sango,” Kouga murmured. “Trying to kill a sibling is completely different from what I did to him.”

 

“I don't see how,” Kagome sniffed. “Family is family. You don't try to kill your brother simply because you view him to be a taint to the family honour.”

 

“Youkai society is different,” Gekido interjected. “It is the highest honour a family can bestow upon a member, to want to be the one to kill that particular member. It . . .”

 

“It shows that they care,” Inuyasha finished softly. “Unlike in human society, where the unwanted member is beaten and ignored out of scorn and hatred.”

 

“Which leads me to my demands,” Sesshomaru said, his expression never wavering. “Either the pup dies or Kouga takes Inuyasha as his mate. Tonight.”