InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Chou Shoki I: Learning from Yesterday ❯ Chapter 39 ( Chapter 39 )

“The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

   But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,

   A heart whose love is innocent!”

- Lord Byron, She Walks In Beauty

 

 

CHAPTER 39

 

When we awoke, the first thing out of my mouth was, “I have to go.”

 

Unfortunately, rack my brains though I did, I could recall no teachings on the etiquette of leaving a man's bed. With my back turned to him, I glanced sideways at his face, half buried in the pillow. Only one of his eyes was visible; it opened and regarded me - far too intently for my liking.

 

“You haven't yet taken a bath nor had something to eat. It's important after such strenuous activities.” I glared at him when he smiled mischievously. “Plus, we still need to talk about what we are going to do.”

 

“I'm not hungry, and it's nearly sundown. I have to get through your lands and I have several days ahead of me. If you come in a few days, I will have formed a plan by then.”

 

He didn't lift his head - he just shook it. He looked stunningly handsome with his silver hair rumpled; had I done that? My fingers itched. “I was going to talk to you while we bathed but the present situation has a great deal to recommend it in terms of extracting information.”

 

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

 

“I mean that you won't be leaving this bed until we've figured out how we are going to go about this.”

 

“Don't be stupid - I have to leave before your household gets up. You won't want your servants to know I'm here.”

 

Aahh, nothing more refreshing than the old, bitter Kagome! Joy! Sesshoumaru shrugged. “If I don't mind, why should you?”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Sesshoumaru shrugged. “If I don't mind, why should you?” He was mated to her; in the circumstances, everyone turned a blind eye.

 

Kagome stared at him, blank-faced, then her eyes flashed. “Well, I do mind!”

 

She tried to push his arm from her. He sighed and turned - and drew her into his arms. She quieted. He rolled until she lay on her side, all but nose to nose with him, his arms locked around her, her legs tangled with his, his erection pressed to her soft belly. He looked into her eyes. “In that case, you'd better start talking.”

 

Her expression was impossible to read; only her lavender eyes, still wide, still lustrous with lingering satiation, showed her awareness of his state. Of his unstated threat. Her lips firmed, obstinate to the end.

 

He held her gaze and waited, while the sun sat.

 

Kagome capitulated. “We're going to have to be very careful. Youkai and miko were not meant to have this. Quite frankly I didn't think it was possible that such unions could occur.” She paused and inhaled his calming scent. “I, of course, won't be able to keep it from Lana, so that is out of the question. And knowing the bond you have with your brothers, I doubt they'll be left out of the loop. Kirara is a youkai herself and will be the first to know once I return. Then there's also the matter of the child.” Kagome sighed, hopelessly. “Let's just try and keep the details out.”

 

He chuckled a bit on her last words but nodded before he kissed her nose. She continued. “I guess that for now, that's all we can do,” Kagome closed her eyes. “I don't understand how something that is supposed to be so wrong, can feel so right.”

 

Sesshoumaru bent his head and touched his lips to hers. “We'll find a way to be together without the persecution. I promise.” The comfort in this tone, in his touch, wiped away all fears.

 

Dazed and blinking though she was, she lifted from the futon. Her susuyoke was at her feet; she swiped it up. Crossing his arms behind his head, he lay back and watched her. She put on her socks, then raced across the room and grabbed her juban. Neither susuyoke nor juban had ties to them anymore. Horrified, she turned to him, arms wide, demonstrating. He raised a brow.

 

She glared, picked up her kimono and cloak, and shrugged into them. She was stopped by a clawed hand and pushed into a room with a hot spring. He closed the door just in time to hear her curse him when she fell in the water. He went out of the room and into his parents' room to look for one of his mother's kimono.

 

When he returned, he remembered to get some bandages from one of the armories in his bedroom to put on her head injury. The thought gave him pause. He lifted the sheets from his futon and looked down. Blood spotted both sheets.

 

His lips curved in a wicked smile. He closed his eyes and let his mind revisit last night and this morning.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

After much bickering, mostly on his behalf, and after we bathed, Sesshoumaru cooked some meat and served it to me with a bit of oden. It touched a foreign part of me that he would be considerate enough to remember to cook it before feeding it to me. We both ate in peaceful silence, but the recent events had the wheels in my head turning. It was funny how only yesterday I thought of nothing but to leave this world and now...

 

Well, now... all I wanted was to live... mainly for him. In a small part, back in the darkest recess of my soul, I felt a small stab. I ignored it.

 

I looked around while he packed some food for my journey back home. And for the first time in several hours, I realized that the place was completely void of life. I pushed myself off from the floor and sought out with my aura anything alive.

 

Nothing.

 

Just at the precise moment when I was going to seek him out, Sesshoumaru walked into the dining area and gave me a packed bundle. “Here. This should last about two or three days. Just make sure you are on the look out at all times.” He gave a deep sigh and frowned. “I have no idea why I agreed to letting you go alone. Especially now - and at this hour.”

 

Completely ignoring his lack of trust in my abilities to defend myself, I voiced my query. “Why is there no one in this place? I'm pretty sure that there has to be at least one servant in this house. It has been two and a half days since I arrived and I have yet to hear another voice other than yours.”

 

At first, he looked at me as if the bump in my head had affected me more than he initially thought and then he seemed to ponder on something else. “I sent all the servants away. I didn't think you'd want anyone seeing you like that.” That, meaning he was talking of my mental as well as physical state when he found me on the mountain. His ever-present grin returned when he said, “Besides, after all the commotion coming from my heya, I'd think you would be happy no one was around to hear or see.”

 

I opened my mouth to retort but shut it quickly when his double intender dawned on me. However, a very noticeable blush covered my face. I snatched the package from him and began walking towards the exit. I heard him chuckle and then the light patter of his feet on the floor as he followed me out. Once at the door, I turned to him before pushing it. I looked up to see him staring at me.

 

He reached out and traced my cheek with the back of his hand. I closed my eyes and leaned into the sweet caress. Only Kyo had touched me like that. Without some hidden agenda. I felt his smile even though I didn't see it. “I don't want you to go.”

 

He closed the distance between us with an embrace. He kissed my neck and inhaled into my hair.

 

“I love my scent on you and yours on me. It makes me want you even more.”

 

“I'm glad it does,” I said appreciatively.

 

He growled playfully. “I don't want to go either. But I have been gone for almost a week and my otou-san will―” He pulled back before I could finish my sentence.

 

He grasped my shoulders while he asked in shock, “What do you mean `almost a week'?!”

 

I stared at him. For some time I could only stare at him with concern. `Why was he so surprised at what I said?' His voice brought me back. “What do you mean `almost a week? How long had you been gone from your home when I found you?”

 

“Sesshou,” I cupped his cheek in one hand, “What are you talking about?” I really didn't know why he was asking this and why he was so confused?

 

He looked at the ground and then back at me, confusion in his eyes. He opened his mouth and then closed it again. Then, as if finally, being able to form his thoughts into a coherent sentence, he said, “I went back for you the day after you told me to leave. That was only three days ago. How is it then that you have been away from your castle for almost a week?”

 

I tried to understand what he was trying to say, but I just couldn't. How could he think that all of that happened only three days ago? He must have noticed my inner turmoil because he lifted my chin and his eyes asked his unvoiced questions. I glanced at him and decided to try and see what made him think this.

 

“Tell me that last thing you remember when I told you to leave.” He turned from me and went to the window on the opposite side of the hall.

 

After a pause, “I walked out into the forest, with the intent on going home, or at least that's what I think I was doing. You have to understand, that I was not all there then. The `talk' in the cave was enough to make me want to give up any hope I had of ever being with you.” At this last confession, he turned, smiled and extended his hand to me. I didn't need a vocal invitation.

 

I went to him and he reached around my waist to hold me. “I'm sorry for that. I just...” I didn't even know how to finish that.

 

He stared at me for a long moment. Then, “I know.”

 

I left his side, turning from him. “NO YOU DON'T.” I berated myself after I said that. I rotated again to see him looking at me confused. “I just wanted... I needed... I had to―”

 

In less than a second, he was again by my side. “I would have done the same thing.” He chuckled at my wide-eyed reaction. “I would do anything to keep any harm from coming to you. You thought that by keeping me away you'd spare me from all that we are now going to face?”

 

“It's not like it actually worked anyways.” I shrugged. Getting serious once more I questioned him - more for reassurance than anything. “Are you sure?”

 

He kissed my forehead. “Must I prove to you again how much I've wanted this?”

 

“You must realize that I'm someone that carries much weight upon her shoulders. We're not just going against human-youkai laws. This is something much bigger than both of us. I'm a miko, you're a youkai. Then, there's the biggest thing - the Shikon no Tama.” I reached to my neck where it still hung. “This makes me an even bigger target for attacks, for all kinds of things.” Not to mention three red-eyed Kami that would do anything to keep me always in their service.

 

“I always knew this wasn't going to be easy.”

 

“You can get hurt.”

 

“I can heal easily,” he shrugged.

 

“There will never be a day's rest.”

 

“I can use the exercise. Sometimes it gets boring.”

 

“They'll use you against me.”

 

“I thought you liked a challenge?” He teased.

 

Sighing, taking in all his words, I had to smile. The man - the male - I loved never ceased to amaze me. I allowed myself the freedom to enjoy him like this and put my arms around his torso. “I won't ever let you go, Sesshou,” I whispered into his neck.

 

“And I love you, Kagome,” he whispered back, and then added, “Lady of the Western Lands.”

 

He let go and smiled down at me. He continued, “Anyways, getting back to our initial conversation...”

 

“Gomen, I didn't mean to interrupt. But I did want all doubts out of the way.” He nodded.

 

Taking in a deep breath, for courage, if any he said, “After I left the cave, I encountered my chichi-ue. It goes without saying that he was beyond angry. He began berating me about what I had driven you to do. It was a one-way conversation. I simply stopped listening. I don't even remember how I got back to the Crescent Moon. The next thing I know, I'm falling into darkness...” He stopped once more, but began speaking. “I would have given in, but... there was a voice in the back of my head... it was strong and stubborn... it was you.”

 

It hadn't dawned on me how much my decision would affect him. He grabbed my hand and led me outside. Sesshoumaru noticed me shiver when we stepped out. He pulled the white cloak around me tighter and kissed his mark on my neck. “Something inside called me to you. I don't know if it was really you or just my stubborn nature refusing to give up the most wonderful thing I've come across. I don't know. All I know is that I woke up with Ujio and Juro trying to bring me back to reality. Before I could get a word out, Ujio beat me to the punch - literally. My chichi-ue must have sent for them. We exchanged a few words. I cleaned myself up and went to look for you. You know the rest. That is why I don't understand when you insist on saying that it's been almost a week.”

 

I assessed his story and mulled over every detail from the beginning to the end. And finding a plausible answer, I faced him. “Sesshoumaru, you must have been out more than a few hours. You said it yourself. You don't remember much after your quarrel with your father. The trip back to the Crescent Moon had to have taken a few hours, even for your father. Plus, take in mind that Ujio and Juro, who were not there, must have also taken some time to get there, depending on how far away they were. It had been night when you left from the cave that day. This means, that it took some hours that night to get to the castle, some more for Ujio and Juro to be found and more hours for them to come and see you. All these things could have taken up all that night and probably until late hours in the morning. You were probably out for the other two days.”

 

He frowned the entire time but he must have found that my answer was reasonable. “I suppose that is possible.” He remained silent but questioned me again after a short silence. “I need to know something, though. Forgive me for asking but did you,” he came closer, “mate with that boy?”

 

Sesshoumaru's query took me off guard. I had no words to what he asked. I mean, I had given myself to him, in all sense of the word, and here he was asking this! He couldn't really be stupid enough to question my virginity! I glared at him, but the accusing words never left my lips when I realized what exactly he was asking.

 

I laughed deep within. The word `mate' wasn't just having physical contact with the person you love. Kirara had mentioned, like so many other things, that the term `mate' did not only mean that to youkai. For humans, there was the joining of the bodies of two people, but we had something else that symbolized that union and bond - marriage. For youkai, however, the `mating' was both of these things combined as well, if not something much stronger. Sesshoumaru in this case wanted to know if I had married Hiroyaki.

 

“Iiee.”

 

“Doushite? You told me that after the houshi performed the ceremony, you wouldn't be able to be with me.”

 

“The `ceremony' I was speaking of, was the official ritual to name me the guardian of the Shikon. Not marriage. It is such a pure ritual that I would have been unable to come within ten feet of any male. And because... as much as I knew that Hiro would be the perfect husband... I couldn't possibly live knowing that although I would be physically faithful to him, my mind, heart and soul would always be with you. That wouldn't be fair for any of us. He deserves someone that could give herself to him entirely.”

 

“I don't deserve you.”

 

“I know,” I smirked.

 

He laughed out loud and the sound was music to my ears. I bit my lip and leaned in to his kiss. We parted too soon. He held me close for some time until I noticed the position of the sun.

 

“I really should get going if I plan to make it out of the Western Lands before nightfall.”

 

“And how exactly do you plan to do that in just,” he looked to the sky, “two, maybe two and half hours?”

 

“You have yet to see the extent of my power. I might just surprise you.”

 

He kissed my forehead one last time. Then as I was turning to leave, I remembered something of the utmost importance. Reaching for the blue and yellow sash I had gifted him, I closed my eyes and chanted a spell. When I opened my eyes he looked down at me questionably.

 

“It is a spell to hide not only our marks but also my scent on you. We must devise a well-thought plan. Come to our glade on the next full moon,” he didn't even let me finish when he let out an irritated growl.

 

“I don't think I can wait that long without having some sort of physical contact with you now that we're mated. And to be honest, I don't think I want to.”

 

Rolling my eyes, I continued. “I don't want to raise any suspicions. Things need to continue as they had when we left each other. Your father is very intuitive and he will know that something is out of place if we suddenly see each other again. Please be patient for both of us. This long separation will also hurt me.”

 

With a weary sigh he nodded and saw me off.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Hello Faithful Readers,

 

Wow! Four months since the last update…

 

I'm just thankful that most of you are still around. The key word here being most. But I can't complain. I did leave a long time.

 

Yet here I am! I know the updates have been extremely slow and I do want to apologize for only uploading one chapter this time. I'm barely falling back into my controlled schedule. I'm hoping that this May will finally give me the normal hours at work and school. Though with the whole flu thing down here in Mexico it's been hellish! Mostly I'm worried for my Kesh (who, by the way, sends his regards and sincere thanks for all of those of you who kept him in your prayers). His health is still at 80%, but slowly progressing.

 

I do assure you guys, though, that by the end of this month I will update again. That's a promise! It'll be my birthday present to you guys (even though it will be my birthday ;P)!!!

 

AND AS ALWAYS, I WANT TO CONTINUE ASKING FOR YOUR SUPPORT IN LETTING ME KNOW IF YOU SEE MY STORY POSTED IN ANY SITES OTHER THAN FF.NET, MM.ORG OR A-SINGLE-SPARK.COM….. PLEASE!!!

 

 

Reika