InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Cursed ❯ Used ( Chapter 10 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Tayala_Anamore 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Suspense / Romance / Drama / Comedy | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 10.05.2011 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.2K | Visits: 507 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Suspense / Romance / Drama / Comedy | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 10.05.2011 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.2K | Visits: 507 | Status: Work In Progress
A/N: OMG guys. I think I just got my very first flame. It was simple, straight to the point, only one word: “gross”. 0_o* Well! Good day to you, sir! I hope you trip on a rabies infested squirrel and land on a bee hive.
Okay, since all you guys have been so wonderful and patient, I decided to do a double dose. Yup, that’s right. It’s my very first two in one post!! This is part one of chapter ten, part two will be up within the next two hours, I just have to the final edit. If it’s not, please, feel free to send flaming puppies through my bedroom window all night long.
Approximate ages for this chapter:
Sesshomaru: 14
Onigumo: 18-20 (I don't think I ever mentioned before now how old Onigumo was so for this chapter, he's going to be about 18-20. It doesn't really matter so you guys can go ahead and decide for yourselves how old you want him to be but in my head, he is pretty close to 20)
'thoughts'
“speaking”
Chapter 10: Used
Sesshomaru sighed, bored.
'I seriously need to get more friends...'
This was one of the few days he had all to himself. Obviously, there were times during the day that he was alone, but there were hardly ever entire days that he was completely by himself. This happened to be one of them.
Now, Sesshomaru liked his alone time as much as the next guy, but this was driving him crazy! On a normal day at least he would have something to do, some lesson to work on or some 'princely' duty to complete, or at least some one to hang out with, but today, for some inexplicable reason, everyone had something else to do or some where they needed to be.
Kashi was spending the day with his father. Kashi wanted to become Sesshomaru's advisor when he took the title of Lord of the west someday and since his father already had an in to the palace and all it's inhabitants, he thought it would be a good idea to hear it from the current Western lands advisor of what kind of job it really was.
This would be the first day in almost four months that he hadn't seen Kashi at least once during the day. They had both turned fourteen four scant months prior (three for Kashi) and had been spending every day together since, trying to get their youki's to come out and play. They'd tried sparring, yelling, purposely getting into fights with other village kids and downright punching each other in the face but so far, nothing.
Kim and Rowan both had to get ready for tonight. They and the rest of the kitchen and half of the palace staff had been occupying a good portion of the palace including the kitchen and dining room for the whole day getting ready. There was going to be a party celebrating Inuyasha's first birthday(even though his actual birthday had been weeks ago). They say that, but really it's just an excuse for the different Lords and Ladies, human and demon alike, to meet up and talk about new connections and land and treaties and ownership agreements and blah blah blah... yes, he knew that one day he would have to care about that crap but that day was not today.
InuTaisho was talking with Myoga about something or other. Inuyasha was with Izayoi for the day and thus, here he is, sitting by himself, in his favorite clearing... sighing.
Sesshomaru closed his eyes and banged his head back against the trunk of the tree he was sitting under a couple of times and mentally started going over the list of people he could bother for the rest of the day until it was time for the celebration tonight.
'Okay, there's Kashi, Rowan, Kimani, dad, Izayoi and Inuyasha... I guess I could probably go hang out with them for a while... but... Izayoi can be really scary when it's that time...'
Sesshomaru shuddered. It was no joke either; that woman could scare the lava back into a volcano when provoked during her monthly bleed... he learned that the hard way the month before. Never again would he ask a woman why she always looked heavier around the end of the month.
'Yeah. Not them then... Damn it! I don't know anyone else! Everyone else I know is a noble or a member of the palace staff and too busy to be any kind of entertainment.'
Sesshomaru went over the list again in his head, convinced that he had missed some one.
'Kashi – busy with his dad. Rowan and Kim – trapped in the kitchen for the rest of the night. Father – wouldn't appreciate being bothered right now. Izayoi and Inuyasha – just, no... There has to be someone I can-'
“ONIGUMO!!” Sesshomaru shouted and enthusiastically waved across the clearing, getting the attention of the man who just walked out of the trees. He blushed a little when he heard the other man chuckle and realized belatedly that maybe screaming his name wasn't necessary seeing as he had already been walking in Sesshomaru's direction.
Sesshomaru mentally slapped himself for not thinking of Onigumo sooner but he wasn't all that surprised. They didn't really hang out all that often. Him and his group would really only ever see him maybe once in a month, even then he didn't stick around for very long. He hung out with them for a couple of hours and then disappeared. Actually, the last time they had seen him he said he was going on a trip to see a sick old friend in a neighboring village. He had asked if he could borrow some medicine for his friend because he couldn’t afford it himself and that he would pay Sesshomaru back when he had the money. That had been months ago.
Sesshomaru shrugged it off and decided to just appreciate his luck. He smiled at the older man and patted the grass beside him as an invitation to sit which Onigumo happily took him up on.
“I thought I might find you here.” he said with a grin. Onigumo took an exaggerated glance around the small clearing. “Where are the others though? Usually you four and the shrimp are attached at the hip.”
Sesshomaru nodded and waved a hand in the air dismissively. “They had things to do today. Thank gods you showed up! I seriously thought I was going to die of boredom.” Sesshomaru said gratefully.
Onigumo chuckled. “Well then I guess it's a good thing this was the first place I looked.”
Sesshomaru grinned in wholehearted agreement.
They fell into an easy conversation talking about random unimportant things; how's life? Haven't seen you in a while. How are your friends? Anything interesting happen? Where have you been? Meet anyone new?
Sesshomaru told him about the celebration happening that night and Onigumo made light mention of some plans him and his friend were working on.
All in all, the conversation wasn't really life changing but it did keep him occupied. There was a short lag in their chat and Sesshomaru took note of how the sun had begun to set. It wasn't dark by any means but InuTaisho had told him to be back before the sun sank beyond the tree line.
“I have to go soon...” he said as he slowly made to get up. Onigumo followed suit and Sesshomaru began brushing off stray blades of grass and dust from his hakama's.
Just as he was about to bid Onigumo good bye, the dark haired man stopped him with a gentle hand on his wrist as he was about to turn to go.
“Wait!”
Sesshomaru stopped and turned back to face him, eyeing the hand on his wrist cautiously. Onigumo never grabbed him like that… in fact, Onigumo never really touched him at all. Sesshomaru wasn’t mad or anything but he was certainly curious.
Onigumo noticed the strange look and snatched his hand back like he’d been burned. He stood there looking, for all intents and purposes, nervous. More than once he started talking but held himself back. Sesshomaru raised a single delicate brow in question, silently encouraging him to continue. Onigumo must have thought him to be getting impatient because soon after he just blurted it out in a single breath.
“I have to confess, I was actually really happy to have caught you by yourself because I've liked you for a while now I was just wondering if you might like to go out with me tonight.”
Needless to say, Sesshomaru was shocked... actually he was wrestling between being shocked, flattered and appalled. Not that Onigumo asked him out but because-
'Kashi was right! He does have a crush on me!'
Sesshomaru thought back to that day when the three of them where hanging out together in this very clearing and Kashi had mentioned it. It seemed so long ago now but it turns out he was right after all.
'That son of a – I am never gonna live this one down. That bitch is gonna hold this over my head for the rest of my life. I seriously need to start paying more attention to things if Kashi is noticing shit years before I am!'
Sesshomaru saw the other man’s face start to fall and absently wondered how long he had been silent. Apparently he assumed that because Sesshomaru hadn't answered yet, he was rejecting him.
Sesshomaru noticed him start to back up a few steps in apprehension and quickly tried to right the situation.
“Oh, no! I wasn't... I mean it's not that I don't want to it's just that you kinda caught me off guard, you know?” he laughed and scratched the back of his head, trying to think fast.
On the one hand, Onigumo was pretty attractive... and nice... and they did get along really well.
On the other hand it would be pretty hard to get away from the palace tonight and his dad most likely wouldn't like that he was going on a date... or that he would be out by himself so late... but he wouldn't be by himself, Onigumo would be there too obviously... but it wasn't really like they knew each other all that well even though they had known each other for years by now... but then he supposed one of the purposes of a date was to get to know each other better... and he'd never been asked on a date before... as far as he knew he wasn't betrothed or anything so... he didn't see what the harm could be in one date... What could happen?
Decision made, he looked Onigumo in the eye, who was chewing his lip nervously, his brow all scrunched up in anticipation, and smiled.
“Okay,” he said quietly. “Sure.” he said with more conviction this time, nodding his head.
He enjoyed watching Onigumo's face light up in surprise as he smiled back.
“So, um, when? And where?” Sesshomaru stammered. His confidence was close to gone and on its way to being replaced with nervous jitters.
“I found this really nice little patch in the forest not too far from here. It's right near the village my partner and I are staying in. It's got all these flowers and a lot of grass and I know it sounds all kinds of girly but it’s actually really beautiful.”
Sesshomaru lit up instantly at the description. “I know that place! Yeah, I use to go there all the time when I was little with... with my parents.” Sesshomaru fought off the sadness that crept up on him anytime he thought of his mother and tried to remain positive. He didn’t want to be sad right now. “I haven't been there in year’s though.” he continued.
Onigumo grinned, happy that he knew the place and he didn't have to try to explain where it was, Sesshomaru assumed.
“Well, I thought we could have a very, very late dinner and some tea and then maybe go for a walk and talk for a while. Say, around midnight? Will the party be over by then?”
At Sesshomaru's nod, he grinned.
“I'll meet you there.” Sesshomaru gave a shy smile before slowly turning and taking his leave, never seeing the knowing, malicious smirk playing across the other man’s face as he watched him go.
Sesshomaru was panting. Not from overexerting himself, but from pure nerves. His heart was nearly pounding out of his chest.
It was almost midnight and people were still there! Sesshomaru had been trying his damnedest to get out of the palace undetected and so far he had been doing pretty well.
He managed to avoid any areas that might have more than the average number of guards on duty this night. He already knew where his father was going to be and decided it would be better to stay away from that entire half of the palace.
He had been actively trying to sneak out for more then an hour now and was incredibly happy that he had the forethought to begin early. He only had three more hall ways and then he could jump out of the second story window that lead right out to a very secluded garden behind the palace reserved for family members only. He was just lucky that beyond that point, all he had to do was make a break for the forest and he would be home free!
Sesshomaru heard some people coming down the hall way just around the corner and quickly ducked into what must have been a broom closet.
He heard the people turn down his corridor and held his breath. They got closer and closer and finally passed his hiding spot. As the continued on their way, Sesshomaru released his breath and was infinitely glad that they had been just a couple of humans and not the two guards that were supposed to be patrolling these particular halls tonight.
Sesshomaru silently slipped out of the closet and closed it behind him without a sound. Quietly, he padded his way down the hall and the next one, being sure to have all of his senses on hyper drive. He made it down the last two halls with little effort and found the right window soon after. With one last look over his shoulder, he jumped the two stories to the ground level with ease and flattened himself against the side of the wall.
He took a thorough look around the garden. He was sure that nobody would be out here in this particular garden. There was really no need but InuTaisho was well known for how cautious he was.
He took a whiff and found that yes, there were some guards posted in this general area but they had left just a few short minutes ago.
'They could be back any minute. It's now or never...'
With that in mind, Sesshomaru took one deep breath and bolted straight into the trees...
Sesshomaru was running as fast as he could through the thicket, trying to get to his destination.
'I am so late!! He’s probably not even there any more...'
He hadn't thought it would take that long to get out of there. As it is, he was probably a good hour or so late for his date.
'Oh my god, I have a date!'
He couldn't help but to smile at that, despite his worries. He actually had a date. A real date with a real person... who was probably pissed that he was late as all hell and about to leave if he hadn't already.
With that in mind, Sesshomaru doubled his efforts, putting as much power behind each step as he could to get there faster.
It was a few short minutes later that he finally made it. The last bit was especially hard; he had forgotten just how dense the forest got directly around the small clearing. When he was little, his parents would always fly them there so they didn't have to deal with it.
Sesshomaru came tumbling out of the growth and nearly landed face first on the ground but managed to right himself at the last minute.
Sesshomaru stood up straighter, trying to catch his breath and dust himself off at the same time. He looked up sharply at the sound of someone chuckling quietly directly in front of him.
Onigumo was standing not too far away, casually leaning against a tree with his foot up on the trunk and smiling with great amusement. His eyes seemed to almost light up when he saw Sesshomaru notice him.
“I was beginning to think you weren't going to show.”
Sesshomaru grinned sheepishly and tried to calm his rapid breathing.
“Yeah *pant* I was tr- *pant* trying to get out *pant* without anyone *pant* noticing. *pant* I got a little- *pant* little held up.” he finished with a sigh.
Onigumo's smile widened and he nodded in understanding, walking over to his young date. “I thought that might have been the case.”
He sauntered over to stand directly in front of Sesshomaru. The shorter boy looked at him curiously as he reached up over Sesshomaru's head. He grabbed a twig from the dog demons hair and showed it to him, silently letting him see what he had been doing.
Onigumo gave him a smirk. “Get in a fight with a tree, did you?”
Sesshomaru, at the sight of the twig, tried desperately not to flush in embarrassment. He stared at the small brown piece of foliage and pursed his lips, letting one last long breath escape him, finally getting his second wind.
“Yeah, well, it got in my way...”
Onigumo nodded seriously, twirling the twig round in his fingers. “Who won?”
Sesshomaru smirked and cracked his knuckles. “I showed it who was boss.”
Onigumo’s frame shook with a deep chuckle as he tried to keep a straight face. “I'm sure it'll think twice next time.”
Sesshomaru couldn't hold it in anymore and finally let himself laugh. He held his stomach as he wiped a stray tear from under his eye.
Onigumo smiled with him and threw the twig away as he held out a sweeping arm, wordlessly inviting Sesshomaru further in to the clearing.
Sesshomaru got control of himself and took a couple of steps forward, finally taking time to properly examine his surroundings.
It was just as beautiful as he remembered it: The small patch of flowers were still there as was the lush green grass that he could remember countless times of running around and playing tag on with his parents. Now, however, there was a large, soft looking blanket lying out in the center of the clearing. It had one small basket in the center with a cloth over top of it. Next to the basket were two small cups and a tea pot.
Sesshomaru allowed a gentle smile to grace his lips as he walked over to the blanket with Onigumo at his side.
“I thought about bringing candles or something,” Onigumo said once they were both seated around the basket. “but then I thought, why let the natural light go to waste?” he gave a pointed glance to the sky and Sesshomaru followed his gaze.
Sesshomaru let the light from the full moon and stars wash over him as he closed his eyes, taking in the heavy scent of the flowers, ginseng tea and citrus, which he could only assume were still in the yet uncovered basket.
Sesshomaru looked back to his date (he just couldn't get tired of that word) with knowing eyes. “I get the feeling that you didn’t just happen to ask me out on the same night as the full moon as a coincidence.”
Onigumo grinned and dropped his eyes to his lap in embarrassment with a “What can I say,” before quickly looking back up with a smile. “I'm a hopeless romantic.”
Sesshomaru's already prominent grin widened as he bit his lip, trying to calm himself down.
'Calm yourself! Stop acting like an excited puppy! No matter how sweet that was, there is no excuse for acting like a twelve year old girl with a crush!'
“Don't worry. I like it.” he said, as calmly as he could.
After that, things just seemed to flow.
Onigumo unveiled the basket to reveal two oranges (Sesshomaru's favorite fruit), a couple of onigiri, and some of what looked like sashimi. When Sesshomaru asked Onigumo told him that it was (1)fugu sashimi and said no more than it was good and he thought Sesshomaru might like it.
Sesshomaru hid a smirk and let the other man think he didn't know that fugu sashimi was supposedly a potent aphrodisiac. He knew the poison wouldn't have any effect on him anyway.
They sat and ate in relative silence, only occasionally speaking but enjoying each other’s company none the less.
When they were done with their meal, Onigumo poured them some tea and they talked for a while longer, Sesshomaru more so then Onigumo.
Sesshomaru told him about how his parents use to always bring him here when they had time and how this place seemed so much smaller now that he was bigger.
Onigumo kept pouring him more tea as the night went on and Sesshomaru felt himself relax more and more. It wasn't until he was on his third cup that he noticed that he hadn't talked this much in a long time.
He was on his fourth cup before he noticed that Onigumo hadn't really said all that much since the night began.
It was during his fifth cup that he first realized how close Onigumo had moved to him since they had finished their meal; there was barely even six inches between them by now and the other man was still leaning closer.
It was just as he finished his sixth cup and Onigumo was pouring his seventh, that he noticed Onigumo had yet to finish his first.
1 – Fugu Sashimi: a poisonous blow fish. It’s not actually legal to eat it in many places but in the places that do allow it, it’s really an “eat at your own risk” kind of thing. Some people do though because it is considered an aphrodisiac.
A/N: just a general note to all my wonderful readers, if you all ever notice I say one thing in one chapter and another thing in the next, feel free to tell me. In fact, I encourage it. If it's one thing I hate, it's inconsistency. I notice that most of the time I tend to be more focused on the what and how then I am on the where and when. I always read over every chapter 3, 4, or even 5 times before I post it but I can't catch everything.
Thanks for being so wonderful guys! Don’t forget to review!
Peace! Love! Yaoi!
Converting /tmp/php6nACci to /dev/stdout
Okay, since all you guys have been so wonderful and patient, I decided to do a double dose. Yup, that’s right. It’s my very first two in one post!! This is part one of chapter ten, part two will be up within the next two hours, I just have to the final edit. If it’s not, please, feel free to send flaming puppies through my bedroom window all night long.
Approximate ages for this chapter:
Sesshomaru: 14
Onigumo: 18-20 (I don't think I ever mentioned before now how old Onigumo was so for this chapter, he's going to be about 18-20. It doesn't really matter so you guys can go ahead and decide for yourselves how old you want him to be but in my head, he is pretty close to 20)
'thoughts'
“speaking”
Chapter 10: Used
Sesshomaru sighed, bored.
'I seriously need to get more friends...'
This was one of the few days he had all to himself. Obviously, there were times during the day that he was alone, but there were hardly ever entire days that he was completely by himself. This happened to be one of them.
Now, Sesshomaru liked his alone time as much as the next guy, but this was driving him crazy! On a normal day at least he would have something to do, some lesson to work on or some 'princely' duty to complete, or at least some one to hang out with, but today, for some inexplicable reason, everyone had something else to do or some where they needed to be.
Kashi was spending the day with his father. Kashi wanted to become Sesshomaru's advisor when he took the title of Lord of the west someday and since his father already had an in to the palace and all it's inhabitants, he thought it would be a good idea to hear it from the current Western lands advisor of what kind of job it really was.
This would be the first day in almost four months that he hadn't seen Kashi at least once during the day. They had both turned fourteen four scant months prior (three for Kashi) and had been spending every day together since, trying to get their youki's to come out and play. They'd tried sparring, yelling, purposely getting into fights with other village kids and downright punching each other in the face but so far, nothing.
Kim and Rowan both had to get ready for tonight. They and the rest of the kitchen and half of the palace staff had been occupying a good portion of the palace including the kitchen and dining room for the whole day getting ready. There was going to be a party celebrating Inuyasha's first birthday(even though his actual birthday had been weeks ago). They say that, but really it's just an excuse for the different Lords and Ladies, human and demon alike, to meet up and talk about new connections and land and treaties and ownership agreements and blah blah blah... yes, he knew that one day he would have to care about that crap but that day was not today.
InuTaisho was talking with Myoga about something or other. Inuyasha was with Izayoi for the day and thus, here he is, sitting by himself, in his favorite clearing... sighing.
Sesshomaru closed his eyes and banged his head back against the trunk of the tree he was sitting under a couple of times and mentally started going over the list of people he could bother for the rest of the day until it was time for the celebration tonight.
'Okay, there's Kashi, Rowan, Kimani, dad, Izayoi and Inuyasha... I guess I could probably go hang out with them for a while... but... Izayoi can be really scary when it's that time...'
Sesshomaru shuddered. It was no joke either; that woman could scare the lava back into a volcano when provoked during her monthly bleed... he learned that the hard way the month before. Never again would he ask a woman why she always looked heavier around the end of the month.
'Yeah. Not them then... Damn it! I don't know anyone else! Everyone else I know is a noble or a member of the palace staff and too busy to be any kind of entertainment.'
Sesshomaru went over the list again in his head, convinced that he had missed some one.
'Kashi – busy with his dad. Rowan and Kim – trapped in the kitchen for the rest of the night. Father – wouldn't appreciate being bothered right now. Izayoi and Inuyasha – just, no... There has to be someone I can-'
“ONIGUMO!!” Sesshomaru shouted and enthusiastically waved across the clearing, getting the attention of the man who just walked out of the trees. He blushed a little when he heard the other man chuckle and realized belatedly that maybe screaming his name wasn't necessary seeing as he had already been walking in Sesshomaru's direction.
Sesshomaru mentally slapped himself for not thinking of Onigumo sooner but he wasn't all that surprised. They didn't really hang out all that often. Him and his group would really only ever see him maybe once in a month, even then he didn't stick around for very long. He hung out with them for a couple of hours and then disappeared. Actually, the last time they had seen him he said he was going on a trip to see a sick old friend in a neighboring village. He had asked if he could borrow some medicine for his friend because he couldn’t afford it himself and that he would pay Sesshomaru back when he had the money. That had been months ago.
Sesshomaru shrugged it off and decided to just appreciate his luck. He smiled at the older man and patted the grass beside him as an invitation to sit which Onigumo happily took him up on.
“I thought I might find you here.” he said with a grin. Onigumo took an exaggerated glance around the small clearing. “Where are the others though? Usually you four and the shrimp are attached at the hip.”
Sesshomaru nodded and waved a hand in the air dismissively. “They had things to do today. Thank gods you showed up! I seriously thought I was going to die of boredom.” Sesshomaru said gratefully.
Onigumo chuckled. “Well then I guess it's a good thing this was the first place I looked.”
Sesshomaru grinned in wholehearted agreement.
They fell into an easy conversation talking about random unimportant things; how's life? Haven't seen you in a while. How are your friends? Anything interesting happen? Where have you been? Meet anyone new?
Sesshomaru told him about the celebration happening that night and Onigumo made light mention of some plans him and his friend were working on.
All in all, the conversation wasn't really life changing but it did keep him occupied. There was a short lag in their chat and Sesshomaru took note of how the sun had begun to set. It wasn't dark by any means but InuTaisho had told him to be back before the sun sank beyond the tree line.
“I have to go soon...” he said as he slowly made to get up. Onigumo followed suit and Sesshomaru began brushing off stray blades of grass and dust from his hakama's.
Just as he was about to bid Onigumo good bye, the dark haired man stopped him with a gentle hand on his wrist as he was about to turn to go.
“Wait!”
Sesshomaru stopped and turned back to face him, eyeing the hand on his wrist cautiously. Onigumo never grabbed him like that… in fact, Onigumo never really touched him at all. Sesshomaru wasn’t mad or anything but he was certainly curious.
Onigumo noticed the strange look and snatched his hand back like he’d been burned. He stood there looking, for all intents and purposes, nervous. More than once he started talking but held himself back. Sesshomaru raised a single delicate brow in question, silently encouraging him to continue. Onigumo must have thought him to be getting impatient because soon after he just blurted it out in a single breath.
“I have to confess, I was actually really happy to have caught you by yourself because I've liked you for a while now I was just wondering if you might like to go out with me tonight.”
Needless to say, Sesshomaru was shocked... actually he was wrestling between being shocked, flattered and appalled. Not that Onigumo asked him out but because-
'Kashi was right! He does have a crush on me!'
Sesshomaru thought back to that day when the three of them where hanging out together in this very clearing and Kashi had mentioned it. It seemed so long ago now but it turns out he was right after all.
'That son of a – I am never gonna live this one down. That bitch is gonna hold this over my head for the rest of my life. I seriously need to start paying more attention to things if Kashi is noticing shit years before I am!'
Sesshomaru saw the other man’s face start to fall and absently wondered how long he had been silent. Apparently he assumed that because Sesshomaru hadn't answered yet, he was rejecting him.
Sesshomaru noticed him start to back up a few steps in apprehension and quickly tried to right the situation.
“Oh, no! I wasn't... I mean it's not that I don't want to it's just that you kinda caught me off guard, you know?” he laughed and scratched the back of his head, trying to think fast.
On the one hand, Onigumo was pretty attractive... and nice... and they did get along really well.
On the other hand it would be pretty hard to get away from the palace tonight and his dad most likely wouldn't like that he was going on a date... or that he would be out by himself so late... but he wouldn't be by himself, Onigumo would be there too obviously... but it wasn't really like they knew each other all that well even though they had known each other for years by now... but then he supposed one of the purposes of a date was to get to know each other better... and he'd never been asked on a date before... as far as he knew he wasn't betrothed or anything so... he didn't see what the harm could be in one date... What could happen?
Decision made, he looked Onigumo in the eye, who was chewing his lip nervously, his brow all scrunched up in anticipation, and smiled.
“Okay,” he said quietly. “Sure.” he said with more conviction this time, nodding his head.
He enjoyed watching Onigumo's face light up in surprise as he smiled back.
“So, um, when? And where?” Sesshomaru stammered. His confidence was close to gone and on its way to being replaced with nervous jitters.
“I found this really nice little patch in the forest not too far from here. It's right near the village my partner and I are staying in. It's got all these flowers and a lot of grass and I know it sounds all kinds of girly but it’s actually really beautiful.”
Sesshomaru lit up instantly at the description. “I know that place! Yeah, I use to go there all the time when I was little with... with my parents.” Sesshomaru fought off the sadness that crept up on him anytime he thought of his mother and tried to remain positive. He didn’t want to be sad right now. “I haven't been there in year’s though.” he continued.
Onigumo grinned, happy that he knew the place and he didn't have to try to explain where it was, Sesshomaru assumed.
“Well, I thought we could have a very, very late dinner and some tea and then maybe go for a walk and talk for a while. Say, around midnight? Will the party be over by then?”
At Sesshomaru's nod, he grinned.
“I'll meet you there.” Sesshomaru gave a shy smile before slowly turning and taking his leave, never seeing the knowing, malicious smirk playing across the other man’s face as he watched him go.
Sesshomaru was panting. Not from overexerting himself, but from pure nerves. His heart was nearly pounding out of his chest.
It was almost midnight and people were still there! Sesshomaru had been trying his damnedest to get out of the palace undetected and so far he had been doing pretty well.
He managed to avoid any areas that might have more than the average number of guards on duty this night. He already knew where his father was going to be and decided it would be better to stay away from that entire half of the palace.
He had been actively trying to sneak out for more then an hour now and was incredibly happy that he had the forethought to begin early. He only had three more hall ways and then he could jump out of the second story window that lead right out to a very secluded garden behind the palace reserved for family members only. He was just lucky that beyond that point, all he had to do was make a break for the forest and he would be home free!
Sesshomaru heard some people coming down the hall way just around the corner and quickly ducked into what must have been a broom closet.
He heard the people turn down his corridor and held his breath. They got closer and closer and finally passed his hiding spot. As the continued on their way, Sesshomaru released his breath and was infinitely glad that they had been just a couple of humans and not the two guards that were supposed to be patrolling these particular halls tonight.
Sesshomaru silently slipped out of the closet and closed it behind him without a sound. Quietly, he padded his way down the hall and the next one, being sure to have all of his senses on hyper drive. He made it down the last two halls with little effort and found the right window soon after. With one last look over his shoulder, he jumped the two stories to the ground level with ease and flattened himself against the side of the wall.
He took a thorough look around the garden. He was sure that nobody would be out here in this particular garden. There was really no need but InuTaisho was well known for how cautious he was.
He took a whiff and found that yes, there were some guards posted in this general area but they had left just a few short minutes ago.
'They could be back any minute. It's now or never...'
With that in mind, Sesshomaru took one deep breath and bolted straight into the trees...
Sesshomaru was running as fast as he could through the thicket, trying to get to his destination.
'I am so late!! He’s probably not even there any more...'
He hadn't thought it would take that long to get out of there. As it is, he was probably a good hour or so late for his date.
'Oh my god, I have a date!'
He couldn't help but to smile at that, despite his worries. He actually had a date. A real date with a real person... who was probably pissed that he was late as all hell and about to leave if he hadn't already.
With that in mind, Sesshomaru doubled his efforts, putting as much power behind each step as he could to get there faster.
It was a few short minutes later that he finally made it. The last bit was especially hard; he had forgotten just how dense the forest got directly around the small clearing. When he was little, his parents would always fly them there so they didn't have to deal with it.
Sesshomaru came tumbling out of the growth and nearly landed face first on the ground but managed to right himself at the last minute.
Sesshomaru stood up straighter, trying to catch his breath and dust himself off at the same time. He looked up sharply at the sound of someone chuckling quietly directly in front of him.
Onigumo was standing not too far away, casually leaning against a tree with his foot up on the trunk and smiling with great amusement. His eyes seemed to almost light up when he saw Sesshomaru notice him.
“I was beginning to think you weren't going to show.”
Sesshomaru grinned sheepishly and tried to calm his rapid breathing.
“Yeah *pant* I was tr- *pant* trying to get out *pant* without anyone *pant* noticing. *pant* I got a little- *pant* little held up.” he finished with a sigh.
Onigumo's smile widened and he nodded in understanding, walking over to his young date. “I thought that might have been the case.”
He sauntered over to stand directly in front of Sesshomaru. The shorter boy looked at him curiously as he reached up over Sesshomaru's head. He grabbed a twig from the dog demons hair and showed it to him, silently letting him see what he had been doing.
Onigumo gave him a smirk. “Get in a fight with a tree, did you?”
Sesshomaru, at the sight of the twig, tried desperately not to flush in embarrassment. He stared at the small brown piece of foliage and pursed his lips, letting one last long breath escape him, finally getting his second wind.
“Yeah, well, it got in my way...”
Onigumo nodded seriously, twirling the twig round in his fingers. “Who won?”
Sesshomaru smirked and cracked his knuckles. “I showed it who was boss.”
Onigumo’s frame shook with a deep chuckle as he tried to keep a straight face. “I'm sure it'll think twice next time.”
Sesshomaru couldn't hold it in anymore and finally let himself laugh. He held his stomach as he wiped a stray tear from under his eye.
Onigumo smiled with him and threw the twig away as he held out a sweeping arm, wordlessly inviting Sesshomaru further in to the clearing.
Sesshomaru got control of himself and took a couple of steps forward, finally taking time to properly examine his surroundings.
It was just as beautiful as he remembered it: The small patch of flowers were still there as was the lush green grass that he could remember countless times of running around and playing tag on with his parents. Now, however, there was a large, soft looking blanket lying out in the center of the clearing. It had one small basket in the center with a cloth over top of it. Next to the basket were two small cups and a tea pot.
Sesshomaru allowed a gentle smile to grace his lips as he walked over to the blanket with Onigumo at his side.
“I thought about bringing candles or something,” Onigumo said once they were both seated around the basket. “but then I thought, why let the natural light go to waste?” he gave a pointed glance to the sky and Sesshomaru followed his gaze.
Sesshomaru let the light from the full moon and stars wash over him as he closed his eyes, taking in the heavy scent of the flowers, ginseng tea and citrus, which he could only assume were still in the yet uncovered basket.
Sesshomaru looked back to his date (he just couldn't get tired of that word) with knowing eyes. “I get the feeling that you didn’t just happen to ask me out on the same night as the full moon as a coincidence.”
Onigumo grinned and dropped his eyes to his lap in embarrassment with a “What can I say,” before quickly looking back up with a smile. “I'm a hopeless romantic.”
Sesshomaru's already prominent grin widened as he bit his lip, trying to calm himself down.
'Calm yourself! Stop acting like an excited puppy! No matter how sweet that was, there is no excuse for acting like a twelve year old girl with a crush!'
“Don't worry. I like it.” he said, as calmly as he could.
After that, things just seemed to flow.
Onigumo unveiled the basket to reveal two oranges (Sesshomaru's favorite fruit), a couple of onigiri, and some of what looked like sashimi. When Sesshomaru asked Onigumo told him that it was (1)fugu sashimi and said no more than it was good and he thought Sesshomaru might like it.
Sesshomaru hid a smirk and let the other man think he didn't know that fugu sashimi was supposedly a potent aphrodisiac. He knew the poison wouldn't have any effect on him anyway.
They sat and ate in relative silence, only occasionally speaking but enjoying each other’s company none the less.
When they were done with their meal, Onigumo poured them some tea and they talked for a while longer, Sesshomaru more so then Onigumo.
Sesshomaru told him about how his parents use to always bring him here when they had time and how this place seemed so much smaller now that he was bigger.
Onigumo kept pouring him more tea as the night went on and Sesshomaru felt himself relax more and more. It wasn't until he was on his third cup that he noticed that he hadn't talked this much in a long time.
He was on his fourth cup before he noticed that Onigumo hadn't really said all that much since the night began.
It was during his fifth cup that he first realized how close Onigumo had moved to him since they had finished their meal; there was barely even six inches between them by now and the other man was still leaning closer.
It was just as he finished his sixth cup and Onigumo was pouring his seventh, that he noticed Onigumo had yet to finish his first.
1 – Fugu Sashimi: a poisonous blow fish. It’s not actually legal to eat it in many places but in the places that do allow it, it’s really an “eat at your own risk” kind of thing. Some people do though because it is considered an aphrodisiac.
A/N: just a general note to all my wonderful readers, if you all ever notice I say one thing in one chapter and another thing in the next, feel free to tell me. In fact, I encourage it. If it's one thing I hate, it's inconsistency. I notice that most of the time I tend to be more focused on the what and how then I am on the where and when. I always read over every chapter 3, 4, or even 5 times before I post it but I can't catch everything.
Thanks for being so wonderful guys! Don’t forget to review!
Peace! Love! Yaoi!
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