InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dancing Blades, Silks, and Sakura Blossoms ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Yumi sat underneath her favorite sakura tree as she watched a flurry of cheery blossoms flutter through the air like silky, pink snowflakes. She had received yet another letter from the human lord, Hida's, son. She groaned as he prattled on about his assets, which were completely false, and his undying affections towards her, which were also false. The young lord was a horrible liar and she found him dull and unintelligent. She sighed as she closed the letter and tossed it aside. Just another suitor to reject.

"You know, you should be honored to receive such praises and admirations from so many young lords," a grating, high pitched, falsely sincere, feminine voice said.

Yumi turned slightly to see Suriko standing beside her, fanning herself. She was overly decked out for such an uneventful day. But she always acted as though the Lords themselves were visiting every day. It had been part of her breeding as a bride for a future lord. "What I feel, or do not feel for such `praises' are of no concern of yours, Suriko."

"Ah, but they are, my sister. I feel obligated as your sister in law to assist you with your choice in marriage."

Yumi rolled her azure eyes at the woman before her. "You should `obligate' yourself with far more important matters than my marriage choice. Like pleasing my brother and bearing him an heir," Yumi mocked.

Suriko laughed. Yumi hated her laugh, it was like nails being drug across porcelain. She then stood and turned from the wench and walked away, leaving her to her meager thoughts.

Later that evening, she decided that she needed to leave, to venture out and see the world before she decided to settle down and marry. She had a long life ahead of her, leaving her that ability. After informing Jin, she prepared to leave. A month later she was sitting inside an inn near the Eastern borders when she heard the horrible news.

Her father and mother had been murdered. They had been traveling to the capital to meet with the taiyoukai of the central lands and his court to discuss the problems in the Southern lands, when they had been killed by an assassin called Naraku. She had sent a letter to her brother, sending her regret and love in this time, but she still traveled on. Her father would not have wanted her to mourn him, only remember him as he was. So now she sat in the inn, eating the food she had ordered and drinking her tea.

She was wearing a light blue hakema and white under kimono with a darker blue gi that bore her family name. Her katana lay before her on the table, while her other weapons were inside her furoshiki sack of holding that lay beside her. Her raven hair hung loose down her back to the base of her spine. She wore no make up, though the dark blue color that rimmed her ice blue eyes and her ruby lips that were part of her elven heritage seemed so. Most people left her alone for she kept her ki high enough to show others that she was not easy prey. Was she continued to eat her dinner, she felt a pair of eyes upon her. A man, shrouded in a white baboon skin, watched her from a dark corner of the inn. She smirked slightly as she allowed this. There were few that could best her in battle and he did not seem to be one of them.

When she had finished, she gathered her belongings and approached the innkeeper. The man was a small and elderly human with thinning white hair. He gazed up at her and smiled. "My lady, Kakita. So good to see you again, last you were here, I was twenty and had just inherited this place from my father. You remember him, ne?"

Yumi smiled. "Hai, I remember him, and you. I'm glad to see that you are well," she said politely.

"And you are still the radiant beauty that I remember," he said as he grinned. "I have a room that would suit a lady of your breeding nicely. And worry not for the costs, I let you use it in honor of your great father."

Yumi bowed slightly. "Arigato."

"You are most welcome, my dear. It is the room at the end of the hall on the third floor to your left. Yes, it will suit you just fine. Konbonwa, My lady."

"Arigato and Konbonwa, sir," Yumi said as she inclined her head slightly and headed for her room.

The morning came like it had since the beginning of time and Yumi had risen with the solar disk to practice her katas in the courtyard of the inn. Her movements were languid and looked much like that of a dance. Her katana moved as though a part of her arm and not a separate weapon. It was a master's blade, a Kakita katana, a rare blade given to only the most worthy of samurai. Inside it was a magic that kept it from ever dulling, keeping it forever razor sharp. She moved with her eyes closed as she danced with the blade. A few of the local villagers and other patrons of the inn came to watch her as she moved. It was a rare spectacle to see a master practice in their small, yet prosperous town. Children watched with fascination as the blade sang with every movement. Other warriors marveled at her graceful and light steps, while elders nodded and told histories to those around them of the Kakita blades and the Iaijutsu masters. When Yumi had finished she smiled and bowed to her audience. She then smiled wider as children approached her and asked her about her sword and her abilities.

After a while, the sparse crowds of villagers dissipated while the children continued to barrage her with questions. She talked with them about many things and laughed when some of the boys tried to imitate her movements. She then taught some of the boys her most basic stances and watched as they imitated her with sticks. The small girls asked her about her clothes and her ears. She then explained to them that she was an elf. The children were astounded. Those that knew of the elves had never seen one before and began to barrage her with even more questions until the innkeeper's wife came in to rescue her and shooed them away with a broom. Yumi thanked the elderly woman and visited with her and the innkeeper over breakfast.

After she had finished her meal, she returned to her room and gathered her things, preparing to leave. As she mounted her horse, she thanked the innkeeper and his wife once again for their hospitality and bid them farewell. As she passed through the borders to the Central lands she noticed that she had entered a strange forest. As she continued along the old and overgrown path, she felt a strong magical presence coming from far ahead. Curious, she ventured forth until she came upon the source of the magical presence.

At the center of a lovely field, lay an old well that exuded an aura of great magic. Yumi watched intently as the aura grew stronger and then faded. She dismounted her horse and tied it to a nearby tree. She then watched, with her hand on the hilt of her katana, as a young human girl climbed out. She was dressed strangely, her kimono was white a green and indecently short, revealing her long legs. Yumi smirked to herself. The girl is brazen and cares not for the opinions of others, I like that. She then noticed a strong youki coming towards the girl. She then smirked wider as an inu-hanyou leapt in front of the girl. InuYasha, I might have known. He has grown since last I laid eyes upon the whelp. She commented to herself as she left the shadows of the forest and approached the pair.

InuYasha tensed as he saw the woman come closer. She smelled familiar. Sakura blossoms and waterfalls… I know that scent… "Kakita Yumi?" he called out.

"So, you do remember me, boy. It's been sixty seven years since I laid eyes on you last. You were but a pup then. You have grown to become a fine looking young hanyou, I'm sure your father would be proud," she said with a warm smile.

InuYasha smirked. "You don't look half bad yourself, Yumi."

The young woman that stood beside him tugged on this haori. "InuYasha, are you going to introduce me?"

The hanyou snorted. "Why would I do that?"

"Still acting like a stubborn child, I see," Yumi said. She then stopped a foot in front of the pair she removed her hand from her sword and extended her hand to the young woman. "I am Kakita Yumi, princess of the Eastern lands, and you are?"

The young woman smiled kindly and took Yumi's hand and shook it. "Higurashi Kagome, wonderful to meet you."

Yumi turned to InuYasha. "I like her, she does not fear me."

"That's `cause she's stupid."

"Sit boy!" Kagome shouted.

The beads around the hanyou's neck glowed pink and then slammed him face first into the ground. Yumi looked surprised and blinked a few times in shock. She then smiled brightly and turned to Kagome. "I think she's rather intelligent to have ensnared you under her control." InuYasha let out a string of curses. Yumi rolled her eyes and stomped upon his head. "Such manners. For a prince of the western lands, you are quite the foul mouth."

Kagome kept smiling and led Yumi towards the village, after Yumi untied her horse, leaving InuYasha to wait until the spell wore off.

As the two women exited the woods, Kagome was tackled by a flying ball of fur shouting her name. Yumi watched in surprise as the ball of fur turned out to be a young kitsune.

"And who is this, Kagome?" Yumi asked.

"Oh, this is Shippou, my adopted kit."

"You must have a large heart to take in an orphaned demon child, Kagome."

Shippou sniffed Yumi a bit and then smiled. "I've never met an elf before. You're very pretty," the young one complimented.

Yumi smiled and ruffled the kit's hair. "Arigato, Shippou. Never have I met such an adorable kitsune before."

"Kagome-chan!" a female voice shouted from a ways away. Yumi and Kagome looked up to see a human woman waving to them from outside a hut.

"Sango-chan!" Kagome greeted back. Yumi then noticed a handsome young, human monk standing beside the woman called Sango. He wore a strange smirk on his face that made Yumi laugh inwardly when she noticed his hand move towards the young woman's bottom. She then laughed out loud as the woman smacked him on the head screaming hentai.

Soon, she and Kagome, holding Shippou, were a few feet from the pair. Yumi was introduced to Miroku and Sango. She noticed during her introduction to the monk that the girls were expecting him to say something. She raised an eyebrow in question.

"Is Miroku-san supposed to say something now?" she asked. The girls blushed and turned away and entered the hut. She then turned back to Miroku and smiled. "They must not hold you in high respects, houshi-sama."

Miroku sighed. "No, apparently not, I believe they thought I would ask you to bear my child, like I do most women."

"Why so insistent to have a child Miroku-sama?" she asked.

Miroku then told her his story and those of the others and their pursuit of the hanyou Naraku and the Shikon fragments. By the time he was finished, they had settled by the base of a tree and the sun was beginning to set. Yumi listened to the stories intently. This Naraku disturbed her. She had read in Jin's letter that it was he that had been hired by the Southern lord to kill her parents for they had discovered a shard and had become wary of the impending evil that came from the Southern lands.

"Why has Lord Sesshomaru not come to his brother's aid against this abomination?" she asked.

Miroku seemed puzzled. "Why would he? Sesshomaru is an enemy of ours that seeks the Tesseiga, InuYasha's blade. He has tried multiple times to slay InuYasha and ourselves. He even made a bargain with Naraku against us."

Yumi seemed concerned. "What? When did this happen? Ever since the boy's birth, Sesshomaru has protected InuYasha. Even while he was pinned to the tree with the miko Kikyo's arrow did he protect him. Why would he change now? I know he may seem cold and unemotional, but Sesshomaru would never truly kill InuYasha, this I know. Ever since InuYasha's mother died, and his lordship was unable to protect her, he had vowed to protect the boy."

Miroku seemed perplexed. "This is new. You mean he protected InuYasha while under Kikyo's spell?"

Yumi nodded. "Hai, he was most concerned for the boy. And he has always known that the Tesseiga cannot be wielded by a full youkai. That it was meant for InuYasha, not himself."

Miroku sighed. "This is most confusing. How could we know though? With his outright disgust of humans and his cold treatment of InuYasha, how were we to know what he truly felt?"

"Hate of humans? When did this happen? Have you not heard? He now has a human girl as his ward. Her name is Rin, and is a sweet child indeed."

"Truly? No, we did not hear that. That is different. Come to think of it, he's never actually attacked us, only InuYasha."

Yumi laughed. "Now I see, that tricky dog!"

"What?"

"Has InuYasha won every fight?" she asked.

"Hai, he's even managed to remove Sesshomaru's left arm during the first battle."

Yumi frowned. "I see, that's how it was lost. He must have miscalculated a move and lost it."

"What are you implying? That he's lost on purpose?"

Yumi smirked. "You catch on quicker than InuYasha. If Sesshomaru truly wanted the boy dead, he would be. Sesshomaru is far superior in battle to InuYasha. He's one of the few that can beat me in a fight."

Miroku raised an eyebrow. "Interesting."

"This still does not answer my question though. Why does Sesshomaru not assist you in your fights with Naraku?"

"I have no clue. Perhaps he believes that InuYasha is strong enough, or he may not see Naraku as much of a threat."

"That may be, but my father was one of the greatest swordsmen in all of Japan and my mother was a powerful water sorceress and the bastard managed to kill them both. The Shikon fragments give him much power. Wait… Kagome, she is why!"

Miroku raised an eyebrow. "Kagome-sama? What does she have to do with Sesshomaru-sama's lack of assistance towards InuYasha?"

Yumi smirked, her ice blue eyes glinting with a hidden knowledge. "He would be distracted."

"Distracted? How?"

"She removed the Tesseiga from its pedestal, she has transformed the fang, she has never ever shown him fear in battle, and I have heard rumors that Sesshomaru returns from his battles with InuYasha highly aroused."

Miroku's eyes widened and he smiled lecherously. "Really?"

Yumi nodded. "He desires her, he is aroused by her mere presence and if she were youkai, he would probably mate with her."

"Interesting… only if she were youkai, though?"

"He would not mate a nigen. His father did and it only brought problems that led to his ultimate death. He would not wish the fate of InuYasha's mother on anyone, especially not the one he loves."

"I see, he loves her too much to mate her and bring her pain."

"Who loves who too much to bring pain?" Kagome's voice asked.

Miroku and Yumi jumped. "Kagome!"

"Hai, what are you two talking about?" she asked.

Yumi glanced to the monk and then to Kagome. "Kagome, child, take a seat, you're in for an interesting story."

Levii: Muahahaha! It begins!

Sess: You are so weird…

Inu: Yeah, I mean, why did I have to get sat?

Miroku: I thought I was amusing

Inu: you haven't read the next chapter, have you?

Miroku: no, why? (Runs over to computer and reads next chapter) Gah! No!

Levii: Read and review… oh and send cookies if you want an update… formatting this story from NC-17 to PG-13 is exhausting.