InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Demon's Night ❯ In the Company of Devils - The Bloody Centenary, Part I ( Chapter 3 )

Demon's Night

 

Chapter Three: In the Company of Devils - The Bloody Centenary, Part I

-

She was drifting in a gray place, and it felt as if she'd been there for quite some time. She was getting kinda' lonely, in fact…and a little worried. Why was she here? Had the others forgotten her? Was anyone looking for her? She didn't belong here, did she? She belonged with -

“Kagome…”

Blinking against the unending monochrome surrounding her, she saw a figure standing in the distance, almost blending in with the background. She couldn't tell who it was, at first - all she could make out was long, swirling mass of hair, the powerful silhouette of a man - but then the figure drew closer, and she tried to draw back, but she was still floating, unable to gain any kind of purchase in the thick air.

It was the dream again, her dreams…yet this time it was different. Sesshomaru was there again, bare save for the flowing white pelt draped across one powerful shoulder, and the long , magnificent wave of his hair, but he didn't make any move to force himself on her, to make her accept him as he had all the times before…and there was something else, too.

`My name, he said my name…'

She closed her eyes tight as a lean, clawed hand reached out to touch her hair. She caught her breath and squeezed them shut tighter as the hand slid away and the knuckle of a single finger pushed gently upward under her chin. The contact sent a sensual tickle down her throat, causing heat to spread across her chest.

“Kagome…” the rumbling syllables of her name caressed the air just above her lips. “Gaze upon me.”

Her eyelashes trembled, but she still refused to look.

“N-no.”

“You want me.”

“No! I don't…I don't even know you!” Kagome kept her eyes closed and turned her face away from him.

His hand slid back up her cheek, clawed fingers pushing deeply into her hair as he pulled her close to murmur into her ear - “I see you, Kagome. Why…do you not see me?”

It was the most emotion she'd ever heard in his voice, and his quiet entreaty brought tears to her eyes.

She felt his hand leave her hair and drift down her neck in a sweet caress before moving slowly over the curve of her shoulder, down her arm, her hip. The touch was almost hesitant, and she found herself lifting her wet lashes to catch the rare emotion sure to be in his amber eyes.

“Sesshomaru…”

-

The dream abruptly faded as she opened her eyes not to the demon lord, but to the beautiful - and cold - night sky.

Kagome felt the night breeze drift over her heated cheeks and she stared in helpless confusion into the glittering blackness above with a sense of fear…and worse, weakness.

She loved InuYasha…but he could make her abandon all of her common sense, and forget her own will. Just knowing his eyes were on her had made the world move under her feet.

Kagome shifted, sitting up in her sleeping bag as quietly as possible so as not to disturb the others sleeping soundly around her. She knew she wasn't going to get any more sleep tonight. If she did, she'd probably end up having nightmares.

She buried her face in her hands, rubbing away the tears that still clung stubbornly to her lashes.

She was being foolish, and romantic - she knew Sesshomaru had no more real interest in her than he had in a particularly odd-looking bug found under his foot - yet she couldn't help the feeling that there was more to him than met the eye, if she only dared to look.

Sesshomaru was more than dangerous to her - he was just plain deadly. He could kill her with a flick of his fingers if he ever really wanted to.

Despite that, somehow she knew…she could love him; and that was more frightening than any nightmare her stupid brain could work up.

-

She was genuinely kind, this girl, this human. Even more so than he'd realized.

Most beings were kind in the way that they expected something in return - but not this Kagome.

Sesshomaru had followed her and InuYasha's little band on and off for several weeks now, and he had seen the both the best and the worst of her - of which there was little to speak of. The purity of this girl was…impressive. She gave of herself, and gave, and gave yet again. He'd watched from afar as she tried with her maiden's naivety to bring the monk and the demon-slayer together, with little success, but with some results even he'd found to be humorous. He'd looked on with jealous fury as she defended a weakened InuYasha in battle with the wrath of a wronged goddess, watched in genuine mystification as she treated the ills of unfamiliar ningen children, and gave her own nourishment away to poor, weary travelers along the dangerous roads. She even defended her rival, Kikyo against the harsh words of her companions, and took the nuisance of a mischievous kitsune under her care as only a mother would.

Sesshomaru still rankled at the thought of loving a mortal human woman, but he had had much time to resign himself to it. For long hours, he allowed himself to dream…

His heart - what there was of it - was set on having her, and have her he would. Watching her all these past weeks had convinced him that she though she had a sadly limited lifespan, she was more than worthy of being his mate - though he need not gift her with his offspring if he did not wish it. He was still very young, and powerful, and could afford to wait until she was…gone to persuade himself get an heir on a comely, full-blooded demoness. He had long ago decided he would not take concubines to his bed when he at last chose to mate. Watching his lovely dam drive herself haggard and mad over the frequent infidelities of his sire had made him certain of that at a very young age. He would not see Kagome hurt, and she would be if he took lovers - not that he any wish to - because her heart was very delicate in that way.

Sesshomaru also had no wish to leave behind him a legacy of hanyous - he was convinced the West could not be controlled by any less than a full-blooded tai-youkai, and watching the reckless frolics of his half-brother these past years had made him ever more convinced of it.

Sesshomaru didn't bother to turn from his position at the edge of a great, flat rock jutting out over the valley where the village InuYasha frequented lay, when he felt the cold, seeping presence of another suddenly crouching nearby.

“Naraku,” he acknowledged the hanyou tonelessly, speaking instead to the dusk settling itself over the lush green land, and the temperate wind that sluiced through the heavy length of his hair with gentle fingers.

A low, insidious laugh came from behind him. “Lord Sesshomaru,” the dark hanyou greeted him slyly. “Why is it I find you watching over InuYasha's village so often of late? Your gaze is so intent, as if you are strategizing; yet you make no move to attack. It does make one wonder…”

Sesshomaru made no comment, which the dark hanyou wisely took as warning…but he did not leave without making a comment of his own, predictably.

“Enjoy your night, my lord. With your sudden obsession with InuYasha's miko, it should be very…pleasurable. I shall enjoy watching the events unfold.”

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed at the hanyou's perceptiveness, and he turned to pierce the empty eyes of the baboon pelt with a savage gaze. “Of what nonsense do you speak?”

“The moon is rising, the twilight wanes. Do you not feel the beckoning of darkness?”

Sesshomaru's thin black pupils widened - it was his only concession to his surprise.

“I see you understand, my lord Sesshomaru,” Naraku chuckled evilly. “The world is but Evil's plaything - a night, one night a century for all demons to gain what they truly desire.”

“Demon's Night,” Sesshomaru murmured, disgusted with himself for becoming so involved in his emotions with the miko that he had forgotten the approach of the `Bloody Centenary'. The unrest in the forests, in the very air these last months, should have reminded him.

“Yes,” Naraku agreed. “Alas, I am still but a hanyou., and therefore cannot participate. I cannot tell you how this disappoints me,” the voice deep within the hood purred, “but I am certain watching others triumph where I cannot, even if it is only for this one night, will be just as satisfying.”

Sesshomaru looked down at the dark hanyou, expressionless. “You wish for me to kill InuYasha.” It was a flat statement, not a question.

“Witnessing his death, even if it is a false one, would be sweet,” Naraku agreed.

“What do I receive in return for this bit of…entertainment?”

“I have watched you of late. You seem to have a particular…interest in the little miko. You cannot be blamed, my lord - the miko radiates life, and hope. Even without the attraction of her shards of the Shikon jewel she is nothing less than delectable.” Naraku chuckled at the crackle of Sesshomaru's claws. “In return for this small boon, I shall grant you the ability to fully enjoy the miko without worrying over the `fate' of your human ward and retainer. I may not have the ability to wish them harm this night, but I can…influence others.”

None could get past the barrier he'd set around his lands, not even on this night; there was no danger to Rin or Jaken. Naraku's threat carried no concern for him, but apparently the hanyou did not know this.

Instead of answering the loathsome creature, Sesshomaru gave a slight inclination of his head as if in agreement of his `terms', and walked on. He would allow the revolting beast to think he was in control - for now. Though the thing he had spoken with was but a puppet, the true Naraku was close at hand - and so was his complete and utter annihilation by Sesshomaru's hand. The tai-youkai had tired of the half-demon's games, and now that Sesshomaru had developed an `interest', as he'd put it, in the miko, he would no longer tolerate any interference from him.

He would no longer allow the female he loved to face this devil alone. Despite his wishes to take Kagome to mate, he knew it was unrealistic. He'd allowed himself to daydream these past weeks, something he'd never indulged himself in before. Kagome… She …loved InuYasha. Killing the hanyou would do nothing to endear him to her. Demon's Night was his only chance to have her to himself without inviting her complete and utter hatred of him. She would be compelled to do as he wished, and he wished many things…

In return, for her, for her safety, and her peace, when this cursed night fell prey to the dawn, he would consign Naraku to hell…where he belonged; and he, Sesshomaru, would not look beyond into bleak eternity until he was forced to.

-

“What's wrong with you, InuYasha? You're acting so…twitchy,” Kagome said as the group prepared to bed down for the coming night.

“Keh.”

Kagome scowled at the stubbornly uncommunicative hanyou. He'd been acting more temper mental than usual in the past weeks since the night Sesshomaru had rescued her from certain death.

Honestly, she didn't know what right he had to be all grumpy and impatient - she was the one who'd been having the worst run of luck of anyone, ever, lately! Besides the trips, falls, the scrapes, and the slimes, she also ended up running around bare-butt naked in front of the two most gorgeous creatures in existence, been hit on - again - by Kouga-of-the-angel-blue-eyes, groped by Miroku, and bombarded with yet more naughty dreams of Sesshomaru! And, to top it all off, she was still getting that almost-sick feeling of foreboding - yet it had been a while since they'd come across any of Naraku's puppets.

Today they'd fought off a small, blue, satyr-looking demon who'd moved even too fast for InuYasha - he'd been attracted to them by the jewel shards Kagome was carrying, but he'd been smart enough to realize he'd die trying to get them - so he'd contented himself with disappearing with the whole contents of Kagome's that-very-morning-newly-stocked yellow backpack! Which meant she had no clothes, no toothbrush, no…

“Whaddya' mean, no ramen?!”

That got InuYasha to talking.

Sighing in irritation, Kagome threw her hands into the air. She really wished InuYasha hadn't hurried them along so much that afternoon, so they could leave before nightfall. That already annoyed her, and this wasn't helping! “That imp ran off with it, InuYasha! I'm sorry, but unless you fell like hunting it down, there's not a whole lot I can do abut it until I go back home and restock.”

InuYasha stomped around camp for the largest part of the early evening, grumbling about `stinking ramen-thieves' and `stupid, useless wenches'. Just as Kagome had had enough, InuYasha suddenly jerked to a stop, sniffed the air, and bounded off into the trees, only to return a short time later with the tattered remnants of the yellow backpack, which he shoved at her almost sheepishly. “The demon was gone when I got there, but it left this,” he mumbled.

“Sorry, I think it ate all the ramen, InuYasha,” Kagome sighed as she inspected the much-depleted contents of the ragged bag. “Oh, no, not the first-aid kit! Grr! I think it ate all my extra clothes, too,” she frowned, and then shot Miroku a warning look across the fire as he coughed and cleared his throat suggestively. “Ah, well, at least it left my shampoo and toothpaste and toothbrush. Thank kami for that.”

“Aw, geez, don't tell me you're goin' off to take another bath,” InuYasha immediately complained from where he was lazily sprawled out against the large exposed roots of a tree nearby, his arms supporting his head. “We've only been on the road for a few hours! Ya' can't be that dirty! If ya' ask me, you should be more worried about what we're gonna' eat!”

Kagome arched a brow at him. “InuYasha, you big baby! I think you have been living off ramen way too much lately, mister! Why don't you come to the river with me and catch some fish while I bathe?”

“Eh…?” he choked.

InuYasha's ears went flat and his face turned purple-red at the suggestion while Miroku instantly hopped up to volunteer his `matchless fishing-skills' - at least until a disgruntled-looking Sango re-introduced the back of his skull to her hirakotsu.

Kagome made a face at the resulting chaos and shook her head in exasperation. “I meant you could go upstream from me, baka! Geez, InuYasha! You're turning into as big a lecher as Miroku!”

“You may take that as a compliment, InuYasha,” Miroku announced proudly with a wince as he rubbed the lump on his head.

“I just hope you don't run into Sesshomaru again,” Shippou said tactlessly as he sucked on a lollipop, reclining on a lolling Kirara's back. “That guy's scary - and who'd have thought he was a lecher, too? But then he's related to InuYasha, so I guess that makes sense,” he added, deadpan.

Kagome went beet red at the reminder that Shippou had overheard the group's early morning discussion about Sesshomaru saving her at the spring several weeks ago.

InuYasha growled and reached out to bop the kit on the head - but a nasty glare from Kagome made him lower his fist…temporarily. As soon as she turned her head, he whacked the kitsune on the back of the head and then took a quick, sliding step away as he looked at the sky and whistled innocently.

Shippou immediately put up a wail and Kagome huffed.

“InuYasha! SIT, SIT, SIT!”

The rest of the gang was enjoying some tea from leaves that Miroku had had tucked away when InuYasha finally dug himself out of the soft, loamy dirt on the forest floor. He stood up, looming over Kagome with the devil in his eyes and spitting out leaves, before collapsing in a resentful crouch nearby - nobody offered him any tea, he was quick to note.

“Stupid bitch,” he finally snarled. “Since when did we start talkin' about Sesshomaru, anyway, that rotten bastard?”

Kagome turned her nose up at him as she finished sipping her tea from one of the flat clay saucers Sango carried. “You could at least take a lesson in manners from him sometime!” she sniffed.

“Wha - ? Yeah, right! He's tried to kill us before, remember? And besides that, the lousy prick looks like he wears make-up!”

Miroku snorted with surprised laughter, though he tried to cover it up when Kagome glared at him.

“Don't be dumb, InuYasha! Lots of demons have those kinds of markings!”

“Why, you are correct, Kagome.” Miroku said slyly. “In fact, I believe I have seen these very markings appear on a certain ill-tempered hanyou I am acquainted with - “

“You're askin' for it again, monk!” InuYasha threatened, his claws flashing as he jumped up and reached out to grab him by the robes.

“Leave Miroku alone!” Shippou shouted. “I for one think you're just jealous of Sesshomaru because it's obvious he's a lot better looking than you are! I bet even Kagome likes looking at him more than she does you, InuYasha! Compared to you, he's actually treated her more like a mate should than you ever have! You're so mean!”

Shocked silence greeted the kitsune's words, and just as Kagome was about to open her mouth and sit InuYasha before he really harmed the little fox demon, the hanyou grabbed her around her upper arm and hauled her to her feet, his expression oddly closed as he grabbed her bag.

Noone said a word as InuYasha walked her out of camp and toward the river.

Kagome sighed when he released her at the bank, dropped her bag at her feet, and stormed off toward a break in the water slightly around a bend.

She was drawing her dusty clothes off when a movement caught her eye and she bit her cheek to keep from screeching when she saw InuYasha standing nearby, bare-chested, with his head carefully turned away. That was when she saw he was holding out his white yukata to her, his red haori fisted in his other hand.

“I-InuYasha?” Kagome frowned at him. “What is it?”

He thrust the garment at her. “Take it, will ya? I know you hate putting on dirty clothes after you bathe. You can use this until you wash and dry your other stuff.”

Kagome turned a little pink as she shyly took the yukata from his grasp, keeping an eye on his tense profile as he focused his eyes on something far away from her. The fabric was clean, and was still warm from being against his skin as she took it in her hand. She gasped when he grabbed her hand through the fabric, and pulled her close, enveloping her in a crushing embrace, her bare skin against his.

She closed her eyes as her heart thudded heavily against her breastbone. What was he doing?

“Kagome, I just want you to know…no matter what happens, I'll always fight for you. I have a purpose right now, and I…I may not be able to say all the things that I want to, to you, but I'll always protect you. You know that, right?”

Unable to say anything past the lump in her throat, Kagome merely nodded.

InuYasha sighed against her. “I'm…sorry I make you feel bad, Kagome.”

She felt her lips tremble as a sob of emotion fought to escape her. She blinked back the tears because she knew he could smell them, and she couldn't take him looking her right in the eye just now.

InuYasha squeezed her tighter, and then let her go and stepped away. By the time she composed her features enough to look at him, he was already walking away, his hair glowing in the last rays of light from the setting sun.

“InuYasha!” Her voice broke a little as she called after him.

He paused, still holding his haori in one hand.

She faltered. “W-what about the fish?” she called, a bittersweet smile tugging at her lips.

InuYasha's head bowed slightly, and then he startled her by looking back at her over his bare shoulder with a smirk that exposed his fangs. His golden eyes glowed as they slowly, deliberately drank in her nearly nude state, and then he gave a low, growling laugh.

“Fuck the fish,” he said harshly, before turning back and shrugging into his haori. He seemed to take a deep breath before he took off into the forest at a lope and called back over his shoulder, “I suddenly feel the need to go hunt something! See ya' back at camp!”

Shivering from much more than the cooling evening air, Kagome looked after him with a heavy heart until she couldn't make him out anymore in the gathering darkness. After a while, she shook her head sadly, disrobed, and waded into the river.

-

She'd been in here far too long, Kagome thought as she finished washing her hair, but where the air was cool, the water was incredibly warm, and soothing - and to tell the truth, she was really shy about seeing InuYasha again. She still wasn't sure what that whole episode had been all about. Had he been trying to tell her something? Did he…maybe…did he…love her, too?

“You do well to wash away the stench of my brother, miko,” a cold voice said bluntly.

Kagome stumbled and almost went under.

`Oh, no! Not him, not again!'

“Wha-what are you doing here?!” Kagome shrieked as she threw her arms over her breasts in reflex.

Sesshomaru stood on the bank of the river, holding InuYasha's yukata between his thumb and forefinger as if it was some dirtied thing. He gazed down at her, eyes narrowed against the breeze that was suddenly picking up, the ends of his hair and pelt waving gracefully. “InuYasha is in danger. He has…need of you.”

“InuYasha?” Kagome gasped, and then struggled out of the water, suddenly unmindful of her nakedness. She went rushing towards InuYasha's shirt, and pulled it on over her dripping skin. She was already running, working the ties on the shirt as she went, when a powerful arm encircled her ribcage beneath her breasts. Her breath exhaled in a rush as Sesshomaru lifted her off the ground. Kagome kicked wildly, her cries weak and muffled by his hand.

“You silly little fool,” he murmured softly into her ear in an almost affectionate manner. “You're much too trusting.”

Kagome froze when she realized that the hand covering her mouth should not have been there in the first place. Her eyes widened in shock.
How had Sesshomaru gotten his arm back, the one that InuYasha had cut off?!

And when had the moon gone blood red?!

-

To be continued…

-

Disclaimer: I do NOT own InuYasha, or any related characters!

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A/N: Sorry about the cliffie, guys. Chapter five is on it's way! Many thanks to everyone for reviewing, and especially for taking the time to let me know why you like it - or dislike it, LOL. I'd like to respond to a few reviewers, but apparently the Microsoft Word program on my new desktop is only a trial, and all my documents are locked - long story short, I'm writing this on someone's borrowed laptop, and things aren't simple at the mo'. Thanks to those of you who sent e-mails reminding me to update. Sometimes I get so caught up in fan art I forget how long it's been since I updated! Hope you had fun with this one, anyway, `cause I had fun writing it! See ya soon!

 

- D.V. (P.S. `Centenary' is just another word for centennial, just in case you're wondering! ^_~)