InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Double Vision ❯ Chapter 36 ( Chapter 35 )

“You ungrateful child! How dare you speak to Lord Sesshomaru in that way!” Jaken squawked.

Rin was stacking wood to make a fire. “He doesn’t care about me. Only Inuyasha cares about me now. He’s the one who loves me and he’s going to take care of me and the pup, not Sesshomaru.”

Jaken had noticed that, when she was under stress, Rin had taken to fingering the little bag that hung around her neck. He had suspected for a while that Rin was possessed. Could the bag he had given her as a gift have something to do with her recent behavior? She was not acting at all like the sweet little girl who had once followed him and his Lord on their adventures. He sighed wearily. He was always having to rescue their human girl. ‘I’m on your side, Rin. I’ll always protect my little girl.’ He did not put his thoughts into words. He considered himself the strong, silent type, like his Lord.

He watched Rin closely, waiting until she fell into a deep sleep. Jaken crept softly to her side, being careful not to stumble or make any noise that might alert her to his nearness. He grasped the bag, severing the cord that held it in place with his sharp little claw. Clutching the bag against his chest, he scurried out of camp. He emptied the bag out onto a large, flat rock. For years the bag had held a variety of keepsakes, but now there was just a single ivory fang and a pile of dust. Jaken stared at the fang, his mind churning. The fang might have nothing to do with the change in the girl’s behavior. There was only one way to find out. He brought the base of the staff of two heads down on the fang, pulverizing it. Then he incinerated the remains with the staff of two heads.

Rin’s eyes flew open. Her hand grabbed for the pouch, and when she found it gone, she jumped to her feet. “Jaken!” Jaken scrambled back into the circle of firelight. He had hoped to somehow slip the now empty bag back around her neck, but obviously he had been caught red-handed. “Pack up Ah-Uhn. We’re going to find Inuyasha. NOW!”

The sky was lightening slightly as morning approached. In their sketchy campsite by the side of the road, Sesshomaru and Inuyasha were standing on opposite sides of the small campfire, engaged in a pissing match. Jakotsu sat on the ground, legs sprawled out before him, leaning back on the palms of his hands, watching intently. Sesshomaru was the epitome of perfection, as usual, his straight, silky hair blowing in the early dawn breeze. Inuyasha was far less refined, his red fire-rat clothing looking somewhat the worse for the wear, his coarse white hair rumpled. Anger and testosterone were thick in the air.

Jak thought both brothers were really hot when they argued. He couldn’t understand why they were getting so worked up over a couple of human females. Jak, who lived for battle, considered women useless. He had gone up against a few female Samurai in his day, and the had proved to be lightweights. The bone of contention in the dispute appeared to be breeding rights to two females. From what he could gather, Inuyasha had knocked up Sesshomaru’s daughter, but was married to that bitch, Kagome. Jak remembered Kagome from his earlier sojourn in the land of the living. He hadn’t been all that impressed. She looked too skinny for childbearing, and he could not even contemplate wanting a female as a comrade-at-arms. He remembered Sesshomaru’s human girl as a mere child. He was shocked and disappointed. His former crush Inuyasha had turned out to be a cheater and a cradle-robber. Sesshomaru quickly superseded Inuyasha in Jakotsu’s affections. He was a real man, noble, strong, and loyal to those who depended on him. My Sesshomaru, he thought dreamily. He was startled to alertness when a two-headed dragon, bigger than two war-horses, came barreling out of the sky and into the middle of camp.

Rin made a flying dismount from Ah-uhn, and threw herself into Inuyasha’s arms. Inuyasha pushed her away roughly, more intent on his argument with his brother than catering to Rin, who he was coming to regard as difficult and demanding. Sesshomaru caught Rin just as she was about to hit the ground. Seemingly out of nowhere, the staff of two heads came crashing down on Inuyasha’s skull. Master Jaken was enraged. “How dare you, you miserable half-breed bastard! How dare you lay a finger on our Rin!” Inuyasha kicked Jaken into the nearby stream, not wanting to be bothered with anything but fighting with his brother.

Sesshomaru set Rin aside, launching himself at Inuyasha with his claws extended, dripping with sweet-scented, green poison. The poison that hit the ground hissed and bubbled. His claws raked his brother’s cheekbone, laying it open in four deep, parallel gouges. Sesshomaru felt a surge of satisfaction. Regardless of his brother’s healing and regenerative powers, the acidic poison would leave a permanent scar. Inuyasha gouged his own claws across the flesh of his arm, flinging the blood at his brother. “Blades of Blood!” He screamed. Sesshomaru ignored the injury inflicted by the attack. He closed in tight, using his full weight and momentum to drive the back of his forearm against his opponent’s windpipe. He followed through with a knee to Inuyasha’s groin. Once Inuyasha was down, Sesshomaru planted his right knee in the small of Inuyasha’s back, while yanking his right arm savagely up to the level of his head. Inuyasha continued to struggle, but his taller, heavier brother had him subdued.

Sesshomaru leaned close to Inuyasha’s ear, speaking in his low and dangerous voice. “I’m not going to kill you now, much as I want to. You are going to take care of Rin and her pup, and I am never going to have to intercede in your miserable life from this day forward, because if I do, if I hear even the faintest whisper of a rumor that you have harmed either one of them, that will be the end of you, dear brother.”

Inuyasha hoarsely responded with one word. “Kagome,” he whispered.

“Kagome is no longer your concern. You made your choice, now live with it, Inuyasha.”

“I have to protect Kagome! She‘s my wife!” Rin listened to this exchange with disgust. Inuyasha loved her, not Kagome! Why was he saying he had to protect Kagome?

“You have relinquished any claim you had on Kagome, Inuyasha. You have dishonored and abandoned her. As your brother, I have taken her under my protection. She is now my mate, and you will not interfere, or I WILL send you to Hell, you miserable little prick. Do not doubt this. She is mine, and you will not touch her, you will not speak to her, and if you so much as THINK about her, I will not spare you, even for Rin’s sake.”

Inuyasha let out an agonized howl, so loud it echoed for miles through the surrounding hills and valleys. “No! She is MINE!” Sesshomaru jacked his twisted arm painfully higher. But Inuyasha had ceased to care. He fought against his brother, and his shoulder dislocated with a sickening ’pop’.

Sesshomaru could tell that his brother was well on his way to going feral. He was whipping himself into a fury of epic proportions. Inuyasha was now lying on his back, Sesshomaru straddling his waist. When Inuyasha transformed, his claws and fangs were far bigger than Sesshomaru’s own. Sesshomaru narrowly escaped a powerful swipe of his brother’s claws, only to have Inuyasha latch onto his arm with his huge, razor-sharp fangs. The demon lord cuffed his brother sharply in the head with his other fist. When that didn’t work, he repeated the action several times. It was only the half-breed’s apparent inability to shut up that freed Sesshomaru’s arm from his jaws. “MY MATE! I WILL KILL YOU!” Sesshomaru rammed his forehead into Inuyasha’s face, rebreaking his nose. He chopped Inuyasha’s windpipe viciously with his forearm again, but the half-demon was now totally out of his mind with rage, and no amount of punishment was going to subdue him. He managed to twist his way out from under Sesshomaru, and took off running. He was moving like a bat out of hell, and Sesshomaru realized with dismay that he was heading in the direction of the cave where he had left Kagome.

Sesshomaru transformed into his energy orb with a crack like thunder. He had to get to Kagome before the half-breed did. Judging by the unerring way Inuyasha had taken off in Kagome’s exact direction, the two still shared a strong connection. Now firmly loyal to Sesshomaru, Jakotsu unhesitatingly hopped onto Ah-Uhn’s saddle, and the two took off following after the lightning ball that was their Lord.

Rin unnoticed and unwanted, crept out of camp, heading back toward Edo. A few minutes later, Jaken clambered, wet and half-frozen, from the river where he had been kicked and scurried after his little Rin.