InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dream a Little Dream of Me ❯ The Sakura Grove and Lies ( Chapter 9 )

A/N: Sorry mm.org's formatting has been a little off lately, so I haven't been able to read the latest reviews. Hope I'm doing okay with what you guys wrote Thank you so much to everyone who reviews, it really pays to know there are people who not only read, but actually enjoy

 

As far as the Musagai goes, I think most people were able to guess what went on there, but any further questions should be answered in this and the next chapter. Any more questions about it after reading this chapter let me know so I can make sure to include it in the next.

 

~ ~ ~

 

Disclaimer: Yes, I bought him just for this chapter. Muhahahahaha….ok, so I lie?

 

~ ~ ~

 

Chapter 9: The Sakura Grove and Lies

 

~ ~ ~

 

Inuyasha looked at Kagome. He winced inwardly but outside he showed none of it, remaining calm, collected, and regal. The rest of the court looking on the scene finally saw a family resemblance between the Inuyasha and his stoic half-brother.

 

“Shippo, do you know what's going on?” whispered Sango as quietly as she could.

 

“Not really” confessed the confused kitsune. “I know it's something important, but whenever I heard other youkai talking about the Musagai they got quiet when I came around. They told me I was `still too young to know all of the ways of the youkai'.”

 

Sango didn't feel any better after learning that Shippo was deemed `too young' to know everything that went on in this ceremony. She glanced around the room at the other youkai to see what she could read in their eyes. Some were looking at Kagome with pity, like they were thinking “poor girl,” while others had a mischievous, almost evil glint to their eyes. Sango didn't like either of these reactions and felt her heart plummet into her stomach as she faced back to Kagome, who still hadn't moved from her position kneeling before Sesshomaru.

 

Even as Sango looked up at the tai-youkai he spoke: “Miko, Inuyasha has just assumed responsibility for you. Your life is in his hands now, just as his life is in yours since he will be punished along with you for any of your future indiscretions. I suggest you act accordingly.”

 

Turning to Inuyasha he said, “You may now leave.”

 

Kagome's head jerked up as she heard Inuyasha's voice. “Kagome, come,” was all he said as he turned and walked out of the courtroom.

 

Kagome was too dumbstruck to act immediately. What is going on?! Inuyasha paused and cocked his head just enough to send her a glare while she scrambled up and fell into silent step behind him. She gasped slightly as Inuyasha turned to close the door behind her, leaving just the two of them alone in the hall outside the courtroom.

 

Inuyasha held her eyes with his for a moment, silently begging her to cooperate, to understand, and mostly to forgive him for what he had just done and was about to do.

 

Kagome didn't understand why Inuyasha was acting so strange; her head was whirling with so many questions she didn't' know where to start. “Inuyasha, what-”. A curt shake of his head cut her off. He leaned into her ear and whispered “not yet.”

 

Kagome sighed. There was no way to get information out of him yet, so she contented herself for now to just follow where he led.

 

~ ~ ~

 

After fifteen minutes of walking Kagome was starting to get nervous. They'd reached the edge of the forest, but Inuyasha still hadn't said a single thing to her. In fact, he hadn't even acknowledged she was still following him. She was tempted to doubt the fact that she was really supposed to be following him, but she knew that with his senses there was no way he could miss her presence. He'd tell her if she was supposed to leave, wouldn't he?

 

Kagome was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice Inuyasha had stopped in front of her. She bumped into him - hard, lost her balance, and fell clumsily on her butt.

 

Inuyasha rolled his eyes as he crouched down next to her. “You should pay more attention where you're going wench.”

 

“Well you shouldn't stop in front of me without any notice,” Kagome countered. “Besides, it's not like I don't have enough other things on my mind right now, and--”

 

Inuyasha growled and placed a hand firmly over her mouth. “Later, not here,” he said, surveying the area around them. Kagome angrily glared at him over his arm but remained silent as he slowly removed his hand. He turned on his heels until his back was facing her. “Climb on.”

 

“What?!” she spluttered.

 

“Climb on. C'mon, I don't got all day.”

 

Kagome took a deep breath as she gingerly climbed onto the hanyou's back, arms loosely draped across his shoulders. “You're gonna have to hold on tighter than that if you don't want to fall off,” Inuyasha snickered as he grabbed firmly onto Kagome's legs and leaped off into the nearest tree. Kagome immediately had her arms around his neck in a death grip as the two flew through the forest, Kagome flinching into Inuyasha every time her head came close to an overhanging branch.

 

Inuyasha felt Kagome bury her face into his back. Oi, what have I gotten myself into? What have I gotten her into? He felt Kagome tense against him again as he leaped a giant gap between two trees. “Relax Kagome, I'm not going to let you fall.”

 

He immediately felt her loosening up and smirked to himself. Kagome was so trusting, so innocent - how could he tell her what he had done? What he had made her? How he had demeaned her? That she was now - NO!

 

He growled lowly and felt Kagome tense slightly again. He squeezed her legs gently in reassurance.

 

No - he couldn't tell her that. He'd just have to lie to her, that's all. He winced again. He didn't like the idea of lying to Kagome, but it sure beat the alternative. I'll tell her eventually, besides it's not like I'd actually force her into her role, so what's the difference if she knows the truth about it or not? Yes, that could work, he smiled. I'll just have to be really careful around her now.

 

Inuyasha stopped in the highest branch of a large tree. “We're almost there,” he said to the girl on his back.

 

He turned when he heard nothing but an audible gasp. Kagome was looking around dazedly with an awestruck smile gracing her face. “I've never seen anything like this before,” she whispered.

 

Everywhere she looked there were trees, as far as the eye could see. It was a masterpiece of color against color, dark greens against brown bark and olive green against grey trunks. There were pepperings of bright green bushes and trees laden with ripe red berries, with sweetly singing birds flitting among them. A slight change in the direction of the breeze ticked her nose and she realized there must be a sakura grove nearby. She strained her eyes to see it, disappointed when she couldn't find it until a clawed finger pointed slightly to the right.

 

“It's over that way.” Inuyasha explained. “You can't see the sakura from here though, the trees in front of the grove are too tall.”

 

“Oh,” Kagome said smiling. There was still so much to take in she couldn't be caught up in any one thing for too long. She turned her head the other way and marveled at the rich browns and yellows of the fields she could glimpse through the trees. This was such an enchanting place it was hard to believe it was still part of the youkai village. She felt as if she had momentarily stepped into a fairly tale land, but with a flash it was gone.

 

“Inuyasha?” Could we just stay out here a little while before going wherever it is we're going? I don't know what it is, but when we're speeding through the trees like that I almost feel as if we're flying. I feel…free.”

 

Inuyasha nodded his head, taken aback. It was oddly freeing - that's why he preferred darting through the trees to running on the ground. Now Kagome felt the same thing and had been able to put it into words after just a few minutes.

 

Suddenly Inuyasha grinned mischievously. May as well give her what she wants, ne? With that thought he tore out of the tree with all his might and Kagome immediately seized up against him again. Her fear didn't last long though and soon she was waving her hands wildly in the air, giggling like the little schoolgirl she never got to be.

 

Inuyasha turned at her mad antics. “What are you flapping around for, bitch? You wanna fall off?!”

 

Kagome just giggled as she smiled at him. “Silly, you told me you wouldn't let me fall, remember?” But to make him feel better she grabbed lightly onto his shoulders, leaning her head back with her eyes closed, relishing the feel of the intermingled patterns of sun and shale that fell across her eyelids.

 

Inuyasha cocked his head forward again, fighting the small tinge of blush he felt rising in his cheeks. She has that much trust and faith in me? Kuso, I sure as hell can't tell her now!

 

“Stop, Inuyasha, stop!” Kagome's yelling snapped the hanyou's attention back - so quickly that he almost fell out of the branch they had just landed on. His claws dug into the bark of the tree to keep the two of them from toppling to the ground.

 

“Grr…quick observation, wench. Number one - you're on my back. Number two - I have super-human hearing. Number three - why the bloody hell were you yelling at me! Trying to make me go deaf?!”

 

“Sorry, I guess I kinda forgot,” she smiled lopsidedly.

 

“Forgot? How can you forget about something right in front of your face!” He twitched his ears for effect.

 

“I couldn't forget about something so cute…” she started as she reached her right hand out toward one of the dancing little fuzzy appendages.

 

Inuyasha growled at her movement. “Don't even think about it.”

 

Kagome pulled back her hand and shrugged as she continued, “…I was just too excited.”

 

“Well?” Inuyasha stared at her. “What about?”

 

“Oh! The sakura grove is right there!” she said, pointing to their right. Inuyasha looked over and sure enough he saw fields of pink behind a single row of dark green trees. He must've followed the scent without even thinking about it.

 

“Please?” came the voice from behind him. “I promise I won't ask for any other delays after this.” As he turned around he had to fight down both the shock and the snicker that fought to show themselves. Kagome had her hands clasped together in front of her under her chin and she was doing a damn good version of `puppy dog eyes.' Too good in fact.

 

Inuyasha heaved a sigh and dropped his head slightly. This girl was going to be the death of him…well, better that than he be the death of her. Without any response whatsoever he leaped off the branch and plunged into the grove. For a few minutes he kept going deeper and deeper until they were surrounded by a sea of pink.

 

When Inuyasha stopped Kagome jumped lightly off his back. A soft breeze picked up, stirring the trees, their flowers falling gracefully in little whirlwinds around Kagome and landing gently in her hair.

 

Inuyasha watched on as Kagome began to spin, head back and arms outstretched. She was so full of joy and life - yes, it would've been a crime not to save her, whatever it meant. He'd just have to deal with the consequences and do what he could to protect her from the reality of it. Now all he had to do was think up a cover story good enough to convince her…

 

They continued on like this in silence. There was something magical about the grove. Time seemed to have no power here, it ebbed and flowed with the wind in one continuous motion, yet would cycle back on itself or wander aimlessly all the same. A sense of peace and health, a oneness permeated the air, so thick that Kagome felt she was drinking it in with every breath she took.

 

She had it in a flash and with a gasp she turned to Inuyasha. “This is just like the place where Sango and I entered the village, isn't it? What is this place?” she wondered in awe.

 

Inuyasha breathed in deeply and took his time responding. “Yes, the two are the same. The closest thing I could compare them to for a ningen is a holy site, but it's obviously not since I'm not writhing on the ground in pain. It's more - a glimpse of the world as it should be - a place void of hate, pain, sorrow, loneliness…”

 

Kagome swore she heard his voice hitch on those last two, especially the latter, but Inuyasha's face revealed none of it. Still, her heart was filled with compassion for the hanyou - his life could not have been easy growing up and the little bit she knew of him confirmed that fact.

 

As if Inuyasha could feel her eyes on him he lifted his head and cleared his throat. “We should get going.”

 

Kagome slowly nodded her head and quietly came up behind him. This time when he knelt down in front of her she didn't trip, something she was silently grateful for, and she was able to climb on without any hint of fear.

 

The overwhelming aura of the place slowly trickled away as they drew further from the grove, but the sense of peace remained with them. The two continued on in silence for the few minutes it took to reach their destination. Kagome blinked as she looked up, thinking she was seeing things, some visual after-effect from the sakura grove, but after rubbing her eyes a few times her vision hadn't changed.

 

She was looking at the biggest tree she had ever seen; the trunk at its base was easily ten feet wide and hardly seemed to taper as it reached toward the sky. It was so tall she had to shade her eyes to see the top of it. Up in the branches, about midway through the tree, she could see a house of sorts built on a perch. She gulped at the sight of it. It doesn't look very sturdy. What happens if a storm hits?

 

“Where are we?” she voiced aloud.

 

“We're home.”

 

“Hom—whaa!” Kagome was jostled mid-word as Inuyasha sprang from the ground, heading for the tree house.

 

Kagome's eyes were shut tight as they climbed the dizzying heights, a trip that took much shorter than she expected. She felt Inuyasha stop as they came to rest on something sturdy and slowly peeked an eye open. They were already inside the `building' and she was surprised at how unused the place seemed. There was a clean futon folded in the back corner of the one room that made up the majority of the house. Other than that one piece of furniture, which Kagome was sure had never been used, there was nothing else for decoration in the room, it was quite barren, but somehow still felt homey.

 

Inuyasha leaned over to allow Kagome off his back and then walked over the fire pit in the middle of the room. “Inuyasha?” It was as if he was purposely avoiding her by making the fire and trying to look occupied with something else. Well, fine. If that's the game he's gonna play, then I'll just drag it out of him.

 

“Inuyasha?” She walked to the other side of the fire. When he kept on ignoring her she picked up the pot of water next to the fire. “Inuyasha, answer me or I'll dump this on the wood. Let's see you get a fire going then!”

 

“Fine,” he groused. “What do you want?”

 

“What do you think I want? What could I possibly want to know after having my death sentence reversed? Oh yeah, that's it - WHY?! What happened? What did you do? What is Musagai? What am I now?”

 

He clenched his teeth. He could sense both the fear and the anger in her words and knew he'd been caught. There was no way to avoid this any more, he just hoped his story worked.

 

“Kagome, I…I took responsibility for you. You're mine now, my personal servant.” At the look on her face he quickly backed up, waving his hands in front of him as he amended, “No - not like that! You won't be my concubine or anything like that, no! Kami. You're just…mine. I know it's shit to be compared to a possession, but it's the only way I could take full responsibility for you. First of all, if you do anything to break the law you won't be tried, I will, and as a youkai.”

 

“So does that mean if I lose control again that you could die?” she asked quietly, almost frightened of the answer.

 

“Yes, it does. But that's the point; with me around all the time hopefully you won't be able to lose control. I was able to stop you last time, so it's only logical that I take responsibility to stop you in the future. Besides, I won't have to worry about some stupid court or anything like that because if I can't stop you it'll mean I'm dead.” He humphed and crossed his arms across his chest.

 

Kagome inched closer to him tentatively and softly laid a hand on his arm. “What if my powers get out of control and I'm the one who kills you?” Tears threatened at the corners of her eyes but she refused to let them fall.

 

“If that happens then it happens. My job now is to protect you, and I will do that at all costs. So don't worry about it,” he said, looking away, afraid of what his eyes might reveal to her.

 

“I…um…thank you.”

 

“Well don't go thanking me just yet. There's other parts you may not like too much. First off you'll be losing a lot of freedom and-“

 

“Why?” she whispered.

 

“Well if you'd listen instead of interrupting me I can tell you why,” he snapped. Is she not buying it?

 

“No,” she shook her head. “I mean why did you do it? Why would you do that…for me? A ningen?”

 

Inuyasha sighed and gave in to the desire to look at her. He wouldn't have to lie to her to tell her this part. “Because no one should be punished just for being different…especially if they're born that way and have no choice in the matter.”

 

“Oh, Inuyasha…” Kagome felt her heart breaking again. She'd never realized she had that in common with the hanyou. That was probably where the similarities ended though; while she had good friends and family to grow up around and a village that supported her and sought after her abilities, he had grown up despised not even for who he was, but what he had been born as. It wasn't fair! She didn't care what Inuyasha thought at that point, she just wanted to comfort him, to love him. She jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck, enveloping him in a warm hug. He tentatively returned the hug until he realized what he was doing, and then he pushed her away from him. “You still don't know the down side yet.”

 

What? Him possibly dying because of her was not the down side? She might never understand the way he thinks. “Ok, Inuyasha, I give.”

 

He cleared his throat. “Like I was saying, you'll be losing a lot of freedom. You'll be confined to this house most of the time, and anytime you do leave I have to be with you. After a while things will get closer to how they were, but it will take a lot of time and you'll still never be able to go anywhere without me. More immediately, you can't leave the house for the next three weeks.”

 

“Three weeks?! I can't go anywhere? Why so long?”

 

Because you're supposed to be too sore to move? Oh right, I'm supposed to not be telling you that, he thought sarcastically. Kami, this was where he had to tread most carefully, he just hoped she bought it.

 

“Three weeks because it'll take that long for our scents to commingle enough to signify the completion of the rite. In the possible case that you are found apart from me another youkai must be able to smell me on you and know that you are my servant. That lets him know he's answerable to me for anything he does to you. Also, there will be times when I will be out and you will be here, and there needs to be enough time for our scents to soak in so that it doesn't fade during those hours.”

 

“Ok,” she said mulling it over in her head. “So, our…scents…commingle how?”

 

It took him a second to recover from that. She bought it? Had she really bought that? Oh kami he was lucky today. Now get her to agree to the rest of it and he was home free! This next part was still a bit…tricky though. It would seem very out of place, but he had to continue through with the ritual or the Musagai wouldn't be complete and Kagome wouldn't be safe.

 

“I have to mark you, to show that you are my…property.” He winced slightly at the word, but Kagome smiled to show that she knew he didn't mean it that way. He walked over to where she was still sitting on the floor and drew her up until she was standing only a few inches from him. He pulled her hair into his left hand as his right pulled down the top of her shirt slightly to reveal her shoulder. He grazed his index claw lazily across the juncture between her neck and shoulder, tilting her head away slightly as he did so.

 

“I have to bit you, right here. That does two things: it gives you my mark and I drink in your blood and your scent seeps into me.” He hadn't found a single way to explain the reciprocating mark she would make on him, so he decided she just wouldn't have to do it. It was a youkai tradition anyhow, so with her being ningen it could slip by. Still, she had to drink some of his blood somehow.

 

“Also, you'll have to ingest a little bit of my blood for you to take on some of my scent.” She made a slight grimace at the thought of drinking blood. “Don't worry,” he assured her. “It won't be much blood. That's not necessary. I'll just cut my finger.” She nodded and Inuyasha breathed a sigh of relief.

 

“To make sure that you scar I'll have to bite you three times, every other day for the next five days. Okay,” he breathed in, “you ready?”

 

Kagome turned her head slightly so she could look him in the eyes. “Yes, I'm ready,” she said with determination, then laid her head back the other direction to give him access to her neck. She immediately felt the heat of his breath against her skin and shivered as it sent goose bumps all across her body. He quickly licked the spot, as if to get it ready, and then quicker than she could think he sank his teeth into her flesh.

 

Her body convulsed in a silent scream. She had known it would hurt, but had no idea it would be this much. The strangest thing was that a small part of her enjoyed it.

 

After her body had calmed down and she was standing still once again Inuyasha pulled his teeth out of her and began to lave up the blood that was spilling down her shoulder. What began as quick licks, similar to a dog slurping up water, swiftly became long and drawn out, as if he were trying to coax her blood from her skin itself. Kagome shivered again as she felt his tongue travel down to her collarbone and back up again, the heat from his mouth countering the cool air of the night that had fallen outside. This was the most sensual thing she had ever experienced, and it was slowly driving her insane. She had to fight with everything that was in her not to wrap her arms around him and hold him to her. Not meaning to she felt the tiniest of moans escape her lips and immediately felt Inuyasha tense up against her. His licks quickly became short again and all too soon he pulled back from her, face flushed. Shit, this is gonna be harder than I thought!

 

Silently he pulled his left hand back and nicked his index finger against his fang. He held it out in front of Kagome and waited for his breath to even out. “Here Kagome, I know this grosses you out, but you need to take a decent amount of blood from this.”

 

She looked at his finger dubiously but did as he requested. She took his hand in both of hers and brought his finger up to her mouth. One deep breath and she stuck his finger in her mouth. At first she grimaced just from the thought of what she was doing, but slowly she realized that his blood didn't taste that bad. It actually somehow tasted like…him.

 

Inuyasha was startled at how Kagome had taken his entire finger like that. He was extremely happy that she was not looking at him right now because he wasn't sure he could control what his face was showing. Her tongue was doing a dance across his finger, changing intermittently from licking to sucking. Oh kami, does she have any idea what she is doing right now? His nervousness was becoming too much for him to handle so he gently started tugging back his hand from the bliss she was inflicting on it. How was he supposed to deal with that two more times?

 

“You can sleep on the futon, I've never used it.” Kagome blinked her eyes open in confusion. Had she missed something? Why was Inuyasha so grouchy all of a sudden?

 

Without another word he walked over to the opposite wall where he had good access to the door and sat down against it. He pulled out Tetsusaiga, leaned against it, and shut his eyes in a feigned attempt to sleep. Kagome, afraid she had done something wrong, decided to just let him be. She pulled the futon out and wrapped herself under the blanket that was folded up on top of it. She sent one last glance toward the hanyou, her new…owner? was that the right word?…and wished him a quiet goodnight as she felt sleep take her.

 

Inuyasha cracked an eye to look at Kagome where she lay sleeping. “Goodnight…mate…”