InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dubious Relations ❯ Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

Dubious Relations

Chapter 5

Inuyasha blinked and examined the place Sesshomaru had just been hunched over, growling and hissing at him. He stared at the floor and then, after an instant, sniffed the air. Inuyasha scratched his head, just behind his right ear; he had absolutely no clue as to what had happened to the bastard. He had disappeared into thin air, literally!

With a small `keh,' Inuyasha began his trek back towards his friend's camp. He cast a last wondering gaze back to the area that he and Sesshomaru had just fought in, his brain abuzz with questions. He flicked his ears and turned to face in front of him; that was one less asshole to worry about, even if said asshole would have been a help to have around. He just hoped Sesshomaru remained missing since he'd decided to run away. Coward.

He'd originally sought Sesshomaru out to ask him how he knew the demon they were about to kill didn't destroy the forest, and how he knew the real culprit was north. Of course, as usual, Inuyasha found that he'd let his mouth run and spoilt his chance to question Sesshomaru.

But the bastard was so unbearable! It was his high and mighty attitude and his mocking stare and the way he looked down his nose at him. Damn it! Inuyasha wasn't weak and they were related, no matter how much they both liked to deny it! He shouldn't cast such looks at him!

Golden eyes flashed blue as Inuyasha's gaze lifted to the moon and dropped it a moment later as his friends came into his sight. He immediately took to counting them.

Sango and Kilala were curled up against each other against a dead tree to Inuyasha's left, with Miroku not too far away from them, asleep with his staff in hand. That was three. Shippo was snoring quietly at the bottom of a tree's trunk - wait! Where was Kagome? He could have sworn she'd been cradling the runt when he'd snuck off!

Inuyasha crept over to the small fox demon, his nose twitching as he sniffed and snuffed. He recognized the scent immediately, “Naraku.” The half-breed grabbed Shippo from the front of his green haori, “Oi! Runt, where the fuck did Kagome go? Was Naraku here?”

Shippo yelled and covered his face, “Ah! Don't hurt me, I haven't done anything! I promise! Kagome, help!” He yelped whilst covering his face, still half asleep. He tiredly blinked his pea green eyes up at Inuyasha when he heard his frustrated growl; it was strange, he hadn't been hit or thrown yet.

“Listen runt, Kagome's not here! Where'd she go? Was Naraku here?”

“N-Naraku?” The fox demon stuttered. He then sniffed, mimicking Inuyasha's earlier actions. He jumped and nearly tore himself away from Inuyasha's clawed hand when his nose lead him to his own clothes, “Ah! I smell like Naraku! Get it off, get it off!” Shippo wailed as he threw his hands in front of him and waved them about, only managing to effectively annoy Inuyasha to the point of making the half-demon throw him.

Inuyasha turned and watched Sango and Miroku stand, readying themselves for a battle as they rubbed the last of their sleep from their eyes and turned their dark eyes on Inuyasha. Miroku was the first to voice his concern, “What has happened?”

“Naraku's taken Kagome again.”

His friends' shock was easy to read on their faces. Sango pulled her hand away from her mouth, “But how could he have taken her and not alerted even one of us? Shippo was still asleep and Kilala would have scented him.”

Kilala growled unhappily, much like she had since Kagome had returned from Naraku's first kidnapping of her. Inuyasha noticed it and growled in reply, angry at the fire-cat's obvious distaste for the girl. At Kilala's uncaring glance he sighed, his eyebrows furrowed and his lips scowling, “I don't know. But we have to find her.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The room was dark, clean and was out of from the outside room except for a small window of sorts near the back left hand corner of the room. From that opening were a few stray beams of light piercing through the darkness inside of the room. They highlighted shelves and jars, staining each of them a golden orange.

Chiyo was hidden behind shelves with a mixture of putrid and pleasant scented medicinal herbs stacked neatly on them when Sesshomaru found her. She was working calmly, a scroll lying on a small table in the corner of the stuffy room, a small lantern sitting above the said scroll. The elderly demon was taking her monthly inventory and would no doubt be followed by - sometime that week - a visit to Jinenji's herb farm.

Sesshomaru waited to be motioned to speak; if there was something he'd learnt whilst growing in the midst of the elderly half-dog demon, was that she preferred to speak first, and wouldn't stand for anything short of it. Sesshomaru had always respected this and - though he was about ready to slice her in two for not explaining all the workings of a mating mark - he waited patiently.

And waited some more.

After five minutes he spoke softly, “Why am I incapable of seeing the mark?” He asked coolly as though not even an hour ago he'd attempted to decapitate his only living relative (and his mate, as much as the thought caused Sesshomaru to scowl).

Emerald eyes regarded the demon Lord for a second, before they turned back to the shelves. Chiyo counted the clay jars she'd been shifting to the opposite side of the shelf and scuttled over to her list. She answered in a louder voice than Sesshomaru's, “Was your mate not supposed to mark you, my Lord? You seem downcast by it?”

When Chiyo was answered by a long stretch of silence (one that Sesshomaru made no move to break) the elderly demon set herself to answering the demon Lord's own question, “You have not marked your mate in return have you, my Lord? A demon is only capable of seeing the mating mark they carry if the mark is reciprocated. It was a common practice for demon males to mark their female companions a few centuries ago. It has been slowly dieing out. However,” Chiyo once again shuffles to her dust free shelves, “That is only because men enjoyed their freedom. Back when I was considered young, it was socially acceptable for a man to take several-”

“I do not care. How do I go about fixing this?” Sesshomaru asked bluntly, earning a glare from the much older demon. He was motioned to sit in the opposite corner to the one Chiyo was working at and does. He tucked his legs under him formally and sat with his posture perfect.

The elderly demon shrugged, “Mark your mate.” She remarked off-handedly, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“That is not an option.” Sesshomaru said with annoyance; his healer's humour was not appreciated.

“You gave yourself to a promised demon, Sesshomaru?” Chiyo asked with wide eyes, her hand having paused in it's scribbling and causing a large blob of ink to well where the brush had halted.

Sesshomaru's molten gold eyes narrowed slightly at her berating tone. He didn't appreciate being spoken to as though he were a small child having done something stupid. He sat straighter, “No. I am not so foolish.”

“I hope not! Look where it got your father!” Chiyo's stance relaxed as she shook her head sadly and examined her now ruined list, “What is it that is impeding your mating him then? He must be very special for you to have let him mark you and you not mark him back. What reason had he for not wearing a mark from my Lord?”

“He is of no value to this Sesshomaru. I wish to rid myself of the mark.” Once again he is graced with a surprised stare from his healer. Sesshomaru ignored it for the most part, “How do I do so?”

“You cannot.” Chiyo said quickly, “Sesshomaru, please tell this elderly demon she has heard incorrectly.”

“Your hearing is not poor, Chiyo.” Sesshomaru deadpanned, as his eyes narrowed dangerously. They flashed orange in the lantern's light, “Answer my question.”

“I have, you cannot. Once a demon is mated it takes said marker's death to get rid of the mark. What makes you wish to become unmated to your mate?”

Sesshomaru's eyes had widened as soon as the healer had finished her first sentence. His mind was black except for one thought: he was going to be bound to Inuyasha for the rest of the pathetic half-breed's life. Sesshomaru didn't know what to decide on first; how he was going to kill the disgrace or whether he was going to make his death painful or excruciating.

The air in the room was beginning to become stifling with heat. Sesshomaru lowered his gaze to the ground, uncaring that he was showing some feeling in front of Chiyo. She'd known him since birth, she would be able to tell that he was enraged should he attempt to mask it, there was no point in trying to hide it. The demon Lord's hand twitched as he felt the need to shred something into tiny bits surge up inside of him.

“He is no mate of mine.” He said quietly.

Chiyo slowly scuttled so she was standing in front of Sesshomaru, her head reaching an inch above his own, were the demon Lord to sit up straight. The elderly demon kneeled before him, casting a wary, wise gaze over him. Sesshomaru didn't know if she would risk touching him, not as she had whilst he was a pup. Her voice was quiet and gentle, “What has your mate done to make you hate him so? Is it essential for you to be unmarked?”

“Why can I not kill him?”

Chiyo's emerald eyes widened, before they narrowed and closed sorrowfully, “He has mated you, Sesshomaru, not the opposite. He can do as he will to you, but the mark stops you from harming him in the slightest. Should you succeed in killing him, you will only kill yourself in the process. It is yet another reason the demons of the past never had their mates mark them.”

Sesshomaru's mind snapped back to his Tenseiga's actions, how it had warped him to his castle. His sword's actions made sense to him now; it wasn't just acting up as the demon Lord first thought. His father's blade was protecting him from himself. The thought only made Sesshomaru angrier.

Sesshomaru growled lowly, “I will not belong to a worthless, disgrace.” He hissed to himself, seeming to have forgotten about the elderly healer kneeling in front of him, “The half-breed was not to mark me!”

How could Inuyasha have marked him? He cared for that priestess, both of them, and he hated, absolutely loathed the Lord. Had Inuyasha done so to spite him? Or had he marked him to prevent Sesshomaru from taking a mate of his own choosing, to protect his friends from him or perhaps to protect himself? Sesshomaru doesn't understand the half-breed's intent. Inuyasha hardly understands the basics of demon culture, he couldn't know the effects the mating mark would have. As Chiyo had proven, not even he knew them all!

The speed in which he sprung to his feet and propelled him through his castle's hallways was fueled by the anger growing and sizzling in side of him. It made Sesshomaru's temples ache.

“You have forfeited your life because of this, little brother.” He hissed as he stormed into his spacious garden, his eyes being confronted with green foliage and pink blossoms. Sesshomaru began to summon his energy beneath him, ready to take off and begin his long journey back to his younger brother.

A resonating chuckle caused his actions to halt and for the demon Lord to stare deadened tree to his left. Naraku smirked, “Are you going somewhere important, Sesshomaru?”

The half-demon was wearing his customary wear, a dark purple kimono. Dark threads of hair were flowing freely in the breeze that tugged on Sesshomaru's own strands. Sesshomaru schooled his expression into its usual uncaring mask, displeased at Naraku's seemingly all knowing smirk, “I have not the patience for you Naraku. Leave me be.”

Once again, the dark haired half-demon chuckled, “I have come a long way to collect you, Sesshomaru. Kanna has been telling me some very interesting things about you and, quite frankly, I am surprised to see you free from your room.”

Sesshomaru eyed the half-breed with distaste, turning his body so he was facing the demon completely. It was obvious Naraku hadn't been civilized in his arrival and had dropped in without alerting his guards. Sesshomaru elegantly pulled his hair behind a pointed ear, “I do not know of what you are implying, half-breed. This Sesshomaru has important business to attend to.” Sesshomaru leveled a deadly stare at Naraku, “Leave.”

“But, my Lord,” Naraku mocked, “I believe your ability will be useful to me. I am in need of an heir.”

“I would prefer death to bearing any spawn of yours, Naraku.” Sesshomaru hissed.

“Oh come now, you don't mean that.” Naraku answered with a chuckle, “Kanna tells me that your heat makes you weaker than normal. Considering you have one arm also going against you, I would come quietly.”

Sesshomaru remained rock steady and unaffected. The half-breed couldn't tell he was mated, or that he was already carrying a child? It was like a calming breeze on Sesshomaru's face. He had grown tired of people mentioning the child and his mating mark. It was too bad Naraku himself left a lot to be desired…

After another moment of silence, Naraku spoke again; his voice level and mellow, “You will lose if we fight, Sesshomaru. You are far too careless with that poison of yours.”

“If this is so, why have you not attacked me?”

Naraku smirked at the taunt, several thick vines beginning to grow from beneath him, “I had hoped you wouldn't force me to harm that pretty face of yours, but, you leave me no choice.”

Sesshomaru immediately drew his Tokijin and crouched, ready to defend himself as Naraku lunged at him. “I am in no mood for you, Naraku!”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“Kanna?” Kagura called from the entrance to the large dark castle. The wind sorceress moved silently, carefully walking through the large entrance hall until she was standing at the door to Naraku's favourite thinking room, the one with the large window. She was surprised to find he was not there, and resumed calling her younger looking counter-part.

The albino girl appeared as though a ghost behind her, “We will be receiving two guests.”

Kagura nodded, “I know, you told me earlier.” Kanna was silent, so the dark haired half-demon continued, “I am starting to smell like Naraku again.”

“I am unable to aid you. You must wait.” The girl replied in an emotionless and toneless voice. She shifted her mirror in her arms, so it flashed as it caught the nearest lantern's golden orange light. “They will arrive soon.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

They were raised a few feet in the air, Sesshomaru realized, the demon Lord's sword was down there. Sesshomaru growled ferociously, his lips pulling back so he could bare his teeth at the half-blood whose vines were wrapping themselves around him snuggly. The demon Lord's annoyance reached its peak once his delicate ears caught the sound of Naraku tutting admonishingly at him.

“I thought you said you couldn't put up with me, Sesshomaru. You aren't as strong as you claim to be.” Naraku chuckled, though Sesshomaru could see a confused spark in the half-breed's dark eyes, “Why haven't you transformed? I was hoping to test my new miasma on your true form.”

Had Sesshomaru wanted to answer, he wouldn't have been able to. The thick, murky green vines were squeezing his torso painfully, whilst another, thinner vine seemed content where it had wrapped around his throat, right under his chin, pulling itself tighter and tighter every second. It would no doubt stain his soft flesh with an ugly bruise. Sesshomaru hated to admit it, but with the pup growing in his belly, the issue involving Inuyasha clouding his usually focussed mind and his lack of a left arm weren't making destroying Naraku turn out as he wanted it to. He was losing and was trapped.

Suddenly, Naraku's thoughtful expression cracked into a smug smirk, “We shouldn't waste much more time, my Lord. You are lucky to be as strong as you are, otherwise my miasma would kill you.”

Sesshomaru watched with golden, wide eyes as a vine, thinner than the one around his neck, drew itself up, as though a snake ready to strike. Its tip suddenly became very pointed and looked incredibly sharp as it glistened in the moonlight. Sesshomaru couldn't help but wonder what Naraku was going to do with it; if the wretched half-breed had wanted to slice him to bits, there were quicker and more efficient ways of doing so.

He only had to wait a second to find out and gritted his teeth painfully as the vine struck and pierced through the soft skin of his neck. It was strange feeling to Sesshomaru to experience something being pumped straight into his blood. Sesshomaru struggled, wriggled and attempted to worm his way from the vines he was encased in.

Naraku chuckled. Sesshomaru found that his voice was starting to sound just as hazy as his vision was. The demon Lord blinked rapidly, willing his vision to clear. He let out a fierce growl as his muscles clenched against his will and his stomach gave off a wave of pain that made Sesshomaru want to keel over and clutch at it. Sesshomaru was almost certain the pup would die if the substance he was being given was miasma. The dog demon growled and hissed, a small speck of relief and almost happiness appearing in his chest as his sounds soon petered into silence, as his vision faded to black.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Kagura watched from behind her fan as Sesshomaru was dumped ungracefully into Naraku's makeshift prison cell, the demon Lord's body limp and now stripped of his armor and his soft fur pelt. However, unlike his armour, his pelt was thrown back over the Lord's painfully positioned body. Naraku spared no time gloating over his capture of the demon to the human that inhabited the room and instantly strode from it, his vines creakily moving back into place.

The wind user's eyes narrowed dangerously as she spied the worried human girl scramble over to Sesshomaru from her place in her corner and placed her hands on his slowly rising and falling chest. Kagome's face relaxed with relief.

With a small `humph' Kagura shuffled gracefully after Naraku, flicking her fan closed as they came to the room Naraku inhabited more often than not. His voice was calm and filled with a deadly curiousness, “Why aren't you watching Inuyasha, Kagura?”

The woman's face turned to one of annoyance, “I'm starting to smell like you again. The fox demon and Inuyasha have both noticed it. The fire-cat had realized I was not who I was supposed to be from the beginning.”

She flicked her fan in annoyance when she heard Naraku chuckle, “Animals are very observant creatures. Some, depending on their personality, can become very loyal. They familiarize themselves with their master's moods and the way the air around them feels.”

Naraku's dark gaze left the crescent moon hanging outside of his favourite window and fell upon her, “Have you managed to find the jewel shards?”

Kagura shook her head, “They weren't in the bag she usually carries, nor are they on Inuyasha.” The demoness scowled, causing Naraku to lift one dark brow as a question, “I observed that the priestess and Inuyasha liked to cuddle.” She explained grumpily and grimaced, “It was easy to search him; the filth sleeps like a rock.”

Naraku nodded. The room was filled with silence as Naraku seemed to contemplate, leaving Kagura to her own thoughts. The wind demoness was cursing her creator's ability to expect her to act perfectly and to do all that was necessary to get the jewel shards for him and want nothing in return. And from doing just that, Kagura was about ready to kill something.

For the past few weeks she had endured being groped, she'd had to drag an annoying, pink thing beside her, carried around an annoying yellow bag, had to cuddle with a smelly dog demon half-breed, had to sleep holding a fox demon and she hadn't seen Sesshomaru for that prolonged period! It had been the worst punishment her creator had bestowed upon her in a long time. With the fantastic job she was doing Kagura was convinced Naraku should have been kissing her feet! The human priestess' friends hadn't begun to suspect a thing until her scent began to change back, she was, in her most humble opinion, an excellent actress.

She schooled her features into a stony, serious one. It had come as a relief when her favourite stalking subject had appeared out of no where that afternoon within the deadened forest. But there was something different about him. The glow that had Sesshomaru had emitted was not from his demon energy or a sign he was ready to attack. No… It most definitely wasn't that. She had felt something between Inuyasha and Sesshomaru. It was like a thread, too thin to see or catch, but most definitely there. They were connected in a way she hadn't felt in the past and she didn't like it.

Like a blade, Naraku's mellow voice cut through Kagura's thoughts, shattering them and drawing her magenta eyes to Naraku's back, “I had Kanna prepare another potion for you, Kagura. It should be in her room. When you return to them, be sure to begin to draw Inuyasha this way, but do not allow him to find this place.”

With a forcibly respectful bow, Kagura nodded and removed herself from the room.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“Hey! Is Sesshomaru alright? Why isn't he waking up?” Kagome slammed her small fists into the hardened vines over the doorway to where she was being kept. She frowned and her dark brown eyes narrowed at the albino girl, standing and staring at her unwaveringly, “Hey! Didn't you hear me?”

Kagome sighed, “Will you at least tell me who the other person Naraku's capturing is? When are they going to get here?”

Surprisingly, Kanna's mouse-like voice erupted from her lips without any other movement, “Both guests are present.”

“What?” Kagome cast the dark room behind her a quick glance. Her eyes only found Sesshomaru within it, “What do you mean they're both here? Sesshomaru's the only one in here other than me!”

Once again, Kanna is silent and unmoving and Kagome knows better than to waste her remaining voice. Carefully she turned back to the unconscious demon now lying in the centre of the room. She's managed to shift Sesshomaru so he wasn't lying with his nose pressed uncomfortably to the smooth floor, so that he was lying on his back. The demon looked far paler than he normally did, from what Kagome could tell. But then… She'd never really paid much mind to the demon Lord's complexion when they'd met in the past; he had (mostly) always attempted to kill or in the very least beat Inuyasha to a pulp whenever they'd run into each other.

Kagome ran her hands up and down her arms, much like she had been before Naraku had dumped Sesshomaru into the room, much like she had every night for the past however many days she'd been kept in this room. She sighed, and eyed the demon Lord's fur pelt. At least Naraku had talked to her; Kagome didn't believe she would still be sane without Naraku's small talk.

She sighed with frustration, and shivered violently. The yukata she wore did nothing in the ways of keeping her warm, and she found her eyes traveling and holding onto Sesshomaru's fur again, then again a moment later after that. Had Naraku purposely kept it with Sesshomaru to drive her crazy? To force her to choose between dieing of hypothermia or by one slash of Sesshomaru's poison claws?

Kagome frowned and re adjusted her clothing, then let out a frustrated huff before she stood and stomped over to Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru owed her! It would be her shifting of him that had saved him from future back problems, she was freezing and it wouldn't kill the guy to share his fur pelt for one night!

She tugged it so it was wrapped around her and moved as though in a trance back to her corner of the room. The fur was incredibly soft, perhaps softer than the fur on Inuyasha's ears, Kagome reckoned idly.

The girl sighed sadly. Kagome hoped and wished Inuyasha would hurry up and find her. She was lonely, cold and was slowly losing it; she couldn't take being locked up for so long. And she wasn't sure that it was a good thing she was sharing a cell with Sesshomaru. She could think of better and preferred cellmates. With a slight shudder she hoped Sesshomaru wouldn't kill her for simply being there when he awoke.

“Well, I shouldn't think about it!” She said with forced cheerfulness, “I won't be helping myself if I start to become depressed.” She snuggled and pulled Sesshomaru's pelt tighter around her. It felt incredibly lovely and warm.

Soon only her whispering breathes could be heard within the room.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“She's okay! Look Kagome's back!”

Inuyasha's eyes were instantly up from the toxic earth beneath his feet and pointed in the direction Shippo was pointing and bouncing frantically in. He felt a flourishing relief wash over him as the girl stumbled through the underbrush of the forest and caught the overly happy fox demon with a grin.

“What are you all doing over here? We set up camp over there.” She pointed east, coffee brown eyes settling on each one of them in concession as each of her friends rushed over to her. Kagome looked worried, “Did you catch sight of Naraku?”

“No, you idiot!” Inuyasha answered rudely, “We thought you had been abducted or something! Where the hell did you go?”

Kagome glared, “I needed to go to the bathroom, Inuyasha! Don't be so rude!”

“Yeah? So tell us, why does Shippo smell as though the bastard was holding him?” He cut off Kagome before she could utter a sound, “And who takes an hour to take a shit?”

“Inuyasha, I swear you-”

Miroku set himself so he was standing between the bickering pair, bringing their attention to him instead allowing them to stay on each other, “It's alright. You shouldn't fight; Kagome you know how much Inuyasha cares, he was simply worried.” The monk was quick with a charming smile when Inuyasha opened his mouth to reply loudly, “Now, we've all had a trying night. Why don't we all get some sleep? We'll talk when we're rested and fresh in the morning. Alright?”

Kagome sighed and nodded, the tension in her shoulders disappearing instantly. Inuyasha huffed and with a growl answered, “Whatever.”

He heard Sango's feet scratch at the dirt and turned slightly to watch her settle a hand on Kagome's back, her other one resting gently on the girl's arm, “Are you alright? Are you still sick?”

Kagome smiled kindly, though, Inuyasha realized with a frown, hesitantly and answered, “I'm fine.”

Inuyasha bestowed a most fearsome glare on the fire-cat at his feet as she growled irritably and her fur stood on end.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Woffy: Okay… What do you get when you chuck some pretty heavy writer's block into the body of a procrastinator? You get cruddy chapters… So, there's my lame excuse. I apologise. Other than that, school started today. Yay.

 

Review please!