InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Forbidden Love ❯ Chapter XIII ( Chapter 13 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: rockthedragon7 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 02.28.2005 | Pages: 1 | Words: 1.4K | Visits: 311 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 02.28.2005 | Pages: 1 | Words: 1.4K | Visits: 311 | Status: Completed
Chapter XIII
“Sesshomaru’s mother left me a short year after our relationship had began,” Sugimi told as he and Izayoi casually strolled about the garden, passing a bubbling natural fountain and crossing the wooden bridge that arched over the stream. “And passed on ten years later. A brooding and bitter one, she was.” He ended with a flourish of one hand above a tiny bush, which almost instantly began to swiftly grow and budded with many rosy blossoms. “Hated flowers.”
Izayoi settled herself on a bench carved of stone to admire the demon lord’s handiwork. “May I speak my mind for a moment?”
Sugimi gave a slight chuckle, lightly brushing a clawed finger over one bloom, and it promptly opened into a glowing radiance. “You need not ask my permission. Speak as you will whenever you desire.”
“I don’t think that she was meant for you.”
Sugimi paused, and gave a shrug of his strong shoulders, crouching next to the now mature plant, acting as though he was quite concerned with the shape of one particular red bloom. “And you are probably correct,” he said quietly.
Izayoi watched the demon lord, a look of puzzlement across her fair features.
Sugimi cut the flower from the bush, moving to sit next to Izayoi, twirling the blossom in his fingers. “She had belonged to another,” he explained with a trace of awkwardness in his resonant voice, keeping his golden eyes pointedly on the dancing flower in his hands. “I am not certain of what had brought us together, though I suppose it may have been lust, or envy. Her mate was not the most desirable of demons, nor was he especially powerful.” He glanced down at his hands as if he was ashamed to look Izayoi in the eye. “For three months she came to me, on nights every so often. One evening she appeared at my shoji to tell me that she was with child. Her mate would not have been pleased if he had learned of the little one, would have very likely killed the babe and its mother in a fit of rage. Soon after Sesshomaru was born, she left him in my care for both his and her safety, and she disappeared.”
“You did not love her?” Izayoi asked softly.
Sugimi shook his head, his melancholy gaze meeting hers. “Affection had been there, but it had not been love.” He affectionately tucked the pink blossom behind her ear with a sad smile. “Nevertheless, she was not the one that I would want to spend my eternity with.”
Oh, how at that moment did Izayoi want to scream out and ask the demon lord if she could ever be that someone. She bashfully held her tongue, a blush creeping over her cheeks as she tenderly fondled the flower in her hair, jerking her gaze to her lap. ‘Don’t even think that, you silly girl,’ she scolded herself mentally. She could see Sugimi out of the corner of her eye, golden orbs turned skyward to the amber and pink-coloured heavens, long silver hair flowing down his back and over his shoulders, glinting tawny and crimson in the light of sunset. His chin was held regal and high, his powerful shoulders back and his spine straight. How he seemed to shine just as the light of the setting sun. No human man could ever be as perfect as he, she believed.
“It is getting late,” the demon lord said suddenly. “Perhaps we should return to the castle.” All Izayoi could do was nod.
Izayoi took a seat at the edge of her plush, scarlet bed, alone in her room, and pulled the rosy bloom from her ebony hair, gazing at it thoughtfully as she whirled it around between her dainty fingers. She could feel Sugimi’s shining enchantment radiating beneath her fingertips. He was ever on her mind, day and night, and night and day. Izayoi gave a sigh. Oh, she wasn’t just lovesick…She laughed quietly to herself, letting out a dreamy breath and falling back on the bed, her ebony hair fanning about her. ‘Do I dare to dream that I may spend my life beside him?’ she thought as she put the blossom to her nose, allowing the sweet fragrance to pervade her senses. ‘Do I even dare to wish that he will feel for me as I do for him? Oh, I know that I love him. I know I do. But can a demon ever love a human? I wonder…’
There came a knocking at the fusuma frame, and Izayoi gave a start, bolting upright, the rosy flower falling to the bed. The door slid open, and Jikun slithered in, closing the panel behind her. “Would you like a bit to eat before you sleep, little girl?” she asked in that gently hissing voice, as she glided across the tatami, scaly tail whispering as she moved to the bedside.
Izayoi nodded with a little chuckle. “Forgive me. I was lost in my head again. But I would enjoy a small meal, thank you.”
“If you don’t mind my being nosy,” Jikun began as she magically conjured up a tray of food beside the human woman, “where in your head were you adrift?”
“A place that I really ought not to be visiting.” Izayoi heaved a sigh, and picked up a pair of hashi that had been laid before her.
Jikun scrutinized the human carefully with those piercing green eyes, and she lifted her eyebrows. “This is about Lord Sugimi, isn’t it,” she stated more than asked, and when Izayoi timidly met the demon’s gaze, Jikun smiled and went on. “Oh, do not be faint-hearted, little girl. Any woman with a good eye can see why you have become smitten with my lord. He is, after all, wholly a beautiful creature, and not without the silver tongue to match.” Izayoi chewed on her lower lip, feeling somewhat revealed by the demon woman’s accuracy. Jikun sat next to the girl. “Why do you seem so doubtful, little girl?”
Izayoi shrugged. “Sugimi is a demon. I am human.”
“Well, of course you are, little girl. You’re just about as human as they come, all emotive and softhearted and the like. That is the reason that you would hide your emotions?” Jikun questioned.
“Humans and demons were never meant to understand one another,” Izayoi justified, twisting her fingers and wringing her hands. “That is why they hate each other so.”
“But I do not hate you, and you do not hate me. And you do not hate Lord Sugimi, nor does he hate you,” Jikun reasoned.
Izayoi shook her head. “You do not understand, Jikun. I have such fear of what would happen if they ever knew that I had fallen in love with him.”
“Who is ‘they’?”
Izayoi met the demon woman’s emerald gaze with a furrowed brow. “Well…the people of the village, mostly. There are my friends, and other aristocrats. I would not like to imagine what they would think of me,” she explained, rather unconvincingly.
Jikun was shaking her head from side to side before the girl was even finished. “Pardon my mouth, but you wouldn’t give a rat’s ass if the townspeople knew. It is the demons that you fear. Lord Sugimi is more than capable of protecting both you and himself.” She placed a delicate clawed hand on Izayoi’s knee. “You are a lovely and sweet girl, Izayoi. Do not let such fears get in the way of love.” She ended with a soft pat on the human woman’s leg, and stood, slithering away toward the fusuma.
“Jikun,” Izayoi said softly, and the demon turned about to face her. The girl blushed a bit, but smiled. “Thank you.”
Jikun returned the grin with a toothy, but caring one of her own. “Don’t mention it. Now, eat your food up before it wakes up and runs away on you.” At the suddenly surprised look that crossed Izayoi’s face, she laughed. “I’m just playing with you. Sleep well, Izayoi.” With that, Jikun glided from the room, closing the sliding panel, and moving off down the hall.
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“Sesshomaru’s mother left me a short year after our relationship had began,” Sugimi told as he and Izayoi casually strolled about the garden, passing a bubbling natural fountain and crossing the wooden bridge that arched over the stream. “And passed on ten years later. A brooding and bitter one, she was.” He ended with a flourish of one hand above a tiny bush, which almost instantly began to swiftly grow and budded with many rosy blossoms. “Hated flowers.”
Izayoi settled herself on a bench carved of stone to admire the demon lord’s handiwork. “May I speak my mind for a moment?”
Sugimi gave a slight chuckle, lightly brushing a clawed finger over one bloom, and it promptly opened into a glowing radiance. “You need not ask my permission. Speak as you will whenever you desire.”
“I don’t think that she was meant for you.”
Sugimi paused, and gave a shrug of his strong shoulders, crouching next to the now mature plant, acting as though he was quite concerned with the shape of one particular red bloom. “And you are probably correct,” he said quietly.
Izayoi watched the demon lord, a look of puzzlement across her fair features.
Sugimi cut the flower from the bush, moving to sit next to Izayoi, twirling the blossom in his fingers. “She had belonged to another,” he explained with a trace of awkwardness in his resonant voice, keeping his golden eyes pointedly on the dancing flower in his hands. “I am not certain of what had brought us together, though I suppose it may have been lust, or envy. Her mate was not the most desirable of demons, nor was he especially powerful.” He glanced down at his hands as if he was ashamed to look Izayoi in the eye. “For three months she came to me, on nights every so often. One evening she appeared at my shoji to tell me that she was with child. Her mate would not have been pleased if he had learned of the little one, would have very likely killed the babe and its mother in a fit of rage. Soon after Sesshomaru was born, she left him in my care for both his and her safety, and she disappeared.”
“You did not love her?” Izayoi asked softly.
Sugimi shook his head, his melancholy gaze meeting hers. “Affection had been there, but it had not been love.” He affectionately tucked the pink blossom behind her ear with a sad smile. “Nevertheless, she was not the one that I would want to spend my eternity with.”
Oh, how at that moment did Izayoi want to scream out and ask the demon lord if she could ever be that someone. She bashfully held her tongue, a blush creeping over her cheeks as she tenderly fondled the flower in her hair, jerking her gaze to her lap. ‘Don’t even think that, you silly girl,’ she scolded herself mentally. She could see Sugimi out of the corner of her eye, golden orbs turned skyward to the amber and pink-coloured heavens, long silver hair flowing down his back and over his shoulders, glinting tawny and crimson in the light of sunset. His chin was held regal and high, his powerful shoulders back and his spine straight. How he seemed to shine just as the light of the setting sun. No human man could ever be as perfect as he, she believed.
“It is getting late,” the demon lord said suddenly. “Perhaps we should return to the castle.” All Izayoi could do was nod.
Izayoi took a seat at the edge of her plush, scarlet bed, alone in her room, and pulled the rosy bloom from her ebony hair, gazing at it thoughtfully as she whirled it around between her dainty fingers. She could feel Sugimi’s shining enchantment radiating beneath her fingertips. He was ever on her mind, day and night, and night and day. Izayoi gave a sigh. Oh, she wasn’t just lovesick…She laughed quietly to herself, letting out a dreamy breath and falling back on the bed, her ebony hair fanning about her. ‘Do I dare to dream that I may spend my life beside him?’ she thought as she put the blossom to her nose, allowing the sweet fragrance to pervade her senses. ‘Do I even dare to wish that he will feel for me as I do for him? Oh, I know that I love him. I know I do. But can a demon ever love a human? I wonder…’
There came a knocking at the fusuma frame, and Izayoi gave a start, bolting upright, the rosy flower falling to the bed. The door slid open, and Jikun slithered in, closing the panel behind her. “Would you like a bit to eat before you sleep, little girl?” she asked in that gently hissing voice, as she glided across the tatami, scaly tail whispering as she moved to the bedside.
Izayoi nodded with a little chuckle. “Forgive me. I was lost in my head again. But I would enjoy a small meal, thank you.”
“If you don’t mind my being nosy,” Jikun began as she magically conjured up a tray of food beside the human woman, “where in your head were you adrift?”
“A place that I really ought not to be visiting.” Izayoi heaved a sigh, and picked up a pair of hashi that had been laid before her.
Jikun scrutinized the human carefully with those piercing green eyes, and she lifted her eyebrows. “This is about Lord Sugimi, isn’t it,” she stated more than asked, and when Izayoi timidly met the demon’s gaze, Jikun smiled and went on. “Oh, do not be faint-hearted, little girl. Any woman with a good eye can see why you have become smitten with my lord. He is, after all, wholly a beautiful creature, and not without the silver tongue to match.” Izayoi chewed on her lower lip, feeling somewhat revealed by the demon woman’s accuracy. Jikun sat next to the girl. “Why do you seem so doubtful, little girl?”
Izayoi shrugged. “Sugimi is a demon. I am human.”
“Well, of course you are, little girl. You’re just about as human as they come, all emotive and softhearted and the like. That is the reason that you would hide your emotions?” Jikun questioned.
“Humans and demons were never meant to understand one another,” Izayoi justified, twisting her fingers and wringing her hands. “That is why they hate each other so.”
“But I do not hate you, and you do not hate me. And you do not hate Lord Sugimi, nor does he hate you,” Jikun reasoned.
Izayoi shook her head. “You do not understand, Jikun. I have such fear of what would happen if they ever knew that I had fallen in love with him.”
“Who is ‘they’?”
Izayoi met the demon woman’s emerald gaze with a furrowed brow. “Well…the people of the village, mostly. There are my friends, and other aristocrats. I would not like to imagine what they would think of me,” she explained, rather unconvincingly.
Jikun was shaking her head from side to side before the girl was even finished. “Pardon my mouth, but you wouldn’t give a rat’s ass if the townspeople knew. It is the demons that you fear. Lord Sugimi is more than capable of protecting both you and himself.” She placed a delicate clawed hand on Izayoi’s knee. “You are a lovely and sweet girl, Izayoi. Do not let such fears get in the way of love.” She ended with a soft pat on the human woman’s leg, and stood, slithering away toward the fusuma.
“Jikun,” Izayoi said softly, and the demon turned about to face her. The girl blushed a bit, but smiled. “Thank you.”
Jikun returned the grin with a toothy, but caring one of her own. “Don’t mention it. Now, eat your food up before it wakes up and runs away on you.” At the suddenly surprised look that crossed Izayoi’s face, she laughed. “I’m just playing with you. Sleep well, Izayoi.” With that, Jikun glided from the room, closing the sliding panel, and moving off down the hall.
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