InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Forgotten ❯ Unyielding ( Chapter 41 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Black Wren 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Fantasy / Hentai / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 01.20.2013 | Pages: 11 | Words: 18.7K | Visits: 167 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Fantasy / Hentai / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 01.20.2013 | Pages: 11 | Words: 18.7K | Visits: 167 | Status: Work In Progress
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, Sesshomaru or anyone else from the hit anime
series. Rumiko Takahashi does. I do own all OC‟s and plot in this story.
Part 2: U nyielding
Mist hung in the air turning the early morning into a wor ld of shadows and gray.
Saben sat& nbsp;on the engawa with his back against ;the wall of the temple staring into
the fog. Despite the exertions, stress&nbs p;and late night, Saben couldn‟t ;sleep. He still
couldn‟t believe what had transpired or that he w as still alive. The events
continued&nb sp;to play themselves out in his mind. < br>
He thought for certain he was going to die after his impassioned words.&nbs p; His angry
speech had declared him&nbs p;and his entire family as traitors who conspired against
Sesshomaru. He was su re he had damned himself and every one&n bsp;of them to an
execution, but what&nb sp;had happened after the other heads of ;family had spilled their
entrails onto the ground in suicide had astonished him.&nbs p;
The metallic tang of blood and&n bsp;the sour odor of intestines filled the&nb sp;air along with
the stifled sobs of&nb sp;loved ones. Saben gazed at the carna ge with mixed emotions.
Sorrow and ;pity weren‟t among them; he had come knowing that things may turn
out like this. He, himself, remained tr apped again the ground; Kakiboufuu‟s& nbsp;foot,
planted firmly between his shoulde r blades, disallowed for any movement.
& nbsp;
The foot lifted suddenly and the ha nyou spoke, “Get up, Saben. &nb sp;Your sincerity,
courage and decisiveness h as spared you and your family.†& nbsp;Saben rose to his knees
and peered& nbsp;up at Kakiboufuu. The hanyou no lo nger appeared cold or unreadable,
just w eary and pale. “I grant a full pardon on you and your family.&nbs p; All of you will
not be held ;to the before mentioned conditions.â€
He turned back to the people& nbsp;beyond the gate and shouted, â€&oe lig;You may tend to your
dead, then ;come in and rest. Tomorrow will bring& nbsp;changes to one and all.†He then
walked away, leaving a stunned&nbs p;gathering behind him.
Saben rubbed&nb sp;his face. “I tell him that my father plotted his brotherâ€&Yu ml;s downfall and
he forgives me,â&euro ; he muttered. “Why? It& nbsp;doesn‟t make sense!†&nbs p;The misty world
offered no answers.
****
Sesshomaru wandered throu gh the gray world. He wanted to ta lk to his brother
about his decision,&nb sp;confused as everyone else was, but the&nbs p;hanyou had disappeared
after he announced&n bsp;the pardon. To make matters worse, the mist had rolled in soon
after t hat, killing all scents and making tracking&n bsp;him nearly impossible. He had
been& nbsp;walking for hours and he was certain&nbs p;he was going in circles.
A faint sound carried through the fog and he headed toward it on instinct. As&nbs p;he
approached the sound grew until he& nbsp;knew it was that of a waterfall, a& nbsp;minor one.
Closer he walked lettin g the faint roar guide him. His fo ot splashed into the pool‟s
shore before he realized it was there. He pulled his foot out and looked down at the
gravel laden shore. A& nbsp;white kimono and blue hakama along with& nbsp;sandals and socks
lay around him; K akiboufuu‟s clothes.
â&eu ro;œWhat are you doing, Otouto?†;called Sesshomaru, figuring his brother was nearby.
“Can‟t&nb sp;I have any peace? Or must everyone&n bsp;pester me about my decisions?†cam e
the irate demand. The mist thinn ed revealing a perturbed naked hanyou standin g
beneath a short but broad waterfall.&n bsp; The water splashed on his head and& nbsp;shoulders
as he glared at Sesshomaru&nbs p;and flowed down his body to the rock&n bsp;ledge he stood
upon before entering the pool.
Sesshomaru stared at&nbs p;him for a moment then asked, â€& oelig;Why are you so angry?â€
Kakiboufuu leaned his head back and let&nbs p;the water fall on his face instead of& nbsp;
answering. Sesshomaru growled and said, “You make so many demands ;yet you
can‟t answer a sim ple question.†The hanyouâ€&Yum l;s only response was to turn his back&n bsp;
on his brother.
Sesshomaru sna rled then leapt over to the ledge, ignor ing the falling water that
soaked him&nb sp;within seconds of landing. He grabbed&nbs p;Kakiboufuu‟s shoulder and spun
him around to face him. Or that w as what he intended. Instead, the momen t he
touched his brother‟s shoulder his hand was slapped away, but Kakiboufuu did turn
around. The two&nbs p;glared at each other for several minutes.&n bsp;
Then, unexpectedly, it was Kakibouf uu who broke the stare down. His a nger
dissolved and he leaned forward unt il his forehead rested on Sesshomaruâ€& Yuml;s
shoulder. The proud full-blood b linked and looked down at the hanyou lea ning on
him. He didn‟t&nbs p;move, he didn‟t know what to&n bsp;do or say.
“Iâ& euro;Ÿm sorry,†whispered Kakiboufuu, his voice sounding more akin to a child& nbsp;than the
adult who had ordered seve ral men and women to take their own ;lives. “I knew it
would& nbsp;come to this the moment I saw their reaction to my announcement about
becom ing the new Inu no Taisho. After w e returned and I spent the entire time&n bsp;
preparing myself for that confrontation. I knew what I would have to do.&nb sp; I knew I
needed to harden mysel f to the consequences. Still it wasn&ac irc;€Ÿt enough. I was so ill
after all of it. It took every&nbs p;ounce of self-control I had to stand t here long enough to
tell Saben that ;he was safe.â€
Sesshomaru g asped at the confession. He had already guessed Kakiboufuu had
been expecting t he defectors. He hadn‟t realize d that his brother had been
traumat ized by his own order. Sesshomaru didn& acirc;€Ÿt know how to comfort him;
something his little brother was obviously&nb sp;seeking.
While he had been purs uing Kakiboufuu through the mist he had worked the
scenario over in his head&nbs p;and found he wouldn‟t have cha nged anything. He
believed he understoo d the reasoning behind it. However, he& nbsp;decided to question
Kakiboufuu anyway. & nbsp;If his brother was forced to hear h is own reasoning aloud he
might be able to accept the bloody aftermath he h ad created.
“Why did ;you order the seppuku?†asked Sesshom aru.
Kakiboufuu didn‟t lif t his head. “Because those&nbs p;people truly disgust me. They were cowards yet even the decision of cowards&n bsp;can affect the outcome of a war. &nb sp;Cowardly
leaders can only do harm. &n bsp;I don‟t think any of them&nb sp;even realized how many of
them there& nbsp;were until they defected back to us.&nbs p; I can forgive someone for their
betrayal if they believe the course they ;chose is the best solution to a problem in the
leadership. And letâ&euro ;Ÿs be honest, Aniue, there were issues. †Sesshomaru glanced
away for&nb sp;a moment and grunted. “They weren‟t trying to solve a problem,†he
continued. †œThey were just trying to save themselv es. If they hadn‟t been so fickle
then maybe none of this wou ld have occurred. Noriko could have bee n stopped
before so many lives were ;lost.†He chuckled. â€&o elig;Or maybe we wouldn‟t have n early
so many defectors.â€
< br> Sesshomaru closed his eyes; he wondered i f Noriko would have been stopped just because she didn‟t have the s upport. “Then that is the ;reason you spared Saben?â€
“Hai, I could tell he was speaking the truth; every word was spoken&nbs p;with passion
and sincerity. I imagine his father must have broken inside afte r the fall of the
castle. He couldn‟t accept he may have aide d in the deaths of so many friends and
comrades so the only thing he c ould do was stand by his decision. ;He may have
been in denial when&nb sp;he attacked me but he died standing b y his convictions. Saben
is young, ;back then he was even younger. He ;trusted his father like all sons do. &n bsp;To
lose his home and so many of his friends, he must have been grieving . He stood
loyal to his family&nbs p;for he wished to protect them. In&nbs p;returning he is seeks
redemption; he w ants to be punished. Instead I spared&n bsp;him. His must be both
confused ;and angry with me.â€
Sessho maru was stunned. He came to these ;conclusions in so little time? â&euro ;œWhy
didn‟t you just driv e them away? Saben‟s people&nbs p;aside, why did you allow the
cowards&a circ;€Ÿ families to return?†he&n bsp;asked.
Kakiboufuu sighed and replie d, “Because we need them. ;Even if they left and didn‟t&nb sp;
return to Noriko, she would still hav e the advantage over us.†Finall y, he pulled
back and met Sesshomaru&aci rc;€Ÿs gold gaze. His eyes were&nb sp;focused. The emotional crisis
had pa ssed, just as Sesshomaru had hoped, however,& nbsp;another had risen. One that
Kakibo ufuu was now confided in him.
“I know you have never been&nb sp;outside of Tenji before. So you prob ably haven‟t seen
tools and ;weapons that were not of Tenji make,â& euro; said Kakiboufuu. Sesshomaru
regarded&n bsp;him but didn‟t say anything. ; That fact was still a point of em barrassment
and anger for the full-blood.&nbs p; The hanyou continued, “The m etal ore of this land is of
poor&nb sp;quality. That‟s why sword sm ithing is such a sacred art. However,&n bsp;because of
Tenji‟s kanetenko ;we‟re able to refine the metal& nbsp;so that it becomes much higher
qual ity. The metal and armor of Tenji is therefore very unique to this country.&nbs p; Do
you remember how supplied they&nbs p;were? They even had an armory in ;that camp.
You don‟t get& nbsp;supplies like that from raiding villages ;or even castles. You get them
fro m a well connected ally.â€
< br> Sesshomaru‟s eyes widened. &acir c;€œThose armor and weapons…& acirc;€
Kakiboufuu nodded. & acirc;€œExactly, they were of Tenjiâ&e uro;Ÿs craft. Her supplier is mostly&nb sp;
likely Kuromakaze.â€
â&e uro;œHe‟s keeping my people tie d up down here while he wrecks havoc&nbs p;in Tenji,†said
Sesshomaru.
&nb sp;
Kakiboufuu turned and stepped to the edge of the rock outcropping. â€& oelig;That‟s what
bothers me,â& euro; he muttered. Before Sesshomaru could&n bsp;demand clarification, the
hanyou leapt ba ck to shore. Sesshomaru huffed then fol lowed. Kakiboufuu was
redressing but hi s gaze was turned inward. â€&oeli g;Why is he wasting resources to keep you tied up here?â€
&acir c;€œExplain,†demanded Sesshomaru wit h a growl, wrapping the back of Kakibouf uu‟s
head with his knuckles.&nbs p;
Kakiboufuu eyed Sesshomaru as he ;tied his hakama. “No offense, Aniue, but if
Kuromakaze saw you a s a threat, he would have made your ;death a priority. Other
than supply&nb sp;Noriko, he has all but ignored you. & nbsp;I just can‟t figure out why , though.â€
“We&nbs p;might have asked the defectors, but you&nbs p;just killed off all the ones who might
have had the answer,†said Sesshomaru, still annoyed by his brotherâ&eu ro;Ÿs statements.
“I ;doubt those cowards knew anything. Noriko&n bsp;would have known better than to let
fair weather leaders into her inner circ le. However, Saben might know something,&nbs p;
depending on how chatty his father was ,†said Kakiboufuu.
****
Saben was a bit surprised when he was called out later that day by ;the brothers.
First he was spared ;punishment for treason and now he was b eing asked to a
provate meeting. &n bsp;The young man‟s mind spun as he tried to sort out all these
strange twists of fate. The scarlet i nuyokai eyed the two as they moved away& nbsp;from
the temple. “Did&nbs p;my pardon bother you that much?â€&nbs p;asked Kakiboufuu, regarding
young man over& nbsp;his shoulder.
“It wa s just unexpected,†replied Saben, not certain how to voice his turmoil.
“This won‟t take& nbsp;long then I want you return to the& nbsp;temple and get some rest,†said&n bsp;
Kakiboufuu. “You wonâ&eur o;Ÿt do anyone any good if youâ&eu ro;Ÿre exhausted.â€
†œSo what are we doing?†he asked.
The two brothers stopped an d turned to face him. “Do you know who was supplying
Noriko?&acir c;€ asked Sesshomaru.
Saben blinke d then looked down. “No, I ;don‟t. I was suspicious of&nbs p;that too.
Chichiue didn‟t&nbs p;know either. Noriko and her brothers were the only ones who knew.
The&n bsp;supplies would just appear overnight. Sh e or her brothers were always on
wa tch during that time so no one else ;saw. Many of us were nervous because&n bsp;of
that. Why was the supplier so secretive?â€
“So much for that idea,†said Sessho maru and sighed. Saben stared at him.&n bsp;
“My apologies, my lor ds,†said Saben, looking down at his feet.
“Donâ€&Yu ml;t apologize, Saben. Noriko may not k now the answer either,†said Kakiboufu u,
placing a hand on the young man& acirc;€Ÿs shoulder. He turned to f ace his brother “She
may& nbsp;have just been happy to get support ;for her cause and didn‟t bother to question
it. Or maybeâ€& brvbar;†The hanyou‟s ey es widened and he punched a tree with&nb sp;a snarl.
“Of course! & nbsp;He wants Noriko to be in debt to&nb sp;him.â€
“Why ;would he want that?†asked Sesshomaru . The pair had seemed to have
forgotten Saben within a few sentences. &nbs p;He stood before them glancing in confusion& nbsp;
between the two.
â€&oel ig;Tenji was unable to expand until Oyaji&nbs p;returned and formed up the Inuyokai clan,&a circ;€
said Kakiboufuu. “ That‟s because whenever civil war&nbs p;broke out among the tenko
their lands& nbsp;were raided. They couldn‟t ;protect them. Oyaji created the clan i n order
to give Tenji protection during& nbsp;these vulnerable periods. The tenko sto pped losing
territory and were able to&n bsp;expand on it; creating the inner territor ies and much of
the order we took&n bsp;for granted. Kuromakaze is trying to&nbs p;take Tenji intact. He wants
the stability that came with a powerful yokai&nbs p;tribe on his side. The Inuyokai clan& nbsp;is
an established power of Tenji. & nbsp;It would be much easier to keep it& nbsp;than to try to
create a new on e. In this day and age that would& nbsp;be next to impossible. They only < br> reason why he disrupted it is because&nbs p;that same power, as a whole, wouldnâ& euro;Ÿt accept
him.â€
& acirc;€œSo supporting Noriko is critical&nbs p;for his plans to take control of Tenji ?†asked
Sesshomaru.
â ;€œI just hope Toromaru-kun was able&nb sp;to cool the fires back home. Kuromak aze‟s plan
hinges on Kuromaru-do no‟s self-destruction,†muttered&nb sp;Kakiboufuu as he bit his
thumb. ;Sesshomaru‟s gaze clouded; his broth er‟s comments lost on him.
“Ano… Sumimase n… My lord, who is Kuromakaze? †asked Saben, finally finding
hi s voice.
****
The next& nbsp;day…
The various&nb sp;heads of family and elders along with ;the three guardians and special
individuals, like Naomi, were gathered in the main&n bsp;room. Everyone sat along the
walls& nbsp;leaving the middle empty. Sesshomaru sa t to his brother‟s left while&nb sp;Naomi
sat to Kakiboufuu‟s rig ht. Kaiyoshinju sat in the right corner ; she hadn‟t stopped
glaring&nbs p;at the hanyou since she had entered th e room. Saben sat closer to the entrance with the other new heads of family from the defectors. The young ma n
was still reeling with the revelations from the day before and was glad h e had been
ordered to remain silent ;about it. It gave him the perfect ;excuse to dodge everyone
else‟s questions on his bizarre meeting with t he demon lord.
“Stop ;glaring, Kaiyoshinju,†said Kakiboufuu. &n bsp;“If you don‟t like& nbsp;being restrained in
such a manner t hen I suggest you learn a little self-co ntrol.†The dragoness growled
an d slammed her hand on the floor, but&nbs p;before she could speak her mind,
Kakib oufuu continued. “Do keep in&n bsp;mind, I am not Oyaji and I am n ot going to turn
a blind eye to&nbs p;your antics. I am not going to b e intimidated by you. Also,â€
Kakiboufuu paused and turned his golden gaz e on her, “I‟m onl y going to say this
once. Let ;go of your petty grudge.†Every one cringed, especially Sesshomaru.
Kaiyoshi nju‟s violet eyes flashed red. & nbsp;“I‟m serious. The offense occurred centuries
ago, it is&n bsp;long past time to forgive or at leas t forget about it and move on. You are
more of a hindrance than a&nbs p;help at this time. If you canâ& euro;Ÿt put it behind you then
hand over the Jewel of the Sea and get& nbsp;out of my sight!â€
Ever yone held their breath. Naomi glanced b etween the two, caught between
loyalty t o her mother and the fact that she had thought the same thing on
numerous&n bsp;occasions. Sesshomaru stared at his brot her in disbelief. Kakiboufuu‟s
expression was stone. Kaiyoshinju was f loored. No one had ever addressed her&n bsp;in
such a manner before.
“I am a hindrance? Me?â& euro; she demanded, her voice squeaking with& nbsp;suppressed rage.
Kakiboufuu held&n bsp;out his hand. “Hand the&nb sp;jewel over, Kaiyoshinju. It was a mi stake
to give it to you in the ;first place,†he said.
She gaped then said in a low voice, he r eyes flashing the whole while, â&euro ;œYou don‟t
trust me to&nb sp;guard it?â€
Without flinching& nbsp;he replied, “I donâ€&Yuml ;t trust you.†The dragoness sta red at him but
Kakiboufuu waited without moving or saying another word. His&nbs p;face was
unreadable. Trembling, Kaiyoshinj u reached up, slipped the circlet off he r head and
hurled it at the demon&n bsp;lord. He caught it and put it inside his kimono without
taking his eye s off her. She rose to her feet&nb sp;and walked with great dignity out of the
room, closing the shoji behind her.& nbsp;
“Was that really nec essary?†asked Sesshomaru after her fo otsteps faded from
hearing. Naomiâ&eur o;Ÿs whole body shook, her head lowered& nbsp;as she tried to sort out her
f eelings. The other inuyokai stared at t heir lord, awaiting his answer.
&a circ;€œUnreliable power is worse than n one,†replied Kakiboufuu. â€&oe lig;I was able to stop her
the othe r night but what about next time?â&euro ;
“She wasn‟ t always like this,†said Raiken, ;thinking of the past.
â€&oe lig;Once she had found herself Iâ€&Yuml ;ll welcome her back, not before,â€&nbs p;said Kakiboufuu. “I
can ;work with no power but I canâ€&Yu ml;t do anything with unreliability.†Sesshomaru
noticed movement coming from ;one of the corners and glanced over. &n bsp;Xeno was
nodding his head in approva l. “Now onto the main iss ue before the rest of you get
anxio us. I didn‟t bring you her e to witness Kaiyoshinju‟s disgrace.& nbsp; That was
necessary due to this&nbs p;issue: Noriko‟s supplier.†< br>
Sesshomaru took the cue and co ntinued. “Despite the raid on& nbsp;her camp, we believe
she‟ll soon have another camp equally well sto cked if she remains out here instead
of falling back to her supporter.â€&n bsp; Everyone gasped and began murmuring to&n bsp;each
other.
Kakiboufuu picked up where his brother left off when the&n bsp;voices died. “We spoke
with Saben yesterday in an attempt to verify the identity of the supplier. We had
hoped that as the son of one of her trusted he may have been ;privy to such
information. But apparen tly, she kept that information within the&nbs p;family. I do,
though, have a goo d idea of who it is, which makes me nervous.â€
Sesshomaru glanced&nb sp;at him in puzzlement. Nervous? It&n bsp;makes him nervous?
â&e uro;œI believe it is the one calling&nb sp;himself Kuromakaze, formerly known as Kanzaki&n bsp;
Sagara… my cousin,†;said Kakiboufuu. “He is a&nbs p;tenko who transformed himself
into a h anyou using my blood. He controls a&nbs p;very unusual combination of jutsu;
wind&nbs p;and metal. He is extremely dangerous. ; He has a brilliant mind, allowing him& nbsp;
to predict and plan around an enemy ‟s responses. As a child h e planned out and
executed the trap ;that involved Takemaru and brought about the death of Oyaji.
He also manipulat ed the death of Hahaue and Ojii-dono. &n bsp;Because of his ability to
predict, h is plans have a far reaching impact, abl e to incorporate years and weave
togethe r random events to bring about a desired result.â€
“A dangerous opponent indeed, Kakiboufuu-sama,â€&nbs p;said Raiken. “Are you certai n
he is the one who brought about&n bsp;the former Inu no Taisho‟s d eath?â€
Sesshomaru replied, &acir c;€œHe bragged about back then, when&nb sp;I last saw him.â€
&a circ;€œYou hale him as a great str ategist,†said one of the generals.&nb sp; “I can see why such a& nbsp;
person would make you nervous but h e has not taken personal note of us.&nbs p; Noriko
may get new supplies but I don‟t see the situation changi ng too much.â€
Kakiboufuu lo oked away and Sesshomaru described the scenar io his brother had
come up with. &n bsp;The one that had Kuromakaze indulging Nor iko because he wanted
her on his si de when he taken over Tenji.
“I see,†said Rai ken. “However, I donâ€&Y uml;t think that will change are situation.&a circ;€
“I‟m& nbsp;afraid it has changed,†said Kaki boufuu. His fists shook as he clenched& nbsp;them.
“When I came h ere I thought he had just taken advantag e of the inner turmoil of
the clan& nbsp;to remove a possible troublesome group f rom the area. That his involving
N oriko ended when she drove everyone south&nbs p;and away from Tenji. However, when we raided that camp I saw the evidenc e that said she was still receiving supp ort
from Tenji.†The hanyou ;pressed his palm against his forehead and&nb sp;growled. “If I
had kno wn that in advance I would have tread&nb sp;more cautiously.â€
â€&oe lig;Why would that have altered how you approached Noriko?†asked another general.& nbsp;
Kakiboufuu lowered his hand and&nb sp;glanced around at the entire assembly. &nb sp;“Because
I didn‟t&nb sp;want him to know where I was. H e ignored you but he has gone out o f his
way to try to kill me, p ersonally! I‟ve faced him twice and barely escaped with my
life tw ice. The second time he followed me&nbs p;into Oyaji‟s grave, alone! He didn‟t have
anyone with hi m and he had to travel outside Tenji&aci rc;€Ÿs borders to confront me that
second time. The moment he catches ;wind that I‟m here heâ€&Y uml;ll come personally and
who knows wit h what kind of support.â€
“You‟re certain he w ill come here himself?†asked Raiken.& nbsp;
Kakiboufuu lowered his gaze. “He marked me for death b efore because he believed
I was a p otential threat. Once Noriko explains what&n bsp;happened, he‟ll know.
Dammit!â€
****
< br> “Noriko-san? What has brought&n bsp;the would-be lady of the west here a nd in such a
state?†asked K uromakaze. He sat on a boulder with&nbs p;his naginata leaning against
his shoulder.& nbsp; He wore only light armor over his& nbsp;black sleeveless haori and hakama.
Beneath that was a light blue kimono wi th a white swirl pattern. A light blue
bandana wrapped his forehead holding&nbs p;back his unruly short silver hair. Hi s
golden eyes regarded the lady inuyokai as she stood before him. Her garm ents were
singed and she smelled of ;smoke and blood. The proud demoness gr owled but her
blue eyes were haunted.&nb sp;
Yamibi spoke up from her place& nbsp;next Kuromakaze. “I guess ;you couldn‟t handle
Sesshomaru after all. How pathetic! You wasted&nb sp;our resources and our trust in an
empty promise.†Kuromakaze‟ s gaze flickered for a moment over to&nb sp;her then back
at Noriko. Yamibi ;hadn‟t been herself since she w as nearly killed several days ago.
She hadn‟t said anything about it, though. He disliked her keeping sec rets.
Noriko growled again but thi s time anger flickered through her gaze. ; “I was
handling the dog& nbsp;just fine,†she snapped. â €œDid you know he had a brother?&n bsp; He
showed up and is apparently ;the new Inu no Taisho. He burned and raided my
camp and killed several&nb sp;of my generals as a form of introduct ion. As a result, most
of my men have deserted with their families. I don‟t have the means to f ight
someone like him!â€
Kuromakaze‟s face went blank then&n bsp;his gaze took on a razor‟s&n bsp;edge. “His brother?â€&nbs p;
“Yes!†said ;Noriko.
“You fought him? â€
“Yes! He&n bsp;completely overpowered me! I designed th e Shoukijin to counter
Sesshomaruâ€&Yum l;s Bakusaiga but that hanyou had a set& nbsp;of weapons that were like giant
cla ws. One set on each hand. He ;blocked my sword with one and would str ike with
the other, like he was pun ching. Worse, they are able to invoke&n bsp;Kaze no Kizu!â€
Kuromakaze&nb sp;growled his gold eyes flashing crimson. &n bsp;Not good. Not good at all! He
disappeared after my failure at his&nbs p;father‟s tomb. I sent scouts& nbsp;out to try to locate
him but a ll failed. How did he avoid detection&n bsp;for this long? Worse, he seems to&n bsp;
have finally mastered his powers. W hat can he do? What can he not&nbs p;do? Wait! He
glanced at Yamibi& nbsp;for a moment. Was that what happen ed? Did she encounter him
while he was journeying to join up with his ;brother?
Yamibi was not an easy&n bsp;opponent to put down. Kuromakaze knew&nb sp;he had to tread
carefully when dealin g with the celestial hanyou. However, s he was easy to predict.
That was&n bsp;the only reason why he hadn‟ t killed her already. A predictable und erling
was easy to manipulate. Still,&n bsp;if Inuyasha was the one who had foug ht with her
before then Kuromakaze could n‟t make any rash movements.
His efforts to undermine his father&a circ;€Ÿs authority and ultimately the au thority of the
tenko lord had stagnated& nbsp;after Inuyasha had deserted. Yet Inuyas ha had then
assaulted five major storeho uses of food and weapons setting him bac k years in a
dazzling quick attack. ; He had countered the pursuing mizutenko&nbs p;with a fire display
that had terrified the other tenko in his forces and left the evil hanyou unnerved.
Witnesse s had sworn the ocean and the sky h ad burned that day. Considering it
had been overcast and wet all around ma de Inuyasha‟s attack all the mor e
impressive and frightening. Then ther e had been the Kaze no Kizu Inuyasha&nbs p;had
turned around and used to cha se Kuromakaze out of the Inu no Taisho&a circ;€Ÿs tomb. Now
he had a&n bsp;custom made weapon that seemed to possess the same abilities of the
Tetsusaiga&nb sp;and it was dual set.
â&eu ro;œDescribe the encounter with as much ;accurate detail as you can manage,â€&n bsp;ordered
Kuromakaze. “I wan t to know everything that was done and&n bsp;said.â€
Noriko looked taken&n bsp;aback. She wasn‟t used to&n bsp;taking orders, but thought better of
arguing when the silver hanyou fixed her&nbs p;with a murderous glare. She told him& nbsp;of
the encounter from when Sesshomaru&nb sp;glided over the camp to her cry of&nb sp;retreat and
the Kaze no Kizu that&nbs p;came at their heels as they fled. &nbs p;She even brought up her
shock when&nbs p;that evening as everyone gathered they real ized that most of families
had disappear ed. She was certain they had been with them after the retreat but by
nightfall they were gone. She described ;the camp the next day when they returne d
to find it had been ransacked. &n bsp;When she finished she glanced at Kuromaka ze.
The silver hanyou was pale.&nb sp; He had noticed what she had not.&nbs p; He knew what his
firestorm justu ;was capable of. He had witnessed it&nb sp;in all its deadly glory. What
s he described was the exact opposite but much more frightening. He controlled it!&nbs p;
He gave the appearance of a full scale firestorm but refrained from killing&n bsp;anyone
with it. Another thought cam e to him and he smiled in grudging admiration.
“Your deserters&nb sp;have joined his ranks,†he said.&nb sp;
Noriko blinked. “What ?â€
“It was a& nbsp;well thought out plan. He got his& nbsp;men fresh supplies. He probably knows&n bsp;
by now who is supplying you if he hadn‟t before. He also increased his ranks while
decreasing yours.&a circ;€ Kuromakaze laughed, though his e yes held no mirth only cold
anger.& nbsp; “Damn that Sesshomaru! H is unexpected interference back then has cost
me dearly. Such a persistent thor n, he is.â€
“I f you had just let me-,†started& nbsp;Yamibi.
“This has no thing to do with that! The problem ;I speak of was before I ever
encou ntered you,†snapped Kuromakaze, jumping&nb sp;to his feet.
“Kuromaka ze-san…†said Noriko, uncert ain of what he was deciding to do.
“Don‟t worry,&nbs p;Noriko-san, I won‟t kill Sesshomaru ,†he said. He turned to he r and
smiled. “Iâ€& Yuml;m just going to torture him a littl e. By your own words, Inuyasha clearly& nbsp;
cares about his “aniueâ&e uro;. At this time, taking the stubborn dog will do nothing for
your bid&n bsp;for power. Inuyasha is the head of& nbsp;the clan now. You need to have&nbs p;
Sesshomaru in your possession and cooperati ve before we kill his little brother. &n bsp;
Then we can avoid anymore unnecessary&nbs p;bloodshed among the inuyokai.â€
;
Noriko visibly relaxed and Kuromakaze walked passed her. “This will r equire
careful planning, though,†he&n bsp;muttered. Sesshomaru‟s not an&nb sp;easy catch and
Inuyasha will not allo w his brother to be kidnapped. Not ;to mention he had the
guardians at ;his disposal now. Then there is the&nb sp;fact that Inuyasha may be
working in& nbsp;tandem with the capital. If I turn my back on them I could find it&nb sp;being
stabbed. I can‟t rush this! If I rush it I could&nb sp;find myself playing right into my
cou sin‟s hands.
****
&nb sp;
The lady elder of Kou walked along&nb sp;the engawa as she thought about the l atest
events. Kakiboufuu was proving to be a formidable leader, perhaps even mo re so
than his father. However, it irked her that he brushed off her and her ilk. He was
still a&n bsp;puppy to her eyes and most others. & nbsp;True circumstances had put him in the&nb sp;
shoes of an adult before his time&nbs p;but that didn‟t excuse his rud eness to the elders.
She was distracted from her thoughts by a familiar&nb sp;scent. One she hadn‟t smelle d
in weeks. She turned her wrinkle d face toward the source. A woman with long
blonde hair, tangled and singe d in places was stepping lightly along t he other wall.
Temari had been mis sing since before the attack that resulted&nb sp;in Sesshomaru
nearly being killed and ;the panthers appearing. The lady elder ;was suspicious of
that disappearance, especi ally when she recalled how Noriko had be en targeting
Himawari.
The lady&nb sp;elder turned away and headed back without& nbsp;making a sound. She very
much ;wanted to see how Kakiboufuu would handle&nb sp;this turn of events.
****
Temari had returned with the defectors. She had stayed in the back of&nbs p;the group,
hoping to sneak in without& nbsp;being noticed. She had prepared a story for her father
that she was c ertain he would accept. It wasn†Ÿt hard to lie to him. He alw ays
rushed to her defense and took her word over others. That was how ;she was able to
explain away all o f Himawari‟s cuts and bruises th at the girl had been unable to
hide .
She hadn‟t witnessed&nbs p;the mass seppuku but she had seen the& nbsp;aftermath. Afraid for
the first ti me in her life, Temari had resisted goin g back to her father until things
h ad settled down and once she had been&nb sp;able to exchange her clothes for less ;
marred articles. Her hair was a d ifferent story. It had sustained burns as well and
though she had washed i t three times already, the burnt pieces still stood out.
Temari knew she c ouldn‟t delay her arrival in fur ther. She would have to sneak to < br>
her father and hoped he covered for& nbsp;her after she had told her story. & nbsp;She didn‟t
want to face&nbs p;the new Inu no Taisho without his supp ort.
****
Kakiboufuu wasn&ac irc;€Ÿt happy when he saw the lady& nbsp;elder approaching him. He was in < br> the midst of talking strategy with his&nb sp;generals and looking over hastily drawn ma ps
of the area. He wanted to attack some of Kuromakaze‟s supply&nb sp;lines without giving
away their position.& nbsp; The only way they would be able&nb sp;to keep his cousin from
reaching them would be to cripple his support. A challenge that wore down his
mental&nb sp;reserves. He didn‟t want to& nbsp;end up in another verbal sparring match& nbsp;with
the old woman; he didn†Ÿt have the endurance for it at the moment.
Kakiboufuu didn‟t l ike rebuffing the elders; he had been ra ised to respect the
elderly. However,&n bsp;he was acutely aware of his youth an d knew the elders would try
to push him around if he didn‟t st and his ground. This early rebellion wa s
necessary. He was certain he cou ld mend things once his position was mor e settled.
The elders did respect power. Still, it wasn‟t easy&nb sp;holding firm before such a
formidable ;force. The elders had cunning and expe rience on their side. It took
inte nse focus not to get caught in their&nbs p;mental traps and cave-in to their demands.& nbsp;
He braced himself for the storm.&n bsp;
“Lady elder,†said Kakiboufuu with a polite nod.
;
“Kakiboufuu-sama,†she said& nbsp;with a return nod. “I&nbs p;have seen something interesting
just now.&a circ;€ The hanyou raised an eyebrow&nbs p;and she continued. “I have&n bsp;seen Temari
sneaking through the temple.& acirc;€
“What? My&n bsp;daughter is here? Where?†demande d Lord Kou, rising to his feet.
&nb sp;
“I take it then, she&nb sp;was not here before?†asked Kakibou fuu when the lady elder
ignored her ;kin‟s question.
â€& oelig;She had been missing since before Norik o‟s attack against Himawari. Be fore you
joined us, Kakiboufuu-sama,â€& nbsp;replied the lady elder. Her violet ;eyes narrowed as
she added, â€&oe lig;I noticed her hair was burned in pla ces.†Kakiboufuu‟s eyes narrowed.
He understood what she was&nb sp;implying.
“I must see& nbsp;her, if she‟s been injuredâ ;€¦â€ started Lord Kou, he turned toward the
doorway only to be&nbs p;stopped by Kakiboufuu‟s call.
“I don‟t believe& nbsp;she is injured, Lord Kou. Injured people don‟t sneak around,â€&nb sp;said
the hanyou. “Now sit down.†Lord Kou looked back& nbsp;to regard his lord. Kakiboufuu
gla nce at him and said, “I wi ll have two others escort her here. &nbs p;I need to know
where she disappeared&n bsp;to and why. Particularly about the part where her hair was
burned.â€& nbsp; He nodded toward a pair of vassals attending the lords and ladies at the&n bsp;
meeting and the pair disappeared.
&n bsp;
It wasn‟t long before Temari was brought into the main room. S he wasn‟t resisting
her escorts& nbsp;but she did seem reluctant to be th ere. The young woman pulled her
ar ms from their grasps and straightened her&nbs p;kimono. Kakiboufuu noticed the
singed ;blonde tresses as she straightened up.
“Temari, was it?†asked the hanyou from his place on the&n bsp;dais. The young woman
nodded but&nb sp;didn‟t say anything. â&euro ;œI‟m glad to see youâ&eu ro;Ÿre well, considering the fact
that&n bsp;you have been gone so long. Your&nb sp;family was worried.†She visibly&n bsp;paled at his
words. “ Do tell us what happened.â€
Temari swallowed then said, “I& nbsp;was with the group when Noriko attacked& nbsp;the cave.â€
This was all&nbs p;guess work for her, she had no idea&nb sp;what happened when Noriko had
attacke d. If she had been able to talk&nb sp;to her father first she could have wh eedled
the details from him while in&nbs p;the guise of struggling to tell a trau matic story. In an
attempt to enco urage such sympathy and helpful suggestions t o move her story
along, she began t rembling and sobbed into her hands.
&nbs p;
“It was so terrible! Th e falling rocks, the screams, I thought we were going to die,â€
she s aid, weeping.
Right on cue, her&nb sp;father chimed in, “Yes, we t hought we were caught in a death trap&nb sp;
when the cave tried to fall in. We were so lucky-â€
&a circ;€œLord Kou, don‟t prod&nbs p;her along,†interrupted Kakiboufuu. ;“This is obviously very
diffic ult for her. I prefer to let her&n bsp;take all the time she needs to tell& nbsp;her story. She
doesn‟t&nbs p;need to be shoved through these traumatic&n bsp;events by an impatient parent.†&n bsp;
His tone of voice suggested something&nbs p;else.
Temari felt her insides fr eeze. The hanyou was not only not going to provide details
for her, but&nb sp;he had all but ordered her father to& nbsp;remain silent under the guise of
sy mpathy. One wrong word now and her ;lie would be revealed. She continued t o
weep as her mid raced on how ;she might escape this trap.
&acir c;€œDuring the fighting, I was separate d from everyone. I tried to get ba ck but then
the panthers came and I had to flee. There was so much&nb sp;fire!†she wailed. “ I
thought I was all alone with no&n bsp;one to return to.â€
Kaki boufuu was not fooled by her deception. Like with Saben, he was able to re ad
her aura for sincerity. It spir aled and twisted with deception. He had stopped Lord
Kou from feeding her details about an attack she obviously hadn&ac irc;€Ÿt known, but she
managed to&n bsp;create a believable story with her acting . The hanyou could tell several
of the inuyokai present were sympathetic t oward her. She had even explained the&n bsp;
singed hair. Definitely a woman to& nbsp;be concerned about.
â€&oelig ;My deepest apologies, Temari-san, for dragging&nb sp;you here like this,†he said, folding
his hands before him. He f elt Sesshomaru‟s burning gaze on ;him and knew his
brother didnâ€&Y uml;t believe a word she had said, eithe r. With his eyes focused on her li ke
a hawk on a fat mouse, Kakiboufu u said, “I‟m afraid&nbs p;I‟ve become a bit paranoid. &n bsp;
Noriko‟s attacks targeted Aniyome that final time. So I had thought that perhaps
because of your disappoint ment of being passed-over for your maid you might have
slipped away to tell ;Noriko about the arrangement. After all,&nb sp;it is a well known fact
that the two of you desire Aniue as a husba nd.â€
His tone was&nb sp;light and he even gave an embarrassed ;smile, but his eyes never left
her.&nbs p; He studied her reaction to his words. He could see that despite her wee ping,
her violet eyes were dry and normal. No swelling or redness marred t heir beauty.
He also noticed that while he spoke she watched him with equa l intensity.
****
Sesshomaru stood out in the faint moonlight of&nbs p;the waning crescent in the wee
hours&n bsp;of the early morning. He and his&nb sp;brother were standing by the pool. I t was
quiet except for the muted ro ar of the waterfall. Away from the ;temple the two
were free to speak of things they couldn‟t around t he others.
Sesshomaru growled&nb sp;and asked, “Why did you beli eve her?â€
Kakiboufuu sighed ;and said, “The question you me an to ask is „why did you&n bsp;accept
her story?‟ As to why: Do you honestly think that fool& nbsp;Lord Kou would have been
happy if&n bsp;I condemned his daughter to death? He clearly believed her story, idiot
tha t he is.â€
â€&oel ig;Why does that matter?†demanded Ses shomaru. “I‟m not ;the only one there who
saw through ;her lies.â€
“I&aci rc;€Ÿd be disturbed if you were,â& euro; muttered Kakiboufuu.
â€&oel ig;How could you grant her a reprieve wh en you condemned the others? She wasn&a circ;€Ÿt
thinking about her family when she made her decisions,†said&nbs p;Sesshomaru.
“Aniue, it was only a matter of time before Noriko& nbsp;found out about your
engagement,†said Kakiboufuu, his tone sharpening with&nb sp;annoyance. “Noriko has
been attacking you this whole time. The&nbs p;only thing that changed was she was targeting someone other than you.â€
“So you are just goi ng to let her go, despite her betrayal?& acirc;€ said Sesshomaru with a
snarl.&nb sp;
“Now whoever said that ?†replied Kakiboufuu as he regarded&n bsp;his brother.
Sesshomaru blinked and ;his eyes narrowed. “Did you&n bsp;forget? After the meeting I
called& nbsp;to Lord Kou and had a private talk& nbsp;with him.â€
Sesshomaru did&n bsp;remember. “What about it?â ;€ asked the dog demon then his eye s
widened. “What did you& nbsp;say to him?â€
Kakiboufuu&aci rc;€Ÿs face became stony and he rep lied, “I told him that if he truly believed
his daughter‟s transparent lie then he was an idiot.&n bsp; That his overindulgence and
naÃ&m acr;veté had created a dishonorable t raitor. That if he continued to refuse& nbsp;to
reprimand her for her outrageous ;behavior I would not spare his familyâ €Ÿs honor
again. That I expec t him to step up as her father and& nbsp;do what should have been
done decad es ago.
“I then ;talked to the elders of Kou and told&nb sp;them I expected them to handle the disciplining of their kinswoman. I told&n bsp;them if I have to handle it then&nbs p;I would not
hesitate to drag their&nbs p;family name through the mud since they ;are the ones
ultimately responsible for ;the behavior of any of their family mem bers. I then went
to the servants& nbsp;of Kou and instructed them to inform&nbs p;me of any rule breaking that
went ;on within the family. That I would&nbs p;not tolerate abuse of the servants. A ny
continuance of such actions are to&nb sp;be reported to me.â€
Sess homaru‟s mouth hung open in shoc k and after several moments of silence h e
said, “So she hasnâ&eur o;Ÿt really been spared, but why did&nbs p;you involve the servants?â€
“After speaking with the elders,&n bsp;I chatted with Himawari-chan,†replied& nbsp;the hanyou.
“It took ;a bit of coaxing but I did manage to get her to tell me about Temari. ; What
she told me prompted me to&n bsp;go and talk to the servants. I&acir c;€Ÿm only one person. If I < br> leave the families to their heads to ;control then all I have to do in c ontrol the heads.
The head of a&nb sp;family is responsible for everyone within their family. The servants
will let&nbs p;me know if the head of a family i s following the rules or not.â€
Sesshomaru regarded his brother. Ka kiboufuu had put the Kou family in a&nbs p;difficult
position. Lord Kou would ha ve no choice but to reprimand his daught er; he had all
but been ordered to& nbsp;do so. Failure would result in the disgrace of his family and
possible&nbs p;loss of their high status. This was&n bsp;something the ancient family could not abide; one girl, particularly a spoiled on e, was nothing compared to that shame. & nbsp;
Temari was probably being punished sever ely as they spoke; the first punishment of
her life and it wouldn‟t be the last either. She would no& nbsp;longer be allowed to get
away with& nbsp;anything; something the proud Temari was ;going to have trouble
adjusting to.
“You‟re cruel,â ;€ said Sesshomaru and his brother smile d.
______________________________________________ ________________________________
Thank you, Rays! Especially for telling me to ment ion in the summary this wasn‟t&n bsp;a
yaoi fic. It just didnâ&eur o;Ÿt occur to me that people would see Inuyasha and Sesshomaru
story as tha t.
As for what Rokukafuga looks&nb sp;like I have a few drawings with the&n bsp;weapon shown
that might help. Of&nb sp;course my drawing suck so it may not. I think you‟ll remember < br> the problem with the website and links.&n bsp; My gallery has other pictures, not many
but some.
Ascension Ceremony: http:(double
slash)black(dash)wren(dot)deviantart(dot)com(s lash)art(slash)The-Ascension-
Ceremony-147719950
Oh $h1t !: http:(double
slash)black(dash)wren(dot)deviantart(dot)com (slash)art(slash)Oh-h1t-141710929
Sagara and Inuyasha&n bsp;Sr.: http:(double
slash)black(dash)wren(dot)deviantart(d ot)com(slash)art(slash)Sagara-and-
Inuyasha-Sr-141700889
&nbs p;
Is anyone else noticing any of my ;chapters doubling up? It was mentioned ;that was
occurring but I donâ€&Yu ml;t know which ones. I would like ;to fix it if possible.
I ori ginally did want him to kill Temari off& nbsp;but I didn‟t like how I&nbs p;presented it.
However, I thought ther e could be no punishment worse for a&nbs p;spoiled princess than
to lose her &aci rc;€œspoiled†status. I might&n bsp;have Temari reappearing in later chapters,&nbs p;it
depends.
Kaiyoshinju will&nbs p;appear again, she just on a soul searc hing mission. She has turned
into someone unreliable due to grudge with Sesshom aru, which is long overdue to
get o ver with. We will see her again an d she will be a much better person when she
reappears.
This really&nb sp;closes off the Exile chapters. Kuromakaze doesn‟t immediately pursue
his& nbsp;cousin due to fact he can no longer predict him. Kakiboufuu just performs raids
on storehouses and supply lines. & nbsp;Boring stuff, so the next chapter is&nbs p;a transition
chapter. We are returnin g to Toromaru and seeing how things went at his end. I
believe a lot& nbsp;of it will be reminiscent, however, I&nb sp;think it will be necessary to lead into the next arc, Hi no Taisho (Fire General).
As for the proposed&nbs p;kidnapping and breaking of Sesshomaru, that ;will happen in a
later arc once Ku romakaze gets all his pieces into the ri ght place for such an event.
Chapter 31: The Return
Kuromaru finally dies and Toromaru‟s leadership is given full recognition. Now he
fulfills his vows of the past and sends& nbsp;the wolf demons to locate his missing&nb sp;cousin.
But even if they find h im what kind of homecoming will he recei ve?
Big ass Japanese glossary. &nb sp;Some appeared earlier, some will appear la ter.
Jaki: Evil aura
Yoki: de mon aura
Shouki: Miasma
Shoukijin: miasm a blade, poisoned blade
Kaze no Kizu:&nb sp;wind scar
Yokai: demon
Inu no Ta isho: dog general
Matte: wait!
Shoj i: sliding door.
Engawa: veranda, walkway&nbs p;running along the outside of the buildings.
Temee: you, derogatory term, very insul ting.
Kisama: you, derogatory term, more ;vulgar than temee
Ano: uh
Hai: Yes
Aniyome: elder brother‟s wife;& nbsp;sister-in-law
Hime: Princess
Waka: Young lord, used for the son of a noble.
Otouto: Little brother.
Onii-(__): Big& nbsp;brother, general. Honorific added on to end, determining level of
respect or&nb sp;love. (Can also be used when address ing a young man.)
Aniue: Big brother,&nb sp;formal.
Imouto: Little sister.
Onee-(__):& nbsp;Big sister, general. Honorific added on to end, determining level of
respect&nb sp;or love. (Can also be used when ;addressing a young woman.)
Aneue: Big s ister, formal.
Ojii-(__): Grandfather, general.&nb sp; Honorific added on to end, determining&nb sp;level of
respect or love. (Can also be used when addressing an elderly man.)
Obaa-(__): Grandmother, general. Honor ific added on to end, determining level of
respect or love. (Can also be&n bsp;used when addressing an elderly woman.) < br> Oji-(__): Uncle, general. Honorific added&nbs p;on to end, determining level of respect&nbs p;or
love. (Can also be used when& nbsp;addressing a middle-aged man.)
Oba-(__): ;Aunt, general. Honorific added on to e nd, determining level of respect or
love . (Can also be used when addressing&nbs p;a middle-aged woman.)
Mina wa ookii ah o desu: Everyone‟s a big i diot.
Sumimasen: Excuse me.
Oyaji: Fathe r, informal masculine.
Otou-(__): Father, gen eral. Honorific added on to end, determ ining level of respect
or love.
Chichiue: Father, formal.
Ofukuro: Mother, informal masculine.
Okaa-(__): Mother, general.&nb sp; Honorific added on to end, determining&nb sp;level of respect
or love.
Hahaue:&nbs p;Mother, formal
Otaa-sama: Mother, said by&n bsp;children of court nobles to their mothers .
XX-(blank): Intimate or rude address d epending on usage.
XX-kun: Male honorific,&nb sp;friendly
XX-chan: Female or young boy ;honorific, friendly
XX-san: general honorific,&nb sp;polite, (Mr. or Ms.)
XX-sama: formal or very polite honorific, used for those ;of superior status or to show
great&nbs p;respect. (Lord or Lady)
XX-dono: more formal honorific, more respectful than XX-sama.&nb sp; Derived from tono
= lord.
;
series. Rumiko Takahashi does. I do own all OC‟s and plot in this story.
Part 2: U nyielding
Mist hung in the air turning the early morning into a wor ld of shadows and gray.
Saben sat& nbsp;on the engawa with his back against ;the wall of the temple staring into
the fog. Despite the exertions, stress&nbs p;and late night, Saben couldn‟t ;sleep. He still
couldn‟t believe what had transpired or that he w as still alive. The events
continued&nb sp;to play themselves out in his mind. < br>
He thought for certain he was going to die after his impassioned words.&nbs p; His angry
speech had declared him&nbs p;and his entire family as traitors who conspired against
Sesshomaru. He was su re he had damned himself and every one&n bsp;of them to an
execution, but what&nb sp;had happened after the other heads of ;family had spilled their
entrails onto the ground in suicide had astonished him.&nbs p;
The metallic tang of blood and&n bsp;the sour odor of intestines filled the&nb sp;air along with
the stifled sobs of&nb sp;loved ones. Saben gazed at the carna ge with mixed emotions.
Sorrow and ;pity weren‟t among them; he had come knowing that things may turn
out like this. He, himself, remained tr apped again the ground; Kakiboufuu‟s& nbsp;foot,
planted firmly between his shoulde r blades, disallowed for any movement.
& nbsp;
The foot lifted suddenly and the ha nyou spoke, “Get up, Saben. &nb sp;Your sincerity,
courage and decisiveness h as spared you and your family.†& nbsp;Saben rose to his knees
and peered& nbsp;up at Kakiboufuu. The hanyou no lo nger appeared cold or unreadable,
just w eary and pale. “I grant a full pardon on you and your family.&nbs p; All of you will
not be held ;to the before mentioned conditions.â€
He turned back to the people& nbsp;beyond the gate and shouted, â€&oe lig;You may tend to your
dead, then ;come in and rest. Tomorrow will bring& nbsp;changes to one and all.†He then
walked away, leaving a stunned&nbs p;gathering behind him.
Saben rubbed&nb sp;his face. “I tell him that my father plotted his brotherâ€&Yu ml;s downfall and
he forgives me,â&euro ; he muttered. “Why? It& nbsp;doesn‟t make sense!†&nbs p;The misty world
offered no answers.
****
Sesshomaru wandered throu gh the gray world. He wanted to ta lk to his brother
about his decision,&nb sp;confused as everyone else was, but the&nbs p;hanyou had disappeared
after he announced&n bsp;the pardon. To make matters worse, the mist had rolled in soon
after t hat, killing all scents and making tracking&n bsp;him nearly impossible. He had
been& nbsp;walking for hours and he was certain&nbs p;he was going in circles.
A faint sound carried through the fog and he headed toward it on instinct. As&nbs p;he
approached the sound grew until he& nbsp;knew it was that of a waterfall, a& nbsp;minor one.
Closer he walked lettin g the faint roar guide him. His fo ot splashed into the pool‟s
shore before he realized it was there. He pulled his foot out and looked down at the
gravel laden shore. A& nbsp;white kimono and blue hakama along with& nbsp;sandals and socks
lay around him; K akiboufuu‟s clothes.
â&eu ro;œWhat are you doing, Otouto?†;called Sesshomaru, figuring his brother was nearby.
“Can‟t&nb sp;I have any peace? Or must everyone&n bsp;pester me about my decisions?†cam e
the irate demand. The mist thinn ed revealing a perturbed naked hanyou standin g
beneath a short but broad waterfall.&n bsp; The water splashed on his head and& nbsp;shoulders
as he glared at Sesshomaru&nbs p;and flowed down his body to the rock&n bsp;ledge he stood
upon before entering the pool.
Sesshomaru stared at&nbs p;him for a moment then asked, â€& oelig;Why are you so angry?â€
Kakiboufuu leaned his head back and let&nbs p;the water fall on his face instead of& nbsp;
answering. Sesshomaru growled and said, “You make so many demands ;yet you
can‟t answer a sim ple question.†The hanyouâ€&Yum l;s only response was to turn his back&n bsp;
on his brother.
Sesshomaru sna rled then leapt over to the ledge, ignor ing the falling water that
soaked him&nb sp;within seconds of landing. He grabbed&nbs p;Kakiboufuu‟s shoulder and spun
him around to face him. Or that w as what he intended. Instead, the momen t he
touched his brother‟s shoulder his hand was slapped away, but Kakiboufuu did turn
around. The two&nbs p;glared at each other for several minutes.&n bsp;
Then, unexpectedly, it was Kakibouf uu who broke the stare down. His a nger
dissolved and he leaned forward unt il his forehead rested on Sesshomaruâ€& Yuml;s
shoulder. The proud full-blood b linked and looked down at the hanyou lea ning on
him. He didn‟t&nbs p;move, he didn‟t know what to&n bsp;do or say.
“Iâ& euro;Ÿm sorry,†whispered Kakiboufuu, his voice sounding more akin to a child& nbsp;than the
adult who had ordered seve ral men and women to take their own ;lives. “I knew it
would& nbsp;come to this the moment I saw their reaction to my announcement about
becom ing the new Inu no Taisho. After w e returned and I spent the entire time&n bsp;
preparing myself for that confrontation. I knew what I would have to do.&nb sp; I knew I
needed to harden mysel f to the consequences. Still it wasn&ac irc;€Ÿt enough. I was so ill
after all of it. It took every&nbs p;ounce of self-control I had to stand t here long enough to
tell Saben that ;he was safe.â€
Sesshomaru g asped at the confession. He had already guessed Kakiboufuu had
been expecting t he defectors. He hadn‟t realize d that his brother had been
traumat ized by his own order. Sesshomaru didn& acirc;€Ÿt know how to comfort him;
something his little brother was obviously&nb sp;seeking.
While he had been purs uing Kakiboufuu through the mist he had worked the
scenario over in his head&nbs p;and found he wouldn‟t have cha nged anything. He
believed he understoo d the reasoning behind it. However, he& nbsp;decided to question
Kakiboufuu anyway. & nbsp;If his brother was forced to hear h is own reasoning aloud he
might be able to accept the bloody aftermath he h ad created.
“Why did ;you order the seppuku?†asked Sesshom aru.
Kakiboufuu didn‟t lif t his head. “Because those&nbs p;people truly disgust me. They were cowards yet even the decision of cowards&n bsp;can affect the outcome of a war. &nb sp;Cowardly
leaders can only do harm. &n bsp;I don‟t think any of them&nb sp;even realized how many of
them there& nbsp;were until they defected back to us.&nbs p; I can forgive someone for their
betrayal if they believe the course they ;chose is the best solution to a problem in the
leadership. And letâ&euro ;Ÿs be honest, Aniue, there were issues. †Sesshomaru glanced
away for&nb sp;a moment and grunted. “They weren‟t trying to solve a problem,†he
continued. †œThey were just trying to save themselv es. If they hadn‟t been so fickle
then maybe none of this wou ld have occurred. Noriko could have bee n stopped
before so many lives were ;lost.†He chuckled. â€&o elig;Or maybe we wouldn‟t have n early
so many defectors.â€
< br> Sesshomaru closed his eyes; he wondered i f Noriko would have been stopped just because she didn‟t have the s upport. “Then that is the ;reason you spared Saben?â€
“Hai, I could tell he was speaking the truth; every word was spoken&nbs p;with passion
and sincerity. I imagine his father must have broken inside afte r the fall of the
castle. He couldn‟t accept he may have aide d in the deaths of so many friends and
comrades so the only thing he c ould do was stand by his decision. ;He may have
been in denial when&nb sp;he attacked me but he died standing b y his convictions. Saben
is young, ;back then he was even younger. He ;trusted his father like all sons do. &n bsp;To
lose his home and so many of his friends, he must have been grieving . He stood
loyal to his family&nbs p;for he wished to protect them. In&nbs p;returning he is seeks
redemption; he w ants to be punished. Instead I spared&n bsp;him. His must be both
confused ;and angry with me.â€
Sessho maru was stunned. He came to these ;conclusions in so little time? â&euro ;œWhy
didn‟t you just driv e them away? Saben‟s people&nbs p;aside, why did you allow the
cowards&a circ;€Ÿ families to return?†he&n bsp;asked.
Kakiboufuu sighed and replie d, “Because we need them. ;Even if they left and didn‟t&nb sp;
return to Noriko, she would still hav e the advantage over us.†Finall y, he pulled
back and met Sesshomaru&aci rc;€Ÿs gold gaze. His eyes were&nb sp;focused. The emotional crisis
had pa ssed, just as Sesshomaru had hoped, however,& nbsp;another had risen. One that
Kakibo ufuu was now confided in him.
“I know you have never been&nb sp;outside of Tenji before. So you prob ably haven‟t seen
tools and ;weapons that were not of Tenji make,â& euro; said Kakiboufuu. Sesshomaru
regarded&n bsp;him but didn‟t say anything. ; That fact was still a point of em barrassment
and anger for the full-blood.&nbs p; The hanyou continued, “The m etal ore of this land is of
poor&nb sp;quality. That‟s why sword sm ithing is such a sacred art. However,&n bsp;because of
Tenji‟s kanetenko ;we‟re able to refine the metal& nbsp;so that it becomes much higher
qual ity. The metal and armor of Tenji is therefore very unique to this country.&nbs p; Do
you remember how supplied they&nbs p;were? They even had an armory in ;that camp.
You don‟t get& nbsp;supplies like that from raiding villages ;or even castles. You get them
fro m a well connected ally.â€
< br> Sesshomaru‟s eyes widened. &acir c;€œThose armor and weapons…& acirc;€
Kakiboufuu nodded. & acirc;€œExactly, they were of Tenjiâ&e uro;Ÿs craft. Her supplier is mostly&nb sp;
likely Kuromakaze.â€
â&e uro;œHe‟s keeping my people tie d up down here while he wrecks havoc&nbs p;in Tenji,†said
Sesshomaru.
&nb sp;
Kakiboufuu turned and stepped to the edge of the rock outcropping. â€& oelig;That‟s what
bothers me,â& euro; he muttered. Before Sesshomaru could&n bsp;demand clarification, the
hanyou leapt ba ck to shore. Sesshomaru huffed then fol lowed. Kakiboufuu was
redressing but hi s gaze was turned inward. â€&oeli g;Why is he wasting resources to keep you tied up here?â€
&acir c;€œExplain,†demanded Sesshomaru wit h a growl, wrapping the back of Kakibouf uu‟s
head with his knuckles.&nbs p;
Kakiboufuu eyed Sesshomaru as he ;tied his hakama. “No offense, Aniue, but if
Kuromakaze saw you a s a threat, he would have made your ;death a priority. Other
than supply&nb sp;Noriko, he has all but ignored you. & nbsp;I just can‟t figure out why , though.â€
“We&nbs p;might have asked the defectors, but you&nbs p;just killed off all the ones who might
have had the answer,†said Sesshomaru, still annoyed by his brotherâ&eu ro;Ÿs statements.
“I ;doubt those cowards knew anything. Noriko&n bsp;would have known better than to let
fair weather leaders into her inner circ le. However, Saben might know something,&nbs p;
depending on how chatty his father was ,†said Kakiboufuu.
****
Saben was a bit surprised when he was called out later that day by ;the brothers.
First he was spared ;punishment for treason and now he was b eing asked to a
provate meeting. &n bsp;The young man‟s mind spun as he tried to sort out all these
strange twists of fate. The scarlet i nuyokai eyed the two as they moved away& nbsp;from
the temple. “Did&nbs p;my pardon bother you that much?â€&nbs p;asked Kakiboufuu, regarding
young man over& nbsp;his shoulder.
“It wa s just unexpected,†replied Saben, not certain how to voice his turmoil.
“This won‟t take& nbsp;long then I want you return to the& nbsp;temple and get some rest,†said&n bsp;
Kakiboufuu. “You wonâ&eur o;Ÿt do anyone any good if youâ&eu ro;Ÿre exhausted.â€
†œSo what are we doing?†he asked.
The two brothers stopped an d turned to face him. “Do you know who was supplying
Noriko?&acir c;€ asked Sesshomaru.
Saben blinke d then looked down. “No, I ;don‟t. I was suspicious of&nbs p;that too.
Chichiue didn‟t&nbs p;know either. Noriko and her brothers were the only ones who knew.
The&n bsp;supplies would just appear overnight. Sh e or her brothers were always on
wa tch during that time so no one else ;saw. Many of us were nervous because&n bsp;of
that. Why was the supplier so secretive?â€
“So much for that idea,†said Sessho maru and sighed. Saben stared at him.&n bsp;
“My apologies, my lor ds,†said Saben, looking down at his feet.
“Donâ€&Yu ml;t apologize, Saben. Noriko may not k now the answer either,†said Kakiboufu u,
placing a hand on the young man& acirc;€Ÿs shoulder. He turned to f ace his brother “She
may& nbsp;have just been happy to get support ;for her cause and didn‟t bother to question
it. Or maybeâ€& brvbar;†The hanyou‟s ey es widened and he punched a tree with&nb sp;a snarl.
“Of course! & nbsp;He wants Noriko to be in debt to&nb sp;him.â€
“Why ;would he want that?†asked Sesshomaru . The pair had seemed to have
forgotten Saben within a few sentences. &nbs p;He stood before them glancing in confusion& nbsp;
between the two.
â€&oel ig;Tenji was unable to expand until Oyaji&nbs p;returned and formed up the Inuyokai clan,&a circ;€
said Kakiboufuu. “ That‟s because whenever civil war&nbs p;broke out among the tenko
their lands& nbsp;were raided. They couldn‟t ;protect them. Oyaji created the clan i n order
to give Tenji protection during& nbsp;these vulnerable periods. The tenko sto pped losing
territory and were able to&n bsp;expand on it; creating the inner territor ies and much of
the order we took&n bsp;for granted. Kuromakaze is trying to&nbs p;take Tenji intact. He wants
the stability that came with a powerful yokai&nbs p;tribe on his side. The Inuyokai clan& nbsp;is
an established power of Tenji. & nbsp;It would be much easier to keep it& nbsp;than to try to
create a new on e. In this day and age that would& nbsp;be next to impossible. They only < br> reason why he disrupted it is because&nbs p;that same power, as a whole, wouldnâ& euro;Ÿt accept
him.â€
& acirc;€œSo supporting Noriko is critical&nbs p;for his plans to take control of Tenji ?†asked
Sesshomaru.
â ;€œI just hope Toromaru-kun was able&nb sp;to cool the fires back home. Kuromak aze‟s plan
hinges on Kuromaru-do no‟s self-destruction,†muttered&nb sp;Kakiboufuu as he bit his
thumb. ;Sesshomaru‟s gaze clouded; his broth er‟s comments lost on him.
“Ano… Sumimase n… My lord, who is Kuromakaze? †asked Saben, finally finding
hi s voice.
****
The next& nbsp;day…
The various&nb sp;heads of family and elders along with ;the three guardians and special
individuals, like Naomi, were gathered in the main&n bsp;room. Everyone sat along the
walls& nbsp;leaving the middle empty. Sesshomaru sa t to his brother‟s left while&nb sp;Naomi
sat to Kakiboufuu‟s rig ht. Kaiyoshinju sat in the right corner ; she hadn‟t stopped
glaring&nbs p;at the hanyou since she had entered th e room. Saben sat closer to the entrance with the other new heads of family from the defectors. The young ma n
was still reeling with the revelations from the day before and was glad h e had been
ordered to remain silent ;about it. It gave him the perfect ;excuse to dodge everyone
else‟s questions on his bizarre meeting with t he demon lord.
“Stop ;glaring, Kaiyoshinju,†said Kakiboufuu. &n bsp;“If you don‟t like& nbsp;being restrained in
such a manner t hen I suggest you learn a little self-co ntrol.†The dragoness growled
an d slammed her hand on the floor, but&nbs p;before she could speak her mind,
Kakib oufuu continued. “Do keep in&n bsp;mind, I am not Oyaji and I am n ot going to turn
a blind eye to&nbs p;your antics. I am not going to b e intimidated by you. Also,â€
Kakiboufuu paused and turned his golden gaz e on her, “I‟m onl y going to say this
once. Let ;go of your petty grudge.†Every one cringed, especially Sesshomaru.
Kaiyoshi nju‟s violet eyes flashed red. & nbsp;“I‟m serious. The offense occurred centuries
ago, it is&n bsp;long past time to forgive or at leas t forget about it and move on. You are
more of a hindrance than a&nbs p;help at this time. If you canâ& euro;Ÿt put it behind you then
hand over the Jewel of the Sea and get& nbsp;out of my sight!â€
Ever yone held their breath. Naomi glanced b etween the two, caught between
loyalty t o her mother and the fact that she had thought the same thing on
numerous&n bsp;occasions. Sesshomaru stared at his brot her in disbelief. Kakiboufuu‟s
expression was stone. Kaiyoshinju was f loored. No one had ever addressed her&n bsp;in
such a manner before.
“I am a hindrance? Me?â& euro; she demanded, her voice squeaking with& nbsp;suppressed rage.
Kakiboufuu held&n bsp;out his hand. “Hand the&nb sp;jewel over, Kaiyoshinju. It was a mi stake
to give it to you in the ;first place,†he said.
She gaped then said in a low voice, he r eyes flashing the whole while, â&euro ;œYou don‟t
trust me to&nb sp;guard it?â€
Without flinching& nbsp;he replied, “I donâ€&Yuml ;t trust you.†The dragoness sta red at him but
Kakiboufuu waited without moving or saying another word. His&nbs p;face was
unreadable. Trembling, Kaiyoshinj u reached up, slipped the circlet off he r head and
hurled it at the demon&n bsp;lord. He caught it and put it inside his kimono without
taking his eye s off her. She rose to her feet&nb sp;and walked with great dignity out of the
room, closing the shoji behind her.& nbsp;
“Was that really nec essary?†asked Sesshomaru after her fo otsteps faded from
hearing. Naomiâ&eur o;Ÿs whole body shook, her head lowered& nbsp;as she tried to sort out her
f eelings. The other inuyokai stared at t heir lord, awaiting his answer.
&a circ;€œUnreliable power is worse than n one,†replied Kakiboufuu. â€&oe lig;I was able to stop her
the othe r night but what about next time?â&euro ;
“She wasn‟ t always like this,†said Raiken, ;thinking of the past.
â€&oe lig;Once she had found herself Iâ€&Yuml ;ll welcome her back, not before,â€&nbs p;said Kakiboufuu. “I
can ;work with no power but I canâ€&Yu ml;t do anything with unreliability.†Sesshomaru
noticed movement coming from ;one of the corners and glanced over. &n bsp;Xeno was
nodding his head in approva l. “Now onto the main iss ue before the rest of you get
anxio us. I didn‟t bring you her e to witness Kaiyoshinju‟s disgrace.& nbsp; That was
necessary due to this&nbs p;issue: Noriko‟s supplier.†< br>
Sesshomaru took the cue and co ntinued. “Despite the raid on& nbsp;her camp, we believe
she‟ll soon have another camp equally well sto cked if she remains out here instead
of falling back to her supporter.â€&n bsp; Everyone gasped and began murmuring to&n bsp;each
other.
Kakiboufuu picked up where his brother left off when the&n bsp;voices died. “We spoke
with Saben yesterday in an attempt to verify the identity of the supplier. We had
hoped that as the son of one of her trusted he may have been ;privy to such
information. But apparen tly, she kept that information within the&nbs p;family. I do,
though, have a goo d idea of who it is, which makes me nervous.â€
Sesshomaru glanced&nb sp;at him in puzzlement. Nervous? It&n bsp;makes him nervous?
â&e uro;œI believe it is the one calling&nb sp;himself Kuromakaze, formerly known as Kanzaki&n bsp;
Sagara… my cousin,†;said Kakiboufuu. “He is a&nbs p;tenko who transformed himself
into a h anyou using my blood. He controls a&nbs p;very unusual combination of jutsu;
wind&nbs p;and metal. He is extremely dangerous. ; He has a brilliant mind, allowing him& nbsp;
to predict and plan around an enemy ‟s responses. As a child h e planned out and
executed the trap ;that involved Takemaru and brought about the death of Oyaji.
He also manipulat ed the death of Hahaue and Ojii-dono. &n bsp;Because of his ability to
predict, h is plans have a far reaching impact, abl e to incorporate years and weave
togethe r random events to bring about a desired result.â€
“A dangerous opponent indeed, Kakiboufuu-sama,â€&nbs p;said Raiken. “Are you certai n
he is the one who brought about&n bsp;the former Inu no Taisho‟s d eath?â€
Sesshomaru replied, &acir c;€œHe bragged about back then, when&nb sp;I last saw him.â€
&a circ;€œYou hale him as a great str ategist,†said one of the generals.&nb sp; “I can see why such a& nbsp;
person would make you nervous but h e has not taken personal note of us.&nbs p; Noriko
may get new supplies but I don‟t see the situation changi ng too much.â€
Kakiboufuu lo oked away and Sesshomaru described the scenar io his brother had
come up with. &n bsp;The one that had Kuromakaze indulging Nor iko because he wanted
her on his si de when he taken over Tenji.
“I see,†said Rai ken. “However, I donâ€&Y uml;t think that will change are situation.&a circ;€
“I‟m& nbsp;afraid it has changed,†said Kaki boufuu. His fists shook as he clenched& nbsp;them.
“When I came h ere I thought he had just taken advantag e of the inner turmoil of
the clan& nbsp;to remove a possible troublesome group f rom the area. That his involving
N oriko ended when she drove everyone south&nbs p;and away from Tenji. However, when we raided that camp I saw the evidenc e that said she was still receiving supp ort
from Tenji.†The hanyou ;pressed his palm against his forehead and&nb sp;growled. “If I
had kno wn that in advance I would have tread&nb sp;more cautiously.â€
â€&oe lig;Why would that have altered how you approached Noriko?†asked another general.& nbsp;
Kakiboufuu lowered his hand and&nb sp;glanced around at the entire assembly. &nb sp;“Because
I didn‟t&nb sp;want him to know where I was. H e ignored you but he has gone out o f his
way to try to kill me, p ersonally! I‟ve faced him twice and barely escaped with my
life tw ice. The second time he followed me&nbs p;into Oyaji‟s grave, alone! He didn‟t have
anyone with hi m and he had to travel outside Tenji&aci rc;€Ÿs borders to confront me that
second time. The moment he catches ;wind that I‟m here heâ€&Y uml;ll come personally and
who knows wit h what kind of support.â€
“You‟re certain he w ill come here himself?†asked Raiken.& nbsp;
Kakiboufuu lowered his gaze. “He marked me for death b efore because he believed
I was a p otential threat. Once Noriko explains what&n bsp;happened, he‟ll know.
Dammit!â€
****
< br> “Noriko-san? What has brought&n bsp;the would-be lady of the west here a nd in such a
state?†asked K uromakaze. He sat on a boulder with&nbs p;his naginata leaning against
his shoulder.& nbsp; He wore only light armor over his& nbsp;black sleeveless haori and hakama.
Beneath that was a light blue kimono wi th a white swirl pattern. A light blue
bandana wrapped his forehead holding&nbs p;back his unruly short silver hair. Hi s
golden eyes regarded the lady inuyokai as she stood before him. Her garm ents were
singed and she smelled of ;smoke and blood. The proud demoness gr owled but her
blue eyes were haunted.&nb sp;
Yamibi spoke up from her place& nbsp;next Kuromakaze. “I guess ;you couldn‟t handle
Sesshomaru after all. How pathetic! You wasted&nb sp;our resources and our trust in an
empty promise.†Kuromakaze‟ s gaze flickered for a moment over to&nb sp;her then back
at Noriko. Yamibi ;hadn‟t been herself since she w as nearly killed several days ago.
She hadn‟t said anything about it, though. He disliked her keeping sec rets.
Noriko growled again but thi s time anger flickered through her gaze. ; “I was
handling the dog& nbsp;just fine,†she snapped. â €œDid you know he had a brother?&n bsp; He
showed up and is apparently ;the new Inu no Taisho. He burned and raided my
camp and killed several&nb sp;of my generals as a form of introduct ion. As a result, most
of my men have deserted with their families. I don‟t have the means to f ight
someone like him!â€
Kuromakaze‟s face went blank then&n bsp;his gaze took on a razor‟s&n bsp;edge. “His brother?â€&nbs p;
“Yes!†said ;Noriko.
“You fought him? â€
“Yes! He&n bsp;completely overpowered me! I designed th e Shoukijin to counter
Sesshomaruâ€&Yum l;s Bakusaiga but that hanyou had a set& nbsp;of weapons that were like giant
cla ws. One set on each hand. He ;blocked my sword with one and would str ike with
the other, like he was pun ching. Worse, they are able to invoke&n bsp;Kaze no Kizu!â€
Kuromakaze&nb sp;growled his gold eyes flashing crimson. &n bsp;Not good. Not good at all! He
disappeared after my failure at his&nbs p;father‟s tomb. I sent scouts& nbsp;out to try to locate
him but a ll failed. How did he avoid detection&n bsp;for this long? Worse, he seems to&n bsp;
have finally mastered his powers. W hat can he do? What can he not&nbs p;do? Wait! He
glanced at Yamibi& nbsp;for a moment. Was that what happen ed? Did she encounter him
while he was journeying to join up with his ;brother?
Yamibi was not an easy&n bsp;opponent to put down. Kuromakaze knew&nb sp;he had to tread
carefully when dealin g with the celestial hanyou. However, s he was easy to predict.
That was&n bsp;the only reason why he hadn‟ t killed her already. A predictable und erling
was easy to manipulate. Still,&n bsp;if Inuyasha was the one who had foug ht with her
before then Kuromakaze could n‟t make any rash movements.
His efforts to undermine his father&a circ;€Ÿs authority and ultimately the au thority of the
tenko lord had stagnated& nbsp;after Inuyasha had deserted. Yet Inuyas ha had then
assaulted five major storeho uses of food and weapons setting him bac k years in a
dazzling quick attack. ; He had countered the pursuing mizutenko&nbs p;with a fire display
that had terrified the other tenko in his forces and left the evil hanyou unnerved.
Witnesse s had sworn the ocean and the sky h ad burned that day. Considering it
had been overcast and wet all around ma de Inuyasha‟s attack all the mor e
impressive and frightening. Then ther e had been the Kaze no Kizu Inuyasha&nbs p;had
turned around and used to cha se Kuromakaze out of the Inu no Taisho&a circ;€Ÿs tomb. Now
he had a&n bsp;custom made weapon that seemed to possess the same abilities of the
Tetsusaiga&nb sp;and it was dual set.
â&eu ro;œDescribe the encounter with as much ;accurate detail as you can manage,â€&n bsp;ordered
Kuromakaze. “I wan t to know everything that was done and&n bsp;said.â€
Noriko looked taken&n bsp;aback. She wasn‟t used to&n bsp;taking orders, but thought better of
arguing when the silver hanyou fixed her&nbs p;with a murderous glare. She told him& nbsp;of
the encounter from when Sesshomaru&nb sp;glided over the camp to her cry of&nb sp;retreat and
the Kaze no Kizu that&nbs p;came at their heels as they fled. &nbs p;She even brought up her
shock when&nbs p;that evening as everyone gathered they real ized that most of families
had disappear ed. She was certain they had been with them after the retreat but by
nightfall they were gone. She described ;the camp the next day when they returne d
to find it had been ransacked. &n bsp;When she finished she glanced at Kuromaka ze.
The silver hanyou was pale.&nb sp; He had noticed what she had not.&nbs p; He knew what his
firestorm justu ;was capable of. He had witnessed it&nb sp;in all its deadly glory. What
s he described was the exact opposite but much more frightening. He controlled it!&nbs p;
He gave the appearance of a full scale firestorm but refrained from killing&n bsp;anyone
with it. Another thought cam e to him and he smiled in grudging admiration.
“Your deserters&nb sp;have joined his ranks,†he said.&nb sp;
Noriko blinked. “What ?â€
“It was a& nbsp;well thought out plan. He got his& nbsp;men fresh supplies. He probably knows&n bsp;
by now who is supplying you if he hadn‟t before. He also increased his ranks while
decreasing yours.&a circ;€ Kuromakaze laughed, though his e yes held no mirth only cold
anger.& nbsp; “Damn that Sesshomaru! H is unexpected interference back then has cost
me dearly. Such a persistent thor n, he is.â€
“I f you had just let me-,†started& nbsp;Yamibi.
“This has no thing to do with that! The problem ;I speak of was before I ever
encou ntered you,†snapped Kuromakaze, jumping&nb sp;to his feet.
“Kuromaka ze-san…†said Noriko, uncert ain of what he was deciding to do.
“Don‟t worry,&nbs p;Noriko-san, I won‟t kill Sesshomaru ,†he said. He turned to he r and
smiled. “Iâ€& Yuml;m just going to torture him a littl e. By your own words, Inuyasha clearly& nbsp;
cares about his “aniueâ&e uro;. At this time, taking the stubborn dog will do nothing for
your bid&n bsp;for power. Inuyasha is the head of& nbsp;the clan now. You need to have&nbs p;
Sesshomaru in your possession and cooperati ve before we kill his little brother. &n bsp;
Then we can avoid anymore unnecessary&nbs p;bloodshed among the inuyokai.â€
;
Noriko visibly relaxed and Kuromakaze walked passed her. “This will r equire
careful planning, though,†he&n bsp;muttered. Sesshomaru‟s not an&nb sp;easy catch and
Inuyasha will not allo w his brother to be kidnapped. Not ;to mention he had the
guardians at ;his disposal now. Then there is the&nb sp;fact that Inuyasha may be
working in& nbsp;tandem with the capital. If I turn my back on them I could find it&nb sp;being
stabbed. I can‟t rush this! If I rush it I could&nb sp;find myself playing right into my
cou sin‟s hands.
****
&nb sp;
The lady elder of Kou walked along&nb sp;the engawa as she thought about the l atest
events. Kakiboufuu was proving to be a formidable leader, perhaps even mo re so
than his father. However, it irked her that he brushed off her and her ilk. He was
still a&n bsp;puppy to her eyes and most others. & nbsp;True circumstances had put him in the&nb sp;
shoes of an adult before his time&nbs p;but that didn‟t excuse his rud eness to the elders.
She was distracted from her thoughts by a familiar&nb sp;scent. One she hadn‟t smelle d
in weeks. She turned her wrinkle d face toward the source. A woman with long
blonde hair, tangled and singe d in places was stepping lightly along t he other wall.
Temari had been mis sing since before the attack that resulted&nb sp;in Sesshomaru
nearly being killed and ;the panthers appearing. The lady elder ;was suspicious of
that disappearance, especi ally when she recalled how Noriko had be en targeting
Himawari.
The lady&nb sp;elder turned away and headed back without& nbsp;making a sound. She very
much ;wanted to see how Kakiboufuu would handle&nb sp;this turn of events.
****
Temari had returned with the defectors. She had stayed in the back of&nbs p;the group,
hoping to sneak in without& nbsp;being noticed. She had prepared a story for her father
that she was c ertain he would accept. It wasn†Ÿt hard to lie to him. He alw ays
rushed to her defense and took her word over others. That was how ;she was able to
explain away all o f Himawari‟s cuts and bruises th at the girl had been unable to
hide .
She hadn‟t witnessed&nbs p;the mass seppuku but she had seen the& nbsp;aftermath. Afraid for
the first ti me in her life, Temari had resisted goin g back to her father until things
h ad settled down and once she had been&nb sp;able to exchange her clothes for less ;
marred articles. Her hair was a d ifferent story. It had sustained burns as well and
though she had washed i t three times already, the burnt pieces still stood out.
Temari knew she c ouldn‟t delay her arrival in fur ther. She would have to sneak to < br>
her father and hoped he covered for& nbsp;her after she had told her story. & nbsp;She didn‟t
want to face&nbs p;the new Inu no Taisho without his supp ort.
****
Kakiboufuu wasn&ac irc;€Ÿt happy when he saw the lady& nbsp;elder approaching him. He was in < br> the midst of talking strategy with his&nb sp;generals and looking over hastily drawn ma ps
of the area. He wanted to attack some of Kuromakaze‟s supply&nb sp;lines without giving
away their position.& nbsp; The only way they would be able&nb sp;to keep his cousin from
reaching them would be to cripple his support. A challenge that wore down his
mental&nb sp;reserves. He didn‟t want to& nbsp;end up in another verbal sparring match& nbsp;with
the old woman; he didn†Ÿt have the endurance for it at the moment.
Kakiboufuu didn‟t l ike rebuffing the elders; he had been ra ised to respect the
elderly. However,&n bsp;he was acutely aware of his youth an d knew the elders would try
to push him around if he didn‟t st and his ground. This early rebellion wa s
necessary. He was certain he cou ld mend things once his position was mor e settled.
The elders did respect power. Still, it wasn‟t easy&nb sp;holding firm before such a
formidable ;force. The elders had cunning and expe rience on their side. It took
inte nse focus not to get caught in their&nbs p;mental traps and cave-in to their demands.& nbsp;
He braced himself for the storm.&n bsp;
“Lady elder,†said Kakiboufuu with a polite nod.
;
“Kakiboufuu-sama,†she said& nbsp;with a return nod. “I&nbs p;have seen something interesting
just now.&a circ;€ The hanyou raised an eyebrow&nbs p;and she continued. “I have&n bsp;seen Temari
sneaking through the temple.& acirc;€
“What? My&n bsp;daughter is here? Where?†demande d Lord Kou, rising to his feet.
&nb sp;
“I take it then, she&nb sp;was not here before?†asked Kakibou fuu when the lady elder
ignored her ;kin‟s question.
â€& oelig;She had been missing since before Norik o‟s attack against Himawari. Be fore you
joined us, Kakiboufuu-sama,â€& nbsp;replied the lady elder. Her violet ;eyes narrowed as
she added, â€&oe lig;I noticed her hair was burned in pla ces.†Kakiboufuu‟s eyes narrowed.
He understood what she was&nb sp;implying.
“I must see& nbsp;her, if she‟s been injuredâ ;€¦â€ started Lord Kou, he turned toward the
doorway only to be&nbs p;stopped by Kakiboufuu‟s call.
“I don‟t believe& nbsp;she is injured, Lord Kou. Injured people don‟t sneak around,â€&nb sp;said
the hanyou. “Now sit down.†Lord Kou looked back& nbsp;to regard his lord. Kakiboufuu
gla nce at him and said, “I wi ll have two others escort her here. &nbs p;I need to know
where she disappeared&n bsp;to and why. Particularly about the part where her hair was
burned.â€& nbsp; He nodded toward a pair of vassals attending the lords and ladies at the&n bsp;
meeting and the pair disappeared.
&n bsp;
It wasn‟t long before Temari was brought into the main room. S he wasn‟t resisting
her escorts& nbsp;but she did seem reluctant to be th ere. The young woman pulled her
ar ms from their grasps and straightened her&nbs p;kimono. Kakiboufuu noticed the
singed ;blonde tresses as she straightened up.
“Temari, was it?†asked the hanyou from his place on the&n bsp;dais. The young woman
nodded but&nb sp;didn‟t say anything. â&euro ;œI‟m glad to see youâ&eu ro;Ÿre well, considering the fact
that&n bsp;you have been gone so long. Your&nb sp;family was worried.†She visibly&n bsp;paled at his
words. “ Do tell us what happened.â€
Temari swallowed then said, “I& nbsp;was with the group when Noriko attacked& nbsp;the cave.â€
This was all&nbs p;guess work for her, she had no idea&nb sp;what happened when Noriko had
attacke d. If she had been able to talk&nb sp;to her father first she could have wh eedled
the details from him while in&nbs p;the guise of struggling to tell a trau matic story. In an
attempt to enco urage such sympathy and helpful suggestions t o move her story
along, she began t rembling and sobbed into her hands.
&nbs p;
“It was so terrible! Th e falling rocks, the screams, I thought we were going to die,â€
she s aid, weeping.
Right on cue, her&nb sp;father chimed in, “Yes, we t hought we were caught in a death trap&nb sp;
when the cave tried to fall in. We were so lucky-â€
&a circ;€œLord Kou, don‟t prod&nbs p;her along,†interrupted Kakiboufuu. ;“This is obviously very
diffic ult for her. I prefer to let her&n bsp;take all the time she needs to tell& nbsp;her story. She
doesn‟t&nbs p;need to be shoved through these traumatic&n bsp;events by an impatient parent.†&n bsp;
His tone of voice suggested something&nbs p;else.
Temari felt her insides fr eeze. The hanyou was not only not going to provide details
for her, but&nb sp;he had all but ordered her father to& nbsp;remain silent under the guise of
sy mpathy. One wrong word now and her ;lie would be revealed. She continued t o
weep as her mid raced on how ;she might escape this trap.
&acir c;€œDuring the fighting, I was separate d from everyone. I tried to get ba ck but then
the panthers came and I had to flee. There was so much&nb sp;fire!†she wailed. “ I
thought I was all alone with no&n bsp;one to return to.â€
Kaki boufuu was not fooled by her deception. Like with Saben, he was able to re ad
her aura for sincerity. It spir aled and twisted with deception. He had stopped Lord
Kou from feeding her details about an attack she obviously hadn&ac irc;€Ÿt known, but she
managed to&n bsp;create a believable story with her acting . The hanyou could tell several
singed hair. Definitely a woman to& nbsp;be concerned about.
â€&oelig ;My deepest apologies, Temari-san, for dragging&nb sp;you here like this,†he said, folding
his hands before him. He f elt Sesshomaru‟s burning gaze on ;him and knew his
brother didnâ€&Y uml;t believe a word she had said, eithe r. With his eyes focused on her li ke
a hawk on a fat mouse, Kakiboufu u said, “I‟m afraid&nbs p;I‟ve become a bit paranoid. &n bsp;
Noriko‟s attacks targeted Aniyome that final time. So I had thought that perhaps
because of your disappoint ment of being passed-over for your maid you might have
slipped away to tell ;Noriko about the arrangement. After all,&nb sp;it is a well known fact
that the two of you desire Aniue as a husba nd.â€
His tone was&nb sp;light and he even gave an embarrassed ;smile, but his eyes never left
her.&nbs p; He studied her reaction to his words. He could see that despite her wee ping,
her violet eyes were dry and normal. No swelling or redness marred t heir beauty.
He also noticed that while he spoke she watched him with equa l intensity.
****
Sesshomaru stood out in the faint moonlight of&nbs p;the waning crescent in the wee
hours&n bsp;of the early morning. He and his&nb sp;brother were standing by the pool. I t was
quiet except for the muted ro ar of the waterfall. Away from the ;temple the two
were free to speak of things they couldn‟t around t he others.
Sesshomaru growled&nb sp;and asked, “Why did you beli eve her?â€
Kakiboufuu sighed ;and said, “The question you me an to ask is „why did you&n bsp;accept
her story?‟ As to why: Do you honestly think that fool& nbsp;Lord Kou would have been
happy if&n bsp;I condemned his daughter to death? He clearly believed her story, idiot
tha t he is.â€
â€&oel ig;Why does that matter?†demanded Ses shomaru. “I‟m not ;the only one there who
saw through ;her lies.â€
“I&aci rc;€Ÿd be disturbed if you were,â& euro; muttered Kakiboufuu.
â€&oel ig;How could you grant her a reprieve wh en you condemned the others? She wasn&a circ;€Ÿt
thinking about her family when she made her decisions,†said&nbs p;Sesshomaru.
“Aniue, it was only a matter of time before Noriko& nbsp;found out about your
engagement,†said Kakiboufuu, his tone sharpening with&nb sp;annoyance. “Noriko has
been attacking you this whole time. The&nbs p;only thing that changed was she was targeting someone other than you.â€
“So you are just goi ng to let her go, despite her betrayal?& acirc;€ said Sesshomaru with a
snarl.&nb sp;
“Now whoever said that ?†replied Kakiboufuu as he regarded&n bsp;his brother.
Sesshomaru blinked and ;his eyes narrowed. “Did you&n bsp;forget? After the meeting I
called& nbsp;to Lord Kou and had a private talk& nbsp;with him.â€
Sesshomaru did&n bsp;remember. “What about it?â ;€ asked the dog demon then his eye s
widened. “What did you& nbsp;say to him?â€
Kakiboufuu&aci rc;€Ÿs face became stony and he rep lied, “I told him that if he truly believed
his daughter‟s transparent lie then he was an idiot.&n bsp; That his overindulgence and
naÃ&m acr;veté had created a dishonorable t raitor. That if he continued to refuse& nbsp;to
reprimand her for her outrageous ;behavior I would not spare his familyâ €Ÿs honor
again. That I expec t him to step up as her father and& nbsp;do what should have been
done decad es ago.
“I then ;talked to the elders of Kou and told&nb sp;them I expected them to handle the disciplining of their kinswoman. I told&n bsp;them if I have to handle it then&nbs p;I would not
hesitate to drag their&nbs p;family name through the mud since they ;are the ones
ultimately responsible for ;the behavior of any of their family mem bers. I then went
to the servants& nbsp;of Kou and instructed them to inform&nbs p;me of any rule breaking that
went ;on within the family. That I would&nbs p;not tolerate abuse of the servants. A ny
continuance of such actions are to&nb sp;be reported to me.â€
Sess homaru‟s mouth hung open in shoc k and after several moments of silence h e
said, “So she hasnâ&eur o;Ÿt really been spared, but why did&nbs p;you involve the servants?â€
“After speaking with the elders,&n bsp;I chatted with Himawari-chan,†replied& nbsp;the hanyou.
“It took ;a bit of coaxing but I did manage to get her to tell me about Temari. ; What
she told me prompted me to&n bsp;go and talk to the servants. I&acir c;€Ÿm only one person. If I < br> leave the families to their heads to ;control then all I have to do in c ontrol the heads.
The head of a&nb sp;family is responsible for everyone within their family. The servants
will let&nbs p;me know if the head of a family i s following the rules or not.â€
Sesshomaru regarded his brother. Ka kiboufuu had put the Kou family in a&nbs p;difficult
position. Lord Kou would ha ve no choice but to reprimand his daught er; he had all
but been ordered to& nbsp;do so. Failure would result in the disgrace of his family and
possible&nbs p;loss of their high status. This was&n bsp;something the ancient family could not abide; one girl, particularly a spoiled on e, was nothing compared to that shame. & nbsp;
Temari was probably being punished sever ely as they spoke; the first punishment of
her life and it wouldn‟t be the last either. She would no& nbsp;longer be allowed to get
away with& nbsp;anything; something the proud Temari was ;going to have trouble
adjusting to.
“You‟re cruel,â ;€ said Sesshomaru and his brother smile d.
______________________________________________ ________________________________
Thank you, Rays! Especially for telling me to ment ion in the summary this wasn‟t&n bsp;a
yaoi fic. It just didnâ&eur o;Ÿt occur to me that people would see Inuyasha and Sesshomaru
story as tha t.
As for what Rokukafuga looks&nb sp;like I have a few drawings with the&n bsp;weapon shown
that might help. Of&nb sp;course my drawing suck so it may not. I think you‟ll remember < br> the problem with the website and links.&n bsp; My gallery has other pictures, not many
but some.
Ascension Ceremony: http:(double
slash)black(dash)wren(dot)deviantart(dot)com(s lash)art(slash)The-Ascension-
Ceremony-147719950
Oh $h1t !: http:(double
slash)black(dash)wren(dot)deviantart(dot)com (slash)art(slash)Oh-h1t-141710929
Sagara and Inuyasha&n bsp;Sr.: http:(double
slash)black(dash)wren(dot)deviantart(d ot)com(slash)art(slash)Sagara-and-
Inuyasha-Sr-141700889
&nbs p;
Is anyone else noticing any of my ;chapters doubling up? It was mentioned ;that was
occurring but I donâ€&Yu ml;t know which ones. I would like ;to fix it if possible.
I ori ginally did want him to kill Temari off& nbsp;but I didn‟t like how I&nbs p;presented it.
However, I thought ther e could be no punishment worse for a&nbs p;spoiled princess than
to lose her &aci rc;€œspoiled†status. I might&n bsp;have Temari reappearing in later chapters,&nbs p;it
depends.
Kaiyoshinju will&nbs p;appear again, she just on a soul searc hing mission. She has turned
into someone unreliable due to grudge with Sesshom aru, which is long overdue to
get o ver with. We will see her again an d she will be a much better person when she
reappears.
This really&nb sp;closes off the Exile chapters. Kuromakaze doesn‟t immediately pursue
his& nbsp;cousin due to fact he can no longer predict him. Kakiboufuu just performs raids
on storehouses and supply lines. & nbsp;Boring stuff, so the next chapter is&nbs p;a transition
chapter. We are returnin g to Toromaru and seeing how things went at his end. I
believe a lot& nbsp;of it will be reminiscent, however, I&nb sp;think it will be necessary to lead into the next arc, Hi no Taisho (Fire General).
As for the proposed&nbs p;kidnapping and breaking of Sesshomaru, that ;will happen in a
later arc once Ku romakaze gets all his pieces into the ri ght place for such an event.
Chapter 31: The Return
Kuromaru finally dies and Toromaru‟s leadership is given full recognition. Now he
fulfills his vows of the past and sends& nbsp;the wolf demons to locate his missing&nb sp;cousin.
But even if they find h im what kind of homecoming will he recei ve?
Big ass Japanese glossary. &nb sp;Some appeared earlier, some will appear la ter.
Jaki: Evil aura
Yoki: de mon aura
Shouki: Miasma
Shoukijin: miasm a blade, poisoned blade
Kaze no Kizu:&nb sp;wind scar
Yokai: demon
Inu no Ta isho: dog general
Matte: wait!
Shoj i: sliding door.
Engawa: veranda, walkway&nbs p;running along the outside of the buildings.
Temee: you, derogatory term, very insul ting.
Kisama: you, derogatory term, more ;vulgar than temee
Ano: uh
Hai: Yes
Aniyome: elder brother‟s wife;& nbsp;sister-in-law
Hime: Princess
Waka: Young lord, used for the son of a noble.
Otouto: Little brother.
Onii-(__): Big& nbsp;brother, general. Honorific added on to end, determining level of
respect or&nb sp;love. (Can also be used when address ing a young man.)
Aniue: Big brother,&nb sp;formal.
Imouto: Little sister.
Onee-(__):& nbsp;Big sister, general. Honorific added on to end, determining level of
respect&nb sp;or love. (Can also be used when ;addressing a young woman.)
Aneue: Big s ister, formal.
Ojii-(__): Grandfather, general.&nb sp; Honorific added on to end, determining&nb sp;level of
respect or love. (Can also be used when addressing an elderly man.)
Obaa-(__): Grandmother, general. Honor ific added on to end, determining level of
respect or love. (Can also be&n bsp;used when addressing an elderly woman.) < br> Oji-(__): Uncle, general. Honorific added&nbs p;on to end, determining level of respect&nbs p;or
love. (Can also be used when& nbsp;addressing a middle-aged man.)
Oba-(__): ;Aunt, general. Honorific added on to e nd, determining level of respect or
love . (Can also be used when addressing&nbs p;a middle-aged woman.)
Mina wa ookii ah o desu: Everyone‟s a big i diot.
Sumimasen: Excuse me.
Oyaji: Fathe r, informal masculine.
Otou-(__): Father, gen eral. Honorific added on to end, determ ining level of respect
or love.
Chichiue: Father, formal.
Ofukuro: Mother, informal masculine.
Okaa-(__): Mother, general.&nb sp; Honorific added on to end, determining&nb sp;level of respect
or love.
Hahaue:&nbs p;Mother, formal
Otaa-sama: Mother, said by&n bsp;children of court nobles to their mothers .
XX-(blank): Intimate or rude address d epending on usage.
XX-kun: Male honorific,&nb sp;friendly
XX-chan: Female or young boy ;honorific, friendly
XX-san: general honorific,&nb sp;polite, (Mr. or Ms.)
XX-sama: formal or very polite honorific, used for those ;of superior status or to show
great&nbs p;respect. (Lord or Lady)
XX-dono: more formal honorific, more respectful than XX-sama.&nb sp; Derived from tono
= lord.
;