InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Forgotten ❯ Homecoming ( Chapter 54 )
[ 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: 9 | Words: 15.3K | Visits: 179 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Fantasy / Hentai / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 01.20.2013 | Pages: 9 | Words: 15.3K | Visits: 179 | Status: Work In Progress
Kakiboufuu‟s homecoming is met with&n bsp;mixed emotions. Few understand the reaso n
for his departure. More shocking ;to all, though, is his rise to power&nb sp;within the
inuyokai ranks.
&nb sp;
135 years before the search for the&n bsp;jewel shards.
Chapter 41: Homecoming
I don‟t thin k anyone fully appreciated the problems my&nb sp;brother faced with his
motherâ€&Yuml ;s people. Then again, he hadnâ€& Yuml;t told us what those problems were. ; He
hadn‟t talked about wh at had sent him into exile at all. And none of us had thought
it ;an important enough matter to press him ;about it.
-Sesshomaru
Toromaru st ood on the wall of his castle staring&nb sp;at the forest edge, his fingers
tappi ng out a rhythm of impatience. His wife, who stood next to him, raised her
hand to his shoulder and said, â&e uro;œYou sent Kenji out only a week&nbs p;ago. As fast as he is,
it w ill still take time to find your cousin. â€
Toromaru grunted b ut did nothing more than bury his restle ss fingers beneath his
arm. He kne w she was right but it still didnâ €Ÿt ease the anxiety in his heart.& nbsp; His
cousin, Inuyasha, had chosen t o leave to save the clan when the f ormer lord,
Toromaru's father, made the decision to have Inuyasha executed for
i nsubordination. The ruling hadn't sat well&n bsp;with the majority of the clan and ta lk of
rebellion had been in the air . Most, though, had hoped the lord ;would come to his
senses and not g o through with such an outrageous decision.&n bsp; Toromaru was
certain, that if his&n bsp;father had tried to execute the hanyou,&n bsp;the people would have
revolted. Inu yasha had left instead and the choice to rebel was avoided.
Still, th ings were never the same afterwards. Th e entire incident with Inuyasha
had only been the first bad decision among a&nbs p;series of bad decisions. The whole cl an
suffered and the war hadn't gone ;well because of them. His father had&n bsp;died still
believing his decisions were&n bsp;the best, despite all the evidence that&n bsp;said otherwise.
The clan had never& nbsp;been happier to see a lord pass on& nbsp;and they all looked to him
with&nbs p;a mixture of hope and suspicion, uncertain& nbsp;of his abilities.
As difficult&nbs p;as it was to stave off destruction, th e hardest part has been not knowing
what was happening with Inuyasha. At l east with the clan‟s problems I& nbsp;could do
something about it, but th ere was nothing I could do but pray ;for Inuyasha, he
thought. Now after&nb sp;all these years, I'm finally able to call him home. Toromaru's
feared the&nb sp;most for his cousin. The hanyou only had had marginal control over his
powers and couldn't wield a sword effectively due to his crippled hand when he l eft.
Worse still, was the certainty&nbs p;that Kuromakaze had been targeting Inuyasha ;from
the start. Why else would he merely abduct Keiko and not kill her&nb sp;outright?
Toromaru had feared his co usin would not survive the exile. It&nb sp;had been a relief
when Kenji stated&n bsp;he knew where Inuyasha was and that he was well. Now he just
had to make it home in one piece.
;
“It would be better if th at worthless coward never returned,†r emarked a snide voice
from behind him.&n bsp; Toromaru and his wife turned to reg ard the speaker.
A brown haired&nb sp;hanyou with blue eyes approached them. &nb sp;The fabric beneath his
armor was blue with gold trim, announcing he was one&n bsp;who wielded both water and
fire; a&n bsp;himizu tenko. They were the most po werful tenko of the clan followed by the
hikaze tenko. This one, however, was more powerful than even the other hi mizu
tenko. He was born to a hanyou family whose demon ancestor was a ;celestial. They
had more celestial pow er than any other member of the tenko&nb sp;clan, including other
tenko hanyou.
& nbsp;
“Hideaki, your words are&n bsp;both insulting and untrue,†said T oromaru as he strove to
remain calm.&nbs p; There had been some who hadn't liked& nbsp;the idea of Inuyasha
returning. Th ey had never understood why Inuyasha had ;left and saw it as
desertion. Hid eaki had been the most vocal of the ;opposition. To the new lord's
ears,&nb sp;Hideaki's protest rang with the notes of&n bsp;a personal grudge.
“H e deserted the clan in the middle of&nbs p;the war,†said Hideaki with a s niff. “How is
that not&nb sp;true?â€
“He was& nbsp;facing a wrongful execution, what would you have done in his place?â€
pressed Toromaru, rubbing his forehead. The argument was old having been voiced
when he first summoned Kenji and never ;silenced. “Meekly gone to a&n bsp;death that
would have served nothing ;but fuel the ire of the people who ;recognized it as
wrong?â€
< br> “How was it wrong? He ;disobeyed Kuromaru-dono and undermined his author ity.
Execution is the only answer to that,†replied Hideaki with a dismissive wave.
“So you& nbsp;would have abandoned Arai Keiko to the&n bsp;enemy?†asked Toromaru after a
moment of silence.
Hideaki snarled&nb sp;and snapped, “That's not the ;point!â€
“Oh but&n bsp;that is the point,†said Toromaru& nbsp;calmly. “She would never have been
abducted in the first place&nb sp;if my father hadn't forced her to rem ain on the battlefield
when she expresse d her desire to retire. Thatâ€&Yu ml;s why everyone recognized it as
wrong . They may not have been officially&nbs p;married but they were most certainly
h usband and wife. Maybe the samurai code says he should have abandoned her in&nb sp;
favor of his lord‟s command&n bsp;but we tenko are not nearly so heart less.â€
Hideaki growled and& nbsp;turned away from the lord and his l ady. “Husband and wife,â&euro ;
he muttered through gritted teeth. &nb sp;“Why the hell did she ever&n bsp;submit to that
useless cur? She&nbs p;would have been equally protected had she&n bsp;accepted me in the
first place inste ad of turning to him!â€
Toromaru eyed the man with a touch of&n bsp;sympathy. Hideaki had favored Keiko for& nbsp;
his bride but she had rejected him& nbsp;in favor of Inuyasha. The reason f or the rejection
remained a mystery desp ite the endless gossip and rumors that s urrounded the love
triangle. â€&o elig;Enough, Hideaki, you shame the Torihane with your selfishness. You
both lost&nb sp;something precious that day. I imagine&nb sp;most of this is coming from the
fact he actually tried to save her and&n bsp;you were unaware of the situation to ;make his
choice.†Hideaki bared his fangs and his eyes flashed red ;but Toromaru refused to
drop his gaze.& nbsp; After a moment, the hanyouâ€&Yuml ;s lips lowered and he stalked off
muttering under his breath.
After the hanyou disappeared from the battlements, Toromaru‟s wife said with
concer n, “I don't think you should&nb sp;have prodded him like that. True as& nbsp;your words
were, rare is the person who can hear and calmly accept them.&nb sp; Clearly the Arai
woman is a sor e point for him.â€
â&e uro;œIt may not have been the wisest&nb sp;move but it was a truth he needs ;to face,†replied
Toromaru as he returned his attention the forest beyond.&nb sp; “He cannot be expected to&n bsp;
make sound decisions if he continues ;to live in denial.â€
******
Kenji strode among the trees.&nbs p; Behind walked the members of the inuy okai clan as
he led them back towar d the castle that acted as headquarters for the Shiro Tenko
and their allies.&nb sp; His arrival at the temple was the&nb sp;first time he had been able to
r eally seen the clan since before the war started. He had seen the inuyokai ;at
Castle Arai, it was only the&nb sp;warriors and not the entire clan. Th ough, he had
anticipated losses, he was& nbsp;still distressed to find their numbers w ere far smaller
than before; the war&nbs p;had taken a heavier toll on them than& nbsp;he realized.
Images of his ow n shrunken clan floated before his eyes and he quickly spoke to
distract himself from the sorrowful thoughts. â€& oelig;It shouldn‟t be much longer&nbs p;to the
camp. I can already smell the cooking fires from here.â€
A grunt from behind him was the only response he received. It had ;been a long
march from the southern&nbs p;territories and they had to make the t rip while dodging
Kuromakaze‟s s couts and armies. An impossible task wh en traveling with a large
group made&nbs p;up of non-combatants like mothers, children ;and elderly. They had had
twelve clashes with Kuro Tenko forces. Every b attle had resulted in casualties,
adding ;to their burden. Demons may recover qu icker than human but they still
needed&n bsp;time to recover. Injuries slowed their&n bsp;progress and had increased the
number&nbs p;of battles they were forced to fight. Everyone was exhausted and still they < br> had to march.
The wolf glanced back at the inuyokai behind him. The adults all wore their masks
of stoicism while their children‟s faces revealed the strain they all felt. &nbs p;Older
children had droopy eyes and stu mbled next to their parents, holding hands&nb sp;that
were their only guidance as they were too tired to see where they w ere stepping.
Smaller children were car ried piggyback or cradled in arms, sound ;to sleep.
I hope nothing happens& nbsp;in these final miles. I donâ&euro ;Ÿt think they would make it if
they had to fight again right now, he& nbsp;thought.
Sesshomaru and his brothe r, the now Kakiboufuu, were walking ahead&nbs p;of the main
pack. Xeno and ;Yukibi were to the right and Naomi and& nbsp;Soranoko were to the left.
Kaiyosh inju brought up the rear. Other warrior s walked between them and their
wom an, children and elderly. A defensive f ormation, but it would mean little if th e
enemy attacking were long-range fighters&nb sp;such as Tenko, archers or ranged-demon
types. Kenji returned his attention to&nbs p;the front and tried to keep his senses open.
The last thing they needed& nbsp;was to walk into an ambush.
< br> As the trees began parting, Kenji smiled& nbsp;and breathed a sigh of relief until ;he heard
Kakiboufuu‟s threatening&nb sp;growl behind him. He glanced over hi s shoulder. The
hanyou was staring ;passed Kenji, his fangs bared. The wol f turned to see what had
upset the& nbsp;half-dog. A figure stood at the ed ge of the woods glaring into the shadow& nbsp;
of the trees. His planted feet&nbs p;and crossed arms an open challenge to the individuals
within. Kenji felt then the elevated, murderous youki and wondered&n bsp;why he hadn‟t
sensed it ;before then.
The whole group paus ed and the warriors closed around their families as they
braced for another figh t. Then Kenji recognized the opponent. Annoyed, he
stormed forward to confront Hideaki.
“What are you doing?†demanded Kenji as he came to a stop a few feet before th e
brunette hanyou.
“ Keeping a damned deserter from returning to&n bsp;the army,†Hideaki replied, his sapphire eyes never meeting Kenji‟ s emerald ones. They instead remained s taring
over his shoulder.
Kenji&nb sp;growled. He remembered his joking words&n bsp;when he set out a week earlier. &nbs p;
He also remembered Toromaru forbidding the& nbsp;challenge. It looked as if Hideaki ;
was about to commit insubordination himself. The hypocrite. “That is n‟t your call
to make, Hide aki.â€
“Inuyasha&nb sp;can‟t expect to be welcomed a fter running away,†snarled the hanyou . “I
can‟t a ccept the lord‟s mercy. That&nb sp;worthless cur is a coward and waste o f space in
our army. He should&nbs p;just stay away instead of getting in t he path of real warriors!â€
He spat to the side and several snarls&n bsp;erupted from behind the wolf. Hideaki&nb sp;didn‟t
flinch at the chorus&n bsp;of hostility.
Kenji was livid and opened his mouth to say more about&n bsp;what he thought of Hideaki
when the& nbsp;growls fell silent and the sound of ;slow, deliberate footsteps reached him.
He glanced back and saw Kakiboufuu walking& nbsp;toward him with his hand raised,
ho lding back the other dogs. The white-ha ired hanyou then reached over and
graspe d Kenji‟s shoulder.
â ;€œIt‟s all right, Kenji,â ;€ he said with a smile that failed to warm his pale yellow eyes.
“I‟ll handle this.â& euro;
“Oh?†said&n bsp;Hideaki, blue eyes narrowing. The late&n bsp;afternoon sun failed to penetrate
the&nbs p;thick canopy and the shadows swallowed the& nbsp;understory. He could barely see
Ke nji‟s pale blue armor and glowin g green eyes. He had been staring at the dark
outlines of people behind&nb sp;him trying to determine where his prey&nbs p;was, if Inuyasha
hadn‟t growle d first he wouldn‟t have been&nb sp;able to pinpoint him. The shadow tha t
had spoken stepped forward and Hideaki saw the faint flicker of armor as the other
hanyou moved. He licked his lips in anticipation.
Kenji st ared at Kakiboufuu for another moment, taking in his tense shoulders and
glittering&n bsp;eyes, before he threw up his hands a nd moved back several paces to
where&nbs p;Sesshomaru stood. “Have it y our way,†he muttered.
&aci rc;€œYou doubt my brother‟s&nbs p;ability to handle this?†asked Sessh omaru without taking
his eyes off the&nb sp;pair of hanyou.
“ Ordinarily, no, but Hideaki‟s fresh&n bsp;and you all aren‟t,†stated Kenji as he returned
his gaze&nbs p;to the combatants. “Hideaki isn‟t a lightweight. Iâ€& Yuml;m just worried about the
fatigue is sue. I knew he would pick a fight. I just didn‟t know he&nbs p;would challenge
Kakiboufuu so soon, especia lly when he had been ordered not to.&aci rc;€
Sesshomaru flicked his eyes&n bsp;to Kenji. The wolf was worried but& nbsp;he wasn‟t panicked.
If&nbs p;he really feared Hideaki would be too much, he would not be so calm. Sti ll
Sesshomaru shifted his weight as he&n bsp;adjusted his stance. If fatigue did ;play a factor
in this fight, his b rother would need support. Sesshomaru wasn&a circ;€Ÿt about to let a
grudge ;match rob the clan of its Taisho.
Kakiboufuu stopped in front of the ;other hanyou, entering the lit area of the tree
line and stared at Hideaki,&nbs p;his face devoid of all emotion. Hidea ki was taken aback
by the hanyouâ& euro;Ÿs changed appearance. The purple demon stripes that made him look
for&nbs p;like a full demon. The armor, battere d but well maintained, with shoulder
gua rds armed with spikes. The rich red&nbs p;haori and hakama and the crème kimono
beneath. On his arms, a set of strange guards with thick metal alon g the top and
small claw-like points&nbs p;resting between the knuckles. However, the clothes paled
against the change in&nbs p;his eyes.
Hideaki had loo ked many times into those eyes in the&nb sp;past when he had put the
snow-haired& nbsp;hanyou down. Eyes that were soft a nd gentle even as they glittered in
anger at Hideaki‟s taunts. Eye s that were bright with compassion. The se eyes
were dark, hatred boiled within& nbsp;even as the gaze froze his blood. & nbsp;There was power
and confidence within&nb sp;that gaze that had not been there bef ore.
“I was going to let bygones be bygones, but it seems&nb sp;you can‟t forget old debts,⠀ said
Kakiboufuu. He then raised& nbsp;his left hand and flexed his claws with an
accompaniment of cracks and pops from joints. “So I guess it‟s time to return what I
owe,†he hissed in a l ow voice. His eyes flashed red and ;he slammed his fist into the
unsuspecti ng Hideaki‟s diaphragm.
Hi deaki flew back several feet into the cl earing surrounding the castle and slid to&nbs p;a
stop, coughing. He rose swiftly,&nb sp;with fangs bared. In the past, the&n bsp;white hanyou
had never retaliated against Hideaki‟s actions. Had never&n bsp;lashed out, much less
started a figh t. He had always taken whatever was&nbs p;thrown at him with quiet,
helpless acc eptance. Hideaki had never thought Inuyasha& nbsp;would attack him. More
had changed than just his appearance. Hideaki reac hed for his sword.
Kakiboufuu appe ared at the clearing edge, his gold eyes fixed on Hideaki. He
lunged forwa rd and was in Hideaki‟s face&nbs p;before the other hanyou could draw his ;
weapon. A roundhouse kick sent Hideaki flying again and this time the brunette
hanyou tumbled, rolling several times b efore regaining his feet. He came up&nb sp;with
his sword drawn only to have&nbs p;it ground into the dirt a second later when
Kakiboufuu landed on the blade&aci rc;€Ÿs base. A knee smashed into&n bsp;Hideaki‟s face.
Hideaki&nbs p;back-flipped only to have his stomach crush ed by Kakiboufuu‟s elbow. The&n bsp;
brown hanyou leapt to the side and&n bsp;began running with the white one keeping& nbsp;pace
behind him. He reached behind him, grasping the hilt of his family&ac irc;€Ÿs heirloom
sword, the all pow erful Anihimizuken. He hadn‟t t hought he would need it to finish
o ff the white hanyou and found a part&nbs p;of him irked he was being forced to&nb sp;draw it at
all. The large blade slid from its sheath and he spun a round swinging it at his
pursuer. Only his pursuer wasn‟t there. < br>
“What?!†he cried&n bsp;as he madly searched for his opponent.&nb sp; The blade bounced in his
grip a nd he turned his attention to it. Kakiboufuu crouched on the flat of the s word,
ignoring the tendrils of energy th at crawled from Anihimizuken up his body,&nbs p;
causing his hair to rise slightly. &nb sp;Hideaki gaped then swung the sword again.& nbsp;
Kakiboufuu jumped up. Hideaki&nbs p;reversed its motion and flipped it over,&nb sp;slicing up
at the white hanyou.
Kakiboufuu‟s hands grasped the& nbsp;hilt and Hideaki‟s before he&nbs p;brought his legs done,
knocking the br unette to the side. Hideaki lost his&nb sp;grip on Anihimizuken and fell
backwards&nb sp;onto the ground. He opened his eyes& nbsp;and felt the tip of his sword bitin g
into his neck. He looked up.&nbs p; Kakiboufuu stood over him holding the ;hilt in his
crippled right hand. Lightning danced around the hilt and over&nbs p;his arm but the
white hanyou remained& nbsp;expressionless.
Hideaki was ;the opposite as his face twisted in dis belief, horror and shock at the
sight.&n bsp; The sword was infamous for its abil ity to fatally reject those who werenâ& euro;Ÿt of
the bloodline. How Inuy asha could stand there holding the infuriated blade without
even feeling pain was&nbs p;incomprehensible to Hideaki.
Kakiboufuu&nb sp;snorted and said, “Hideaki, I&nbs p;ceased being „Inuyasha‟&nbs p;a long time ago.
It‟s&nb sp;„Kakiboufuu‟ now.â€& nbsp; He raised the sword away from Hide aki‟s throat then hurled
it ;into the tree line several yards away w ith the help of a minor explosive fire&n bsp;spell.
The sword speared the trunk& nbsp;of a cedar, plunging nearly to the hilt into the wood.
The tree shudd ered and smoked as the sword continued t o lash out in fury for a few
s econds longer.
Hideaki sat up as&n bsp;Kakiboufuu walked passed him. Their figh t had drawn a crowd.
Along the&nbs p;trees were the inuyokai, while everywhere e lse stood near the castle, the
mixed&nbs p;races that made up the Shiro Tenko arm y, including Lord Toromaru.
Kakiboufuu was heading toward him without even a ba ckward glance at the
brunette hanyou.
Sesshomaru stared at his brother as& nbsp;the hanyou began speaking to the Tenko&n bsp;lord.
“He must really ;hate that hanyou,†he muttered.
Kenji grunted and replied, â&euro ;œKakiboufuu wasn‟t always able ;to control his power like
he can n ow. Being he is from the Kanzaki f amily, his people saw his inability to < br> become a warrior as a failure even t hough it wasn‟t his fault entire ly. A lot of the
younger warriors& nbsp;made fun of him for it. Hideaki&nb sp;did so every chance he could and
even went out of his way at times. ; It also didn‟t help matters&nb sp;that they both had
affections for the same woman.â€
Sesshomaru gl anced at Kenji then regarded the brunette&nbs p;hanyou as he rose from
the grass. ; Hideaki‟s blue eyes were dagge rs aimed straight for Kakiboufuu‟s&nb sp;
unguarded back. This isn‟t&n bsp;over, Sesshomaru thought, his golden eyes ;narrowing.
I‟ll have to k eep an eye on this Hideaki. He tur ned his attention away from the
defeated hanyou and moved to join his brother.&n bsp; Kenji followed without prompt as
th e various inuyokai moved further into the&nbs p;clearing.
“That was certainly a surprise,†the tenko&n bsp;lord was saying to Kakiboufuu. The
man‟s hair had grayed and a few lines graced his face but, like&nbs p;all his people, that
was the extent&nb sp;his age would show. “Kenji& nbsp;told me you were with your brotherâ ;€Ÿs
people. I‟m glad you were able to take refuge with them. You‟ve improved far
beyond what even I expected. Being with your brother‟s people seems to& nbsp;have been
just what you needed.â&e uro;
Toromaru‟s babbling t old Kakiboufuu how much his cousin had w orried for him and
he debated correcting his perception. Sesshomaru decided to do it for him. “I†Ÿm
afraid we can‟t claim&nb sp;credit for his improvement. He appeared&n bsp;before the clan with
the abilities h e has now. I have witnessed little ;improvement in his abilities, not
that there is anything to complain about. Ho wever, his attitude…†Sesshomaru
pulled back his fist and slam med it into his brother‟s head.& nbsp; “… still needs& nbsp;some
work.â€
Toromaru&n bsp;gasped in shock as his cousin yelped ;then whirled around to face his
brother . “Temee! What was that& nbsp;for?†demanded Kakiboufuu.
Sesshomaru refused to look at his brother&nbs p;as he folded his arms and replied, &ac irc;€œYou
were being stupid again.&acir c;€
“So I was s upposed to just ignore him?†Kakiboufu u asked sarcastically and was
cuffed as& nbsp;a reward.
“That man& nbsp;clearly wanted to take your life and&nbs p;you weren‟t taking him seriously,&a circ;€
stated Sesshomaru.
â& euro;œNot seriously?†gasped Toromaru.&nbs p; The fight had looked plenty serious t o him.
Hideaki, who had finally re gained his feet and begun to leave the&n bsp;area, froze at
Sesshomaru‟s words.
“What makes you&nb sp;think I wasn‟t serious?â€&nb sp;snarled Kakiboufuu.
Sesshomaru grabbed&nb sp;his brother‟s wrists, pulling them up so they were in front of
h is face. “Why, then, didn&acir c;€Ÿt you use Rokukafuga?†The hanyou glared but refused
to answer. The silence stretched out between them . Toromaru wondered if he
should b ack away from the pair. This was a battle of wills that could easily devol ve
into a battle of fists if anythi ng disturbed the balance between the two.&nbs p;
A loud sigh caught the Tenko&aci rc;€Ÿs lord attention. A woman wit h long raven hair, violet
eyes, tan ;skin and dressed in blue miko robes rol led a staff with a metal circle at the
top in her fingers. â€&o elig;Yade yade,†Kaiyoshinju said. &a circ;€œWe had to fight the whole w ay
from the southern territories and yet they still have the energy to pull ;these
shenanigans?â€
Kenji& nbsp;shrugged at the group, just as baffled&n bsp;if also amused by the change in mood .
Xeno shook his head and stalked& nbsp;toward the castle, his red-orange cape s wirling
behind him as he moved. Hi s wife, Yukibi, followed with a flick of her pale-white
tail. Several others&nb sp;followed after. Soranoko trotted up to&nb sp;the confused Toromaru.
â€&oeli g;Is it all right if the others enter&nb sp;the castle? We are really tired desp ite their
quarreling,†she said. Toromaru took a step back and&nb sp;nodded his head, still
overwhelmed by ;it all. He had never seen his cou sin so aggressive and
temperamental before.&n bsp;
Kaiyoshinju walked up to the b rothers and swung her staff at the back& nbsp;of
Sesshomaru‟s head. &aci rc;€œEnough of that. Everyone too ;tired for these antics.â€
T he taiyokai ducked and the staff sailed over his head only to slam the less ;
attentive Kakiboufuu in the face. The& nbsp;hanyou staggered back and grabbed his no se,
which had begun leaking blood. ;The dragon hanyou blinked in surprise then&n bsp;glared
at Sesshomaru who stood back up with a barely suppressed smirk.
;
“Oi,†said Kakiboufuu i n a flat, low tone that was far mor e terrifying than if he had
roared. ;
Kaiyoshinju glanced at him,&nbs p;shrugged and said, “Well, you ;should have ducked like
your brother di d.†There was nothing the hanyou could say in response, though, it
looked as if he would remember it later. He stalked passed them, too embarrasse d
to continue conversing with anyone. &n bsp;
“Is he all righ t?†asked Toromaru, nervously.
< br> “He‟ll be fine,â&e uro; said Sesshomaru, his tone dismissive. &n bsp;“Especially after he rests
awhile.â€
“You ;said he appeared before you as he is&nb sp;now,†said Toromaru. â€&oeli g;What do you
mean?â€
& acirc;€œI don‟t know how l ong he was exiled, but he has been with us only for a decade and
half, †replied Sesshomaru. “ The skill he demonstrated today is only a small part of
what he can do ;and all of it he could already do prior to his joining us.â€
< br> Toromaru thought about that for a moment& nbsp;and Sesshomaru turned to follow his
clansmen to the castle. “Sess homaru-san,†called the Tenko lord. &n bsp;The demon
paused and looked back. &n bsp;“Once you and your people h ave rested, I would like for all
th e leaders to meet so we can discuss ;what our next steps should be.†Sesshomaru
nodded then continued on his way.
Toromaru never saw the taiyokai‟s amused expression.
< br> *****
The leaders of the Shiro Tenko gathered the next day. Hideaki&n bsp;sat at the very end
instead of at his usual seat closer to the generals . A shameful change in position
an d he was only permitted to join them&nbs p;because Toromaru wanted to keep an eye ;on
him. The other generals, lords ;and commanders had at least heard rumors&nbs p;of the
encounter between Hideaki and I nuyasha. Most had a hard time believing them.
Toromaru had ordered a ;change to the arrangement of the council.&nb sp; He didn‟t just
expect t he Inu no Taisho to join them but a ll of the Taisho‟s own generals& nbsp;and lords.
The Tenko lord had ;all his subordinates seated to his left.&nbs p; An extra cushion was
arranged next&nb sp;to him for the Inu no Taisho was ;his equal. The empty row to
Torom aru‟s right would be filled with the Taisho‟s subordinates. Tor omaru
wondered if his cousin would even& nbsp;be there.
Kenji stood off&nbs p;to the right, he was a guardian who&nb sp;was technically under the direct
command&n bsp;of the Taisho. He was awaiting the& nbsp;arrival of the Inuyokai clan before he&n bsp;
claimed his seat. The wolf demon&nb sp;seemed unusually tense, his foot tapping i n
uncharacteristic impatience. His typical&n bsp;light and warm manner turned serious
and cold. Toromaru wondered what he wa s worried about.
Then all thoughts ended with the sound of approaching foo tsteps. Kakiboufuu
paused at the entran ce to take in the sight of the gath ering. Without glancing at
the disgrace d Hideaki, he strode forward with Sesshomaru, the other three
guardians and various&n bsp;heads and generals. Each one took t heir place as they came
upon it, fi lling the line in reverse order.
< br> Toromaru and the others stared as hanyou& nbsp;kept walking forward. This was the ;first
sight of him for many and se eing him with demon marks and in full&nb sp;armor made
them reassess their earlier&nbs p;judgment of the rumors. Still Toromaru&nbs p;felt a growing
disbelief as his cousin continued to move forward. Then it&nbs p;was only the brothers,
Naomi and unkno wn girl standing before the dais as all& nbsp;four guardians sat. The
ladies too k their place just behind the main row,& nbsp;then Sesshomaru sat on the last
ava ilable cushion in the line just ahead of the guardians.
Kakiboufuu stepped ;onto the dais and numerous generals and ;lords of the Shiro
Tenko rose in p rotest. Toromaru stared in shock, not b elieving what he was seeing
as his cousin settled himself next to him. The hanyou said nothing despite the
shouts& nbsp;and accusations filling the air. His&nb sp;clansmen remained silent as well. The&nbs p;
protests eventually died and the men r eclaimed their seats still trembling with
barely suppressed emotions.
Toromaru found his voice in the new silence. &nbs p;“I have to say this was unexpected.
Did the former Inu no Taisho leave behind a will stating you w ere his heir?â€
â&euro ;œNo,†replied Kakiboufuu. â&e uro;œOyaji left no such will. Without& nbsp;clear directions, the
elders of the ;clan ordered Sesshomaru and myself to settle the matter with a duel. I
wa s victorious.â€
“Se sshomaru‟s fighting ability must be&n bsp;really pathetic if you were able to defeat
him,†said Hideaki from th e end of the line. A chorus of&nbs p;growls rose in response.
Sesshomaruâ €Ÿs eyebrow twitched and his face t ightened but otherwise he didn‟t ;
react. Kakiboufuu narrowed his eyes. < br>
“It is not your place to speak at this gathering, Hideaki,â& euro; snapped Toromaru.
Hideaki just sn eered at his lord. General Kenshin shoo k his head at his son‟s
shameful behavior. Toromaru caught movement&nbs p;to his right and saw his cousin
l eaning forward. The hanyou‟s mo uth moved but Toromaru could hear nothing.&nb sp;
Sesshomaru, however, could hear the Taisho just fine.
He regarded his& nbsp;younger brother for a moment and said,&n bsp;“If Hideaki doubts my
abili ties I can demonstrate to him the differ ence in our opinions.†Kenji had
returned the taiyokai‟s swords& nbsp;the night before. The decade without&nb sp;them and his
celestial power really h ad improved his fighting ability. He wa s still in wonder at
how light he&n bsp;felt now with his was power restored.&nbs p;
The Shiro Tenko gasped and Torom aru was appalled but several inuyokai smiled& nbsp;in
anticipation. The Tenko lord gr imaced when he caught Kakiboufuu‟s&nb sp;bored
expression even as his eyes gli ttered. The Tenko lord felt his insides freeze as the
meaning of the earli er silent words came to him.
He was arranging for this, he thought. & nbsp;“Enough!†Toromaru barked.&nb sp; “I won‟t
toler ate any infighting. Allies should not b e battling one another.†Sesshomaru&n bsp;
tsked but didn‟t say anythin g.
“Don‟t&nb sp;smirk, Hideaki,†said Kakiboufuu. “You haven‟t escaped ye t.†The brunette
hanyou stared&n bsp;in disbelief.
“Cousin!&aci rc;€ shouted Toromaru.
â€&oe lig;I am not yours to command, Toromaru-kun,& acirc;€ said Kakiboufuu with a slight sm ile.
“If I choose to ;allow my brother the right to defend hi s honor in a duel then that is
my decision. The only one you have&nbs p;command over is Hideaki. You can forb id him
from fighting but heâ€&Yuml ;ll have to concede the match and offer& nbsp;an apology as well as
compensation for the damage the slander has caused.â € Hideaki blanched.
A laugh& nbsp;attracted their attention. General Iken,&nbs p;the wolf hanyou tenko, looked
toward t he dais. “This is certainly&nb sp;a surprise. The quiet, shy puppy, wh o was only
good at scouting and inf iltration, has grown into quite the man. ; I must confess I
never expected t his about-face.â€
“ Infiltration?†muttered Sesshomaru glancing ;at General Iken.
“Yes,&n bsp;he was surprisingly adept at penetrating deep into enemy territory to gather
info rmation on their movements,†replied T oromaru, grateful for the topic change. ;
However, this revelation seemed only to ;irritate the taiyokai. He glared at hi s
brother who had suddenly found his&nbs p;claws to be extremely interesting.
“Hmmm… He did say& nbsp;he knew what he was doing,†whispered Kaiyoshinju with a
small smile.&nbs p;
Kenji leaned forward to see pass ed the other three guardians. â€& oelig;Did I miss
something interesting?â&eur o; he asked, voicing a number of the&nbs p;Shiro Tenko‟s thoughts in
far& nbsp;simpler terms than they would have used.
Soranoko snickered into the folds of her fan and replied, â€&o elig;It‟s still a debate as to&n bsp;
what was more spectacular, Kuromakaze los ing his head… or Sesshomaru.⠀
“Oh, I must h ear about this,†said General Iken&nbs p;with a grin. “How did t he pair lose
their heads?â€
& nbsp;
“I don‟t think&nbs p;this is relevant to the meeting!â€&nb sp;snapped Sesshomaru, not wanting
the conver sation to be carried further.
&aci rc;€œI think not either,†said&n bsp;General Kenshin. Others murmured their a greement.
Toromaru had become curious d espite himself but was prepared to wait until a
more appropriate time to hear&nb sp;about it.
Various members of th e inuyokai clan had other ideas. Naomi& nbsp;leaned forward and
wrapped her arms ;around her father‟s neck, intruding& nbsp;on the meeting by saying, â€&oelig ;It
has a lot of relevance to this& nbsp;meeting. Chichiue doesn‟t want& nbsp;to talk about it
because he†Ÿs embarrassed and disapproved of the wh ole thing in the first place. He < br> doesn‟t want to encourage Oji-san to do it again.â€
&aci rc;€œNaomi,†warned Sesshomaru but&nb sp;his daughter just giggled and strangled hi m with
an overenthusiastic hug.
Kaiyoshinju smiled as Sesshomaru gasped and&nbs p;tried to dislodge their daughter. â& euro;œA
few years ago our Taisho w ent undercover to discover the location of&nb sp;the Kuro
Tenko‟s special weap ons. He did it without telling the ;rest of us what he was doing.
He returned after getting the information h e wanted. Sesshomaru was infuriated
by& nbsp;his brother‟s recklessness. It& nbsp;was probably the one and only time he was
victorious over the Taisho in&nbs p;a battle. Though, the Taisho recovered&nbs p;his pride soon
enough after.
“We then took the ;information and launched a series of success ful attacks that
eliminated the special weapons. The unexpected and wholly entertain ing collateral
was that Kuromakaze thought&nb sp;he had a traitor in his midst and&nbs p;rampaged through
his own ranks. He&nb sp;nearly succeeded in destroying his own arm y. Pity he reclaimed
his senses be fore he could. I doubt he‟ ll repeat the mistake.â€
&ac irc;€œIf you can infiltrate so well,&nb sp;why didn‟t you assassinate him?&ac irc;€ asked Futakara, a
Daimyo from ;the eastern border. He was one of ;the lords who disfavored
Kakiboufuu. H e was still young and human. He ha d not been in power when the
hanyou left and only understood the matter fro m the rumors, speculations and
accusations&nb sp;that had followed Kakiboufuu‟s dep arture.
Kakiboufuu regarded the man&nbs p;for a moment, his face stone, before r eplying, “I
cannot approach him without him knowing I am there. H e cannot be everywhere at
once. So I was able to avoid him as I sought my targets. The weapons had a&nb sp;
distinct odor making it easy to ident ify their location if I was close enough to smell
the keeps they were hidde n in.â€
“You s houldn‟t have gone at all,â&eur o; muttered Sesshomaru after he freed himself from
Naomi‟s grip.
< br> “So you have said countless ;times since,†said Kakiboufuu. &acir c;€œI won‟t change my
mind on the matter and apparently neither&nb sp;will you, Aniue. Since it is a moot point,
I suggest you stop harping&n bsp;on it.â€
“I&aci rc;€Ÿll only stop once I‟m& nbsp;convinced you won‟t repeat it,&a circ;€ snarled Sesshomaru.
â&euro ;œI can‟t promise that and ;you know it,†hissed the hanyou. ;
“Enough,†said&nb sp;Xeno without a trace of anger or impa tience. “Sesshomaru-sama, I
kn ow it is your job task to protect t he Taisho from himself, however, he is r ight.
Sometimes the risk must be t aken to prevent a far greater disaster. Now I believe
we have held up ;this meeting long enough. Toromaru-dono.â& euro;
Toromaru inclined his head t o shrouded fire demon and Kakiboufuu inhaled& nbsp;slowly
before he breathed out in a& nbsp;silent meditative exhale. Settling his nerves, thought
the Tenko lord in surpri se. So ka. He must have been ;anxious about this
gathering. That exp lains the dominance display, he wanted to&nbs p;make certain
everyone understood he was&nbs p;not the same hanyou he was before. &nb sp;Toromaru glanced
among the Inuyokai. ;None of them are bothered by his behavi or just now. Either
this was plann ed or this is common. Toromaru glanced& nbsp;back at his cousin. A young
T aisho among so many older and more exper ienced leaders… He can neithe r back
down nor hesitate or they wi ll eat alive.
_________________________________________ ________
Chapter 42: Sympathy for th e Devil
Infuriated by Kakiboufuu&aci rc;€Ÿs return to the Tenko, Kuromakaze&n bsp;aims to remove all
chaos elements fr om Tenji. Maou becomes his prime target . When Maou is found
near death,&n bsp;will anyone lift a finger to save th e dark dealer of souls?
_____________________ ____________________________
Author Chat:
Aeglos thanks for always commenting. ; I really do appreciate it tremendously.&nbs p;
Admittedly this chapter was originally&nbs p;written to be Chapter 31 so there may& nbsp;be
some repetition in the history s ummary at the beginning. However the la st ten
pages are entirely new material&n bsp;added when I realized it wasnâ€&Yum l;t living up to its title.
It&nbs p;only had that fight in the beginning a nd then it was done. I also edited the first
nine pages to make sure it flowed better, adding descriptions an d changing quotes.
Hopefully it works&n bsp;now. The next chapter was also writ ten at the same time as this
one&nb sp;so I will have to make some adjustmen ts to it as well. Hopefully their won‟t be
as many and I ;won‟t have to expand it. Afterwards, it will be all uncharted
ter ritory, so to speak, so I may wait until I write a few more chapters before posting
42.
_______________ _____________________________________________________
Translation s:
Tsuchi: earth
Hi: fire
Mizu:&nbs p;water
Ki: wood
Kane: metal
Kaze:& nbsp;wind
Himizu: as discordant as fire and water
Hikaze: fire wind
Tenki: weather
Enzeru: angel
Hanyou: half-demon ;
Obi: the sash that is wrapped around&nb sp;a woman‟s waist to hold her&n bsp;kimono closed.
Matte: wait!
Shoji: s liding door.
Engawa: veranda, walkway running along the outside of the buildings.
Temee: you, derogatory term, very insulting.&nbs p;
Kisama: you, derogatory term, more vulgar&n bsp;than temee
Ano: uh
Hai: Yes
Aniyome: elder brother‟s wife; sist er-in-law
Hime: Princess
Waka: Young&nbs p;lord, used for the son of a noble.&nbs p;
Otouto: Little brother.
Onii-(__): Big ;brother, general. Honorific added on to&nbs p;end, determining level of
respect of l ove. (Can also be used when addressing& nbsp;a young man.)
Aniue: Big brother, f ormal.
Imouto: Little sister.
Onee-(__): ;Big sister, general. Honorific added on&nbs p;to end, determining level of
respect o f love. (Can also be used when add ressing a young woman.)
Aneue: Big siste r, formal.
Ojii-(__): Grandfather, general. & nbsp;Honorific added on to end, determining l evel of
respect of love. (Can also be used when addressing an elderly man. )
Obaa-(__): Grandmother, general. Honorific added on to end, determining level of&n bsp;
respect of love. (Can also be used when addressing an elderly woman.)
Oji-(__): Uncle, general. Honorific added on to end, determining level of respect of
love. (Can also be used when ;addressing a middle-aged man.)
Oba-(__): Aun t, general. Honorific added on to end,& nbsp;determining level of respect of
love.&nb sp; (Can also be used when addressing a& nbsp;middle-aged woman.)
Mina wa ookii aho&nb sp;desu: Everyone‟s a big idiot .
Sumimasen: Excuse me.
Oyaji: Father,&n bsp;informal masculine.
Otou-(__): Father, general . Honorific added on to end, determinin g level of respect
or love.
Chichiu e: Father, formal.
Ofukuro: Mother, informal& nbsp;masculine.
Okaa-(__): Mother, general. Honorific added on to end, determining level& nbsp;of respect
or love.
Hahaue: Mother, formal
Otaa-sama: Mother, said by child ren of court nobles to their mothers. XX-(blank): Intimate or rude address depending& nbsp;on usage.
XX-kun: Male honorific, f riendly
XX-chan: Female or young boy hon orific, friendly
XX-san: general honorific, p olite, (Mr. or Ms.)
XX-sama: formal or&n bsp;very polite honorific, used for those of& nbsp;superior status or to show
great re spect. (Lord or Lady)
XX-dono: more form al honorific, more respectful than XX-sama. & nbsp;Derived from tono
= lord.
for his departure. More shocking ;to all, though, is his rise to power&nb sp;within the
inuyokai ranks.
&nb sp;
135 years before the search for the&n bsp;jewel shards.
Chapter 41: Homecoming
I don‟t thin k anyone fully appreciated the problems my&nb sp;brother faced with his
motherâ€&Yuml ;s people. Then again, he hadnâ€& Yuml;t told us what those problems were. ; He
hadn‟t talked about wh at had sent him into exile at all. And none of us had thought
it ;an important enough matter to press him ;about it.
-Sesshomaru
Toromaru st ood on the wall of his castle staring&nb sp;at the forest edge, his fingers
tappi ng out a rhythm of impatience. His wife, who stood next to him, raised her
hand to his shoulder and said, â&e uro;œYou sent Kenji out only a week&nbs p;ago. As fast as he is,
it w ill still take time to find your cousin. â€
Toromaru grunted b ut did nothing more than bury his restle ss fingers beneath his
arm. He kne w she was right but it still didnâ €Ÿt ease the anxiety in his heart.& nbsp; His
cousin, Inuyasha, had chosen t o leave to save the clan when the f ormer lord,
Toromaru's father, made the decision to have Inuyasha executed for
i nsubordination. The ruling hadn't sat well&n bsp;with the majority of the clan and ta lk of
rebellion had been in the air . Most, though, had hoped the lord ;would come to his
senses and not g o through with such an outrageous decision.&n bsp; Toromaru was
certain, that if his&n bsp;father had tried to execute the hanyou,&n bsp;the people would have
revolted. Inu yasha had left instead and the choice to rebel was avoided.
Still, th ings were never the same afterwards. Th e entire incident with Inuyasha
had only been the first bad decision among a&nbs p;series of bad decisions. The whole cl an
suffered and the war hadn't gone ;well because of them. His father had&n bsp;died still
believing his decisions were&n bsp;the best, despite all the evidence that&n bsp;said otherwise.
The clan had never& nbsp;been happier to see a lord pass on& nbsp;and they all looked to him
with&nbs p;a mixture of hope and suspicion, uncertain& nbsp;of his abilities.
As difficult&nbs p;as it was to stave off destruction, th e hardest part has been not knowing
what was happening with Inuyasha. At l east with the clan‟s problems I& nbsp;could do
something about it, but th ere was nothing I could do but pray ;for Inuyasha, he
thought. Now after&nb sp;all these years, I'm finally able to call him home. Toromaru's
feared the&nb sp;most for his cousin. The hanyou only had had marginal control over his
powers and couldn't wield a sword effectively due to his crippled hand when he l eft.
Worse still, was the certainty&nbs p;that Kuromakaze had been targeting Inuyasha ;from
the start. Why else would he merely abduct Keiko and not kill her&nb sp;outright?
Toromaru had feared his co usin would not survive the exile. It&nb sp;had been a relief
when Kenji stated&n bsp;he knew where Inuyasha was and that he was well. Now he just
had to make it home in one piece.
;
“It would be better if th at worthless coward never returned,†r emarked a snide voice
from behind him.&n bsp; Toromaru and his wife turned to reg ard the speaker.
A brown haired&nb sp;hanyou with blue eyes approached them. &nb sp;The fabric beneath his
armor was blue with gold trim, announcing he was one&n bsp;who wielded both water and
fire; a&n bsp;himizu tenko. They were the most po werful tenko of the clan followed by the
hikaze tenko. This one, however, was more powerful than even the other hi mizu
tenko. He was born to a hanyou family whose demon ancestor was a ;celestial. They
had more celestial pow er than any other member of the tenko&nb sp;clan, including other
tenko hanyou.
& nbsp;
“Hideaki, your words are&n bsp;both insulting and untrue,†said T oromaru as he strove to
remain calm.&nbs p; There had been some who hadn't liked& nbsp;the idea of Inuyasha
returning. Th ey had never understood why Inuyasha had ;left and saw it as
desertion. Hid eaki had been the most vocal of the ;opposition. To the new lord's
ears,&nb sp;Hideaki's protest rang with the notes of&n bsp;a personal grudge.
“H e deserted the clan in the middle of&nbs p;the war,†said Hideaki with a s niff. “How is
that not&nb sp;true?â€
“He was& nbsp;facing a wrongful execution, what would you have done in his place?â€
pressed Toromaru, rubbing his forehead. The argument was old having been voiced
when he first summoned Kenji and never ;silenced. “Meekly gone to a&n bsp;death that
would have served nothing ;but fuel the ire of the people who ;recognized it as
wrong?â€
< br> “How was it wrong? He ;disobeyed Kuromaru-dono and undermined his author ity.
Execution is the only answer to that,†replied Hideaki with a dismissive wave.
“So you& nbsp;would have abandoned Arai Keiko to the&n bsp;enemy?†asked Toromaru after a
moment of silence.
Hideaki snarled&nb sp;and snapped, “That's not the ;point!â€
“Oh but&n bsp;that is the point,†said Toromaru& nbsp;calmly. “She would never have been
abducted in the first place&nb sp;if my father hadn't forced her to rem ain on the battlefield
when she expresse d her desire to retire. Thatâ€&Yu ml;s why everyone recognized it as
wrong . They may not have been officially&nbs p;married but they were most certainly
h usband and wife. Maybe the samurai code says he should have abandoned her in&nb sp;
favor of his lord‟s command&n bsp;but we tenko are not nearly so heart less.â€
Hideaki growled and& nbsp;turned away from the lord and his l ady. “Husband and wife,â&euro ;
he muttered through gritted teeth. &nb sp;“Why the hell did she ever&n bsp;submit to that
useless cur? She&nbs p;would have been equally protected had she&n bsp;accepted me in the
first place inste ad of turning to him!â€
Toromaru eyed the man with a touch of&n bsp;sympathy. Hideaki had favored Keiko for& nbsp;
his bride but she had rejected him& nbsp;in favor of Inuyasha. The reason f or the rejection
remained a mystery desp ite the endless gossip and rumors that s urrounded the love
triangle. â€&o elig;Enough, Hideaki, you shame the Torihane with your selfishness. You
both lost&nb sp;something precious that day. I imagine&nb sp;most of this is coming from the
fact he actually tried to save her and&n bsp;you were unaware of the situation to ;make his
choice.†Hideaki bared his fangs and his eyes flashed red ;but Toromaru refused to
drop his gaze.& nbsp; After a moment, the hanyouâ€&Yuml ;s lips lowered and he stalked off
muttering under his breath.
After the hanyou disappeared from the battlements, Toromaru‟s wife said with
concer n, “I don't think you should&nb sp;have prodded him like that. True as& nbsp;your words
were, rare is the person who can hear and calmly accept them.&nb sp; Clearly the Arai
woman is a sor e point for him.â€
â&e uro;œIt may not have been the wisest&nb sp;move but it was a truth he needs ;to face,†replied
Toromaru as he returned his attention the forest beyond.&nb sp; “He cannot be expected to&n bsp;
make sound decisions if he continues ;to live in denial.â€
******
Kenji strode among the trees.&nbs p; Behind walked the members of the inuy okai clan as
he led them back towar d the castle that acted as headquarters for the Shiro Tenko
and their allies.&nb sp; His arrival at the temple was the&nb sp;first time he had been able to
r eally seen the clan since before the war started. He had seen the inuyokai ;at
Castle Arai, it was only the&nb sp;warriors and not the entire clan. Th ough, he had
anticipated losses, he was& nbsp;still distressed to find their numbers w ere far smaller
than before; the war&nbs p;had taken a heavier toll on them than& nbsp;he realized.
Images of his ow n shrunken clan floated before his eyes and he quickly spoke to
distract himself from the sorrowful thoughts. â€& oelig;It shouldn‟t be much longer&nbs p;to the
camp. I can already smell the cooking fires from here.â€
A grunt from behind him was the only response he received. It had ;been a long
march from the southern&nbs p;territories and they had to make the t rip while dodging
Kuromakaze‟s s couts and armies. An impossible task wh en traveling with a large
group made&nbs p;up of non-combatants like mothers, children ;and elderly. They had had
twelve clashes with Kuro Tenko forces. Every b attle had resulted in casualties,
adding ;to their burden. Demons may recover qu icker than human but they still
needed&n bsp;time to recover. Injuries slowed their&n bsp;progress and had increased the
number&nbs p;of battles they were forced to fight. Everyone was exhausted and still they < br> had to march.
The wolf glanced back at the inuyokai behind him. The adults all wore their masks
of stoicism while their children‟s faces revealed the strain they all felt. &nbs p;Older
children had droopy eyes and stu mbled next to their parents, holding hands&nb sp;that
were their only guidance as they were too tired to see where they w ere stepping.
Smaller children were car ried piggyback or cradled in arms, sound ;to sleep.
I hope nothing happens& nbsp;in these final miles. I donâ&euro ;Ÿt think they would make it if
they had to fight again right now, he& nbsp;thought.
Sesshomaru and his brothe r, the now Kakiboufuu, were walking ahead&nbs p;of the main
pack. Xeno and ;Yukibi were to the right and Naomi and& nbsp;Soranoko were to the left.
Kaiyosh inju brought up the rear. Other warrior s walked between them and their
wom an, children and elderly. A defensive f ormation, but it would mean little if th e
enemy attacking were long-range fighters&nb sp;such as Tenko, archers or ranged-demon
types. Kenji returned his attention to&nbs p;the front and tried to keep his senses open.
The last thing they needed& nbsp;was to walk into an ambush.
< br> As the trees began parting, Kenji smiled& nbsp;and breathed a sigh of relief until ;he heard
Kakiboufuu‟s threatening&nb sp;growl behind him. He glanced over hi s shoulder. The
hanyou was staring ;passed Kenji, his fangs bared. The wol f turned to see what had
upset the& nbsp;half-dog. A figure stood at the ed ge of the woods glaring into the shadow& nbsp;
of the trees. His planted feet&nbs p;and crossed arms an open challenge to the individuals
within. Kenji felt then the elevated, murderous youki and wondered&n bsp;why he hadn‟t
sensed it ;before then.
The whole group paus ed and the warriors closed around their families as they
braced for another figh t. Then Kenji recognized the opponent. Annoyed, he
stormed forward to confront Hideaki.
“What are you doing?†demanded Kenji as he came to a stop a few feet before th e
brunette hanyou.
“ Keeping a damned deserter from returning to&n bsp;the army,†Hideaki replied, his sapphire eyes never meeting Kenji‟ s emerald ones. They instead remained s taring
over his shoulder.
Kenji&nb sp;growled. He remembered his joking words&n bsp;when he set out a week earlier. &nbs p;
He also remembered Toromaru forbidding the& nbsp;challenge. It looked as if Hideaki ;
was about to commit insubordination himself. The hypocrite. “That is n‟t your call
to make, Hide aki.â€
“Inuyasha&nb sp;can‟t expect to be welcomed a fter running away,†snarled the hanyou . “I
can‟t a ccept the lord‟s mercy. That&nb sp;worthless cur is a coward and waste o f space in
our army. He should&nbs p;just stay away instead of getting in t he path of real warriors!â€
He spat to the side and several snarls&n bsp;erupted from behind the wolf. Hideaki&nb sp;didn‟t
flinch at the chorus&n bsp;of hostility.
Kenji was livid and opened his mouth to say more about&n bsp;what he thought of Hideaki
when the& nbsp;growls fell silent and the sound of ;slow, deliberate footsteps reached him.
He glanced back and saw Kakiboufuu walking& nbsp;toward him with his hand raised,
ho lding back the other dogs. The white-ha ired hanyou then reached over and
graspe d Kenji‟s shoulder.
â ;€œIt‟s all right, Kenji,â ;€ he said with a smile that failed to warm his pale yellow eyes.
“I‟ll handle this.â& euro;
“Oh?†said&n bsp;Hideaki, blue eyes narrowing. The late&n bsp;afternoon sun failed to penetrate
the&nbs p;thick canopy and the shadows swallowed the& nbsp;understory. He could barely see
Ke nji‟s pale blue armor and glowin g green eyes. He had been staring at the dark
outlines of people behind&nb sp;him trying to determine where his prey&nbs p;was, if Inuyasha
hadn‟t growle d first he wouldn‟t have been&nb sp;able to pinpoint him. The shadow tha t
had spoken stepped forward and Hideaki saw the faint flicker of armor as the other
hanyou moved. He licked his lips in anticipation.
Kenji st ared at Kakiboufuu for another moment, taking in his tense shoulders and
glittering&n bsp;eyes, before he threw up his hands a nd moved back several paces to
where&nbs p;Sesshomaru stood. “Have it y our way,†he muttered.
&aci rc;€œYou doubt my brother‟s&nbs p;ability to handle this?†asked Sessh omaru without taking
his eyes off the&nb sp;pair of hanyou.
“ Ordinarily, no, but Hideaki‟s fresh&n bsp;and you all aren‟t,†stated Kenji as he returned
his gaze&nbs p;to the combatants. “Hideaki isn‟t a lightweight. Iâ€& Yuml;m just worried about the
fatigue is sue. I knew he would pick a fight. I just didn‟t know he&nbs p;would challenge
Kakiboufuu so soon, especia lly when he had been ordered not to.&aci rc;€
Sesshomaru flicked his eyes&n bsp;to Kenji. The wolf was worried but& nbsp;he wasn‟t panicked.
If&nbs p;he really feared Hideaki would be too much, he would not be so calm. Sti ll
Sesshomaru shifted his weight as he&n bsp;adjusted his stance. If fatigue did ;play a factor
in this fight, his b rother would need support. Sesshomaru wasn&a circ;€Ÿt about to let a
grudge ;match rob the clan of its Taisho.
Kakiboufuu stopped in front of the ;other hanyou, entering the lit area of the tree
line and stared at Hideaki,&nbs p;his face devoid of all emotion. Hidea ki was taken aback
by the hanyouâ& euro;Ÿs changed appearance. The purple demon stripes that made him look
for&nbs p;like a full demon. The armor, battere d but well maintained, with shoulder
gua rds armed with spikes. The rich red&nbs p;haori and hakama and the crème kimono
beneath. On his arms, a set of strange guards with thick metal alon g the top and
small claw-like points&nbs p;resting between the knuckles. However, the clothes paled
against the change in&nbs p;his eyes.
Hideaki had loo ked many times into those eyes in the&nb sp;past when he had put the
snow-haired& nbsp;hanyou down. Eyes that were soft a nd gentle even as they glittered in
anger at Hideaki‟s taunts. Eye s that were bright with compassion. The se eyes
were dark, hatred boiled within& nbsp;even as the gaze froze his blood. & nbsp;There was power
and confidence within&nb sp;that gaze that had not been there bef ore.
“I was going to let bygones be bygones, but it seems&nb sp;you can‟t forget old debts,⠀ said
Kakiboufuu. He then raised& nbsp;his left hand and flexed his claws with an
accompaniment of cracks and pops from joints. “So I guess it‟s time to return what I
owe,†he hissed in a l ow voice. His eyes flashed red and ;he slammed his fist into the
unsuspecti ng Hideaki‟s diaphragm.
Hi deaki flew back several feet into the cl earing surrounding the castle and slid to&nbs p;a
stop, coughing. He rose swiftly,&nb sp;with fangs bared. In the past, the&n bsp;white hanyou
had never retaliated against Hideaki‟s actions. Had never&n bsp;lashed out, much less
started a figh t. He had always taken whatever was&nbs p;thrown at him with quiet,
helpless acc eptance. Hideaki had never thought Inuyasha& nbsp;would attack him. More
had changed than just his appearance. Hideaki reac hed for his sword.
Kakiboufuu appe ared at the clearing edge, his gold eyes fixed on Hideaki. He
lunged forwa rd and was in Hideaki‟s face&nbs p;before the other hanyou could draw his ;
weapon. A roundhouse kick sent Hideaki flying again and this time the brunette
hanyou tumbled, rolling several times b efore regaining his feet. He came up&nb sp;with
his sword drawn only to have&nbs p;it ground into the dirt a second later when
Kakiboufuu landed on the blade&aci rc;€Ÿs base. A knee smashed into&n bsp;Hideaki‟s face.
Hideaki&nbs p;back-flipped only to have his stomach crush ed by Kakiboufuu‟s elbow. The&n bsp;
brown hanyou leapt to the side and&n bsp;began running with the white one keeping& nbsp;pace
behind him. He reached behind him, grasping the hilt of his family&ac irc;€Ÿs heirloom
sword, the all pow erful Anihimizuken. He hadn‟t t hought he would need it to finish
o ff the white hanyou and found a part&nbs p;of him irked he was being forced to&nb sp;draw it at
all. The large blade slid from its sheath and he spun a round swinging it at his
pursuer. Only his pursuer wasn‟t there. < br>
“What?!†he cried&n bsp;as he madly searched for his opponent.&nb sp; The blade bounced in his
grip a nd he turned his attention to it. Kakiboufuu crouched on the flat of the s word,
ignoring the tendrils of energy th at crawled from Anihimizuken up his body,&nbs p;
causing his hair to rise slightly. &nb sp;Hideaki gaped then swung the sword again.& nbsp;
Kakiboufuu jumped up. Hideaki&nbs p;reversed its motion and flipped it over,&nb sp;slicing up
at the white hanyou.
Kakiboufuu‟s hands grasped the& nbsp;hilt and Hideaki‟s before he&nbs p;brought his legs done,
knocking the br unette to the side. Hideaki lost his&nb sp;grip on Anihimizuken and fell
backwards&nb sp;onto the ground. He opened his eyes& nbsp;and felt the tip of his sword bitin g
into his neck. He looked up.&nbs p; Kakiboufuu stood over him holding the ;hilt in his
crippled right hand. Lightning danced around the hilt and over&nbs p;his arm but the
white hanyou remained& nbsp;expressionless.
Hideaki was ;the opposite as his face twisted in dis belief, horror and shock at the
sight.&n bsp; The sword was infamous for its abil ity to fatally reject those who werenâ& euro;Ÿt of
the bloodline. How Inuy asha could stand there holding the infuriated blade without
even feeling pain was&nbs p;incomprehensible to Hideaki.
Kakiboufuu&nb sp;snorted and said, “Hideaki, I&nbs p;ceased being „Inuyasha‟&nbs p;a long time ago.
It‟s&nb sp;„Kakiboufuu‟ now.â€& nbsp; He raised the sword away from Hide aki‟s throat then hurled
it ;into the tree line several yards away w ith the help of a minor explosive fire&n bsp;spell.
The sword speared the trunk& nbsp;of a cedar, plunging nearly to the hilt into the wood.
The tree shudd ered and smoked as the sword continued t o lash out in fury for a few
s econds longer.
Hideaki sat up as&n bsp;Kakiboufuu walked passed him. Their figh t had drawn a crowd.
Along the&nbs p;trees were the inuyokai, while everywhere e lse stood near the castle, the
mixed&nbs p;races that made up the Shiro Tenko arm y, including Lord Toromaru.
Kakiboufuu was heading toward him without even a ba ckward glance at the
brunette hanyou.
Sesshomaru stared at his brother as& nbsp;the hanyou began speaking to the Tenko&n bsp;lord.
“He must really ;hate that hanyou,†he muttered.
Kenji grunted and replied, â&euro ;œKakiboufuu wasn‟t always able ;to control his power like
he can n ow. Being he is from the Kanzaki f amily, his people saw his inability to < br> become a warrior as a failure even t hough it wasn‟t his fault entire ly. A lot of the
younger warriors& nbsp;made fun of him for it. Hideaki&nb sp;did so every chance he could and
even went out of his way at times. ; It also didn‟t help matters&nb sp;that they both had
affections for the same woman.â€
Sesshomaru gl anced at Kenji then regarded the brunette&nbs p;hanyou as he rose from
the grass. ; Hideaki‟s blue eyes were dagge rs aimed straight for Kakiboufuu‟s&nb sp;
unguarded back. This isn‟t&n bsp;over, Sesshomaru thought, his golden eyes ;narrowing.
I‟ll have to k eep an eye on this Hideaki. He tur ned his attention away from the
defeated hanyou and moved to join his brother.&n bsp; Kenji followed without prompt as
th e various inuyokai moved further into the&nbs p;clearing.
“That was certainly a surprise,†the tenko&n bsp;lord was saying to Kakiboufuu. The
man‟s hair had grayed and a few lines graced his face but, like&nbs p;all his people, that
was the extent&nb sp;his age would show. “Kenji& nbsp;told me you were with your brotherâ ;€Ÿs
people. I‟m glad you were able to take refuge with them. You‟ve improved far
beyond what even I expected. Being with your brother‟s people seems to& nbsp;have been
just what you needed.â&e uro;
Toromaru‟s babbling t old Kakiboufuu how much his cousin had w orried for him and
he debated correcting his perception. Sesshomaru decided to do it for him. “I†Ÿm
afraid we can‟t claim&nb sp;credit for his improvement. He appeared&n bsp;before the clan with
the abilities h e has now. I have witnessed little ;improvement in his abilities, not
that there is anything to complain about. Ho wever, his attitude…†Sesshomaru
pulled back his fist and slam med it into his brother‟s head.& nbsp; “… still needs& nbsp;some
work.â€
Toromaru&n bsp;gasped in shock as his cousin yelped ;then whirled around to face his
brother . “Temee! What was that& nbsp;for?†demanded Kakiboufuu.
Sesshomaru refused to look at his brother&nbs p;as he folded his arms and replied, &ac irc;€œYou
were being stupid again.&acir c;€
“So I was s upposed to just ignore him?†Kakiboufu u asked sarcastically and was
cuffed as& nbsp;a reward.
“That man& nbsp;clearly wanted to take your life and&nbs p;you weren‟t taking him seriously,&a circ;€
stated Sesshomaru.
â& euro;œNot seriously?†gasped Toromaru.&nbs p; The fight had looked plenty serious t o him.
Hideaki, who had finally re gained his feet and begun to leave the&n bsp;area, froze at
Sesshomaru‟s words.
“What makes you&nb sp;think I wasn‟t serious?â€&nb sp;snarled Kakiboufuu.
Sesshomaru grabbed&nb sp;his brother‟s wrists, pulling them up so they were in front of
h is face. “Why, then, didn&acir c;€Ÿt you use Rokukafuga?†The hanyou glared but refused
to answer. The silence stretched out between them . Toromaru wondered if he
should b ack away from the pair. This was a battle of wills that could easily devol ve
into a battle of fists if anythi ng disturbed the balance between the two.&nbs p;
A loud sigh caught the Tenko&aci rc;€Ÿs lord attention. A woman wit h long raven hair, violet
eyes, tan ;skin and dressed in blue miko robes rol led a staff with a metal circle at the
top in her fingers. â€&o elig;Yade yade,†Kaiyoshinju said. &a circ;€œWe had to fight the whole w ay
from the southern territories and yet they still have the energy to pull ;these
shenanigans?â€
Kenji& nbsp;shrugged at the group, just as baffled&n bsp;if also amused by the change in mood .
Xeno shook his head and stalked& nbsp;toward the castle, his red-orange cape s wirling
behind him as he moved. Hi s wife, Yukibi, followed with a flick of her pale-white
tail. Several others&nb sp;followed after. Soranoko trotted up to&nb sp;the confused Toromaru.
â€&oeli g;Is it all right if the others enter&nb sp;the castle? We are really tired desp ite their
quarreling,†she said. Toromaru took a step back and&nb sp;nodded his head, still
overwhelmed by ;it all. He had never seen his cou sin so aggressive and
temperamental before.&n bsp;
Kaiyoshinju walked up to the b rothers and swung her staff at the back& nbsp;of
Sesshomaru‟s head. &aci rc;€œEnough of that. Everyone too ;tired for these antics.â€
T he taiyokai ducked and the staff sailed over his head only to slam the less ;
attentive Kakiboufuu in the face. The& nbsp;hanyou staggered back and grabbed his no se,
which had begun leaking blood. ;The dragon hanyou blinked in surprise then&n bsp;glared
at Sesshomaru who stood back up with a barely suppressed smirk.
;
“Oi,†said Kakiboufuu i n a flat, low tone that was far mor e terrifying than if he had
roared. ;
Kaiyoshinju glanced at him,&nbs p;shrugged and said, “Well, you ;should have ducked like
your brother di d.†There was nothing the hanyou could say in response, though, it
looked as if he would remember it later. He stalked passed them, too embarrasse d
to continue conversing with anyone. &n bsp;
“Is he all righ t?†asked Toromaru, nervously.
< br> “He‟ll be fine,â&e uro; said Sesshomaru, his tone dismissive. &n bsp;“Especially after he rests
awhile.â€
“You ;said he appeared before you as he is&nb sp;now,†said Toromaru. â€&oeli g;What do you
mean?â€
& acirc;€œI don‟t know how l ong he was exiled, but he has been with us only for a decade and
half, †replied Sesshomaru. “ The skill he demonstrated today is only a small part of
what he can do ;and all of it he could already do prior to his joining us.â€
< br> Toromaru thought about that for a moment& nbsp;and Sesshomaru turned to follow his
clansmen to the castle. “Sess homaru-san,†called the Tenko lord. &n bsp;The demon
paused and looked back. &n bsp;“Once you and your people h ave rested, I would like for all
th e leaders to meet so we can discuss ;what our next steps should be.†Sesshomaru
nodded then continued on his way.
Toromaru never saw the taiyokai‟s amused expression.
< br> *****
The leaders of the Shiro Tenko gathered the next day. Hideaki&n bsp;sat at the very end
instead of at his usual seat closer to the generals . A shameful change in position
an d he was only permitted to join them&nbs p;because Toromaru wanted to keep an eye ;on
him. The other generals, lords ;and commanders had at least heard rumors&nbs p;of the
encounter between Hideaki and I nuyasha. Most had a hard time believing them.
Toromaru had ordered a ;change to the arrangement of the council.&nb sp; He didn‟t just
expect t he Inu no Taisho to join them but a ll of the Taisho‟s own generals& nbsp;and lords.
The Tenko lord had ;all his subordinates seated to his left.&nbs p; An extra cushion was
arranged next&nb sp;to him for the Inu no Taisho was ;his equal. The empty row to
Torom aru‟s right would be filled with the Taisho‟s subordinates. Tor omaru
wondered if his cousin would even& nbsp;be there.
Kenji stood off&nbs p;to the right, he was a guardian who&nb sp;was technically under the direct
command&n bsp;of the Taisho. He was awaiting the& nbsp;arrival of the Inuyokai clan before he&n bsp;
claimed his seat. The wolf demon&nb sp;seemed unusually tense, his foot tapping i n
uncharacteristic impatience. His typical&n bsp;light and warm manner turned serious
and cold. Toromaru wondered what he wa s worried about.
Then all thoughts ended with the sound of approaching foo tsteps. Kakiboufuu
paused at the entran ce to take in the sight of the gath ering. Without glancing at
the disgrace d Hideaki, he strode forward with Sesshomaru, the other three
guardians and various&n bsp;heads and generals. Each one took t heir place as they came
upon it, fi lling the line in reverse order.
< br> Toromaru and the others stared as hanyou& nbsp;kept walking forward. This was the ;first
sight of him for many and se eing him with demon marks and in full&nb sp;armor made
them reassess their earlier&nbs p;judgment of the rumors. Still Toromaru&nbs p;felt a growing
disbelief as his cousin continued to move forward. Then it&nbs p;was only the brothers,
Naomi and unkno wn girl standing before the dais as all& nbsp;four guardians sat. The
ladies too k their place just behind the main row,& nbsp;then Sesshomaru sat on the last
ava ilable cushion in the line just ahead of the guardians.
Kakiboufuu stepped ;onto the dais and numerous generals and ;lords of the Shiro
Tenko rose in p rotest. Toromaru stared in shock, not b elieving what he was seeing
as his cousin settled himself next to him. The hanyou said nothing despite the
shouts& nbsp;and accusations filling the air. His&nb sp;clansmen remained silent as well. The&nbs p;
protests eventually died and the men r eclaimed their seats still trembling with
barely suppressed emotions.
Toromaru found his voice in the new silence. &nbs p;“I have to say this was unexpected.
Did the former Inu no Taisho leave behind a will stating you w ere his heir?â€
â&euro ;œNo,†replied Kakiboufuu. â&e uro;œOyaji left no such will. Without& nbsp;clear directions, the
elders of the ;clan ordered Sesshomaru and myself to settle the matter with a duel. I
wa s victorious.â€
“Se sshomaru‟s fighting ability must be&n bsp;really pathetic if you were able to defeat
him,†said Hideaki from th e end of the line. A chorus of&nbs p;growls rose in response.
Sesshomaruâ €Ÿs eyebrow twitched and his face t ightened but otherwise he didn‟t ;
react. Kakiboufuu narrowed his eyes. < br>
“It is not your place to speak at this gathering, Hideaki,â& euro; snapped Toromaru.
Hideaki just sn eered at his lord. General Kenshin shoo k his head at his son‟s
shameful behavior. Toromaru caught movement&nbs p;to his right and saw his cousin
l eaning forward. The hanyou‟s mo uth moved but Toromaru could hear nothing.&nb sp;
Sesshomaru, however, could hear the Taisho just fine.
He regarded his& nbsp;younger brother for a moment and said,&n bsp;“If Hideaki doubts my
abili ties I can demonstrate to him the differ ence in our opinions.†Kenji had
returned the taiyokai‟s swords& nbsp;the night before. The decade without&nb sp;them and his
celestial power really h ad improved his fighting ability. He wa s still in wonder at
how light he&n bsp;felt now with his was power restored.&nbs p;
The Shiro Tenko gasped and Torom aru was appalled but several inuyokai smiled& nbsp;in
anticipation. The Tenko lord gr imaced when he caught Kakiboufuu‟s&nb sp;bored
expression even as his eyes gli ttered. The Tenko lord felt his insides freeze as the
meaning of the earli er silent words came to him.
He was arranging for this, he thought. & nbsp;“Enough!†Toromaru barked.&nb sp; “I won‟t
toler ate any infighting. Allies should not b e battling one another.†Sesshomaru&n bsp;
tsked but didn‟t say anythin g.
“Don‟t&nb sp;smirk, Hideaki,†said Kakiboufuu. “You haven‟t escaped ye t.†The brunette
hanyou stared&n bsp;in disbelief.
“Cousin!&aci rc;€ shouted Toromaru.
â€&oe lig;I am not yours to command, Toromaru-kun,& acirc;€ said Kakiboufuu with a slight sm ile.
“If I choose to ;allow my brother the right to defend hi s honor in a duel then that is
my decision. The only one you have&nbs p;command over is Hideaki. You can forb id him
from fighting but heâ€&Yuml ;ll have to concede the match and offer& nbsp;an apology as well as
compensation for the damage the slander has caused.â € Hideaki blanched.
A laugh& nbsp;attracted their attention. General Iken,&nbs p;the wolf hanyou tenko, looked
toward t he dais. “This is certainly&nb sp;a surprise. The quiet, shy puppy, wh o was only
good at scouting and inf iltration, has grown into quite the man. ; I must confess I
never expected t his about-face.â€
“ Infiltration?†muttered Sesshomaru glancing ;at General Iken.
“Yes,&n bsp;he was surprisingly adept at penetrating deep into enemy territory to gather
info rmation on their movements,†replied T oromaru, grateful for the topic change. ;
However, this revelation seemed only to ;irritate the taiyokai. He glared at hi s
brother who had suddenly found his&nbs p;claws to be extremely interesting.
“Hmmm… He did say& nbsp;he knew what he was doing,†whispered Kaiyoshinju with a
small smile.&nbs p;
Kenji leaned forward to see pass ed the other three guardians. â€& oelig;Did I miss
something interesting?â&eur o; he asked, voicing a number of the&nbs p;Shiro Tenko‟s thoughts in
far& nbsp;simpler terms than they would have used.
Soranoko snickered into the folds of her fan and replied, â€&o elig;It‟s still a debate as to&n bsp;
what was more spectacular, Kuromakaze los ing his head… or Sesshomaru.⠀
“Oh, I must h ear about this,†said General Iken&nbs p;with a grin. “How did t he pair lose
their heads?â€
& nbsp;
“I don‟t think&nbs p;this is relevant to the meeting!â€&nb sp;snapped Sesshomaru, not wanting
the conver sation to be carried further.
&aci rc;€œI think not either,†said&n bsp;General Kenshin. Others murmured their a greement.
Toromaru had become curious d espite himself but was prepared to wait until a
more appropriate time to hear&nb sp;about it.
Various members of th e inuyokai clan had other ideas. Naomi& nbsp;leaned forward and
wrapped her arms ;around her father‟s neck, intruding& nbsp;on the meeting by saying, â€&oelig ;It
has a lot of relevance to this& nbsp;meeting. Chichiue doesn‟t want& nbsp;to talk about it
because he†Ÿs embarrassed and disapproved of the wh ole thing in the first place. He < br> doesn‟t want to encourage Oji-san to do it again.â€
&aci rc;€œNaomi,†warned Sesshomaru but&nb sp;his daughter just giggled and strangled hi m with
an overenthusiastic hug.
Kaiyoshinju smiled as Sesshomaru gasped and&nbs p;tried to dislodge their daughter. â& euro;œA
few years ago our Taisho w ent undercover to discover the location of&nb sp;the Kuro
Tenko‟s special weap ons. He did it without telling the ;rest of us what he was doing.
He returned after getting the information h e wanted. Sesshomaru was infuriated
by& nbsp;his brother‟s recklessness. It& nbsp;was probably the one and only time he was
victorious over the Taisho in&nbs p;a battle. Though, the Taisho recovered&nbs p;his pride soon
enough after.
“We then took the ;information and launched a series of success ful attacks that
eliminated the special weapons. The unexpected and wholly entertain ing collateral
was that Kuromakaze thought&nb sp;he had a traitor in his midst and&nbs p;rampaged through
his own ranks. He&nb sp;nearly succeeded in destroying his own arm y. Pity he reclaimed
his senses be fore he could. I doubt he‟ ll repeat the mistake.â€
&ac irc;€œIf you can infiltrate so well,&nb sp;why didn‟t you assassinate him?&ac irc;€ asked Futakara, a
Daimyo from ;the eastern border. He was one of ;the lords who disfavored
Kakiboufuu. H e was still young and human. He ha d not been in power when the
hanyou left and only understood the matter fro m the rumors, speculations and
accusations&nb sp;that had followed Kakiboufuu‟s dep arture.
Kakiboufuu regarded the man&nbs p;for a moment, his face stone, before r eplying, “I
cannot approach him without him knowing I am there. H e cannot be everywhere at
once. So I was able to avoid him as I sought my targets. The weapons had a&nb sp;
distinct odor making it easy to ident ify their location if I was close enough to smell
the keeps they were hidde n in.â€
“You s houldn‟t have gone at all,â&eur o; muttered Sesshomaru after he freed himself from
Naomi‟s grip.
< br> “So you have said countless ;times since,†said Kakiboufuu. &acir c;€œI won‟t change my
mind on the matter and apparently neither&nb sp;will you, Aniue. Since it is a moot point,
I suggest you stop harping&n bsp;on it.â€
“I&aci rc;€Ÿll only stop once I‟m& nbsp;convinced you won‟t repeat it,&a circ;€ snarled Sesshomaru.
â&euro ;œI can‟t promise that and ;you know it,†hissed the hanyou. ;
“Enough,†said&nb sp;Xeno without a trace of anger or impa tience. “Sesshomaru-sama, I
kn ow it is your job task to protect t he Taisho from himself, however, he is r ight.
Sometimes the risk must be t aken to prevent a far greater disaster. Now I believe
we have held up ;this meeting long enough. Toromaru-dono.â& euro;
Toromaru inclined his head t o shrouded fire demon and Kakiboufuu inhaled& nbsp;slowly
before he breathed out in a& nbsp;silent meditative exhale. Settling his nerves, thought
the Tenko lord in surpri se. So ka. He must have been ;anxious about this
gathering. That exp lains the dominance display, he wanted to&nbs p;make certain
everyone understood he was&nbs p;not the same hanyou he was before. &nb sp;Toromaru glanced
among the Inuyokai. ;None of them are bothered by his behavi or just now. Either
this was plann ed or this is common. Toromaru glanced& nbsp;back at his cousin. A young
T aisho among so many older and more exper ienced leaders… He can neithe r back
down nor hesitate or they wi ll eat alive.
_________________________________________ ________
Chapter 42: Sympathy for th e Devil
Infuriated by Kakiboufuu&aci rc;€Ÿs return to the Tenko, Kuromakaze&n bsp;aims to remove all
chaos elements fr om Tenji. Maou becomes his prime target . When Maou is found
near death,&n bsp;will anyone lift a finger to save th e dark dealer of souls?
_____________________ ____________________________
Author Chat:
Aeglos thanks for always commenting. ; I really do appreciate it tremendously.&nbs p;
Admittedly this chapter was originally&nbs p;written to be Chapter 31 so there may& nbsp;be
some repetition in the history s ummary at the beginning. However the la st ten
pages are entirely new material&n bsp;added when I realized it wasnâ€&Yum l;t living up to its title.
It&nbs p;only had that fight in the beginning a nd then it was done. I also edited the first
nine pages to make sure it flowed better, adding descriptions an d changing quotes.
Hopefully it works&n bsp;now. The next chapter was also writ ten at the same time as this
one&nb sp;so I will have to make some adjustmen ts to it as well. Hopefully their won‟t be
as many and I ;won‟t have to expand it. Afterwards, it will be all uncharted
ter ritory, so to speak, so I may wait until I write a few more chapters before posting
42.
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Translation s:
Tsuchi: earth
Hi: fire
Mizu:&nbs p;water
Ki: wood
Kane: metal
Kaze:& nbsp;wind
Himizu: as discordant as fire and water
Hikaze: fire wind
Tenki: weather
Enzeru: angel
Hanyou: half-demon ;
Obi: the sash that is wrapped around&nb sp;a woman‟s waist to hold her&n bsp;kimono closed.
Matte: wait!
Shoji: s liding door.
Engawa: veranda, walkway running along the outside of the buildings.
Temee: you, derogatory term, very insulting.&nbs p;
Kisama: you, derogatory term, more vulgar&n bsp;than temee
Ano: uh
Hai: Yes
Aniyome: elder brother‟s wife; sist er-in-law
Hime: Princess
Waka: Young&nbs p;lord, used for the son of a noble.&nbs p;
Otouto: Little brother.
Onii-(__): Big ;brother, general. Honorific added on to&nbs p;end, determining level of
respect of l ove. (Can also be used when addressing& nbsp;a young man.)
Aniue: Big brother, f ormal.
Imouto: Little sister.
Onee-(__): ;Big sister, general. Honorific added on&nbs p;to end, determining level of
respect o f love. (Can also be used when add ressing a young woman.)
Aneue: Big siste r, formal.
Ojii-(__): Grandfather, general. & nbsp;Honorific added on to end, determining l evel of
respect of love. (Can also be used when addressing an elderly man. )
Obaa-(__): Grandmother, general. Honorific added on to end, determining level of&n bsp;
respect of love. (Can also be used when addressing an elderly woman.)
Oji-(__): Uncle, general. Honorific added on to end, determining level of respect of
love. (Can also be used when ;addressing a middle-aged man.)
Oba-(__): Aun t, general. Honorific added on to end,& nbsp;determining level of respect of
love.&nb sp; (Can also be used when addressing a& nbsp;middle-aged woman.)
Mina wa ookii aho&nb sp;desu: Everyone‟s a big idiot .
Sumimasen: Excuse me.
Oyaji: Father,&n bsp;informal masculine.
Otou-(__): Father, general . Honorific added on to end, determinin g level of respect
or love.
Chichiu e: Father, formal.
Ofukuro: Mother, informal& nbsp;masculine.
Okaa-(__): Mother, general. Honorific added on to end, determining level& nbsp;of respect
or love.
Hahaue: Mother, formal
Otaa-sama: Mother, said by child ren of court nobles to their mothers. XX-(blank): Intimate or rude address depending& nbsp;on usage.
XX-kun: Male honorific, f riendly
XX-chan: Female or young boy hon orific, friendly
XX-san: general honorific, p olite, (Mr. or Ms.)
XX-sama: formal or&n bsp;very polite honorific, used for those of& nbsp;superior status or to show
great re spect. (Lord or Lady)
XX-dono: more form al honorific, more respectful than XX-sama. & nbsp;Derived from tono
= lord.