InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ His Past, Her Present, Their Future ❯ Ugly ( Chapter 33 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: No own InuYasha.


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His Past, Her Present, Their Future
Chapter 33 - Ugly

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Sesshoumaru had lived nearly two centuries. Over eighteen decades. He had seen, heard, and done pretty much all there was to. In all that time, though, he had never been as bored as he was in this moment. He watched his betrothed huffing along in front of him on the deer trail, his face in an obvious expression of tedium. He really hadn’t meant it the way it had sounded…but she had taken it that way. He sighed heavily for the fiftieth time in so many minutes as he followed along behind her.

They had been traveling quickly, with her on his back, for the whole morning, cutting a large amount of their journey out. She had insisted they stopped for lunch, and while they were stopped he had made a completely innocent comment concerning her age in comparison to his own in human terms…he had not been calling her too old! He was simply pointing out that a twenty year old woman with a youkai with the mentality of a fifteen year old was a bit funny, coinciding with the fact that his actual age was nearly two hundred to her twenty. That was all! But of course, she had taken it wrong.

Now here they were, nearly two hours later and she was still refusing to speak to him, or ride on his back. Or even acknowledge his existence. It would make the trip go that much faster, and they could reach their destination by nightfall, but that didn’t seem to curb her snubbing of him. Another loud sigh, trying to make her pay attention to him.

Kagome stubbornly refused to allow him to make her feel badly. No! She would not! He dared to make fun of her like that? Sure, the age difference in this era wasn’t such a big deal, but that usually was a man of her age and a girl of his.

The real reason for her sulk was what it made her think. Was he regretting their relationship? Now? After this last month she had been sure he had made up his mind in the affirmative…but he still hadn’t mated or marked her. Did he not want her? Was he just using her as his plaything? She shook such thoughts from her head and tried to ignore the whine that wanted to build in her throat. He sighed again behind her; jeez, that was annoying!

A crash to their right brought them both from their reveries, snapping their heads in the direction of the sound. It was coming closer, and fast. Sesshoumaru shoved her behind his back and with a scowl Kagome allowed herself to be; it was rather comical for her to think that she actually had more real battle experience than her companion. Sure, he had been in training for several decades, but actually out fighting? Too risky for the Heir until he was totally competent.

Soundlessly, as the youkai approached, Kagome unsheathed her dagger as a precaution. Sesshoumaru didn’t even have a weapon, like he would need one usually. Most opposition would be nothing more than measly lower youkai with less than half a brain. Unfortunately for both of them, this one didn’t feel like a weakling.

It’s jyaki was sickening, and Kagome’s head was spinning. Her miko senses were screaming at her to purify this vile thing, and she hadn’t even seen it yet. She eased to Sesshoumaru’s right, still slightly behind him and dropped into a defensive stance. She trusted Sesshoumaru, but she also knew how easy it was for something to get through defenses. She drew and internal parallel between this Sesshoumaru and his future brother. Rash, impulsive, and well meaning though dangerous to those requiring protection. Though Kagome did not need it anymore so much as she once had.

Finally she saw trees in the distance moving with every crash. Their opponent was near. When it finally appeared, Kagome really did feel like she might retch. Its appearance combined with the waves of dark energy rolling off of it was enough to practically send her to her knees. Its face was grotesquely elongated, like it had been stretched. It was nearly eight feet tall and half that wide, its bulk in gelatinous globs sporadically placed over its frame.

Orange eyes peered out of sickly yellow skin, his gaze only centered on her. She squelched the urge to turn and run from the hideous beast and allowed her power to gather in the blade of her dagger. She loved that Toutosai had been able to forge a demon weapon with the ability to hold her reiyoku.

The skin of the monster’s face hung off dangerously, as if frozen in mid-melt and hardly attached, and flapped as it spoke, “What do you have, girl? That thing gives off tremendous power!”

Kagome froze and her eyes widened. How could he sense the Shikon no Tama? Sure enough, now that she consciously thought about it, she could once again sense it at her neck in a way she hadn’t in months. Its power was out of dormancy. She gulped, “I have no idea what you’re talking about!” she said.

“Foolish ningen, you lie terribly. Give it to me and I might let you live!” he cried, leaping forward.

Sesshoumaru bolted into action, his newfound whip cracking against the ogre’s sagging cheek. It screamed and changed opponents, apparently feeling she could be dealt with after. At the moment, she was too in shock to move, though, so he was right. She pulled the jewel to her face and stared into its once again glowing depths. Since when had it reactivated? What had caused it? Was it because she would be leaving soon?

A scream pulled her thoughts away to the fight, and her jaw clenched. There was a girl now somehow caught in the mix. Where had she come from? She was shrieking like a banshee at the two battling demons, obviously believing she would die no matter which survived. Kagome broke the spell the shock had put her under and ran to the young woman, pulling her out of Sesshoumaru’s way as he attacked.

“A-Are you a youkai?” the girl stuttered out, obviously scared to death.

“Iie, I am a human priestess. You need to stop screaming, though. My friend there is inuyoukai, and their ears are very sensitive, and you might make the fight harder on him.”

The girls warm brown eyes were half the size of her face, “You travel with one of those…those…things?!”

Kagome swallowed her temper, “The one in white is my fiancé, actually. He is currently going to kill that yucky…whatever it is so we can all be on our way without worrying about it.”

The woman’s look was horrified, “Miko-sama, have you been sold to the youkai? Is that why you would think to marry one? You are so brave, I think perhaps I would have rather died…”

She cut her off, “No, I was not sold to him. I am to be his mate willingly. Now, I need to help him because he’s not doing very well,” she said flatly, trying to cover her annoyance with the girl. Ningen could be so close-minded! Ugh!

Kagome pulled out her dagger and made to approach the disfigured youkai from behind to give him a good burst of her purity, but stopped when he spun to her, “Give me that power you have! That little bead is too good for some wench like you!”

Now her - figurative of course - fur was ruffled. She narrowed her eyes, “I really hate being called wench.”

“How about bitch then? You are with an inu, after all.”

Kagome growled and lunged at the youkai, trying to strike out with her blade. Sesshoumaru yelled at her to stop but she dove anyway, missing the flesh entirely. What she hadn’t been expecting was for lilac crescents of her energy to lash out, digging into its shoulder and neck in several places. Kagome landed on the ground in a heap but didn’t notice. Way to go Toutosai!

Suddenly, awareness of her meeting with the ground came back as a surge of pain shot through her newly sprained ankle. Damn. She groaned and untangled her limbs just in time to swipe at the demon as it pounced her, the enchanted blade biting deep into its neck. Kagome struggled to stand and looked around frantically for Sesshoumaru. He had apparently been blown back and collided with a tree hard, he was struggling to stand.

“Sesshou! Are you alright?!” she screamed as the beast ran back at him to get him while he was down.

His answer was drowned by a deafening roar, as a fiery streak leapt onto the oni’s back. Kagome’s eyes widened in glee, “Kirara!”

The fire cat turned at her name being called and nodded once, turning back for another assault against the yellow abomination. Kagome grinned and poised her dagger again. She couldn’t really move to fight, but if he came near her she could do something. The demon flung the neko off his back and sent her careening into a tree.

When she had recovered, Kagome shouted, “Kirara, can you carry me above him?” The beast didn’t look agile, so she had little doubt that the mononoke could keep her out of his reach so she could attack. Sesshoumaru was still recovering his bearings.

In lieu of any limited response, Kirara ran to her and she expertly flipped onto her back; there had been many battles in which she would use Kirara to keep her out of harm’s way while she rained her hama no ya down on their opponents. She leapt into the sky and hovered there, the oni screaming his rage for being unable to reach her. He turned and made to go after the still dazed Sesshoumaru again and Kagome cried out, summoning a bow made entirely out of her energy and an arrow to go with it.

“I don’t think so, ugly!” she yelled, firing the shot down into the massive head. The youkai couldn’t even scream as it turned to dust only a foot away from Sesshoumaru. She sighed in relief and ran her fingers across Kirara’s head, “Good girl. You don’t even know me yet and you helped! You’re too intelligent for your own good, I think.”

They had landed and the neko changed back into her kitten form with a mew of agreement before leaping up onto Kagome’s shoulder. She ran to the young prince who was currently scowling, “I could have killed him.”

“And yet you did not and I did. Stop complaining. I think we could use a little rest, its already almost dusk. Lets stay here for the night? The fight created plenty of fire wood.”

Sesshoumaru sighed but nodded, glad at least that she was speaking to him again. He began to grab up suitable wood chunks while Kagome hobbled back to the shaking human girl some twenty feet away.

“Hey, its alright now. Where are you heading to be out alone?”

The girl blushed and shook her head, “I…ran from my master. I am going north, to find my husband; I was taken from him a month ago.”

Kagome smiled sadly, “How far north? It’s dangerous to journey far alone.”

“About a week, I believe. But I will manage, anything to be away from him!”

“What did he do?”

The girl merely shook her head, signaling she would rather not say, Kagome understood and patted her shoulder, “Why not stay with us for the night and travel north with us tomorrow? We are only going another day’s journey, but it will give you that much more protection…”

The young girl gulped, “With…with a youkai?”

Kagome shook her head, “He will not harm you. Just stay with us for dinner, and if you are still unsure you can leave, ne?”

She seemed to think on this then nodded, smiling, “Thank you miko-sama.”

“Call me Kagome! What’s your name?”

“I am called Yumi,” she said, smiling.

“Well, Yumi-san, let’s eat something, huh?”

By now Sesshoumaru had started the fire and was sitting against a tree looking off into the darkness. After a meager meal they all relaxed as much as they could, and Kirara sat in Kagome’s lap purring.

“Where did you find the neko?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“This is Kirara. She…umm…remember I told you about Sango-chan?” she said, glancing from the corner of her eye at the other woman. She couldn’t just come out and say she was from the future in front of a stranger.

“The taijiya?”

“Hai, well, Kirara was a companion of hers.”

Said neko tilted her head up inquiringly at Kagome and she stroked her fur with a whispered, “You’ll understand someday, my friend. Just remember to take care of Sango when you find her, okay?”

“Mew,” was the only reply, but years of her company let Kagome know it was an affirmative response.

Meanwhile Yumi’s eyes had gone wide as she stared at Kagome, “You know a demon exterminator?”

“Hai…I did. She…passed,” she lied.

“Oh I’m very sorry.”

“Arigato…why did that interest you so?”

The woman blinked and fidgeted and immediately it dawned on Kagome, “You are going to the taijiya’s village, aren’t you? I don’t know why I didn’t think of that…”

Yumi nodded and smiled softly, her eyes taking a far-off glassiness, “My love is there…we were to go together when the bandits took me from him.”

Kagome nodded and scooted over to Sesshoumaru, laying down with her head on his leg. She yawned and smiled up at him, “Hello, Pillow-san!”

“I am not a pillow.”

“Hai, you are. Comfortable too. Come on, please? Its either this or I use a rock. Could you really live with yourself knowing you banished your affianced to sleep on a rock?”

He scowled, but his eyes were soft, “Hn. But, I ask for something in return.”

“Eh?”

“You must never not speak to me again while we are traveling. You left me without entertainment for far too long…I fear I am used to your prattling by now.”

“Oh yeah! I was mad at you! Hey!”

“Kagome…”

“Hai, hai, I know. I will no longer not speak to you when I’ve drug you out of the palace.”

“Hn.”

“Goodnight, Sesshou,” she turned her head, “Goodnight Yumi!”

With that she pulled the blanket more firmly around her and promptly drifted away. Sesshoumaru listened to her breathing even out and tucked a few stray strands of hair behind her ear, smiling softly. Truth be told, he really didn’t mind being her pillow at all. Sure, it was slightly derogatory, but he did more humiliating things for her one a daily basis.

The neko she had found was curled against her, making him scowl. Cats and dogs were not the easiest allies. So long as this one kept away from him he thought it would be alright, though. His eyes left the neko and trailed over to the fire, ensuring that the flames were still high enough to keep the humans warm. It was a chilly night.

Speaking of humans, there was the ningen onna that Kagome had allowed to stay, and she was staring straight at him. Her fear had hardly abated, but it seemed curiosity was warring with that trepidation. He rose an eyebrow at the girl, making her fumble and look away.

“You should be sleeping. We start out at dawn.”

She still looked uncomfortable. Probably at the idea of sleeping in such close proximity to a youkai. He rolled his eyes internally and put a clawed hand in Kagome’s hair, relaxing himself by playing with the strands. Kagome was making him soft.

“I…umm…ano…uhh…”

“Spit it out, wench,” he said harshly, losing patience with the onna.

“Why are you with a human?” she said quickly, cringing.

Sesshoumaru brow rose, “I think that is not your business.”

“No, I guess not. I just…that moon…you are the Prince of these lands, are you not?”

“Hai, I am the son of the Inu no Taisho.”

The girl gulped and kept her eyes on the fire, obviously frightened. Though why she would be was anyone’s guess, considering he currently had a mortal obstacle laying in his lap, so he couldn’t very well harm her. Kagome wouldn’t like that much.

She bit her lip, “I thought youkai hated ningen.”

He shrugged, “Most do. Even in my family, we don’t hate them, but we see them as beneath us. You all live only for a moment in comparison to us. We have superior senses and abilities. In my family it is not hate, but just indifference. You are not worth noticing.”

“Then why are you to wed her?”

“I am to mate her because she is different. I do not care if she is temporary and short lived, my life would be empty without her.”

The woman unfolded the blanket Kagome had given her and snuggled up at the fire’s edge, seeming to have dropped the subject. Sesshoumaru was thankful. He couldn’t very well kill her for her nerve, because then he would have a raging ningen of his own in the morning. And this mortal was beginning to border on impudent.

She was drifting off now, and Sesshoumaru inwardly sighed in relief. But of course, she couldn’t just go quietly, and had one last thing to say, “Its funny…I didn’t think youkai could love,” she murmured.

Sesshoumaru growled at the now asleep girl. The audacity! He sighed with a scowl at the fire. Of course demons could love! What, did she think only humans were privy to emotion? Foolish woman. Then again, he supposed this was what Kagome had been talking about when she said that both ningen and youkai were to blame for the hatred between them. Both held their stereotypes and petty reasons for the hate, and both didn’t even stop to think for a moment that the other might be worth anything.

Kagome stirred and pushed closer to the source of warmth that was her ‘pillow’. He pulled her shivering form into his lap, resettling her against his chest and wrapping the blanket around her, where her shivering promptly stopped. The fire cat leapt into her lap, making her be very close to him. He almost growled, but didn’t want to wake the now smiling Kagome. She snuggled against him with a contented sigh and her entire body relaxed into him.

This made Sesshoumaru happy, to know she was satisfied to be near him. He looked down at her sleeping face and bit back his own pleased sigh. He should rest lightly as well, they still had a ways to go come morning.


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A/N: YAY what was that, the 2nd fight scene in the entire story? XD My next Sesshou/Kags will be more of an adventure, instead of only a romance. But this one, I just wanted it to be the romance since the romantic storyline took up this much space anyway. @__@ Hehe.

Sorry so long for updates...writers block coupled with astounding laziness sucks. XD But THANK YOU to my reviewers, I live you all and as always you manage to make me feel squishy inside. XD