InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Invitations to Trouble ❯ Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed? ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter Eight

Consciousness came upon him in stages. Painfully slow and agonizing stages. Moaning as he pressed slender fingers to the dwindling ache in his jaw, Sesshomaru made a mental note to never stand behind his wife again.

'She has a harder head than my brother and I did not think that was a physical possibility.' Gritty film coated his teeth, making him wince and spit out the dried blood that had turned gummy as the night had descended. Stars twinkled overhead, seeming to laugh at his confusion. From their position, he knew it was well past midnight.

'How long have I been unconscious?'

Looking around, he searched for Kuroi. When the young lord couldn't immediately see her, he searched for any tell-tale signs of his mate instead. Trampled and flattened grass that bore the scent of her was the only thing that met his questing senses. Rising gracefully to his feet, he brushed himself off and closed his eyes. When he felt the center of his being was calm enough, he opened them and inhaled.

Somewhere, she had to be somewhere. He turned his head in a slow sweeping motion, letting the pale strands of his hair stir up the air near the ground in order to lift the myriad scents up to him.

Close.

Sun yellow eyes seared the night. Yes, she was close, but she smelled…odd. Taking off in the general direction his nose said she had gone, he wove through the trees in a flat out dash. The run would allow stiffened muscles to loosen up and also give him time to think. Flight might be faster of course, but he could miss valuable clues while up in the air.

Such as that piece of red fabric on the bush back there.

Despite his great speed, Sesshomaru managed to come to a complete halt without falling flat on his face.

'To think, I refused those dance lessons arranged by mother at first. Now I'm almost sorry I gutted mistress Taiko.' Recalling a pink outfit the old woman had sworn would bring out his eyes, he scowled.

'No, no I'm not.'

Brushing his feathery bangs aside, Sesshomaru turned back around and approached the shrub. Inuyasha's haori hung forlornly on the leaves, having obviously been discarded in great haste. Pulling it down towards him, Sesshomaru caught the pungent musk of his brother's arousal that seemed to saturate the cloth. Snatches of the earlier conversation came back to him.

'My brother was making some ridiculous claim about being effected through the link that he and Kuroi share.' Fingering the fire rat fur, Sesshomaru flung it over his arm and kept running.

'Inuyasha has never said that he could do more than sense or speak to Kuroi before today. Why would that have changed?' A little further past the location where the haori was, the young lord found a discarded gi. Sesshomaru snatched the garment up with a snort as he passed by it.

'Hedonist.'

Calmly rationalizing the situation did not help settle his nerves. Something bad was happening and while he couldn't quite lay his finger on what it was, he felt in his heart that it might be his fault.

After listening to Kagome explain the presence of the ookami youkai, Sesshomaru had decided to find Kuroi and clarify a few things. Seeing her with Inuyasha had actually sparked none of the jealousy inside of him, he was used to the two being close by now. After two months of sharing his brother's house, he knew without a doubt that they would never do anything with each other.

No, what he felt gnawing at the organ pumping away in his chest was the wolf's fault. "I should never have allowed this to happen." hissing in displeasure, he burst through the trees. "This should have been done the night we wed. I let foolish sympathies override my common sense and now look what I have reaped. First the wolf is sniffing around after her and now she's gone off to who knows where! The traditions have been in place for generations so who did I think I was to ignore them?"

The answer was that he was Lord Sesshomaru, future Lord of the Western Lands, and he had felt that he was above such a simple and paltry ritual. Now, as he raced through the night searching for the two people he had only recently admitted to caring about, he regretted the decision.

He should have marked his mate.

Slowing a bit when his cheek brushed by a familiar white coat, he pulled it down from the tree it had been caught in. Yes, he should have marked her long before now.

Taking a quick inventory of what he carried, he realized that his mate was running around in the nude and his little brother was not far from it himself. An angry sound issued from between clenched teeth. This was not good.

"While I could care less about who sees that idiot in his unmentionables, I refuse to let another gaze upon my wife." Jealousy expanded tenfold. "Especially with that ookami still prowling around." Sesshomaru pushed his emotions aside in order to better concentrate on the task at hand.

It was his fault, no matter how he turned it over in his mind. His love for Kuroi was to blame. The truth was that he had not wanted to inflict the type of lingering pain that was a part of marking a mate on his beloved.

Sesshomaru knew for a fact that Inuyasha hadn't marked Kagome and his brother had made it abundantly clear that he would rather gouge out his own eyes than do so.

A bitter smile played across Sesshomaru's lips.

"My eyes I would blind to see your smile, my ears I would silence to hear your voice. My life I would relinquish to know that you live." He made a small sound of disgust, "I am a complete baka."

A distant sound caught his attention. Angling towards it, he felt a sense of relief when Kuroi's scent grew stronger. 'She's very close, but she still smells, odd.' Halting at the edge of a small pool, he looked out across the water. In the center of the placid water, his wife floated face up in apparent bliss.

Irritated because he had been worrying himself sick while she relaxed, Sesshomaru floated out towards the girl to give her a piece of his mind.

"Kuroi. I want to speak with you this instant."

The hooded eyes opened to stare at him quizzically. With a gasp, the girl rolled over and stood up, shying away from the hand he extended towards her.

Sesshomaru froze when she shrieked. "Get away from me!!"

Slender brows dipped down a fraction. He knew he was upset, but he hadn't meant to scare her. "Kuroi, calm down. I'm not angry with you."

Fingers that curled into claws shot out to score his face. Deftly angling his head back, he stopped them from connecting with one hand but was taken back by the strength behind the blow. 'She actually meant for that to connect.'

"Kuroi, stop this foolishness at once! I only wish to speak to you." Pulling her forward, he clamped an arm around her waist. It only made her fight harder. Trying not to lose his grip, Sesshomaru barked out, "Kuroi, stop!"

"My name is Anbu!" struggling against the iron grip, the girl tried to bite his chest. He maneuvered away from the sharp teeth but still retained his hold on her.

"Kuroi…"

"Anbu, my name is Anbu!"

Had the bite affected her mind? Spinning her around, he caught up both of her arms across her chest and lifted her off of her feet in an attempt to cease her struggling. It didn't work. She continued to flop and wriggle like a fish in his arms. Overhead, the clouds that had been obscuring the heavens moved aside. That's when he got a good look at the woman he held.

Cursing swiftly, he let the girl go and stepped away. A quick glance at the night sky confirmed the existence of the half-moon, but that didn't help his confusion at the moment. Kneeling in the water after the abrupt release, the girl stared up at him with familiar ruby dark eyes and shimmering white hair draped over her shoulders.

It wasn't Kuroi.

"Who are you?"

Scowling, the girl crossed her arms over her bare chest. "Are you fucking deaf you moron? I said my name is Anbu!"

'She definitely has Kuroi's mouth though.' Sesshomaru frowned right back. This was becoming more complicated than he would have liked. "I do not know who you are, but you are going to come with me girl."

The one who called herself Anbu stared up with eyes as large as saucers. "Oh no! I am not wandering off with some crazy guy who keeps calling me a stupid name!" Slender shoulders twitched as she rose, spilling her hair before her as an effective cover. "You can just go someplace else baka boy."

The simple phrase at the end of the sentence made his heart ache, but Sesshomaru quickly arranged his features into a familiar stoic mask. 'No one I know of says 'baka boy' the way Kuroi can. Who is this girl?'

"I have no time for this foolishness, you are coming with me." His face was impassive as he grabbed her hand and pulled her rudely towards the shore. The foot across his posterior sent him sprawling forward in surprise.

"I said NO!!"

Coughing back up some water that had splashed up his nose, the lord felt his control starting to slip. The water rippled as the girl tried to escape from him. Snarling inside, he flew after her. 'If she can run even half as well as my beloved, I'll have to get her before she makes it to shore.'

Anbu had other plans. She managed to duck and dodge every grab and attempt he made to gain a hold of her. Further efforts to get a grip on her were met with similar results that only infuriated him further for their failure.

Huffing a bit, he narrowed his eyes at the slip of a girl. 'Gods preserve me, she is a crafty little thing. I never really appreciated how easy Kuroi made it for me to keep up with her before tonight. When I find her, I'll spend a week showing my gratitude.' Feigning an overhead attack, he bent low to grab the unclothed girl around the knees and smirked when she fell back with a splash.

He then swore colorfully at the knee that connected with his already sore jaw. "I require your presence to aide me in finding someone! Now cease this at once!"

Anbu raised one snowy brow. Whether the struggling stopped because of his words or his tone didn't matter to Sesshomaru at all. What mattered was that she stopped kicking the shit out of him!

"You need my help?" Although the question was asked cordially, the girl arched her back in the beginning of a move that the lord instantly recognized. Rather than allow himself to be tossed aside, he moved away on his own. Anbu gave his a look at said she was obviously surprised by his speed and reaction.

Sesshomaru was unimpressed. 'If I had not experienced that particular maneuver with Kuroi little girl, it might have worked.'

The flash of pain he felt thinking about his missing beloved intensified when the girl bearing her face gave him a cocky grin that was as familiar to him as his own heartbeat.

"Why didn't you say so in the first place?" Making her way to the shoreline, she grabbed the haori that belonged to Inuyasha and put it on. "If all you need is help, I can give you a hand."

Once again, he silently thanked Kuroi wherever she was for equipping him with the ability to handle her sudden shifts in mood. 'This girl is so much like my wife that it's highly unnerving.'

Still studying Anbu as she got dressed, he reminded himself tersely, 'Anbu may look like Kuroi, but she is not my mate.' Even as he watched, the ivory-skinned girl lifted her hair from inside the coat, giving him a full glimpse of her neck.

There was a scar in the shape of a bite there.

Sesshomaru stared at it while dimly wondering where all the air in the world could have gone.

'What is going on here?'

For some reason, Sesshomaru was afraid that the answer might not come anytime soon.

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In the confines of the little cave, someone was slowly losing his mind.

'Since we're so much alike, could I make the excuse that it wasn't cheating but masturbating instead?'

Curled up in a fetal position, Inuyasha had been waging a double war within himself over two things. The first was to convince himself that what his senses were telling him happened, actually hadn't.

The second was to come up with an answer as to how the hell it could have been possible in the first place!

'I know how it could be possible, but I know damned well that I would never do that with her! Sure, Kuroi's pretty and she's got a nice body…no, no, no! I am not going there!!'

Clawed hands fisted in his hair which was already snarled to begin with. Inuyasha remembered Kagome always teasing him and saying that he could never think straight when he was upset. Groaning at the thought of his wife's smiling face, he beat his head slowly against the wall. 'Right now, my heart should have stopped from a complete lack of brain function because I don't think I could be more upset if I tried.'

A sound from the other side of the cave made his ears twitch and brought a anxious flush.

'We didn't do anything, we just…couldn't have done anything!'

Explain her scent on you down there then?

'Why do you always show up when bad shit happens to me?'

Because it's fun.

'First sign of insanity is arguing with yourself Inuyasha.'

Who ever said you were sane?

Sharp teeth punctured the flesh of his lip as he bit it and whimpered aloud. 'I am so fucked.' Rocking himself back and forth, the young man knew that he had spent the last hour or so staring at the same wall, but he didn't fucking care!

'I am so fucked.' While it might have been a tad bit short, Inuyasha felt the phrase summed up his situation pretty well.

He had been so happy before today. Well, not a hundred percent happy, with Kagome being mad at him and all, but definitely more than usual. Why the hell would he have screwed it up like this!? Amber eyes shifted quickly to look at the naked and sleeping girl before boring back into the same spot on the stone wall.

And of all people to do it with, why Kuroi?!

'I am so fucked!'

I thought that's what you did to her?

'If you weren't me, I'd kill you.'

Just wait, Kagome will happy to do that for you.

'…I hate you…'

That attitude is exactly why you never had friends as a child.

'Go to hell!'

After you.

'Instead of harassing me, why don't you think of a way out of this shit?'

Fine, what if you got home before anyone notices?

The rocking stopped. Now there was a thought. Wash up in a stream, toss Kuroi in her bed through the back window and stroll through the front door without a word to anyone.

It might work.

'If my brother suddenly goes stupid and my wife follows right behind idiot.'

Got a better plan?

'…no…'

Feeling marginally relieved now that he was going to do something other than freak out in a corner, Inuyasha stood up and walked carefully over to stand beside the girl. Kuroi slept on completely oblivious to the world around her. Inuyasha frowned as he glanced at where he had left tetsuaiga wedged across the cave's entrance as a little extra insurance to ward off stray youkai. At least he'd had the sense to do something constructive. A quiet statement shocked him immobile.

"You know, from down here, it looks like a smiley face."

Inuyasha yelped and jumped high enough to crack his head against the ceiling when a hand touched his foot. Kuroi stared at him sleepily and sat up to give a long stretch while blithely ignoring his litany of curses.

Despite the pain shooting through his skull, Inuyasha felt his skin start burn as Kuroi stood and caught him by surprise with a hug. Willing his mind to ignore the arms and breasts pressed up against him, he broke away and backed up so far that it seemed as thought he was trying to physically merge with the wall behind him.

'I am so fucked, I am so fucked, I am so fucked.'

"Koinu, if you don't shut up, I'll kick you." The thick murmur halted the rambling in his mind and he took his chance to scoot away from Kuroi even more. "I didn't say anything! I didn't do anything!" If he was babbling, he didn't care. "Shit, what did you do to me?"

Curious eyes opened and focused on him after hearing his panicked and extremely agitated tone. Her expression didn't change when she noticed his lack of clothing, although she had to stop a grin from breaking out when he moved his hands to cover himself.

"What the hell crawled up and bit you Koinu? It's not like I haven't seen you naked before." Lifting her arms over her head, she bent backwards to work out some more little kinks. "And you know you've seen me nude, so quit freaking out."

"But..but..but we never…we hadn't…this changes everything!"

Kuroi frowned at him. "What changes what?" He was really upset, but what about? Trying to calm him down, she sent out a soothing thought, 'What is the matter with you Puppy?' At the touch of her mind Inuyasha gave in to full fledged panic.

"WE HAD SEX TOGETHER!!" With the admission, he seemed to lose all strength in his limbs. Hitting the ground hard, he looked at her miserably. Kuroi blinked, but only appeared mildly thoughtful.

"Wait a sec Koinu…"

"No, no, no!! I can smell it and I can see it!" Pointing an accusing finger towards the disheveled floor and their current physical state, he groaned again. "I know we did it. There's no other explanation for why I smell like you…down there." The last two words were muffled, but from the noise his friend made, Inuyasha knew that she'd heard them. Red-faced and mortified, he wondered if she would mind being sprayed with blood when he cut his throat out?

'Somebody kill me. Just let me die before I have to face my wife.' Defeated, he curled back into his previous position against the wall and tried to deny anything beyond the sight of his own knees. "I cheated on Kagome and then I betrayed my brother. I am so fucked."

A derisive snort made his ears twitch, "Well, I sure feel loved." Bracing her hands on her hips, Kuroi strolled over to the mouth of the cave. When she noticed the sword, she gave a gusty sigh. "Koinu, we didn't sleep together."

"I do not want to talk about it right now."

"Too bad baka boy because you're going to listen!" She ignored his snarl when she drew near and the yelp as she smacked the back of his head. "Get it together damn it! I think that I would know if I screwed you or not!"

Her hands gestured in the vicinity of her upper thighs, "It kind of gets sore there after sex and I assure you that I am definitely not sore."

Inuyasha wasn't looking anywhere near her but his face flamed anew anyway. He could sense exactly what she meant by 'there' through the link they shared. It was a little more information than he really wanted.

Kuroi sighed and moved away, sensing that her nearness was only agitating him more. "Come on, you know there is no way I'd do anything like that with you."

Golden eyes glared at her. "Bitch, I felt what you were feeling when my brother bit you. If your side was even half as intense as what I was getting through the link you would have fucked a stone until it cracked to get yourself off."

Kuroi didn't even try to pull the punch this time. Her fist connected solidly with Inuyasha's jaw, making a sound one can only achieve when skin meets skin at nigh impossible speeds backed by more than believable force. The collision rocked the hanyou's head back with a snap and a jolt that he could feel travel right down to the base of his spine.

Reeling from the blow, Inuyasha couldn't stop Kuroi as she straddled his hips and pinned his wrists down beside his head. All attempts to make her move failed miserably.

Kuroi hissed as she looked down at him. "If you are seriously implying that I dragged your sorry ass all the way out here for the sole purpose of raping you against your will, I will bite it off Inuyasha!" She let him know exactly what would be among the missing through their connection.

He froze. 'Holy shit, she's serious.'

"Of course I'm serious you jackass!! I didn't touch you, and you never touched me!" The fury in her words flowed through the link and straight into his mind. 'You know I would never hurt you and I would never do something like that with you even if I wanted to. I could never hurt Sessy that way, I'd die first!' her thoughts withdrew a bit and allowed Inuyasha to feel the sadness trickling into her anger, 'Why don't you trust me anymore Koinu?'

'Because I wasn't in control of myself at that time either!' Giving a soft snarl, Inuyasha closed his eyes and turned his face away. 'Because I felt what you wanted! I shared your desire for Sesshomaru when he was marking you.' The back of his eyes burned, but he'd be damned if he'd cry even if he felt it might be justified under the circumstances.

'Cuckoo, you don't know how close I came to trying to take my own brother.'

'Any other time, would you want to?', she asked honestly.

The growl was low and dangerous, but once again, she ignored it. 'Fuck no! He's pretty, but not that pretty!'

'So it wasn't your own lust you felt, it was just an echo of mine?' Her eyes twinkled with inner amusement. Inuyasha didn't think it was very funny personally. 'Quit laughing at me! I even told that dickhead what was going on.'

'Knowing Sessy, he didn't stop did he?'

How many shades of red could he turn at once? When Inuyasha finally answered her question, Kuroi was up to twenty on his neck and face alone.

'No, he didn't. He just cracked jokes and looked at me funny.'

'I can't wait until the next family reunion then.'

A surprised giggle escaped her when Inuyasha bucked wildly in another attempt to throw her off, cursing loudly as he did so. Kuroi just held on tighter, apologizing profusely until he settled down some.

'I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have teased you about that Koinu, I'm sorry!!' Breathing heavily, he didn't respond but she could tell he was still pissed by the look in his eyes.

Kuroi said hopefully, 'Maybe he forgot?'

Honey-colored eyes darkened further as they narrowed. 'Baka bitch.'

'That's my line and it's baka boy. I'll get Sessy to promise never to reveal the grisly details somehow, so stop worrying about it.'

'You are pure evil woman.' the hard edge was fading from his thoughts.

'I know.' it slipped away faster when she smiled.

The expression on Inuyasha's face turned quizzical, 'How did you stop feeling like that anyway?'

'Good imagination.' When she wouldn't clarify, he let it go since he was unsure if he really wanted to pursue that avenue of questioning. Something whispered that he most definitely didn't.

The hands holding his wrists let go, but she didn't move away. Gently, Kuroi cupped his face in her hands and made him look up at her. 'Koinu, can I ask you a question?'

Reluctantly, he nodded. 'Yeah, anytime, you know that.'

Leaning forward to rest her forehead against his, she gave a smug smile. 'Okay. Here it is. If you believe that you're capable of having sex with me, why aren't you hard right now?' he flushed hotly at the bold question and opened his mouth to yell at her again. It closed just as quickly as it had opened.

Comprehension dawned when he realized that he felt nothing. Nothing at all, even with her laying fully on top of him. Still unsure despite the slim tendril of hope that crept into his heart, he frowned, 'But, I smell like you! How do you explain that?'

'Did you do anything to…yourself…recently?'

The blush came back as he started to retort hotly that he wasn't Miroku, but he paused again. 'No…wait.'

Thinking back, he did remember going outside earlier to relieve himself. 'When I took a leak, I had to touch myself…maybe that's why I smell like you.'

Her brows wiggled suggestively. She'd seen the memory through the link, 'You were holding onto me while we were asleep, nut. My scent was on your hands first, then on…you…after you…went.' Ruffling his hair affectionately, she kissed his cheek and got up. 'You made yourself smell like me. We didn't do anything.'

Grinning as he rolled to his feet to hug her, Inuyasha was glad that he could once again do so without regret, 'Sometimes Cuckoo, I could kiss you.'

'Ew, gross!' Playfully swatting him this time, she rubbed one ear in apology for socking him earlier.

Still holding her, he asked her quietly, 'Cuckoo, can I ask you something?'

'Yeah, anytime, you know that.' his lips twitched when she used his words, so he used hers as well.

'Okay. Here it is.' Pulling away, he lead her to the entrance and gazed up at the half-moon. When she followed his example, he reached behind her and brought the before unnoticed tail up to her startled face.

'Why the hell do you look like this now?'

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A/N: Sounds like something you've already read, huh? Give it a minute, because it's nothing like you think.

Email me if you think you know how it's going to end. The one who gets closest to the truth will be featured in the "Chicken Files" along with Ba and Ka. Happy guessing and just wait for the truth. Hopefully, it won't disappoint.

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Ba: "What are you eating?"

Ka: "Chicken."

Ba: "Are you sure it's chicken?"

Ka: "Yes. Unlike you, I made sure."

Ba: "…"

Ka. "What?"

Ba. "I thought they grew feathers?"

Ka: "…they do."

Ba: "…"

Ka. "What?!"

Ba: "So which ones grow the breaded coating?"

Ka: "…I hate you…"