InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Invitations to Trouble ❯ Heart Divided ( Chapter 14 )

Chapter Fourteen

Two weeks.

Holding onto the limp body half submerged in the cool water, Kuroi reflected on how much a person's outlook could change in less than fourteen days. 'I've been here nearly as long as I've been married.' A shudder under her fingers disturbed her melancholy thoughts, so she drew the unresisting boy from the water and helped him get dressed. Dull, flat eyes looked unseeingly at the ground while she helped him into the shabby blue hakama and gray uwagi. Once the pants were belted, she took his hand and led him to a stump so that she could dry and comb his long, black hair.

"There's a monkey in the middle of the room. Ook, ook.

There's a monkey in the middle of the room. Ook, ook.

There's a monkey in the middle,

Monkey in the middle,

Yes, there's a monkey in the middle of the room. Ook, ook."

Usually, the dancing little ditty was sung loud and strong, full of passionate and joyous gusto.

Now the tempo was slowed to that of a soothing lullaby. Through it all, the unresponsive boy sat quietly, acknowledging neither the caring touches or the sorrowful melody. Overhead, the stars shone on with a light untarnished by the hand of time, their brilliance made more complete by the absence of their celestial mistress.

Kuroi nearly wept.

There was a rustle in the bushes, making her instantly alert and reaching for the blade that seemed to have become her constant companion over the numerous days. Her grip on the frayed leather pommel relaxed when she saw who it was.

When she called out to the expectant young man, the quiet greeting she gave him lacked all but the barest welcome.

"Oh, hello. You startled me." Slender fingers picked up the old brush and went back to their task of grooming the dark head before her.

The words that drifted back to her were caring and tender, given in a love that any woman would return gladly. "Why don't you let me watch him for a while koi? You look tired and you know I don't mind." In another place and time, the endearment would have made her smile brightly and run to be closer to the one giving it.

Right now, it only made her want to cry even more.

Kuroi mustered a convincing smile from somewhere inside herself, "No thanks Kouga. It was more than enough that you found him some clothes to wear. I could never express my gratitude to you for that." Finished with the heavy mass, she hoped that Kouga wouldn't see the lies that were hidden in her gaze.

A cocky half-laugh filled the air. "Aw, it was nothing. Sheesh, some old clothes are hardly decent thanks for the kid who saved your life and brought you back to me. Don't you think so Kenami?"

Kenami.

Her throat constricted at the sound of that name. Somehow, she found it more appropriate than she could have imagined.

'Yes Kouga. At this moment, the name of your love applies to me so very well.' Resplendent and full, her tail drooped sadly. 'I am truly the 'lie of a dog's hair'.'

Bending down, Kuroi scooped the boy up into her arms. Her charge didn't resist the motion, but nowadays he never resisted anything she did for him. Shifting the weight easily, she walked with Kouga back to the shadowy wolf den and listened with only half an ear as he told her about his day.

Inwardly, Kuroi tried to keep her fragile sanity intact.

'I would give anything to wake up next to my husband. Heaven help me, I would do anything to make this all a bad dream.' Her fatigued mind was as sick with worry as her heart. Kuroi could feel a thick cascade of tears perched readily behind her eyes, waiting only for her tenuous restraint to snap and release them. At times like this, her thoughts inevitably turned toward her mate.

'Sessy, how did you keep everything you felt bottled up for all those years?! I wish I knew how you did it beloved, then maybe I wouldn't be so scared for Inu and I.'

Wolf howls filled the air with their nocturnal songs, sending a trickle of ice down her spine as the haunting melody reached them. Oh, there was definitely a reason for her to be afraid. Kuroi knew she was in the middle of a war and dead-smack in the center of enemy territory. To add to her troubles, her best friend was wounded.

'If this was a mission, I would be okay. I would have prepared for this and known what to expect.' Scarlet orbs flickered down briefly. 'And I could get us both the hell out of here.'

Her self-depreciatory musings were broken by a quiet word. "Kenami?" When she'd grown too diffident with her responses, Kouga had slowed down to find out why. Spotting the exhaustion written plainly across her face, he offered to carry her burden once again. Kuroi shook her snowy head, muttering another quiet thanks for the thought before pressing on.

However, the wolf prince was proving to be a bit more adamant than usual tonight. Scowling, he moved and blocked her path with both arms folded securely across the solid wall of his chest. As he stood there, every inch of him radiated an immovability to be envied by mules the world over.

"Look, I know you're strong Kenami but you shouldn't strain yourself like this. Since I'm your mate, you should let me take care of you." Clawed fingers brushed affectionately across her cheek as he moved closer to her. Since her hands were full, Kuroi couldn't avoid the contact. Irritated by his presumptuous attitude, she drew back her foot with the intent of kicking him in a vital spot until it was as flat as a board. Her leg twitched as a thought passed quickly across her mind.

'Kenami wouldn't turn away from her mate, so you can't either baka girl!' The muscles in her neck tensed and relaxed as her heart warred with common sense. In the end, logic won over loyalty.

Yes, she did have to act like the girl the ookami prince had taken as a mate, didn't she? But for how long?

'As long as it takes to keep you safe Koinu. As long as it takes for us to escape from here.'

Dark hair tickled her arms as the body she held grew heavier, and for a moment she almost wished she'd taken the offer of help.

Almost.

Her grip tightened, daring any force in heaven and hell to try and take this boy from her.

'If all that's required of me is some acting, then what's the harm in it?'

Resigned to her unsure fate, Kuroi chose to play the part and turned her face into the callused pad of the wolf youkai's hand instead. Sensing a compliancy about her that hadn't been there before, Kouga smiled down at her and let his voice grow more intimate.

"Since the kid is your friend, he'd want you to get some decent sleep." When she shook her head, coincidentally pulling away from him hands at the same time, his tone changed to one of concern.

"Damnit Kenami, it's not your fault he got hurt!"

All of the meager restraint crumbled at the outburst, loosening a silent flood that wracked her body. "Yes Kouga, it is." Kuroi marveled that her voice could sound so small.

Taken back, the prince of wolves moved away, "Shit, I'm sorry koi."

Upon hearing that broken spirit, Kouga tried to reach out and comfort her as he had tried to do so many times since his mate had come back to him.

But just as she had done for an equal amount of times, Kuroi moved away from that comfort, which was not hers to receive even if she had felt that she deserved any of it.

The body she held shivered again, breaking her heart anew.

'And heaven knows that I don't deserve consolation, not from anyone.'

Outwardly, she managed to stop her crying enough to speak without succumbing to the internal pain again. "It's okay Kouga. I'm okay, really." Looking out into the night-shrouded woods, Kuroi skirted around him. "We should be getting back. You wouldn't want to send Ginta out alone to hunt again, would you?"

Why couldn't she keep the helplessness from her voice anymore? Infuriated with herself, Kuroi tried to stoke her inner fires, 'I have to be stronger than this! If I don't, Kouga will keep trying to take care of me like some helpless child and I can't let that happen!'

Blessedly, Kouga didn't comment on the waver in her voice. Instead, the prince walked backwards beside her with his usual carefree smile set firmly in place.

"Hell no! He and Hakkaku might wind up frying field mice and squirrels like the last time."

Thinking about the friendly young ookami and his ever present 'shadow', Kuroi couldn't help but smile. "Mice were alright."

"But you need more than that."

Strong arms captured her around the waist before a fleeting kiss brushed over her forehead, shocking her immobile.

The wolf took that chance to hold his love and to soothe the hurt that he could feel resonating from every fiber of her being.

"It's okay Kenami. Koinu will be alright again. Remember, the healer said that it would take more time for him to fully mend so you just have to be patient." The prince's head tilted to the side a bit as he slowly released her. Having overcome her initial surprise at the embrace, Kuroi continued up the worn path with him. Kouga's blue eyes twinkled as they fell on the boy she cradled.

"Although why his parents named him 'puppy' is still beyond me."

"They liked dogs." The lie was automatic and delivered smoothly. After all, she'd been telling it for a while now. It was part of a tale she'd concocted on the spot to explain away the odd name she'd given the wolf pack when Gorotsuki had demanded the identity of the human boy she insisted that the ookami couldn't eat. Koinu was the only name she knew she'd remember and also wouldn't give away the true identity of the now human Inuyasha.

Fear for those you love can do funny things sometimes.

A hint of the fantastic crept into her voice now, lending it much needed life as she recounted the tale once again. Unnoticed shadows in the core of her being lightened, returning a ghost of her former smile as she looked askance at the ookami.

"I thought I told you that his mother and father wanted to pay tribute to Lord Yamatsu when he delivered some supplies to their village? When their son was born the following winter, they named him Koinu to thank the Inu youkai."

"Yeah, yeah. I still think it's a silly name for a human." Sulking a bit, he lifted his hands up to touch the high ponytail he customarily wore. A quick tug on the piece of old leather allowed the lustrous mass hair to fall across the youkai's broad shoulders before he combed it back together with his fingers.

Kuroi watched silently as he secured the flowing mane back up again. Strangely, that hasty attempt at grooming only served to make him appear more adorably unkempt to her.

A tree root must have popped up from nowhere because that was the only excuse Kuroi would allow herself for the small stumble that interrupted her stride. The fact that for one second, she had considered the ookami as something other than an enemy could not possibly have been the cause!

'Where in the hell did 'adorably' come from?!' Irritation and doubt wreaked merry havoc in her thoughts, making her hold Inuyasha closer to her chest for comfort.

'Baka! If you let yourself go there Kuroi, you should kick your own ass for Koinu, Sessy and that Kemani girl!' A hot flush filled her face, heating her defensive retort to Kouga's taunt on Inuyasha's nickname.

"No it's not! It's a perfect name for a han-handsome boy!" Kuroi mentally kicked herself for the near slip. Kouga didn't seem to notice it though. He had his arms laced casually behind his head as he walked beside her, occasionally glancing down at her to make sure that she was okay. Under the shelter of his watchful gaze, she saw that the grin which lit his face was full of barely contained mischief, much like the ones Inuyasha used to give her but fundamentally different. At the sight of it, her traitorous heart skipped a beat.

'Shit. He really is adorable.'

Kouga closed his eyes in an effort to achieve a look of solemn wisdom, but he failed completely thanks to that off kilter-grin.

"You might be right, koi. Then again, I'm beginning to think that all the humans in Yamatsu's territory are slightly insane."

Exasperation tried its wily hand at coloring her words, "No one's crazy, Kouga. They're all just loyal to him because he's a nice guy. A good leader always provides for his subjects and earns their devotion with his actions."

All humor vanished as the youkai prince froze in his tracks at the admonishing statement. Even his rich voice became hollow and distant. "Yeah. A good leader does always provide for his people. No matter what, he always provides." The odd murmur was Kouga's only response.

Curious, Kuroi turned to examine his face. It was drawn and tight, tension picking out faint lines in the tanned skin near his mouth and nose. The dramatic transformation made her wonder what could have caused the sudden change.

"Kouga?"

"Hmm?" Dragged back from wherever he was, the easy grin returned to his lips but it failed to reach his eyes. Kuroi wanted to ask him if something she'd said had troubled him, but he interrupted her before she could say a thing.

"Oh yeah, I wanted to show you this new cave I found Kenami. I think it would make a great den for us." A guilty flush crept up his neck to color his face.

"Um, whenever you're ready that is."

Would the lies never cease? Kuroi knew the cause of his discomfort this time and regretted the necessity of it. On her first fear-filled night here among the ookami, Kouga had tried to come into her room to lay next to her while she slept.

Snapped awake at the foreign contact, Kuroi had wept and thrashed in his arms that night, screaming as though she was in the grip of a terrible nightmare. Kouga had immediately tried to awaken her, making soothing noises as he did so. After an hour or so of allowing him to 'pry' into the cause of her night terrors, Kuroi had created another lie.

She had told him that she'd been raped.

Since then, Kouga had stopped trying to come into her room, but he never once ceased to be warm or compassionate towards her. Whether in word or deed, everything he did expressed nothing but love for her.

Kuroi dimly wondered if he'd be upset if she vomited where she stood because she was making herself sick with all of this deception.

'Mom taught us to never lie. Hell, I had problems keeping things from Koinu before the link was forged. Now all I ever do is deceive the people around me and hope that they don't figure it out.'

At the entrance to the den, the two of them passed by a pair of wolfs who whined excitedly in greeting. A large one with bluish highlights in its silver fur, bumped against the girl's leg with a fond paw. Kuroi made a clicking noise that promised the friendly animal a belly rub as soon as she had a minute to herself. Seeing the eagerness that drove the furry tail into a whipping frenzy made her want to go home more than ever.

'Although everything I am here is a lie, even the wolves like me.' The thought added more guilt to an already heavy load.

'I am going to be doing penance in every hell that exists when I get out of here. Maybe Miroku can give me a han…no.' the thought cut off sharply, 'Not a hand. Anything but a hand! Sessy would probably remove it at the elbow if he tried anything funny.' A faint smile touched her lips as she recalled the first time she'd met the monk and the rest of Inuyasha's friends.

'Gods, I miss those guys.'

By that time, Kouga and Kuroi had arrived at her quarters. Clearing her throat, she flashed a grin at her chaperone. "Thanks for walking me to my room Kouga. I promise to go straight to sleep and get some rest, okay?" Thinking that the declaration would alleviate some of the guy's fears, Kuroi started to go inside. A muscular arm blocked the way and made her pause momentarily.

"Are you sure you don't need any help with him?" Hooded eyes as blue as hers had been trailed over the sleeping form in her arms. "You know that I don't mind." Kouga finally brought his gaze up to meet hers, his eyes holding more intensity than Kuroi thought he could possess. Even the timbre of his voice deepened to match it.

"Please, believe me when I tell you that I don't mind, Kenami. Any of it. Do you understand?"

While the inquiry was as gentle as before, this time Kuroi clearly heard the unasked question beneath Kouga's offer.

Was she ready to accept him tonight.

The tiny, choking sound she made in the back of her throat convinced the ookami of her terror quite well, thanks largely to the fact that it was real.

No, she would not accept him in her bed this night or any other.

Since her gaze was cast down away from him, she missed the deep sorrow that flickered over his face when he heard the noise. It was gone, replaced once more by his characteristic grin by the time she lifted her face back up to him. With a light laugh, he removed his arm and opened the door for her, stepping aside to let her pass him. "Sorry. Sleep tight koishii."

Tilting her head back, Kuroi replied, "Goodnight Kou-!"

Warm, feathery soft lips descended and landed on her mouth with his tongue slipping deftly inside to plunder the hot depths thoroughly when she gasped in surprise. In an apologetic gesture, his tongue tapped against hers once as it withdrew, but not before running lightly across the sensitive flesh on her lower lip.

Surprisingly, the kiss was over before her astounded mind could wrap itself around the fact that is was happening. One moment he was kissing her, and the next, those gentle lips were gone, startling her with the rapidity of the whole encounter.

But what rocked Kuroi to the soles of her feet was the indescribable passion that brief little kiss had been able to convey.

He desired her.

The revelation was followed immediately by a resounding mental slap.

'No dumb ass, he desires Kenami! You just happen to look like her, so keep that in mind along with the fact that you're a married woman who's best friend is currently a vegetable!! Let's not forget the fact that you're both trapped with people who would just as soon gut you as look at you if they knew who you really were!!!'

But maybe Kouga wouldn't?

The voice made a sound of disgust but didn't say anything more.

Sea blue eyes watched her intently for a moment before the smiling young man dashed around the corner, leaving her at the threshold of the room she shared with Inuyasha and a sudden world of confusion.

For the thousandth time, Kuroi knew she would have to work harder to avoid those penetrating eyes and fervently wished that she could just tell Kouga the truth. She glanced down at the defenseless boy in her arms again.

'But if I do, Koinu and I are as good as dead.'

{}

"Ah Yamatsu…seeing you like that, I have to ask myself where we went wrong?"

Yamatsu bolted upright at the amused tone, peering around the dark tent with blazing gold eyes as he pulled his sleeping-robe closed across his exposed body. Shaking off the last vestiges of sleep, the youkai growled out a challenge when his questing senses could detect no one around him.

"Who's there?"

"Yama, if you can't see me, and you can't smell me, shouldn't that alone tell you who is here?" The amusement was stronger, but carried a trace of steely resolve. That note placed the voice for him instantly. When he addressed her, it sounded more like a whisper of awed supplication than a common utterance.

"Niambi, goddess of the Bas'ti." Sliding out of bed, the youkai lord stood and waited for his guest to reveal herself. He didn't have long to wait.

Shadows departed as Yamatsu was treated to the rising of the sun within the voluminous canopy of the tenting. A creamy white shift of fine, weightless linen was draped over her deep, brown body, hiding and revealing the curvaceous form as it moved in an unfelt breeze.

Keeping to the style of her homeland, the cloth stopped just above her ankles and left both arms bare and unadorned, save for a single bracelet of gold on each wrist. Intricately carved beads of ebony clicked against one another at the ends of numerous braids, which she had gathered up in a high ponytail bound by another golden band.

From experience, Yama knew that those obsidian statues served a more practical purpose than mere decoration.

Effortlessly graceful and glowing like a bronzed figurine given life, the Lady of the South glided towards him, arms outspread.

Her lips quirked slightly as she drew closer and returned the address. "Yamatsu, Inu no Taisho of the Western Lands."

Being approached by a beautiful woman in his bedroom at night, Yamatsu felt that they might be beyond such stiff formalities, so he said teasingly, "Greetings Hizashi." Since she was nearly as tall as he was, his arms fell around her loosely in a hug. Lips of deep burgundy pursed at the nickname as she rolled her eyes at him.

"Don't think you can sweet talk me with all of that 'rays of the sun' nonsense Yama. I already spoke to Shinaki at the mansion and as usual, Jaken was a pompous little snit before he realized who I was. You really should pass out a list of people you know Yama. That way your retainers will quit attacking everyone who asks for you.

"I did have the good fortune to encounter Hebiki on the way to the palace though. If not for him, I would be there instead of here."

"Remind me to toss him in a pit of kittens."

"Yama, that is such a cruel thing to say!" Exhaling softly, she whispered, "However, I came here for a very urgent reason."

Yamatsu pulled back from the genial embrace that he was strangely reluctant to put an end to. Scratching the back of his head, he gave an embarrassed chuckle. "I know it's been nearly four hundred years since we were close, but I can't do that anymore. I'm married now." A hand planted itself hard against his chest, shoving him back a pace. Rainbow-hued orbs narrowed in disbelief at the statement.

"May the Old Ones take your eyes Dog, I cannot believe you actually said that to me! You are as arrogant as ever if you think for even a moment that I came all of this way for something like that!"

Golden eyes twinkled with mirth. "You mean you didn't?"

The button nose sniffed delicately in response, "Sometimes, I think you put far too much stock into what others say about you Yama. You should know very well that is not the reason why I came to you!"

"I do?" he asked innocently, earning himself a scowl. "Enlighten me then, Hizashi." The inu youkai rubbed lightly at his chest, which was throbbing painfully. Niambi might look fragile, but that was in much the same way that a sleeping lioness was a helpless cat or he was your average lap dog.

'Something is bothering her though. Usually it takes an hour of teasing to ruffle her feathers.' Motioning her towards a cushion, he took his own seat a polite distance away. The golden eyes that openly appraised her were lidded, but filled with amusement because she was still blushing from his earlier comments.

Even the ambient glow around her was tinged with pink.

When Niambi saw that he was watching her, she sequestered her light away within herself knowing that the subtle shifts in it would be too indicative of her mood.

At the hasty dimming, Yamatsu's amusement deepened. 'Some things never change with this woman.' Rather than risking irritating her further, he raised his hands in a gesture that signaled he was willing to behave.

"I apologize Hiz-Niambi, but doesn't that beg the question of what you are doing here?" Turning to the side to retrieve some cups and put on some tea, he missed the subtle move of her body towards him.

Baked clay clattered when his only answer was a hard whap upside the head with a roll of paper that knocked him back onto the bed behind him. Niambi was braced on her knees to look down at him and the ambient light housed within her blazing forth from just her eyes.

"How can you sit there smiling like a hyena and ask me that after you breached our agreement you long-haired jackal?!"

Flat on his back and mildly dazed, the lord frowned up at the ceiling in confusion. 'Did I just get smacked like a disobedient pup?' Struggling to sit up, he found one arm tangled in the sheets, the fabric twisting as though it was alive as it held him fast. 'Damn it. I told that toad not to starch these things.'

Outwardly, his tone was gruff as he shook the entrapped limb in an attempt to free himself, sparing the other person a hot glance every now and then.

"Wait a minute Niambi! What are you talking about?"

Bright hazel eyes burned hotter than his own. "You breached the agreement Yama! When I came to this forsaken land I asked only one thing from all of the lords. I would leave your people alone and you would do the same for mine."

"If I recall correctly Niambi, we did a hell of a lot of breaching when you and I were together so what's the real problem with you?" Blushing hotly at the second reminder of their past relationship, she gave a growl that only caused her color to deepen since she'd picked the habit up from him.

"Blast it all Yama, this is serious!" The scroll waved dangerously over his head, "You have one of my people Lord of Dogs!"

Finally, his arm was free. Relying on his inhuman speed, Yamatsu swept both hands up to capture her bare shoulders in a hard grip as a growl of irritation poured from his throat.

"There are no Bas'ti in my lands and if there were any, you know I'd tell you immediately!" Stressed out by the rudeness of his treatment from a fellow sovereign and old friend, Yamatsu reached down and snatched the offending parchment from the woman so there would be no temptation to use it again. Flinging it aside, he barked out, "Now what is going on Hizashi?"

Before she could answer, a flash of white flew into the tent and knocked her forcefully to the ground. A whine in the air made his skin prickle in warning. Yamatsu gave a cry, halting the descending blade in it's deadly arc.

"Sesshomaru, no!"

Svelte limbs fluttered briefly through the air before sheathing the blade. Cold yellow eyes slid over to the woman the older lord was helping to her feet. Surprised by the appearance of his son, Yamatsu turned to face him.

"What are you doing here Sesshomaru? Hebiki told me that he couldn't find you." Checking to see if Niambi was uninjured, he awaited an answer.

It took a moment to come. "I am not personally acquainted with this Hebiki you're speaking of father." Looking utterly bored, Sesshomaru moved away from the two of them as he inspected his surroundings with a critical eye.

"However, if you mean a small, yellow snake youkai with unusual physical attributes who babbles incoherently about demonic cats, unholy monks and possessed taijiya, then I ran into him about half an hour ago outside the gates of the western Shiro. When I persuaded him to talk, he informed me that you were here."

Looking past his son to the empty entranceway, Yamatsu inquired hopefully "Is Kuroi with you?" He was taken back by the dangerous light that filled his child's face for an instant before it was hidden behind a look of indifference.

'What the hell has happened here?'

"No. I have not seen either my mate or your other son for more than a week father." Quiet and controlled, the hollow voice made Yamatsu frown. 'He hasn't sounded like that for months. What the hell happened?' A small groan drew both of their attentions to the woman who had been knocked to the ground.

"Oh, Niambi. Are you all right?"

"Yes Yama." Hazel eyes shot over to lock onto the young lord staring at them. "Although I would like to know why I was attacked."

When Sesshomaru didn't appear willing to answer her, Yamatsu repeated the question with a hint of a command. A downwards twitch at the corner of his firm mouth was the only sign the younger youkai gave of his displeasure.

"Excuse me, but I saw a light that suddenly went out as well as raised voices in here father. Since I knew that you had retired to your bed alone, I thought it might be an assassination attempt." Sun-colored eyes trailed up and down the strangely clad body of the gaijin woman he had struck.

"It seems that I might have erred." Sesshomaru looked at his father and said softly, "I had not realized that you had sent out for a pansuke." A quick intake was the only sound heard in the deathly silence.

The chilled, clipped tone of the young man's voice made Niambi glare at him harder than his insulting words. Uncoiling from the ground, she rose to her feet with Yamatsu's assistance. Before Yamatsu could say anything, he saw one of her hands begin to travel up to her hair and used one of his own to stop it.

Niambi growled in earnest now. "If you were not of Yama's blood, I would strike you where you stand, impudent child!"

Snowy brows rose dismissively. "As if a mortal such as yourself actually could. I did not realize that women in your trade thought of themselves so highly now. How amusing."

Yamatsu groaned as though he'd been hit.

'Kami in heaven. Sesshomaru, one of these days you and I will have a long talk about that mouth of yours.' Since both of his hands were in the process of stopping Niambi so that she couldn't get to any of the figurines she wore, he tried to assuage her ire with logic. Addressing her with as much respect as he could pack into his voice, he stood between her and her target.

"Please my Lady, he is unaware of your identity and did not mean to insult you."

Behind him, yellow eyes widened a bit but the cold voice didn't waver in its disdain. "She must be the top in her field if she has you calling her 'my Lady' father." Folding himself into the seat his father had occupied, Sesshomaru appraised her openly.

"So, are you charging him for the night, or is this an appreciative gesture for your lord, ningen?"

The smile that curled the wine dark lips held all the warmth of a sea in the heart of winter. Yamatsu swore that the temperature around them dropped as Niambi drew herself up to her full stature. Her voice purred and filled each nook and cranny in the space of the tenting.

"Yama…"

Still between her and Sesshomaru, Yamatsu tightened his hold on the wrists he held, noting that each one felt like rods of iron beneath his fingers. A touch of desperation crept into his voice, because he was still trying to get her eyes to travel anywhere else except where they currently were directed.

Pointedly glaring a promise of death at his son.

"Yes Niambi?"

The ghostly orbs didn't move and the purr was more pronounced. "Shinaki said that you have another child, do you not?"

His grip increased as he replied evenly, "Yes… I do Niambi…but I would like to have two children." She gave a mirthless laugh that tinkled in the air like shattered glass.

"We all want many things Yama, but it is up to the gods to decide what we actually get." At the haughty declaration, his heart sank and he felt his apprehension double with each passing second.

'Aw shit, I know where this is going…'

For anyone else, the constant constriction on their wrists by a full-blooded youkai would have snapped the bones like dry twigs, but Yama knew for a fact that Niambi couldn't be hurt like that.

Something whispered that his strength alone might not be enough to stop her, even if he could bring himself to injure her. "Niambi…please." He finally managed to gain her attention and wished he hadn't. That white hot light she kept inside of herself was spilling forth from her eyes like tears, each one flaring like miniature suns as they struck the floor.

'Kami help me or I'll lose that arrogant idiot I call a son.'

Honey-gold eyes widened in surprise when a voice answered the ardent prayer.

'Kami cannot help you or that boy Yama, so your prayers are all in vain.'

'Niambi?' Those ghostly eyes revealed nothing as they turned back to the one who was her real focus.

Sesshomaru.

For his part, the man targeted for heavenly wrath was busy examining the broken cup on the floor while sipping tea from another. Strangely, the charged atmosphere around him had failed to be deemed worthy of his attention.

Yamatsu continued to fight against the unyielding will of the woman he held onto and cursed his first born in his mind as he did so.

Sesshomaru had managed to really piss her off.

Niambi suddenly became as pliant as water, all traces of tension running out of her as though it had been drained away. The shift made Yamatsu fumble to regain his balance, releasing her as he did so. That same deadly purr caressed his ears as she shot past him.

"I promise that he will not suffer..."

An incoherent word ripped through the tent as hastily flung beads flew out like sparks from the heart of a volcano. The little figures bounced and danced across the reed matting, glowing from within like hot coals, but did not ignite the dry plant matter.

Reeds were not their target after all…

}

Outside of the large tent, the field camp was relatively quiet, with each soldier either sleeping or waking up for their turns at watch. If one of the sentries heard a distinctively happy noise from a fellow comrade, it wasn't commented on. After all, one has to be at their best to serve their lord, don't they?

Because in the midst of a war for their lives, their families and their homes, the ningen and youkai had all put aside age old differences to unite under the banner of the Western Lord. Joined together to fight a common foe, the men in the camp had managed to find an uneasy, but minor peace.

The peace was shot straight to hell when the tent at the center of camp exploded in a towering fireball.

{}

A soft moan broke Kuroi out of the daze she'd been in since Kouga had given her that brief sign of his 'affection'. She automatically reached for a skin of water that she kept by the door. Weight shifted dangerously in her arms, making her lay Inuyasha down before she accidentally dropped him.

At the movement, he moaned again. Uncorking the skin, she chastised him for his characteristic impatience as she tipped the bulging sac up. The water disappeared down his throat greedily as he drank the cool liquid.

Kuroi sent up a prayer of thanks that he was at least able to swallow on his own. For a short while after the healer had tended to him, she'd feared that Inuyasha might starve to death.

'So little a thing as your thirst makes me happy now Puppy? Kami help me.' Ruby dark eyes scanned the boyish features. 'Kami, help my Koinu.'

The handsome face in the cradle of her arms was slack and devoid of emotion. Even the touches she sent to him through their link were met with emptiness. 'Kami help us both. Koinu, what have I done to you?'

The night Inuyasha had fallen from the great heights of the forest canopy, the night they had last spoken to one another, was the night he had lost his heritage.

He was completely human, and no human could have hoped to drop from the dizzying heights that Inuyasha had fallen and survive.

'You not only survived puppy, you lucked the hell out when you hit those three idiots who were out on patrol.' The awkward landing had moderately injured his body, the force of the impact was absorbed by hitting the three youkai. But his head…

Her finger traced the scar across his forehead that ran from the top of his nose to disappear up into the thick hair. Yes, the injury to his head had been the worst because of the three Inuyasha had hit, Tsuki wore spiked armor like Sesshomaru.

The head wound had troubled the healer for days. Kuroi recalled the ancient-looking youkai saying that even if the deep gash healed, there was no guarantee that the boy would recover normally because the prongs of the ookami's armor had managed to lightly pierce the boy's skull in some places.

Sighing sadly, Kuroi put the water skin back.

'But you shouldn't have fallen in the first place…'

Had he remained a hanyou, the fall would have done no more than placed Inuyasha in a healer's bed for a night or two. But as a human…

Brushing the inky bangs away from his face, she prepared their beds for the night. 'This is all my fault.' Sleep was slowly taking a hold of her, but she knew she wasn't ready to lay down yet.

Since the night her friend had been forced into his full humanity and wounded as a result, Inuyasha had been like a broken doll. Even now, as she got him ready for bed, he made no motion to help or hinder her. Kuroi dutifully placed her bedding right beside Inuyasha's, in case he needed something in the night, "or I can hear you if you spoke to me." she admitted to herself. Exhausted, she rubbed at her face in an effort to stay awake a little longer.

After all, the door had yet to be warded.

Wobbling a little from drowsiness, she forcefully rammed the Tetsuaiga across the doorway, setting each end in a natural niche on the sides of the threshold. Satisfied that it couldn't be knocked out of place, Kuroi still mulled over her friend and where they currently were.

Over the course of her time with the ookami, Kuroi had worked out every possible reason for why this could have happened in the first place, and had been able to draw only one torturous conclusion.

It was all her fault.

'Not my own Koinu, but the fault of the blood inside of me. My stupid heritage that I know nothing of, but seems to keep blessing and cursing me more than I once thought it ever could.'

Yes. Her blood was the key.

The first time Inuyasha had tasted it was when he'd saved her life after the snake bite over seventy years ago. Back then, it had formed a bond that had allowed them to faintly sense one another. Kuroi placed a hand over her chest, right above the spot in her aura where she bore the scar of a magical wound.

An arrow wound which had drawn her across the miles on the darkest night of her life, to witness her friend's imprisonment.

The second time Inuyasha had bitten her, was the day he'd wed Kagome. After that, the link had allowed the two friends to share thoughts when close to each other, and the previous ability to sense the other had been strengthened enough to cover even greater distances than before.

Originally, that second pack mark had been Inuyasha's attempt to symbolize that no matter what the two did in life, they would remain the truest of friends.

Rosy lips curved up in a genuine smile. 'Yeah, but you nearly bit off your tongue when you found out your brother and I were moving in with you, didn't you Koinu?' Again, the joke was not received, nor the laughter returned. Kuroi tucked Inuyasha in bed as lovingly as any mother, then slid into her own to sleep.

The third and fourth times Inuyasha had sampled from her veins had been the day they'd argued half a month ago, after he'd accused her of betraying their friendship. The bites from Inuyasha that day had been apologies for his distrusting and hurtful words.

Barely cracked before, the shielding gates across their bond were flung wide open after those double ingestions of her blood.

'I felt what you felt puppy and you felt all that I was.' His dark eyes were closed as the boy's chest rose and fell in easy slumber. 'But in the end, I think I might have doomed us both with my complete stupidity.'

Because the last bite had held the key.

The last time was what had sealed Inuyasha's fate and placed them in this mess. Flailing in the depths of her hurt and anger, Kuroi had wanted to show Inuyasha that even if she would not forgive him, she would still be his friend.

His little flower had bitten him.

"Fool that I was, I bit you back for once Koinu." she whispered in disgust. "You have to bite back to confirm or acknowledge a mark when it is placed on you. Isn't that what you and Sessy said?" If it was, then her acceptance of the pack bond must have affected Inuyasha's youki in some way, reverting him to his current human state.

'Right now the only thing standing between you and your enemies is me and that sword of yours Koinu.' Her eyes traveled over to the doorway and the Tetsuaiga braced against it. Inuyasha's sword was placed there with the express purpose of stopping one man out of the entire pack from getting inside.

It wasn't Kouga.

Kuroi cut her throaty growling off when it looked as though the noise would awaken Inuyasha, but her voice carried her ire clearly through the small alcove.

"Old, evil, rotten bastard…"

Of course, she meant Gorotsuki. The very same night Kouga had come and left her room, so had his lord. Where the prince had come out of love, Kuroi had no clue what had prompted the violent fray between her and the ookami leader. 'I didn't do anything to him.' She gave the sleeping figure a kiss on the cheek and smiled in mischief.

'Okay, I did punch him after Tsuki, Intu and Mimo dragged us here, but he couldn't possibly hold a grudge over that little smack.'

Loud and foul, the ookami lord's very energy had alerted her to his presence before she'd even seen him. When he had grabbed her throat and arms, she'd been half afraid that the gods were going to make her pay for her lie to Kouga by making it the truth.

'The weird thing Koinu, is that he wasn't aroused at all. There was no lust or desire of any kind in his youki.' Frowning slightly, she snuggled closer to the sleeping form. 'If anything, Gorotsuki just seemed confused by me.' Kuroi still couldn't decipher the cryptic words that he had all but spat in her face.

}

Glaring and spiteful, the thick jowls shook with fury as Gorotsuki pressed her against the hewn walls of her room. He took her kicks without flinching, seeming to be beyond any pain she could inflict on his corpulent body.

"You won't have him. You won't have him!"

"Let go!" Lengthened by her unwilling transformation, Kuroi's nails sliced deeply into the greasy skin covering the rigid hands holding her. Being one of the four lords, Gorotsuki's jyaki instantly healed the minor wounds as fast as she made them.

The coppery tang of his blood seemed to excite him though, and the fleshy choke hold only grew stronger. "The Spider swore you were gone! He told me that you could never take him from me!" Babbling and frothing at the mouth, Gorotsuki held her suspended in the air, gravity cutting off the air to her lungs better than his fingers could.

"The Spider said that you'd go away and never take him from me! I'll kill you first! I'll-!"

Anything more he might have said was cut off by the sickening sound of a foot hitting that sweet spot on the underside of the jaw. Gorotsuki cursed and let her go, holding the dislocated and obviously broken bone in place. Kuroi took the opportunity to launch herself at his side and knock him from the room, shoving the door closed.

When he made an attempt to force his way back inside, her flailing hand had landed on the scabbard of Tetsuaiga. Kuroi never figured out what happened after that.

}

'There was a flash of light and Gorotsuki screamed like I'd hit him in the balls with the hammer of God. What the hell did your dad have done to that sword anyway Koinu?' Absently, Kuroi stroked Inuyasha's stomach through the uwagi. 'Who do you think he meant I shouldn't take from him Koinu? That man is ugly and unstable, so I can't imagine anyone wanting to be with him willingly.'

Gorotsuki had flown into a rage when she'd said as much to him the next time their paths has crossed. A pleased smile crossed Kuroi's face as she relished the memory of laying the sneaky ookami flat on his ass.

Her fingers moved up to flutter affectionately over a round ear. 'I can never repay you for teaching me how to toss a baka around Koinu.' Inuyasha's nose twitched, but she had become accustomed to the minor facial tic and so ignored it. 'What I still can't figure out is if they're really father and son. I've never seen such vehemence in someone like I see in Kouga when he looks at that man! What is the deal with those two anyway?'

Kuroi had long ago switched to the easy and familiar mental speech she shared with Inuyasha. That way, she could still talk to him without fear of being overheard. Although she missed the sarcasm she'd come to love, she didn't mind if her friend never spoke in return. Kagome had told her once, that simply talking to loved ones who were comatose and couldn't respond back, often helped ease the minds of both sides.

'If it would bring you around Koinu, I'd talk a hole in this mountain.'

'…'

Her head snapped up at the tickle in the back of her mind. 'Koinu? Is that you?'

'…'

Each breath that was sucked down seemed to take forever to reach her befuddled brain. No way. She couldn't have heard him. Not after all these weeks alone!

Coarse strands slipped through her fingers as she wove them into Inuyasha's hair, searching for a lightened strand. There were none, but she felt the tickling again.

'…ku…'

'Koinu! I am here! Koinu, follow my thoughts and come home!!' Taking his face in her hands, she rose to her knees, sleep instantly forgotten. 'Puppy, come back to me!'

'…ku-ku…'

'Yes!! Come back to us!' tears coursed down her cheeks, but these were joyful. 'Come back to Kagome and the pups Koinu!'

'…ku-k…'

'To your brother!'

'…ku-ki…'

'To all of us Inuyasha!! Come back!'

'…ki-kiss…'

Huh? Kuroi didn't remove her hands, but she did pull her face back a bit. 'Say that again?'

'…kiss…you…'

Panic traipsed across her features like dawn breaking in the desert, hitting everything it touched with a curious light. 'I thought we already covered that we couldn't do things like that Koinu?'

She gasped when arms that had lain slack for weeks on end suddenly wrapped around her and drew her down to his face, their noses barely touching. Wide open and completely focused on her, Inuyasha's fathomless eyes held golden rings in their center as they burned with their former awareness.

Hesitantly, Kuroi touched his cheek. "Koinu?" Muscles clenched and jumped at the contact before she heard the first words his disused throat uttered to her after so many weeks of silence.

Needless to say, it wasn't what she expected.

"You…kissed…Kouga!"

}

}

}

A/N: Hmmm, no Ba and Ka today. I sent the two of them on a much needed vacation. Separate vacations since Ka tried to de-bone Ba with a pizza cutter. I swear, I never knew you could do things like that with common household utensils!

Ah, I love Koinu. He always expresses his gratitude instantly, doesn't he? Once again, sorry for these chapters taking so long. I just got my I-pen and turned into a drawing, comp-coloring fool. Not to mention the characters were being major monkeys.

In Chapter 15, I promise to resolve a few issues as well as bring ignored characters back to the limelight where they deserve to be.