InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Learning my way... ❯ Chapter 14 ( Chapter 14 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter 14

Sun was already streaming through the windows of the ICU when Keitaro was rudely awakened by a pair of hands roughly seizing his arms and yanking him out of the bed. He hit the floor with an uncharacteristically heavy thump and was on his feet in seconds, dodging out from under a foot that had been trying to keep him on the floor.

He was barely able to stop his claws a millimeter before they turned Kappei Fujita’s face into mincemeat. The older man glowered at him, his dark eyes narrowed and burning with something close to hatred. Anna-Marie and Akihiro stood silently at the foot of Mariko’s bed, their eyes wide and fearful.

“Stay away from my daughter,” He hissed, making to shove Keitaro towards the door. It was as futile as trying to move a mountain. He wasn’t budging for anything, much less the likes of Mr.Fujita.

“No,” growled Keitaro, his golden eyes fierce. His hanyou ears were flat against his skull and his lips were curled back in a feral grimace that revealed his wickedly sharp fangs. His long black hair was loose and unkempt and his body was resembled a coiled spring that was ready to snap. It made him seem more animal than human.

Kappei stepped back, away from claws that glinted in the sunlight, but his eyes said that he was not about to swallow his words.

“You have no right to be near my daughter!”

“I don’t give a fucking hoot to whether you think I have the right or not. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Kei…taro…?” a soft voice made everyone present jump. Keitaro whirled around to see Mariko’s eyelids fluttering. She was facing him, but her eyes seemed unable to focus on anything that was more than a foot or two away.

Instantly, he was at her side, holding her hand. “I’m here Mariko… so’s the rest of your family.”

Mariko turned to look at what must have been a blurry form at the foot of her bed. “Mommy?” she whispered in English. Tears cascaded around Anna-Marie’s face as she came around the other side of the bed and enveloped Mariko in a gentle hug. “I’m here baby…I’m here.”

As one, both Akihiro and Kappei pushed forward and Keitaro was forced to step backwards so that Mariko could be near her family. As she was wrapped up in hugs by both her parents, Keitaro turned away to look out the window and bit his lip as he listened to their soft reassurances that they were there. He listened as both Mariko and her mother held each other and cried and silently bore the agony of smelling Mariko’s salty tears.

He listened intently as Anna-Marie retold Mariko what he had told them the night after he had brought Mariko into the hospital, and barely noticed that Akihiro had broken away from the bedside and was now standing beside him at the window.

“You saved her,” he said suddenly and Keitaro jerked involuntarily, his gaze shifting down to peer at the 12-year-old boy, who was staring back up at him earnestly.

“You could say that,” said Keitaro morosely, staring out the window once more, “but it was my fault she got in trouble in the first place.”

“Are you sure?” asked Akihiro, “Mari said she went out to see that Souten person on her own – Who is Souten, anyways? I’ve never heard of her before.”

“Thunder demoness,” said Keitaro dully, “Old friend of Shippou’s, who, in turn, was adopted by my mother when he was younger.”

“Is he a youkai?” asked Akihiro. Keitaro nodded. “He’s a Kitsune. Bit of an ass too.”

“Ohhhhh…. Cool… I wish I could come with you guys sometime… the feudal era is so exciting,”

“That excitement that you’re talking about is what nearly got Mariko killed,” said Keitaro bluntly, staring down at the boy, a hard look in his golden eyes. Akihiro’s face fell. “Oh…right…”

Beyond whispering his name when she had first regained consciousness, Mariko said nothing to Keitaro as her recovery progressed. There was no anger in her hollow blue eyes, but it seemed as though she had nothing to say to him. So he sat by her side, never leaving and never speaking.

When the doctors broke the news that she would probably never walk again without assistance, she received it calmly, with only a single tear that traced its way down her cheek and dripped off her chin onto her hospital gown. She listened with a vacant expression as they explained about the physiotherapy that they could do with her and perhaps, in a few months time, all she’d need would be a cane or a brace.

When Keitaro was woken up by a strange sound about two weeks after her awakening, he found her standing upright next to her bed, all her weight braced on her the bed and her good leg as she struggled to make her lame leg cooperate. She seemed to be trying to keep it from bending out from under her. She lifted it with her thigh muscles so that it didn’t drag on the floor and hopped to the end of her bed. Carefully, she transferred her weight to the IV tower and bit her lip, before taking a determine hop towards the bathroom.

He said nothing and watched her out of the corner of his eye, curious to see what she would do. She was barely three hops away from her bed, dragging her IV tower behind her when she began to tumble sideways, the strength in her good leg giving out.

Keitaro was up in a flash and caught her before she hit the ground.

“Keitaro!” she gasped, her blue eyes wide. “I thought you were asleep!”

Keitaro couldn’t hold back the grin as her stunned words reached his ears - the first that she’d spoken to him in over two months.

“Did you really think you’d be able to move without me know about it?” he asked playfully as he righted her.

“Y’know – for a second there, I actually thought I could,” replied Mariko, with a tiny smile as Keitaro helped her limp back to her bed, supporting her weight easily as she leaned heavily on his arm and shoulder and his clawed hand gently steadied her when she began to wobble.

“You look different.” She remarked after a moment when he had set her back down on the bed. “- and so do some of hospital staff.”

Keitaro’s ears pricked up and he sat down next to her. “Different? How so?”

Mariko shrugged. “There’s a sort of a glowy aura around you and some of the nurses and doctors. One of the janitors has it too. It’s kinda hard to see – especially when it’s daytime – but I started seeing it when I woke up.”

Keitaro felt the bottom of his stomach fall out. She can see my youki!

“Glowy aura?” he repeated, struggling to keep his tone casual. Mariko nodded. “I’m not sure what it is… but it’s rather strange. It’s like magic. I don’t know how it started.”

“I think I may know why that is…” said Keitaro uncomfortably, swallowing audibly.

“Really?” she said, brightening. Keitaro nodded, determinedly not looking at her straight in the eye.

“You see my youki. The people you see it on here are people who have youkai blood. Only one or two of them are full youkai. Most are hanyous, like me – but they’re more like only 1/8 youkai, 1/16 or even 1/32. I wager some of them don’t even know that they’re part of a different race,” he said. “That janitor you mentioned is a fire hanyou.”

“Do you know why I see them?” asked Mariko, looking somewhat troubled. Keitaro bit his lip and stared at his lap.

“The leopard youkai,” He said softly, lying through his teeth. On the bed, Mariko tensed and she began to shiver.

“He did something else to me?” she whispered, her eyes clouding with tears.

Keitaro shrugged. “Mating bond – or a part of it, at least. I don’t really know anything about it. You don’t have to worry about it anymore though. He’s dead. At least now, no youkai can sneak up on you.”

“Small comfort,” she spat bitterly. “I suppose that bond is permanent?”

“I don’t know. Probably not, considering he’s dead and you’re still here.”

Mariko nodded, her gaze turning out the window. She was silent for several minutes, before she turned back to him, a strange expression on her face.

“You killed him didn’t you?”

Keitaro looked away, unable to meet her eyes and his ears drooped. He hadn’t been able to tell anyone what had happened. The shame and the guilt ate away at his insides. He lost control of his youkai blood and he had almost hurt Mariko also. That in itself was unforgivable.

Mariko said nothing, but he felt her hand come to rest lightly on his shoulder and squeeze slightly. Keitaro glanced up at her and saw that she had a small, cautious smile on her face and her expression was reassuring. The hand on his shoulder squeezed a little tighter.

“Keitaro…. It was my fault. I went out there, even thought I knew better. I can’t really remember or say anything about what you did or what happened, but part of me is glad that there’ll never be a chance that I’ll have to face that…demon…again…”

Keitaro nodded slowly, and then jumped slightly as Mariko wrapped her arms around him in a gentle hug.

~~~~


Mariko stared down at the well, a terrified expression on her face.

Six weeks had passed since that day Mariko had struggled to cross her hospital room and fallen. She had undergone the first stages of a rigorous physiotherapy program worked out by one of the physicians and her broken arm had healed. She was still lame though. There was no repairing the nerves and muscle tissue that had been eaten away by the youkai’s poison.

She had been given a brace that kept her leg straight from the knee down, preventing it from bending out from under her. As a result, she could hobble around with the help of a cane, often comparing her gait to that of Dr. Gregory House, who, Keitaro gathered, was a main character on an American TV show she liked.

Most of her wounds had healed also, but most told the tale of their existence by long, whitish scars that crisscrossed her torso, legs and lower arms. Self-consciousness drove her to wear jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt, despite the humid day. She was ashamed of her appearance in a way that she had never been before and the sight of her nervously checking the mirror to make sure most of her scars were hidden when they had been leaving the Fujita’s house nearly broke Keitaro’s heart.

Now he wondered if bringing her back to the well this early had been a mistake.

“I can’t do it,” whispered Mariko, her blue eyes filling with tears as she backed away from the murky depths of the well. “I can’t – I’m helpless…. My metal fans are a joke – and I – and I can’t swing my sword without falling down.”

She gazed down at the weapons that adorned her belt with a forlorn expression. “I can’t…”

“Yes you can…” said Keitaro gently, hooking his finger under chin and taking out his handkerchief, using it to wipe away some of the tears that drew sparkling trails down her cheeks. “You’re not as helpless as you think Mariko – and you’ve got me to protect you from all those evil types roving around the Sengoku Jidai – Besides -” He adopted an incredulous expression, “- do you honestly think I’m going to let you out of my sight?”

A small smile was his reward for the reassurances. “No…” she said softly, “but what about the evil types roving around the present?”

“They’ll have to get through me too,” replied Keitaro sagely, scooping her up bridal-style and jumping up on the edge of the well. He regretted picking her up almost instantly, for her now nearly intoxicating scent was now directly under his nose. Struggling to ignore it, he gave Mariko one last reassuring smile before leaping into the abyss.

As the walls of the Sengoku Jidai well materialized around them, a sharp spike of fear radiated through Mariko’s already anxiety-tinged scent.

“Don’t worry,” said Keitaro as he flexed his muscles and leapt straight up out of the well. Landing lightly on the grass, he set Mariko on her feet, a hand staying around her waist to steady her as she leaned heavily on her cane. “I’ve got you – Do you think you can walk to the village?”

Mariko nodded silently, and they set out across the grassy meadow and under the eaves of Inuyasha’s forest, their pace almost painfully slow for Keitaro. He kept the impulse to scoop her up and carry her there under wraps. She needed to walk there on her own.

As they reached the edge of the rice fields, two small boys playing in one of the ditches - whom Keitaro recognized to be the mischievous twin sons of the village headman – caught sight of them.

“Mariko-san! Mariko-san!” they shouted as they came pelting towards the two of them. “You’re back!”

Mariko smiled and some of the fear that had been so prevalent in her aura evaporated.

“Toshi! Tamasine!” she called happily. Without thinking, she let go of Keitaro and crouched down to hug the two boys who were barreling towards her, losing her balance immediately. Keitaro caught her just short of falling, but wasn’t fast enough to catch the two boys and there was a small pileup, with Mariko on the bottom, him in the middle and the two little boys on top.

Instantly, Keitaro was upright, plucking the boys off of him by the scruffs of their tunics and setting them down a few feet away before returning to Mariko. The scent of her tears hit him like a sledgehammer as he pulled her upright and she collapsed against him, sobbing. Instinctively, Keitaro wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, burying his nose in her hair.

“I can’t…I can’t go back…” she sniffed into Keitaro’s shoulder, between rattling breaths and the floods of salty tears rolling down her cheeks. “Look at me… I can’t even…I can’t even - hug - the people I care about…”

“What are you doing now then?” asked Keitaro softly, a slightly teasing lilt to his voice and he felt her stiffen for a moment, before her grip on his shirt tightened and she let out a small gasping noise.

A small, scuffing sound from one of the twins made Keitaro look up. They were both wide-eyed and looked very confused. Toshi, the smaller twin, was hiding behind his brother.

“Go,” said Keitaro quietly, “Tell everyone that we’re coming.”

The twins scampered off and Keitaro watched them go, a strange feeling welling up in his chest. For a moment, a wisp of memory came to him. A girl with soft grey eyes and a white kimono.

“Penny for your thoughts?” whispered Mariko. She had stopped crying.

“What?” he said, glancing down at her with a startled expression.

“Oh… you wouldn’t know the meaning of that expression would you? It means ‘what are you thinking about?’”

“Having a twin…” replied Keitaro, looking up again. The twins had disappeared. Mariko mustered up a weak smile as she pulled herself upright and steadied herself with her cane, while wiping her eyes on her sleeve. “I think it’d be cool to have one.”

Keitaro nodded. “Yeah…”

“Come on,” he then said, taking her arm and steering her around so they were facing the village. As soon as they were out from under the cool, green foliage of the forest, the sun became relentless and a sheen of sweat appeared on Mariko’s forehead, explaining why there were almost no villagers working in the fields. Keitaro was only mildly bothered by the heat in his t-shirt and denim shorts, but by the time they reached the perimeter of the village, where a small crowd had formed, comprised mainly of Sango and Miroku’s clan, plus about half of the village children, Mariko was bright pink and her breathing was laboured.

“Hold it!” said Keitaro sharply as the kids began to swarm forwards, effectively stalling their impeding melee for the moment. “Mariko needs to sit down.”

Mariko shot him a grateful look as he led her to the steps of the nearest hut, which happened to be Keiko’s and sat her down. The shade from the eaves of the roof extended just far enough to keep the sun out of her eyes. The second he had let go of Mariko, the swarm reformed.

“You should really take that shirt off,” remarked Keitaro, idly fending off squealing children with one hand as they gathered around the two teenagers, chattering loudly and asking questions. Before you collapse from heat exhaustion… he thought, nodding to Masuhiro, who waved over the heads of the children.

Mariko raised her eyebrow and shot him a look that said Did you say what I just thought you said? And the weight of Keitaro’s words came crashing down around him.

“That’s not what I meant!” he said hastily, his ears flattening against his skull. Shit … that was stupid – think damn it - think before you open your mouth! Especially now!

Mariko laughed. “It isn’t everyday that I see you turn bright red Keitaro!”

Keitaro felt his face grow hotter, and he determinedly looked away from Mariko, his eyes searching for Shippou and Souten. Shippou was no where to be seen but his scent told Keitaro he was nearby. Souten, on the other hand, was hovering in the shadows that a nearby tree cast upon the ground. She didn’t have Raigekijin, but something about her expression dared anyone to cross her.

She was watching Mariko as she greeted the village children, a strange expression on her face. Keitaro made a mental note to go talk to her later. Perhaps he could apologize. There was no knowing if the proud youkai lady would accept it though. He wasn't going to bother with that now though. He would stay by Mariko's side today.

A hand touching on his shoulder brought him out of his thoughts. Miroku. The monk's scent was so familiar that he hadn't even registered his approach.

"I would like to talk to you Keitaro." Something about his voice made Keitaro stand up immediately. Turning to face him, he saw that Miroku's mouth was a grim slash across his face and his violet eyes were severe. Keitaro tried to gauge his mood, but Miroku seemed to be carefully controlling his emotions.

"Talk to me then," said Keitaro quietly. Miroku shot a pointed glance at Mariko. "Alone."

Keitaro frowned. "No - I- "

"We'll keep Mariko in sight," said the monk in a low voice, cutting him off, before turning to wade back through the crowd of young children that was only just beginning to desperse. Keitaro followed him, knowing that Miroku's careful control did not bode well.

When they were out of Mariko's earshot, Souten sped towards them.

"You marked her!" she hissed angrily, jabbing him none-to-gently with one of her sharp, clawlike nails. Keitaro felt his ears droop unwillingly and his face coloured. The resolve he had just begun to regain about his actions melted away.

"You don't deny it then," said Miroku calmly. His gaze bore into Keitaro's, as though trying to read the inu-hanyou's mind. Keitaro couldn't tell if his expressionless face ment the monk was furious or amused. Probably the former... he though glumly.

"Does Mariko even know, you idiot dog?!" demanded Souten, grabbing him by the neck of his shirt and shaking him angrily. "You should be killing any males who come near her!"

Keitaro hung his head. "It doesn't work that way..." he mumbled. He could feel the glares of Souten and Miroku boring into the top of his head like lazers.

"What the hell are you talking about baka!" growled Souten, shoving him away.

"I said it doesn't work that way! Not where we come from!" snarled Keitaro. He was about to strike Souten when Miroku stepped between them and Keitaro was forced into dropping his fist by Miroku's hands.

"Why did you do it then baka?" Shippou appeared out of the shadows of a nearby hut.

"She was dying!" growled Keitaro, his hands clenching into fists, his claws drawing blood from his palms as he struggled to control the urge to throttle all three of them. "Her heart had stopped damn it! I couldn't just let her DIE!"

That stopped them dead. Miroku, Souten and Shippou stared at him, shocked.

"Her heart stopped?" said Miroku quietly, glancing at Mariko, who was eyeing the four of them curiously and reaching for her cane. Keitaro nodded jerkily.

"I had four minutes to save her and the fucking nurse wasted two of them fiddling around with a defibulator," he hissed, his body twitching spasmodically. "I had two choices. Mark her or let her die. What would have you done Miroku if Sango had been in Mariko's place? Or you Shippou? What would have you done?"

He glanced over his shoulder and saw that Mariko was limping towards them with Miaka supporting her. "Don't tell her," he continued darkly. "She'll kill me."

"Who'll kill you?" asked Mariko, coming up behind him.

"Me," lied Souten gibly, and Keitaro shot the thunder demoness a grateful look, which she ignored completely. "He's being a stupid mutt."

"Really? I was more under the impression that someone died. You guys looked pretty grim," she said quietly, looking back and forth between them with a strange expression. They all exchanged glances, wincing inwardly at how close she was to the truth.

"Miaka," said Miroku suddenly, "Why don't you take Mariko to go see your mother? Sango misses you Mariko."

"Hai, Chichi-ue," said Miaka dutifully, steering Mariko away from them. Mariko's eyes narrowed suspiciously, but Miaka's strong grip on her arm (courtesy of the generations of taijiya breeding in Sango's village) brokered no argument and she allowed herself to be led off without a fight. Keitaro kept his nose and ears trained on her as she limped away.

"What is it?" he asked sharply the moment she was out of ear shot, knowing that Miroku wouldn't have sent the two girls away without a good reason.

Miroku glanced at both Souten and Shippou, then cleared his throat. "My knowledge of youkai mating bonds is negligable at best, Keitaro, but I know there is a perchance for error. You are very lucky that you arn't experiencing any of the more uncomfortable and...dramatic... side effects."

"What would you know about side effects?" asked Keitaro suspiciously, his dark eyebrows furrowing. And how does he know I'm NOT experiencing any side effects? I sure as hell feel different. Not to mention I have to fight my libido every time I smell Mariko up close.

"I know what I know from my many travels and the experiences of your parents," replied Miroku calmly. "Whatever I missed can be filled in by Souten and Shippou."

"You're going to give me a lecture on the facts of life?" said Keitaro incredulously. Miroku chuckled.

"No, but Sango and I thought it would be a good idea if you went to someone who could teach you about such things. There is only so much we can teach you of fighting and protecting yourself, and now, protecting Mariko now that you are bonded. Even now, you use inherently human techniques. You prefer your sword to your claws and you rarely use your youkai attacks or abilities, apart from the supernatural speed that your inu-youkai blood gives you."

Reluctantly, Keitaro nodded. As much as he hated to admit it, Miroku was right about all his points. He had only used his Sankontessou attack a handful of times and Hijinkessou even less than that. If he had any other magical attacks, he didn't know of them.

"You also don't have a sealing sword," continued Miroku, watching Keitaro intently. Keitaro felt his insides shrivel as the horrible memories of that night rose up, clawing at his throat and he shook his head.

"You transformed then," said Miroku quietly and Shippou's breath hitched as Keitaro dropped his head and nodded, his ears flattening against his skull. Seeing Keitaro's guilt ridden espression, Miroku inclined his head. "I thought as much. The leopard was related to the Eastern tai-youkai Keitaro. I don't know who he was exactly, but he was powerful. If it hadn't been for your transformation and your desire to protect and avenge Mariko, you would have been dead at his claws - of that I am certain. You were and still are nowhere near as strong as Inuyasha was and he would have found that leopard a challenge, even with Tetsussaiga."

Keitaro winced and averted his eyes. Reminders that he wasn't even close to his father when it came to strength were few and far between, but they stung all the same. Part of him resented being compared to a man that he had never known and who's scent he barely remembered. While he had never endured anything worse than Nishimura's taunts and isolation from his schoolmates while growing up, he found it distinctly unfair that those he had met on his travels with Miroku, Masuhiro, Sachi and Mariko who had known his father expected him to be as strong and powerful as Inuyasha.

He had no particular desire to live up to Inuyasha's legacy. In truth, he didn't know much about it. Mama had told him all the stories she knew, and while his inital conversations with Sango and Miroku had proved to be enlightening, Sango was often reluctant to talk about either of his parents, and aside from a few anecdotes she enjoyed telling, most of his information had come from vague, offhanded comments from Miroku. "Kagome-sama liked these flowers...", "Inuyasha always used to say that..." so on and so forth.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he barely heard what Miroku said next.

"Sango and I thought it would be a good idea if you sought out your uncle, Sesshoumaru-sama and reclaimed Tetsussaiga."

Keitaro choked on his spit. "What?!"

"You heard me correctly," said Miroku, a ghost of a smile on his face. "Sesshoumaru has had the sword since he avenged your parents deaths at the hands of the Dragon youkai and since you are Inuyasha's only son, the sword is your inheritance. It will also help you tame your youkai blood and since you have a bondmate, it should transform for you."

"He avenged my parents?" gasped Keitaro, barely hearing the rest of the sentance. "Didn't he and my father hate each other?!"

Miroku laughed humourlessly. "Yes, they hated each other for almost two centuries. After Naraku's death however, you could say they settled into a truce. I'm not sure what happened. The final battle was much too chaotic, but as I remember, Your father saved Rin's life and Sesshoumaru saved your mother's with Tensaiga, among other things. I'm sure that Kagome-sama did much mediation between the two blockheads. She actually requested that Sesshoumaru be present for your birth."

"Was he there?" asked Keitaro incredulously. Both Miroku and Shippou nodded, exchanging wry grins.

"Inuyasha was mad," laughed Shippou, his green eyes dancing with delight as he remembered how the chronically on-edge Inu-hanyou had been nearly driven insane by the combined pressure of his violent and heavily pregnant mate and the narcisstic presence of his tai-youkai brother. " - But he wasn't about to argue with Kagome. She sat him more in the nine months she was pregnant with you than all the times she sat him in other years combined. I remember how scary she was - Big as a boat and twice as unwieldy, with two pups beating up her insides night and day. Even I couldn't go near her. Her hor-mone-y things kept making her miko powers do odd things, or so she claimed. To this day, I still wonder about whether that was really the truth."

"Huh..." said Keitaro noncommitally, his eyebrows leveling off somewhere around his hairline. His head was spinning. He needed to go sit some place quiet and think...

~~~~~

Author's note: I drop to my knees and beg forgiveness for this horribly late chapter. I'm sorry it took so long to get this up, but writing the first five pages of this was complete hell. I restarted it three times. After that, I hit writers block and started working on my novel, which is called Saving Nicholas and two other fanfiction projects: Artemis Fowl: Cause and Effect and a collaboration with my beta reader Aevum, entitled Hogwart's child, which involves Snape being forced to adopt his five year old neice, who is the epitome of cuteness and eventually drives him insane. (We consider this punishment for his evilness in the 6th book)

As most of you probably know, Learning my way will have about 30 to 40 chapters (Or so my rough plot time-line that is scribbled in one of my writing notebooks tells me) and a sequal, which will be titled Kimi's song. Who Kimi is, and why she'll have her own story will become evident in some of the later chapters of Learning my way.

Also, I have started a DeviantART account, the link to which is in my profile. THE PROGRESS ON MY CURRENT CHAPTERS FOR ALL MY ACTIVE STORIES WILL BE POSTED ON MY DEVIANTART JOURNAL BY MEANS OF PERCENTAGES. I've also posted a crapload of drawings and doodles on "My Space", a website feature that was recently added to MSN instant messenger (link's also in my profile). There's also pics of me and my friends there to, plus a bunch of blog entries.

And now to my reviewers:

Inu-Devil - What you suggested is close to the plot I have planned for this story. Thanks for the idea though, however, I plan for Mariko to remain as she is physically. She has to come to terms with what has happened to her and accept herself, scars and all.
Inu-Youkai-lover
Raye Sun
fatal_katana
MissMusicality
blackgirl06
jade_pendant
Amargo Scribe
angelica incarnate
Snowcat29