InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Loss of Self, Discovery of Truth ❯ Indeterminable Intentions ( Chapter 5 )

Loss of Self, Discovery of Truth: Chapter 5

 

Sesshoumaru walked back at a sedate pace towards the village. It felt odd to have the balance of two arms once more. Idly, he wondered how the jewel shard would affect him. It did tend to have the nasty side-effect of causing humans to become evil.

 

And he wasn't exactly a nice guy as it was. He had tucked the samurai's sword into the sash at his side. He tested the flexibility of the new appendage by flexing the jeweled dagger in that hand in graceful arcs. It would do for now.

 

He walked past the huts of the villagers. Most humans truly lived in filth, and it disgusted him. At least he could be grateful that his sense of smell was diminished, or the stench would truly be unbearable. It was bad enough with his inferior human nose to detect the scents of sweat, dirt, blood, and other human wastes.

 

He was almost to the hut of the old woman when he felt the eyes of someone watching him. He lowered his hand that was brandishing the dagger and met the sharp gaze of the purple robed young man, who was leaning against the side of the hut, seemingly waiting for him.

 

“I thought I'd wait for your explanation,” Miroku greeted, arms crossed over his chest in a mock-relaxed gesture. He had sensed the exact moment when the former-demon lord had left the hour before. He, Kagome, and Sango had all felt his absence. It was decided that he would be the best choice for the confrontation, much to Kagome's annoyance.

 

“I need not explain myself,” Sesshoumaru returned in an aloof voice. He made to move past the holy man, but the human was faster than Sesshoumaru gave him credit for; either that or he was slower in his cursed human form. “Move.”

 

Miroku could sense a shikon shard and took a firm hold of Sesshoumaru's newly acquired left arm. “People just seem to leave all sorts of things lying around Japan for others to pick up.”

 

Sesshoumaru shrugged out of Miroku's grasp. “This Sesshoumaru does not pass up opportunities.”

 

“Well this Sesshoumaru is no longer an all-powerful demon who is immune to the lure of the Shikon jewel either,” Miroku retorted.

 

“Fine, have the would-be priestess purify it then. You are human and carry around three shards yourself,” Sesshoumaru narrowed his hazel eyes. “You don't seem particularly affected by their lure.”

 

Miroku grinned charmingly and shifted his staff, causing the rings to jingle. “I am a holy-man after all.” His smile disappeared. “The shards I carry are purified; the one in your possession is tainted with malice.”

 

“Very well, I shall have the miko take care of it right away,” Sesshoumaru answered to placate the man. He would normally have shoved him out of his way, but at the moment, the priest had a valid point, and he would respect it.

 

He walked towards the lump on the floor that presumably represented his brother's woman. He kicked the form gently with his toe, impatiently waiting to be acknowledged. Kagome rolled over and stared up into a pair of annoyed hazel eyes. “Sesshoumaru?”

 

“Purify this shard so I may go to sleep.” He demanded without pretense. He made no move to kneel beside her, forcing her to rise to her feet to serve him like some servant.

 

Kagome could sense the jewel shard and quickly got to her feet, but not for the reason Sesshoumaru expected. She took a firm grip on his newly acquired arm and tugged hard.

 

“Hey!” Sesshoumaru growled loudly in pain. “Do not rip off my arm, woman.”

 

Fiery blue eyes looked up to meet his cool gaze. “This is not your arm. Your arm is still within the black pearl.”

 

Sesshoumaru merely furrowed his brows and glared at her; satisfied when she cowered a little under the intensity of his look.

 

“Fine.” Kagome agreed, taking possession of the samurai's arm once more in a gentled grasp. She concentrated and cleansed the darkness from the jewel shard. If she removed it, like she wanted to, the arm would no longer connect to Sesshoumaru. It was similar to the way the seven-men team had used the jewel shards.

 

She had a rather vivid memory of shooting an arrow into Bankotsu's forearm. His flesh had disintegrated showing his true form of merely sun-baked bones. It was still hard to believe the power of the jewel that came from her body. The fact that it brought seven murderers back to life at the level that Bankotsu's team performed was insane.

 

“You may release my arm now,” Sesshoumaru broke into her thoughts. His voice revealed a touch of exasperation. Kagome released with an awkward smile of apology that Sesshoumaru paid no heed to as he yanked his arm out of her hands and stood, inspecting the quality of the borrowed appendage. How he missed the oh-so-familiar violet stripes!

 

“Is something wrong?” Kagome inquired, noticing the odd look that crossed Sesshoumaru's humanly hazel eyes. He looked down at her as if she were nothing but a buzzing insect with a scowl before turning his back to her and walking back towards his designated sleeping corner in Kaede's hut.

 

Kagome lay back down in her bedding and huffed a breath of annoyance while throwing her covers back over her body. She didn't care if something might have been bothering that arrogant ass anyway. She'd turn her back on him!

 

Sesshoumaru looked over his shoulder and noticed the young miko turning to face the wall opposite from him. He didn't quite manage to hide the smirk that was making its way across his lips at her obvious annoyance.

 

oooooOOOOOoooooOOOOOooooo

 

“Perhaps he'll injure himself and die of an infection,” Kagura suggested as Naraku sat in a dark corner, drumming his fingers impatiently upon his raised knee. The glare he sent her shut up any further positive suggestions she might have come up with.

 

“And perhaps I will feed him your black heart and watch as he dies from the poison contained within?” Naraku grinned maliciously at her, enjoying immensely the vision of his wind witch squirming at the idea.

 

Kanna spoke with her raised mirror. “Master, Inuyasha will be returning to the group,” she informed him with her mono-tone childish voice.

 

Naraku smiled paternally at her as he stood and walked her direction. He lifted the mirror out of her hands and viewed the scene of the white haired hanyou returning to his friends through the woods. “Perhaps, Inuyasha will take care of him for me,” he mused as he handed the mirror back to his ghostly detachment.

 

Kagura couldn't help but feel annoyed at the difference in how he treated her and Kanna. He was always punishing her and threatening her with her stolen heart. She had done terrible crimes for him and done pure evil under his name. She made no secret of her desire to escape him. Kanna on the other hand, kept her inner thoughts private. Naraku had no idea that within her innocent façade lay a vengeful demon ready to strike at the opportune moment.

 

“Something on your mind?” Naraku interrupted Kagura's thoughts with a raised brow and a knowing look in his cinnamon colored eyes. He laid his hand upon Kanna's frail shoulder, not noticing the flash in her normally emotionally blank eyes.

 

“I was wondering how you were planning on dealing with the demon that failed to destroy Sesshoumaru,” Kagura improvised, flipping her dark tendrils that fell out of her immaculately pinned up hair over her shoulder.

 

His hand slipped off Kanna's shoulder as he returned to his corner to brood. “Leave, both of you.”

 

Naraku watched as his two strongest detachments left his presence. He knew good and well that neither served him willingly. Kagura was more boisterous in her rebellion but Kanna was no enthusiastic servant either.

 

It was important to figure out how to properly punish the parasitic demon that failed to destroy Sesshoumaru. However, he did significantly weaken him, and he might prove useful in the future.

 

He would do what he did best. He would sit and wait. That philosophy had served him well thus far while his victims suffered.

 

oooooOOOOOoooooOOOOOooooo

 

Inuyasha was practically flying through the woods. It felt great to be treated with his much awaited respect. His father was the Lord of the Western Lands and his mother was a princess. One would think that with such royal lineage he might have been granted some respect.

 

But no! All his life he was treated as an outcast. He didn't even remember his father. And his mother was only around in his boyhood. She was his everything and her death traumatized him. He lived in the wilds after she passed into the next world.

 

He wasn't sure how long he lived like a savage before Sesshoumaru sought him out. Surely, it seemed as if his long-lost sibling would finally accept him and offer him the home he desired.

 

In retrospect, he could be grateful that Sesshoumaru didn't simply slaughter him. It would have been easy to do so. Instead, he remembered that he brought him to the forest he now lived in near Kaede's village. He also remembered Sesshoumaru telling him how he was ashamed to have a half-breed as a brother.

 

It hurt.

 

The only family he had hated him for no fault of his own.

 

Inuyasha looked down at his fist that suddenly hurt and noticed his claws had dug into the tender flesh of his palm, drawing blood. He eased his hand into a relaxed position and took a deep breath. He was a better person than his arrogant, hateful brother.

 

He had friends and was loved for himself and not what he represented. The recent treatment of the servants at the Western Palace paled in comparison to the genuine caring of his friends. He would rather be an outcast with friends like them than the most powerful demon.

 

Maybe that was how life was for Sesshoumaru.

 

He was idolized and respected for his power. And now that he no longer was the infallible demon lord, he was discovering how hollow such devotion was. It was funny how the tables turned.

 

And he must admit; it was tempting to reciprocate the same reaction. Ignore his brother in his time of need. However, he was a better person since the association with his friends. It started with being accepted by Kikyo half a century before. But even she didn't fully accept him for who he was but for who he could become.

 

Kagome, Miroku, Sango, and Shippo loved him for who he was. For the first time in his life, he had friends. And because of their support, he would be able to help his arrogant, selfish, ass of a half-brother.

 

The village came into view. The sight before him caused him to halt completely in his tracks and stare with an opened mouth expression.

 

It was his brother, with two arms, holding a hoe and tilling the soil.

 

Inuyasha tried to contain the immense temptation to gloat as he walked towards the human version of Sesshoumaru. He ignored the small measure of pride he felt in knowing that his brother was contributing to the village. Hazel eyes looked up from the task at hand and met Inuyasha's golden gaze. “I took care of the business at the Western Palace,” Inuyasha told him, crossing his arms and making an effort to not comment on the obvious.

 

Sesshoumaru's hands tightened on the gardening tool. “I appreciate that,” he spoke softly. He felt awkward standing in his inferior state before the younger brother he abused in so many ways, doing manual labor. “You must be thinking about how the mighty have fallen.”

 

“The thought did cross my mind,” Inuyasha admitted with a crooked smile. He picked up an unused rake from the nearby pile of tools and began to join his brother in the tilling, working alongside him. “Mostly, I was thinking that it was good to see you adjusting to doing something to help others instead of just using them.”

 

Sesshoumaru continued to turn the soil, trying valiantly to ignore the feeling of guilt that was burning in the pit of his stomach. When Kagome asked him to help the villagers with their farming he couldn't in good faith refuse. He respected that she bothered to ask when all indications would make it unlikely he would help. It was something he prided himself on, his unpredictability.

 

It seemed his brother was also unpredictable. Logic pointed to the fact that Inuyasha would use this opportunity to gloat about how his life was superior. He had friends and no matter what, they would be there for him through the thick and thin. Sesshoumaru could make no such claims. He was even unsure of how Jaken would react to learning of his pathetic state of affairs.

 

“Deep thoughts?” Inuyasha asked quietly as he worked alongside his brother turning the soil. He looked down the fields and noticed the humans he called his friends working alongside the other villagers tending the crops. It was nice to be a part of the whole.

 

It was nice to be accepted.

 

Sesshoumaru didn't answer.

 

“I see you picked up a new arm,” Inuyasha commented after a few more minutes of silence. He looked across a couple of rows to see Kagome smiling at him and his brother. He felt a blush ruddy his cheeks in embarrassment and looked back to the turned earth.

 

“I don't like to waste things I run across,” Sesshoumaru answered. Inuyasha raised a brow at the answer. Idly, he wondered who Sesshoumaru killed and whether or not Kagome gave him the jewel shards.

 

Running footsteps drew his attention, and he looked up to see Kagome running towards them with a warm smile on her face. “Inuyasha! I'm so glad you're back.” She hugged him tightly, arms wrapped around his neck. Awkwardly, Inuyasha hugged her back loosely before taking firm hold of her forearms.

 

“Did you give him jewel shards?” The words were out of his mouth before he could think any better.

 

Kagome's mouth gaped open at the accusation. “Of course not!”

 

“Then how does he have this arm? It's obvious that he's using jewel shards. You know we can't just trust anyone with these. What if Naraku gets a hold of them?” Inuyasha knew he was starting to raise his voice, but he couldn't seem to ever keep his temper in check when around Kagome. She caused him his greatest sense of calmness and also his greatest rises in temper. It was a paradox he wasn't willing to explore.

 

Kagome tried to jerk out of his grasp. He seemed to be growing angrier. “Naraku already has most of them thanks to Kikyo. I don't think Sesshoumaru will be rushing to his side after he tried to kill him!”

 

“There is no need to bring up Kikyo!” Inuyasha shouted back, growing more frustrated. He always seemed to get into fights with Kagome. It didn't seem to matter that he knew she wouldn't give away the shards. Nor did it matter that Sesshoumaru would rather die than help Naraku.

 

“Let go of her,” Sesshoumaru's strong voice broke into his chain of thoughts. Inuyasha turned his attention to his brother, noting the battle stance he stood in with the hoe poised for attack. He released Kagome from his grip, feeling guilty when he noticed he left bruises upon her tender flesh.

 

“Kagome,” Inuyasha started, unsure of how to apologize as was always the case.

 

“Perhaps, the old woman has something to reduce the bruising,” Sesshoumaru suggested, taking a loose hold of Kagome's elbow and leading her away from Inuyasha. He kept the hoe in a firm grip in his free hand and cast Inuyasha a warning look when he appeared to want to follow.

 

Inuyasha watched them leave together, feeling his heart fall to his stomach in regret. He didn't intend to hurt Kagome. He would never intentionally do such a thing. “I'm sorry,” he whispered to the wind that would never carry to her ears. It didn't help that it was his much disliked brother that was the one `saving' her from him.

 

A/N: Thanks for reading over this Charmed Reality! A little bit of explanation about Miroku before you all ask. It was my impression that he can sense jewel shards but can't pinpoint their exact location like Kagome. He has holy powers, they just aren't as strong as Kagome's.