InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ LOVE POISON ❯ A Miko's Promise That Cannot Be Kept ( Chapter 16 )

 

DISCLAIMER: Don't own 'em, Rumiko Takahashi does. So don't sue.

 

I sincerely apologize for not updating sooner. This story is NOT and never will be neglected. I had an accident and was at the hospital. Yup, I'm still alive, with some stitches, and still writing LP, and I will continue to do so :) To all those who think I've given up on this fic, DON'T!!! Just bear with me, 'kay? I'm going to try and update asap. So...don't give up on me, people! I'm truly sorry cause I do hate it when authors keep readers waiting so yes, I'm a freaking hypocrite. Like always, reviews are welcome and in fact, I demand them! *puppy eyes* ONEGAI REVIEW AND FORGIVE THIS YM!!! I do wish I could avoid working, update sooner like other authors (man, I don't know how they do it!), ignore Rl and all the crap that comes with it, but unfortunately, I can't, and I don't have much free time now. Worry not: this fic has only just begun!

 

Special thanx and all my love and abrazotes go to my wonderful, talented, amazing, awesome fellow writer, fabulous beta, and my KS, TRUSUPRISE. I love you to pieces, girl! I couldn't have done this without ya! All bow down to the great Trusuprise!

My love to Scherezade: I miss you! Huge thanks and hugs to my great friend, the sweet, funny, incredibly talented and awesome Lizashu who always bears with me! You have no idea how much you mean to me! I'm honored to call this wonderful girl my friend.

 

THANK YOU ALL YOU GUYS AT MM.ORG FOR YOUR REVIEWS! KEEP 'EM COMING!

Enough rambling! On with the fic! Hope I don't dissapoint!

 

 

CHAPTER 16: A MIKO'S PROMISE THAT CANNOT BE KEPT

 

 

When Inuyasha and Kagome came out of Kaede's hut, they found the village was sound asleep. Finally spotting the dying embers of the fire Sango and Miroku had built at the outskirts of the village, they followed towards their friends' camp.

 

"They're probably resting." Kagome broke the silence in a tiny voice. She reached for Inuyasha's hand. He didn't resist her as he looked around the silent town. His sensitive nose snifled the air.

"They're in that hut." Inuyasha pointed at the largest hut he had rebuilt the previous day with a clawed finger.

"Keh. Pathetic. Couldn't even stay up all night to - "

"Inuyasha..." Kagome started.

"We ain't got time to sleep, damn it!" Inuyasha growled, convienently forgetting he had been sleeping in his human form the previous night, with the young girl currently holding his hand in his arms.

 

A cloudy expression swiftly crossed Kagome's large chocolate eyes. The inu-hanyou's expression changed abruptly as he looked down at their joined hands, noticing Kagome was squeezing his tightly. He slowly lifted his eyes to the young girl's troubled face and his voice softened. "You okay, wench?"

"Yeah." She smiled up at him, shaking her head as if to clear her thoughts, yet her smile didn't reach her eyes. "I'm just...worried about you, Inuyasha."

"I'm fine." Inuyasha looked away from her, scowling.

 

He hated to be the cause of her concern, and Kagome didn't just looked worried about him, she looked sad too. Inuyasha hated to see her sad above everything else; he'd much rather have her sit him than see her lovely eyes filled with such intense grief. True, Kagome always wore a bright smile for her friends, but the inu-hanyou never missed the slightest hint of troubled emotion that her eyes so clearly displayed for the world to see.

 

"Stop worrying, bitch. There's nothing wrong with me." He muttered, and this was so big a lie that he actually winced and could only hope she wasn't watching him.

 

Kagome sighed. "Of course there is. But..." She smiled tenderly at him and Inuyasha arched his eyebrows. "We'll get through this together." She declared firmly.

"Bitch, I told you...I have to do this myself!" Inuyasha said angrily.

"No you don't! You don't have to face this yourself! You're not alone anymore, Inuyasha." Kagome insisted. She let go of his hand. "Baka, you can't deal with this on your own! And I'm not leaving you."

"I told you, I wouldn't send you away!" Inuyasha snapped.

"You say that now...but when your youkai side breaks free again..." Kagome sighed and looked away from his penetrating golden eyes.

"You'll purify me." Inuyasha stated, shrugging his shoulders, as if it was the easiest task in the world for her to do.
"I don't know if I can!" Kagome all but screamed at him.

"You have to, bitch! Shit Kagome, I'll just turn human! I saw you do it before! The day I met you, wench, you tried to purify that centipede youkai right in front of me! Why can't you do a simple thing like..."

"A simple thing? A simple thing?! I don't even remember how I did it back then! It was years ago and...and I was scared to death! I will not hurt you, Inuyasha! I don't care if you just turn human for a while, I would be hurting you! And... and...you would never hurt me...I...I just can't..." Kagome couldn't finish her sentence. "I can't." She whispered finally.

 

Inuyasha sighed. That was Kagome. She was worried about him when she should be worried about herself. Didn't she know what his youkai form was capable of?

 

Kagome suddenly found herself in Inuyasha's arms. She closed her eyes as she felt his claws tenderly stroking her hair.

"You want to help me, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked of her slowly, carefully.

Kagome just nodded, or tried to, since Inuyasha's hand was currently pressed against the back of her head.

"Then you have to do this for me, wench. You promised." He said firmly.

"That's because I didn't know what you were going to ask of me! I..."

"You promised me, wench!"

Kagome sighed. "I said I would try..." She said smally as she wrapped her arms around Inuyasha's waist, burying her face in his chest. She looked up at him sadly. "But...there's got to be some other way, Inuyasha..."

"There isn't!" Inuyasha said harshly.

"How do you know?" She frowned up at him.

"I don't!" He said irritably. "Fuck, I don't know anything anymore!"

"Then we'll find another way!" Kagome said angrily. "There's got to be..."

 

She was cut off when Inuyasha's lips pressed against hers. Kagome melted in his arms as she returned his kiss. Inuyasha broke the kiss and smirked down at her.

"I finally found an effective way to shut you up." He said cockily.

"Why you..." Kagome tried to break free of his embrace to no avail. "I can't believe you'd kiss me just to shut me up!"

"It worked, didn't it?" Inuyasha arched his dark eyebrows at her, smug grin still in place.

"I can't believe you! How can you be so..."

 

Inuyasha sighed, his ears flattening against his skull, cocky expression melting away, and Kagome realized he was just doing this to get her mind off his own pain.

 

She sighed and held him tightly against her. "Sorry..." she whispered.

The inu-hanyou's golden eyes widened slightly. "For talking too damn much?" He guessed.

"Baka." Kagome murmured, and rolled her eyes.

 

Inuyasha rested a warm hand against the back of her head, as he idly stroked Kagome's raven locks. He shut his eyes and rested his cheek against the top of her head.

 

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha...but this...is a promise that I can't keep." She whispered, her voice breaking.

 

Kagome knew she had done it before; she hadn't realized at the time, but two years ago, the day she had been dragged down the well and to the Feudal Era by that centipede woman, she had screamed in fear and repulsion and had attacked the youkai with a purifying charge.

 

It hadn't happened ever since, and she had never spoken of it. She didn't even know Inuyasha had noticed she had done it unconsciously when the slimy youkai's body had been wrapped around both her and Inuyasha and she had been pressed against the sealed inu-hanyou, as he'd taunted her and kept calling her by Kikyou's name.

 

Thinking back to when she had once purified a youkai, Kagome wondered if she had only been capable of doing so because the Shikon no Tama had still been inside of her...she didn't know, and she didn't want to find out if it meant doing the same thing to Inuyasha.

 

"Dammit, Kagome!" Inuyasha was saying between his teeth.

"I can't do such a thing! I'm not that strong!" Kagome insisted.

"Any miko can do it!" He suddenly shouted, letting go of her. "Hell, Kikyou did that to me after she killed that old witch! I didn't even turn human then I just..."

"She did what?" Kagome asked slowly, brown eyes widening in horror.

 

Inuyasha realized his mistake only too late. And as it often happened with him, trying to fix it only made it worse as his mouth with a mind of its own got the best of him.

"Well...you were unconscious at the time! That's not the point! The point is..."

"She hurt you right after she was just resurrected? She tried to kill you?" Kagome asked, more horrified than angry, desperately trying to understand, to grasp the meaning of his words, the reasons behind Kikyou's actions, and like she always did, feeling like they would escape her and leave her empty and bitter.

 

"No! Yes. Well...no! She killed that Urasue woman by purifying her before she turned to me...it stung a little but..."

"It stung a little? Inuyasha...she could have killed you!" Kagome cut him off.

Inuyasha frowned at her. "Keh. Course not. I'm stronger than that wench!"

"That is not the point, Inuyasha!" She was so upset her fists were shaking at her sides.

"She was too weak to do much harm anyway! I just kinda stumbled backwards..." He sighed, knowing he should have kept his mouth shut about this.

 

Inuyasha silently congratulated himself for not telling her Kikyou had attempted to purify him again soon after that, when he had been trying to pull her up before she fell off the cliff...

 

"She didn't know about Naraku back then..." He mumbled. "You can't blame her for - for hating me when she was brought back..." Inuyasha winced.

 

Kikyou hated him now too, didn't she?

 

Kagome shook her head, not quite believing Inuyasha was still standing up for Kikyou. "Oh, then that's understandable. After all, when she did find out Naraku had tricked you both, all she tried to do was drag you to hell. But I guess that wasn't her fault either, now was it?"

 

"What are you implying?" Inuyasha started, narrowing his eyes. "Stop blaming Kikyou for everything! If anything, you should be blaming me! She just wants the same thing we want! To...to kill Naraku..." Inuyasha sounded uncertain and Kagome didn't miss this.

 

"I can't believe you. You blame yourself for what happened to Kikyou...you forgive all the pain she makes you go through because you think you deserve it! You say she wants to kill Naraku? Then why the hell did she steal the shards from me and gave them to him? I try to understand her, I try so hard to understand you when it comes to this...I know only too well that you can't let her go and that I can't compete with her, and I don't even want to try. I'm Kagome and that's never going to change. Kikyou admitted that - that she had..."

 

Kagome swallowed, but her throat felt dry. She couldn't bear to say the words 'tried to kill me', so she merely shook her head and gathered herself to continue.

 

"She admitted that she had stolen the shards from me! You're the one who keeps trying to blame yourself for her actions, and you just can't accept the fact that she wants to hurt you! And now...just look at you!" She made a frantic, pointless motion with her hand. "You're an emotional wreck! Or as far as an emotional wreck as you can get!" Kagome all but screamed at him.

 

Inuyasha looked taken aback. He knew what Kagome had said was true, and it hurt, it hurt to admit it to himself, and he certainly couldn't deny it.

 

Kagome hadn't said it out loud, and Inuyasha knew she never would...simply because she was his sweet Kagome...but Kikyou had also admitted that she had tried to kill Kagome.

 

She had laughed at him. Laughed at his weakness.

 

Yet everything that Kikyou had become was his fault in Inuyasha's eyes, and no one could convince him otherwise.

 

Kikyou wouldn't even exist now if it wasn't for him. Her soul was restless, and it was Inuyasha's fault and his alone. Naraku was just an excuse for Kikyou to remain in this world, but Inuyasha now knew that the dark hanyou was not her main target. The resurrected miko's target was him.

 

Even though Inuyasha wanted to live and be free to love Kagome, and he wouldn't, couldn't, go to hell with Kikyou, and he knew, positively knew, that this Kikyou was not the miko who had captured his heart...quite literally...he had to take responsability for her actions.

 

His current state of mind, his weakened human blood...that was something he could not ignore, his human side had been hurt, yet he still didn't understand how or why he had done as Kikyou had requested that fateful morning...he wished he could turn back time...and that had been his fault too, he had been careless.

 

He hadn't been thinking, and he felt this was quite literally true.

Sometime between his fucking realistic dream of possessing his Kagome mercilessly from behind, pounding into her over and over again in a frenzy, waking up soiled in his own release and dragging his feet towards the stream to clean himself up and cool down...his brain had turned off, and even though a part of him knew he was awake and freezing his ass off in the ice cold water, a stronger part of him insisted he was still back at camp...that the sweet dream he was having had somehow turned into a twisted nightmare.

 

He would have to tell Kagome eventually, because it had certainly not been a nightmare; Kikyou being there and boldly taking him into her cold, dead mouth...but he had realized this only too late, and how and when to confess such an unforgiveable act to his chosen one was slowly killing him inside.

 

When Inuyasha spoke next his voice was filled with determination, but also tinged with fear and deep regret, and a hint of anger he tried to convince himself was not directed at Kikyou but only at himself.

 

"That was my fault. I shouldn't have let my guard down." He muttered sourly.

 

"What did she do to you?" Kagome asked slowly, seeing his beautiful golden eyes darken.

 

Inuyasha looked away. "Nothin', wench. But what happened that morning...that - that was entirely my fault..."

 

Kagome covered her ears with her hands and shut her eyes tightly. "Stop! Just...shut up already! Nothing, nothing of this was your fault, baka!"

 

"You don't understand! Shit!" Inuyasha screamed at her. "She's back in this world because of me, she died because of me, and now..."

 

"Stop it!" Kagome bit her lower lip hard. She wouldn't, she wouldn't cry. Not over Kikyou, not because of self pity...She was tired, so very tired...

 

Kagome couldn't hate the woman Inuyasha had loved fifty years ago, even though she had at one point, and had been horrified and ashamed of her hatred for the resurrected miko...long ago, Kagome had actually wished that Kikyou would just dissapear...she had wept for herself back then, as she'd stared into the pitch black depths of the Bone Eater's Well back in her time, her fists shaking, her heart shattering, knowing she couldn't face Inuyasha and yet...longing to see him more than anything else in the world.

 

The day she had realized she loved him and wanted to be with him forever, that no matter what, she would stay with him...she couldn't compete with Kikyou...but she loved him, and that was something no one could take away from her.

 

So Kagome had swallowed her pride and had returned to Inuyasha, she had let her hatred for Kikyou slide, as it had slowly turned into pity for the dead miko, and she had accepted Inuyasha's terms.

 

As long as she could be with him, she'd thought she could face it all, even the painful awareness that he would never love her the way he loved Kikyou.

 

Kagome had promised she'd always be with him, and that was one promise she intended to keep.

 

It had been and still was, a beautiful disaster, to love Inuyasha so desperately she forgot about herself, and nothing seemed to exist but him; all the hues of the world as she had known it melted away in his golden eyes...and nothing mattered, except being with him.

 

But at this very moment the jealousy, disbelief, bitterness and anger were too much for even Kagome's gentle heart to handle.

 

Inuyasha had said he cared for her. That he would always cherish Kikyou's memory...but that the one he actually cared for was her...she was his to protect, and yet...he would keep his promise to protect Kikyou too.

 

Hadn't he said though, that he had never cared for Kikyou the way he cared about her? Hadn't Inuyasha admitted himself the morning that he had, for some reason, changed...after he had met Kikyou...that he knew the dead miko was merely a shadow of what she had once been?

Kagome had believed he understood then, but currently Inuyasha didn't seem to let it go.

 

"I owe it to her!" He was saying desperately, as if imploring to Kagome to understand.

"I told you bitch, I won't go to hell with her! I told you I cared about you! I showed you how

much I...care about you!"

 

The inu-hanyou blushed a deep crimson at this, and Kagome felt her own cheeks on fire. Yes, indeed, he had shown her, hadn't he?

 

"What else do you expect from me, dammit?!" Inuyasha was growing angry, but the desperation was stronger than his frustration. What he was so frantic to make Kagome understand, she didn't know.

 

All she knew was she needed time. She needed to think. About herself, about Inuyasha...and about Kikyou.

 

'Who am I? Do I even know? I'm Kagome. I'm Kikyou's reincarnation. But I'm not her. And Inuyasha knows this...he knows this...and he chose me...but...' Kagome thought frantically, and bit her bottom lip.

 

She shut her eyes briefly and spoke in a low, heart broken voice. "Just...just stay away from me right now, okay?" She said smally.

 

"What?" Inuyasha grabbed her and pulled her against him. "You want me to stay away from you?" He hissed, anger being quickly replaced by hurt.

 

Kagome struggled weakly in his arms. "Let go of me." She murmured, avoiding looking at him in the eyes.

She knew that if she did, her already feeble, inner fight would be lost, she would be lost forever in his gorgeous golden orbs and could never come out again.

 

When Inuyasha didn't release her or say anything, she stopped moving and tried to gather herself. "Please...let go of me." She whispered.

Inuyasha let go of her wordlessly. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha. I can't...I can't face this right now. Just leave me alone for a while, okay? I won't leave...I promise. I just need to be alone right now." Kagome said softly, shutting her eyes, daring the tears to come out.

They didn't. She briefly wondered if she had any more tears left in her to be shed.

 

"Kagome..." Inuyasha called her name weakly.

"I don't want to hear it."

She wouldn't feel sorry for him, she wouldn't let him have his way this time...

"Listen to me, bitch...I..."

 

Kagome's eyes snapped open and the anger flashed in them when she turned her face to him. Inuyasha actually stepped back in half fear, half shock.

"I said I don't want to hear it! Baka! Why you...you..." She struggled for words, and finding

none, she went for the one that worked best to vent her frustration and pain.

"Sit!"

 

Inuyasha's body hit the ground hard. "Ugh..." He mumbled into the dirt.

He knew the spell wouldn't allow him to, but nevertheless he attempted to stand.

"Kagome...would you just..."

 

"Sit!" Kagome screamed at him, wincing when he hit the ground again.

She turned on her heels and began walking towards the hut where their companions slept.

 

"Get back here, bitch!" He yelled at her from the ground.

 

"SIT!" She shouted without looking back, wincing again at the loud thud behind her.

She closed her eyes for a moment, sighed deeply and turned around to face the very much flattened hanyou.

 

Kagome squatted in front of him and calmly spoke. "What's my name, Inuyasha?" She said carefully.

"Huh?" Inuyasha managed to lift his face from the dirt and gave her a confused look.

"I said, what's my name?"

"What the hell are you getting at, bitch?" He responded, ever so tactfully.

"Do you think I can do to you what - what she did to you, without even blinking?"

Inuyasha looked away. "It's not what I think what matters here. I know you can do it. I also know you wouldn't...but - but you have to." He said slowly.

"I can't do it. I'm not Kikyou, Inuyasha. Who am I?"

 

Had all that they had shared been a lie? Had he been comparing her to Kikyou all this time?

 

Kagome blushed as she recalled the events back in her time, the wild, rough movements of his tongue in and out of her driving her over the edge...his long, skillful fingers buried deep inside of her, working her...his lips and teeth and tongue burning on her skin...she remembered the unique taste of him, the feeling of his enlarged sex pushing against her throat...Inuyasha's moans above her, crying out her name as he came in her mouth...his masculine, musky scent making her dizzy, making her feel powerful, making her feel like the happiest woman on earth...she had felt loved,

she had felt wanted...

 

But had he been thinking of Kikyou, or had he been thinking of her?

It had been Kagome's name he had been moaning, over and over again like a mantra, it had been Kagome's name he had screamed as he'd climaxed...and still... Kagome was troubled. She remembered Inuyasha's inner youkai's statement...

 

Only one. Ka.Go.Me.

 

And now...now this...

 

Kagome blinked when she realized Inuyasha was actually yelling at her and remembered she was upset with him for the time being.

 

"Have you lost your fucking mind?! I know who you are, wench!" Inuyasha snapped, his patience wearing thin.

"Then tell me." Kagome said calmly, trying to push away all impure thoughts of the irritating, gorgeous hanyou that was currently inmovilized by the spell placed on his kotodama and focused on her frustration instead.

 

And by the Gods, he frustrated her to no end. He always had, and she supposed he always would.

 

Except now he had also hurt her again, and Kagome couldn't even stay angry at him because of this for long, because she knew that Inuyasha had not meant to do so.

Most of the times he broke her heart, she had come to discover that he didn't even realize he was doing it...

 

Kagome sighed, as Inuyasha stared at her with wide, questioning golden eyes. He then scowled at her and bared his fangs when his reply left his lips, talking so fast she almost missed out on his words.

 

"Kagome.You're Kagome! And here I thought I was the one with an identity crisis. Damn it, bitch, would you like me to tell you your last name too? Would you also like me to tell you that you - that you're my chosen one? That I love...I l-love - being with you?"

 

Kagome was silent, for a moment too shocked by his answer to say anything. Inuyasha had turned his face away from her again, his silvery bangs covering his eyes.

 

The next three words he spoke were the ones she certainly expected from him at such a situation.

 

"Keh. Stupid bitch."

 

"I try to understand, Inuyasha. But here's what I want you to understand. Look at me."

He pouted and stubbornly refused to look her in the eye.

"I know you could have gotten up by now if you'd wanted to. Look at me, Inuyasha."

"Whatever, wench." He looked up at her, his eyes unreadable.

 

He had obviously said more than he had meant for her to hear before, and he was feeling vulnerable and resented her for it at the moment.

 

Also, he was not looking forward to being 'sat' again, so he wisely chose to shut his mouth even if the urge to yell at her and insult her some more was so strong he actually had to bite his tongue.

 

"If I'm your...your 'chosen one', as you put it...then you have to trust me." Kagome said carefully.

"I already told you..." Inuyasha began, his eyebrow twitching in annoyance.

"I know you trust me. I'm not asking you that, I'm telling you that you have to trust the way I handle this. I will not purify you! We'll find another way. We're going through this together, whether you like it or not. I'm not going to leave you..."

 

His previous words rang in her ears, echoed in her mind and made her heart flutter, and she hated herself for giving in to him yet again...but she couldn't help but replaying them in her mind.

 

Would you also like me to tell you that you - that you're my chosen one? That I love...I l-love - being with you?

 

Had he almost said what she thought he would say? The three magic words she so longed to hear from his lips?

 

Kagome's thoughts centered on actions rather than words and she found that she needed some time to think, and not linger on her jealousy and confusion towards Kikyou...she needed time to focus on what mattered the most.

 

She would help the one she loved, she would show Inuyasha that he was...her 'chosen one', she had to find another way.

 

Kagome refused to believe there was no other way to help him. And she swore to herself that no matter what, she would never purify him.

Especially when she knew now that she could reach out to his youkai side...that he would never harm her...even if Inuyasha believed otherwise.

 

Inuyasha was always Inuyasha, but he just refused to listen to her. Just like he blamed himself for Kikyou's death and resurrection, he would never believe that his inner youkai would simply not hurt Kagome.

 

The problem was, Kagome knew he could hurt himself...and others. And she couldn't bear that thought.

 

She had to help Inuyasha, and she would do anything within her power to do so. He had been wounded...Kagome would heal him. She just had to figure out a way to do so without physically hurting him.

 

'Sitting' him had worked in the past...Kagome knew Inuyasha was more aggraviated by the pain his ego suffered by the humilliating spell than the brief physical pain this caused him.

Purifying him would not merely hurt him physically, it would wound him emotionally as well. And this she could not, and would not do.

 

She realized Inuyasha was waiting for her to say something, as he tilted his head and tried to read her expression.

 

Kagome offered him a comforting smile. She couldn't tell him what was on her mind right now for she knew he wouldn't accept or understand it. So she told him the next best thing.

"Right now, I need to think, Inuyasha. So please... stay." She said calmly.

 

"I'm not a fucking dog!" Inuyasha snarled.

 

"Just...stay." Kagome said, and suddenly did the most unexpected thing, and actually patted Inuyasha's head.

 

Inuyasha blushed and moved his head away, not knowing whether to feel embarrassed, happy, or angry at this display of affection. He chose the latter, even though he knew this gesture on Kagome's part meant that she had forgiven him.

 

Shit, he didn't deserve this woman...

 

Inuyasha watched as Kagome slowly walked away, forcing himself not to follow after her as she had requested. A gust of wind whipped through her hair as a patch of sunlight from the swaying trees illuminated her form.

 

No, he didn't deserve her, did he?

 

Almost sadly, Inuyasha slowly rose to his feet and walked away in the other direction. Her scent was slowly fading away the farther he walked, but he would give her time like she had asked of him. After all, he needed to think too.

 

And he prayed to all the Gods that would hear him that his inner youkai would not invade his mind and let him be.

 

After what had happened that morning...his small triumph over his demon blood...Inuyasha didn't think he would be hearing from the bastard in a while.

 

Or at least, he hoped so.

 

_______________________

 

 

The late morning light played between the leafy boughs of the ancient trees.

 

The ground was covered with dry leaves, and any normal person walking through the forest's path would be immediately spotted, for it was impossible for the dried leaves and branches that covered the ground not to make a sound when being stepped on even lightly.

 

However, the feet that crossed the forest at a slow, calm pace, as if their owner had all the time in the world, and all the world was meant to adjust to him, made absolutely no sound, even though his feet were clad in heavy, black leather boots.

 

The two-headead youkai dragon following the silent taiyoukai's steps not far behind was a whole different story. Not only did its huge talons made the ground shake and creak under them, but the little girl that was sitting on its back, the morning breeze playing with her raven locks, had an habit of talking too fast and too much when she was bored.

And needless to say, the long, dull walk through the deep, fathomless forests had made her restless.

 

The small toad youkai that held the two-headed beast's reins and walked as quietly as he could, trying to match his Master's elegance and poise, and failing miserably, was scowling ahead, wishing for nothing more than to shut the little girl up.

 

She was currently asking him where they were heading in her high-pitched voice. She had asked him this so many times that the toad youkai had lost count. A vein pulsed in his temple.

 

Every time he snapped at her to shut her trap, the child did so for about three minutes, then began with her annoying chit chat all over again.

 

Jaken looked ahead at his Master's back, not a single strand of his silky, silvery white hair out of place; his silent, calm steps seemingly random, yet clearly and purposedly heading towards their final destination.

 

Jaken recognized this path. They had walked it before, his Lord Sesshoumaru, the two-headed youkai dragon, Ah-Un, and the inu-youkai's human protegee, Rin.

 

Jaken wondered what they were doing, visiting this particular spot again, and was bold enough to ask Sesshoumaru this once, not really expecting a response from him, and indeed receiving none other than the sigh of the wind in the trees, he kept his beak shut and continued to follow his Lord.

 

Quite abruptly, the taiyoukai stopped on his track. Jaken, of course, did not see this coming and stumbled upon his Master's leg, thus earning a bump in the head.

 

Ah-Un stopped when Sesshoumaru did, and the wide-eyed little girl looked around in wonder, as if she had seen this place for the first time, before her eyes filled with recognition.

 

"Jaken-sama! Look!" Rin pointed with childish glee towards a huge magnolia tree, normal in appearance.

Until, of course, the bark rippled as if it was made of water, and slowly, an ancient, wise, wrinkled face peered at them as it solidified.

 

The two-thousand-year-old tree smiled placidly. His smile was not returned by the stoic, tall inu-youkai.

 

"Sesshoumaru-sama. I was expecting you." Bokuseno said calmly.

 

 

TBC

 

AN: Thanks so much for your reviews! Keep 'em coming everyone! Hope you liked this ch!

Check THIS out!!! The talented kurohitatsaki made a fanart for LP! I bow to her! That's so sweet of you, girl, and it's so beautiful (and one of my fave scenes actually!) I can't thank you enough! This YM is beyond flattered :) EVERYONE GO SEE!!! It's gorgeous! Also check out her gallery, you won't regret it!

 

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/19053032/

 

Until next chap, bear with me, life's a bitch, writer's block's even worse, but at least I won't be splitting my head open again anytime soon...hopefully.

Love pocky and ramen to you all! Don't forget to REVIEW! ONEGAI REVIEW!!!

YM