InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Mark the Beginning of Love ❯ Where I Belong ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: Not mine. Not mine. Not mine. Not mine.

 

A/N: Okay, maybe not as long as my usual chappies for other stories, but still has valuable info on what's happening. Enjoy!

 

 

Mark the Beginning of Love

 

Chapter Four~

Where I Belong

 

 

Silence was the only thing that answered the man kneeling before the small girl, his son slightly behind him and next to a tree. He expected such a response, but, nevertheless, it was quite unnerving.

 

The boy, Sesshoumaru, stood there, as expressionless as usual, but in his mind he was absolutely baffled.

 

Father is surely trying to play a joke. How can he possibly think about inviting this...girl...to reside in our house?

 

Meanwhile, Kagura was pondering over his words as well.

 

What's going on here? A few days ago I was the slave of the house, and by my own father! Now I'm being invited to live with a guy who's so rich that he owns this forest?! It's like...I'm in some kind of fairytale...

 

Inu Taisho looked at her firmly and spoke, “You obviously do not have any where else to go and it would be wrong of me to allow a girl to camp out in these parts. Believe me; by staying with us you will be much safer and more comfortable. Not to mention the food's better.”

 

Kagura turned her head slowly. This is too...too sudden! I can't possibly live with them- I hardly even know them! And now I have to decide? Ugh...my head hurts...

 

Before anyone else could speak, she stood up, wobbling a little from a sudden case of uneasiness. She had never been given the choice to decide before. How was she supposed to react? Whenever her father had asked her a question, it was always rhetorical and she knew better than to answer him. Nevertheless, he'd whip her, hissing to her that if she were to be of any good use, she should answer him when he asked her a question. Though, when she did, he'd just whip her again, telling her that he had not ordered her to speak.

 

So, when given the opportunity to voice her thoughts without cringing or bracing herself from any sort of attacks, Kagura knew not how to respond. Instead, she walked away a few steps, stopping before she tripped over a pile of twigs, and held her small head in her hands.

 

“Stop!” she begged, though she did not know why. It seemed she was not talking to Sesshoumaru or his father, but to a voice in her head.

 

What are you to do? Go with them? Then when your father finds out he will surely kill you.

 

“No!”

 

Kagura took a shaky step to the side, tears starting to stream down her face.

 

Your only choice is to go back to your father. Or will you abandon your sister and brothers? Will you let them stay confined in that good for nothing hut he calls a house?

 

Finally tripping over a tree root, Kagura barely caught hold of the trunk of the tree before she bumped her head. She slowly slumped to the ground, wiping the tears from her face instantly.

 

How do you know this man isn't like your father? Or worse- more vile than your father?

 

“I don't know...” Kagura admitted in a whisper. Raising her head, eyes soft, yet vacant, she stood up shakily and started to slowly walk towards Inu Taisho.

 

From where he was standing, Sesshoumaru thought she was in a trance-like state.

 

What is it about this girl that awes me so? She seems to have a sort of glow to her. Perhaps a glow one gets after being faced with many hardships.

 

But, Sesshoumaru was correct in assuming she was in a trance-like state. Indeed, she felt like her soul had left her for the moment, leaving her with only a body and a voice in her head trying to persuade her to go back to her father.

 

Do you want to risk this? It asked her. Don't you think that returning home to your father would be the wisest decision?

 

I don't know and I don't care, she thought, answering the voice. All I know is I might have a chance...here...

 

Determined to take the chance of living normally for once, with Inu Taisho and his family, Kagura took one more step. Then, her mind blanked and she tripped, almost hitting the ground before arms reached out to grab her form.

 

For a moment, she thought it was Inu Taisho, catching her, saving her, and acting as the father she never had. She could just imagine his strong arms grasping her and treating as if she were one of his children.

 

However, when she took the time to analyze everything, she found the hands grasping her were not strong and muscular, but slim and a youthful kind of sturdy. Even though the person holding her wasn't who she had suspected, she smiled. Smiled...and fell asleep.

 

When she finally became limp in his arms, Sesshoumaru just stared at her with his normal expression. Why had he caught her? Did he not assume his father would catch her if he hadn't rushed up before him? Surely Father would have taken hold of her if I had let him. Just why had I not?

 

After a few seconds mulling over this, he came up with the perfect answer, and a true one at that.

 

He had reacted on instinct.

 

She was walking unsteadily. I knew that she was bound to fall, yet I allowed her to advance my father. For some odd reason, I could almost hear that she was arguing with herself- or more like, some kind of disapproving voice that happened to also occupy her head. And when I saw her take that final step, I knew what was going to happen. She'd fall and I couldn't let that happen. Why? Why couldn't I permit her fall without grasping her myself?

 

Kagura's body started to slip from his grasp as he thought this and he quickly pulled her back up so that her head rested on his shoulder. She sighed in her sleep and he could tell that she was comfortable. But...

 

Sighing, Sesshoumaru turned his head away. What has she done to me? I am not one to assist others unless I've been shown proof that they deserved it. Maybe...maybe she is the proof. She's all the proof I need.

 

He hadn't noticed his father behind him until he felt his large hand on his left shoulder, the shoulder not currently occupied with Kagura's head. Looking up, the boy saw his father smile warmly down at him. He had Kagura's bag in his other hand and he beckoned for him to follow.

 

Obeying his father without hesitation, Sesshoumaru bent down so that he could put the sleeping girl on his back and carry her like the human males did to the females when they were injured or just wanted a free ride. When Kagura was firmly on his back, he stood back up and followed his father, stopping from time to time to bounce her back up on his back whenever she slipped downwards a bit too much.

 

They walked home in silence. Even the birds ceased their singing so as not to wake the child. Instead, they gazed in interest at the man and his son as they walked home with the girl. The birds knew this family well, and from experience, they had never seen them look more complete.

 

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

 

“Daddy! Daddy!”

 

Inu Taisho smiled as the small infant hurled its body towards him. He caught the small boy easily enough, adjusting his position so that he sat atop his broad shoulders.

 

“How have you been, Inu Yasha?” he asked the boy while ruffling the hair of his oldest son, Sesshoumaru. With a grimace, Sesshoumaru got out of his father's reach, announcing that he was going to allow Kagura to rest in his room until a proper room had been arranged for her.

 

There was a gleam in his father's eye- he could tell. Yet, he brushed it off and continued his way up the stairs.

 

As he climbed, he muttered something about getting fewer steps, but still he ascended and after a short journey, made it to his room and laid her form on his bed. Much to his dismay, she stirred and opened her eyes.

 

“Y...You...” she murmured, for she had never been given the grace of becoming familiar with his name.

 

He understood immediately and said with a sigh, “Sesshoumaru. My name is Sesshoumaru.”

 

“Sesshoumaru...” she repeated in an attempt to get used to the sound. She smiled for a moment, then, deciding she was still very exhausted, rolled over to her side and whispered, “Do you mind if I sleep for a while longer?”

 

“Sleep all you want. I'll be downstairs.”

 

“Mmm.”

 

And just like that, she was asleep again. He watched her sleeping form for a moment. Afterward, he walked over to the door and closed it, warning the maids and servants that passed him not to wake her. They bowed in respect to the child and heeded his warning, allowing only one maid to enter, and that was to pull the covers up to her chin.

 

I don't care what that voice says. For the first time in my life, I feel as though I'm home. Where I belong.