InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Moving Pictures ❯ Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? ( Chapter 14 )

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

 

Chapter 14 - Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?

 

Sesshomaru released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding as the floor materialized under his feet. Quickly freeing his fingers, he managed to catch the cat before she hit the ground. Out cold, she was a limp weight on his arm. He awkwardly shifted her body until she was braced against his chest, then carried her to the piled cushions in his sitting chamber. After depositing her unconscious form, he untied his hakama and let it drop to he floor and shrugged into a robe. Mildly relieved that he wouldn't have to use the `shower' after all, he still needed to wash away the sand that had collected under his clothes.

 

Feeling eyes on his back, he turned toward the cat lying on the cushions. Still reclining in the position in which he had left her, she watched him, warmth lighting the green depth of her eyes. He allowed himself to bask in that warmth for a moment before opening the door to the hall and calling for a servant.

 

She sat up, rubbing her bare arms. “Where's Charlie?”

 

“He is not here,” he replied after ordering the baths be prepared.

 

Not surprised, she nodded, “He's probably under that tree.” He cocked his head, indicating that he was listening. “That's where I woke up the first time. The second time, I was thinking of my living room and ended up there… I wasn't thinking about anything this last time. You concentrated on this room?”

 

He nodded and she continued her train of thought. “So, hopefully he was focusing on the painting when he touched it and sent out there.” She gestured toward the valley with her thumb. She eyed him speculatively as he fished another robe out of his chest and tossed it to her. `How did he end up in my apartment? Was he thinking about me?' The thought sparked a tingling deep in her belly.

 

“Do you always loose consciousness when you travel through the painting?” he asked, his tone polite but unconcerned.

 

She shrugged. “So far. You didn't?”

 

He snorted, annoyed at the implied weakness, and changed the subject. “I will send a scout to look for your brother.”

 

She frowned slightly, pursing her lips. “I think I'd rather go myself. He doesn't speak Japanese and may not understand that your scout is trying to help.”

 

She had a point, he acknowledged to himself, and as much as having to search for her obnoxious brother irked him, he wouldn't mind a brief walk through the woods. He nodded sharply, making up his mind. “We will bathe, then leave immediately after. Do not dally.”

 

She bit back a nasty retort when a discreet knock sounded on the door. “Enter,” Sesshomaru intoned.

 

Aoi stepped in, smothering a short gasp when she saw Charlotte sitting on the floor, wrapped in one of her lord's dressing gowns. Her gaze lingered on the bite mark on her neck before she bowed low, her blue-black hair hiding her sharp features, “My lord, the bath is ready.”

 

Sesshomaru nodded to Charlotte and she stood, following the irate demoness out of his chambers. The crow youkai refused to speak to her on the way to the bath, for which Charlotte was grateful.

 

XxxxxxxxxxX

 

The waning light of dusk colored the mountain purple and cast the meadow into deep shadow. Pinpoints of light began to prick the sky, shining through the scant clouds left by the spring thundershower that had passed as they had bathed and changed. The air smelled of mulchy earth and wet grass, pungent and alive.

 

“He's not here,” she stared around her as if he would miraculously pop up out of the grass. The branch she had broken still laid where it had fallen, undisturbed.

 

“He was at one time,” Sesshomaru delicately sniffed the air, trying to catch a whiff of the cat's brother. His scent was similar to hers, though touched with a pine aroma that she lacked. The brief rain had not helped; even though it had lasted only a few minutes, it had been heavy and had managed to wash away the trail he would have left.

 

“It's too dark to search by air,” she mussed, rubbing a hand over her face, her ears pinned against her hair. “Should we camp or go back to the mansion?”

 

Scrutinizing the ground, he finally found a trace of someone's passing. “We camp and follow him in the morning.”

 

Ignoring her happy exclamation, he followed the faint signs leading through the field and into the forest. With tall trees hiding the light of the moon, it was quickly too dark for him to see well enough to track, especially since the air had been scoured clean of his scent.

 

Scoring the bark of an elm with a claw, he marked where they had left the trail and led the cat to a nearby cave that he knew would be dry and relatively comfortable.

 

Disappointed that they had stopped searching so quickly, she frowned into the dark mouth of the cave. “Are you sure it's safe?”

 

He brushed past her, picking his way confidently through the dark. “Yes. I have stayed here before.” With a quick look over her shoulder, she followed close behind him.

 

By touch alone, he found the dry wood that had been stored there. `This is where Jaken comes in handy,' he thought irritably as he arranged the wood near the entrance of the cave. The Staff of Two Heads lit campfires as well as it burned enemies so he usually didn't have to bother with such trivial matters. Suppressing a sigh, he sent a spark of youkai energy through his finger, immediately starting a cheery blaze in the dry, seasoned wood.

 

Charlotte settled herself next to him, adjusting the plain blue traveling kimono to accommodate her knees, bent so that she could lean against them with her head propped up on her folded arms. “Maybe he'll see the fire and come to us?”

 

Sesshomaru stared into the flames, not bothering to answer. She sighed and fell silent. Despite her worry and the hard rock beneath her, the dance and flicker of the flames was soothing. The sandalwood scent of the man beside her filled the cave and she breathed it in, letting it ease away the tension in her body. Without her awareness, her eyelids began to droop, then close.

 

Sesshomaru registered the change in her breathing and glanced over. She had dozed off sitting next to him, alone and far from any source of help. She trusted him, regardless of the things that had passed between them. The thought gave him pause. How many of his retainers trusted him so absolutely? Rin did, though she was still a child and he had never made an advance on her nor raised a hand in punishment. Jaken, perhaps, but his loyalty was based more on fear than on trust, as made evident by his accusations over the Tenseiga Experiment when he had first found Rin. Most of his retainers feared him and he expected their loyalty, but few, if any, would be comfortable alone with him.

 

His eyes traced the profile of her face, lingering over her golden cat ears. He'd always considered his brother's ears as vulgar marks of a hanyou's disgrace. Hers were… the right word escaped him, but he decided that they were agreeable to look upon. Why did she trust him like she did and why was this important to him? If asked, he would deny it, but he couldn't lie to himself. He had sought out her company more than once, unheard of for a solitary creature like him, and though the thought irked him, he liked to be with her, to touch her. He knew that she liked to be with him; her gestures of affection spoke volumes more than the lewd conversation she'd had with her friend. His gaze strayed downward to where his teeth had marred the pale flesh of her neck. A flood of heat hit him, and the desire to reopen the bite became almost overpowering.

 

Dragging his eyes away to stare into the flames, he reasserted his iron control. He stood abruptly and walked just outside the mouth of the cave, letting the cool night air wash over him. The scent of ozone and rain was heavy in the air, the promise of another thunderstorm to come.

 

Charlotte roused with a quick shake of her head. She hadn't realized she'd fallen asleep but a sudden coldness had woken her up. `That doesn't make sense. It's warm enough by this fire,' she absently rubbed the fading bite mark. Through the flames of the campfire, she glimpsed the tai-youkai standing with his back to her, the wind teasing through his long silver hair.

 

`You're not fooling anyone,' the inner voice spoke up.

 

She sighed and leaned a cheek against her shoulder, staring blankly at the stone floor of the cave. A far-off rumbling of thunder, followed by the patter of rain hitting the forest floor shook the night air.

 

`Why this man? Why here? He's as cold as one of my computers but he can turn me into a puddle with one look.' Chemistry or instinct, it had her so far over her head that she'd doubt she'd see the light again. The hot breath on her neck seemed like the ghost of a memory until an equally hot tongue bathed her bite mark.

 

She gasped and arched back in reflex, her head falling onto the shoulder behind her. An arm slipped around her waist and across her chest, pulling her against hard armor. Moaning, she could only hold onto that arm as her blood ignited in her veins with each scrape of his fangs. He growled deep in his chest as his fingers sought the opening at the neckline of her kimono. Laying her hand on top of his, she guided him under her clothes to the bare skin that trembled for his touch. Her rough tongue found his ear, rasping along the edge of the delicate point before pulling the lobe into her teeth. Claws grazed over a hard nipple, then squeezed her breast as his teeth sank into her neck. A deafening clap of thunder drowned out her feral cry of pleasure.

 

Twisting in his arm to face him where he knelt behind her, she straddled his lap with her knees and dragged his face toward her with two handfuls of silky hair. Still wet with her blood, his lips devoured hers in a bruising kiss that stole her breath. She parted her lips and slid her tongue into his mouth, exploring the deepest recesses. Scraping his teeth over her tongue, he pushed hers back as he pulled her hips against his.

 

Her loins throbbed with each squeeze of her butt. She tugged his sash loose and untied the hidden leather thong that attached his chest plate to the spiked shoulder piece. Shrugging out of his armor with practiced ease, he broke the kiss only to fling the armor into the back of the cave. Freed from the metal guard, his need surged against his hakama and she ground her hips against him, amazed at the hard length beneath the fabric. His amber eyes began to bleed red as he stared into her green ones and she rubbed her cheek along his, pressing her body to him and letting the friction open her kimono further.

 

His mouth dropped to her chest and with a quick movement, he had her on her back on the cave floor, blanketing her body with his. Fighting against the instinct to take her immediately, he nipped at a pink nipple, dragging claws down her stomach. One of her legs entwined with his as she pushed against him with her hips. Each swipe of his tongue sent shockwaves through her body, collecting into a pulsing ache in her belly. He pushed back, driving her into the ground with his groin. The whites of her eyes were touched with red as the beast within her strained against her control; it wanted him as badly as she did but she wasn't ready to let it have its way yet.

 

A flash of red in the corner of her eye alerted her that they were not alone. Through the thick haze that clouded her mind, a silver-haired man stared at them with growing horror, his amber eyes fierce and strained. “Uh,” she shoved lightly against Sesshomaru's shoulder. “Your brother's here”

 

Sesshomaru glanced up, pausing the torment of her nipple. Eyes widening and bloodied teeth bared, he released her abruptly and covered her with his body, hiding as much of her as possible.

 

“Sesshomaru! I knew you were a bastard, but I thought ravishing women would be beneath even you!” the silver haired demon yelled, drawing a rusty sword. The sword pulsed with power as it transformed into an enormous fang-shaped blade.

 

“Hey now, wait a sec…” she protested from underneath the voluminous folds of his sleeves, closing her kimono over her exposed breasts.

 

“Inuyasha, you fool,” Sesshomaru snarled, crawling over her and to his feet, drawing a wicked sword that pulsed with dark energy.

 

“It was a consensual ravishing!” she added, rolling to her feet and adjusting her clothes. Fortunately, she was still mostly hidden by the enraged dog demon.

 

The crash of metal on metal echoed off the cave walls, shattering the magic of the night. With growing alarm, Charlotte realized that these two were not play fighting as she and her brother did: they were at if for real.

 

“Stop it, you guys! This isn't worth it!” she yelped and ducked an errant swing of Sesshomaru's evil sword. The roof of the cavern was lower further away the mouth, a fact she quickly learned when she stood and hit her head on a sharp protrusion. Cursing, she rubbed the knot and squinted at the pair.

 

Even within the small confines of the cave, Inuyasha insisted on charging his brother, his blade slung over his shoulder. Sesshomaru easily parried it, sending sparks flying and an irate hanyou smashing into the wall of the cave. Charlotte was forced to dodge again, this time the snarling mess of Sesshomaru's brother. The impact hardly fazed him; within moments, he was rushing at the tai-youkai again, swinging his sword as power funneled around it.

 

Three shocked human faces peered into the cave, firelight reflecting off their frightened eyes. The girl wearing a school began to fumble with a bow and Charlotte shot her a desperate look, gesturing frantically at the battling males. She seemed to understand and nodded firmly. As Sesshomaru raised his arm for another cut, Charlotte leapt forward and tackled him at the waist just as the girl raised her voice in an unlikely shout, “Osuwari!”

 

Energy surged around the beads at the hanyou's neck, pulling him into the ground at his feet. Sesshomaru managed to grab his tackler, twisting her around so that she took the brunt of the fall when they hit the cave wall next to his brother, digging sharp claws into her shoulder. Too late to soften the landing, he recognized his attacker and pulled his claws out of her flesh.

 

Charlotte struck her head on another sharp rock with enough force to see stars, her body going limp as her ears rang. Grey crept over her vision as the ringing grew louder, blotting out the golden eyes above her.

 

Sesshomaru stared down at her glazed eyes, mounting anger and concern fighting for dominance, even as he struggled to keep his expressionless mask in place. She was more demon than human, and to have been struck unconscious by a blow to the head must mean that she had hit it very hard. Of course she had been knocked out, he had reflexively switched their positions and flung her into the rock so that his attacker would be injured instead of him. She was lucky that he hadn't brought poison into his claws.

 

The tang of her blood permeated the air, too heavy to have been caused by one of his bites. He ignored his sputtering half-brother and slipped an arm under her shoulders, lifting her away from the rocks. Her head lolled forward as he eased her into a sitting position so that he could get a look at the back of her head. Though swollen and bleeding, she showed no sign of having broken anything. His brother's human wench hurried forward and knelt by him, trying to see the damage. He warned her off with narrow look.

 

Charlotte groaned and squeezed her eyes shut against the pain in her head. Steadying herself against the person who held her up, her searching fingers touched the wound, coming away slick with blood.

 

“That was foolish, cat,” Sesshomaru said sternly, his face close to hers. She blinked up at him, her eyes slightly blurry and her head still humming from the impact.

 

“Didn't want to get hit with your sword,” she mumbled through thick lips.

 

“That's right, you bastard. Fucking-“

 

“Osuwari,” the girl's command sent the hanyou back into the ground.

 

“Kagome!” he protested, his voice muffled by the stone floor of the cavern.

 

Charlotte watched in astonishment, her eyebrows shooting up, “Ooh, where could I get one of those?”

 

“Woman!” Sesshomaru snapped but didn't let go of her.

 

“It'd beat playing quarterback,” Charlotte muttered to herself, dabbing at the wound with the corner of her sleeve. She glared up at Kagome, who seemed to be hovering just out of Sesshomaru's reach. “What are you guys doing here, anyway?”

 

“Uhhh, it was raining and we saw the fire, so we thought we could join whoever was here…” her voice trailed off under the scrutiny of two pairs of demon eyes. She took a deep breath, seeming to gather her courage. “What started their fight this time?”

 

Charlotte studied the young girl, no more than sixteen or seventeen years old. She smelled of fear but she didn't let it faze her, standing close to the source of that fear. `Why is she afraid of Sesshomaru? There's a history here that I might not want to know…' Charlotte let none of her thoughts show on her face, smirking at the sulking hanyou who had been released from the subduing spell. “I think he tried to come to my rescue. Kind of cute, really, but I didn't need rescuing.”

 

Inuyasha snorted, “Keh. Goes to show what you know.” A slow blush crept up his neck and Kagome eyed him curiously.

 

“Oh?” she asked, wondering what could have brought out the hanyou's protective side, then embarrass him.

 

Stepping into the cave, the monk Miroku gave the tai-youkai an almost sympathetic look. “I see what happened here. Inuyasha walked in on a delicate situation.” Said hanyou flushed a deeper shade of red but refrained from commenting.

 

XxxxxxxxX

 

Miroku regarded the cat demon with a pious look, his hands steepled in front of his face, “So you say that your brother came through a time-traveling painting and is now missing?”

 

Charlotte nodded carefully so as not to jar her aching head. Kagome had cleaned it up and removed the blood from her hair, but it was still sore. “Yeah. Normally, I'd find the parties to find him: he's always off boffing some chick. But here…”

 

Miroku interrupted her train of thought at the unfamiliar term, “Boffing?”

 

“You know, boning, banging, showing his `o' face, making sweet love down by the fire…”

 

“Ah! He enjoys the company a fine woman!” Miroku's eyes sparkled in delight.

 

“Oh yeah! In fact, we had this system when we went partying, you know, drinking and dancing. We'd get plastered, he'd make his move on his target and I'd run interference with her date-“

 

Sesshomaru growled from his seat against the wall of the cave, as far away from the group as he could get but still keep them in his line of sight. He'd wanted to cast his brother's motley group out of their shelter, but after a pleading look from the cat, he had agreed to let them stay. Irritated that he'd allowed his mind to be changed, he was reminded of Rin and the exceptions he made for her. His only consolation was that his brother had snorted in disgust and stomped out of the cave, taking a seat outside in the pelting rain. His wench had tried to coax him back inside and had ended up sitting with him under one of her strange contraptions.

 

Charlotte cocked at ear toward him and winced, cutting her story short. “…uhh, so yeah, he's missing.”

 

Miroku pursed his lips in thought, then raised a finger, “About this `interference',”

 

Charlotte peeked at Sesshomaru. He was watching her intently and though his expression was as impassive as ever, she knew he was angry and didn't want to push him. “I probably shouldn't go into it.”

 

Sango paused in the polishing of her Hiraikotsu, her dislike of the cat easing as she got to know her. She wasn't interested in the monk, and with Sesshomaru staring holes in their backs, Miroku was keeping his hands to himself. “What does your brother look like?”

 

“Like me; tall, blonde.”

 

“Does he have ears like yours?”

 

“Yeah, but he can look pretty human when he wants to.”

 

Miroku nodded in sudden understanding. “I see where Lady Sango is going. We met a man with your coloring earlier this evening, but he appeared to be human. Inuyasha said that he smelled human as well.”

 

“Where did you see him?” Charlotte's heart rate increased with excitement and she leaned forward, watching the demon exterminator intently.

 

Sango pursed her lips as if she'd eaten something sour. “Not far from here. He groped me and I hit him, hard.” She emphasized her statement by clenching her fist, her long black ponytail swishing with the motion.

 

Sighing, Charlotte rolled her eyes and pushed to her feet. “Sounds like him, alright. At least he's okay.”

 

She wandered over to the demon lord and leaned against the wall next to where he sat. Outwardly, he didn't acknowledge her presence but subtle changes in his body language told her that he was not ignoring her and that she was not unwelcome. She trilled a question in the youkai language and he nodded slowly, rising to his feet. Gliding gracefully over the rough stone even though he had to duck to avoid bumping his head, he lead her deeper into the cave and around a bend so that they still had some light from the fire but privacy from the others.

 

“Are you still mad at me?” she asked, blinking up at him. His face was cold but his eyes held a spark of warmth in their golden depths that took her breath away.

 

Finally, he barked a soft `no', brushing her cheek lightly with his knuckles. “I should be.”

 

She smiled and leaned into his hand, purring quietly. “I'm sorry.”

 

His lips twitched, despite himself. “You should be.” He dropped his hand from her face and found a comfortable niche in which to settle. She sank down beside him and nuzzled under his arm up to his side, rubbing her cheek on the fur of his Mokomoko-sama. He tensed at the contact; sex was one thing, but cuddling? He had never had any desire to be close to another being in that way, touching for the sake of touching. He hadn't cuddled the females he had bedded and even Rin was kept at an arm's length. Possession, conquest, domination, he knew. This was… unnerving, to say the least.

 

He moved to push her away, but she simply nestled in closer, her purr starting to relax his body. He could tolerate this, he decided, shifting his position so that they were both more comfortable. “You are an insubordinate woman,” he chided but without any harshness.

 

“I'm not anyone's kept woman,” she murmured sleepily, not bothering to open her eyes. Not really knowing why she had felt the need to be so close to him, she'd given in to the urge, cozying up into him as she had her mother and brother when they were young. He hadn't rejected her and now she felt so content; even her head didn't bother her that much. `Don't get used to it. You don't belong here.' the thought invaded her mind like poison and she pushed it away. She would enjoy it while it lasted. Live for the moment, isn't that what they said?

 

“This says you are,” he brushed the tip of his nose over the sensitive scars left by his teeth, sending a delightful shiver through her body.

 

She stretched her neck a little to give him better access. “Careful with that, or you'll start something.”

 

He growled softly, irritated that they had been interrupted again, and by none other than his worthless brother. “If I had sent them away, we could have finished something.” She chuckled and stroked his chin with her cheek, a feline gesture of affection, then rested her head against his shoulder. Letting his arm drape over her back, he laid his chin on the top of her head, careful not to touch the healing wound. Yes, he could tolerate this, maybe even become accustomed to it.