InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ One Simple Question ❯ The Answers ( Chapter 15 )

"InuYasha..." she croaked, her throat not used to working properly, "What have ye done?"

 

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When InuYasha burst through the door he looked around frantically for Kaede and once he saw her one good eye squinting at him he smirked and practically pounced on top of the ramen Kagome had waiting for him.

 

In fact he was lucky he was able to finish his meal before his curious friends descended on him.

 

The clamor of their questions, piled one on top of the other, practically made his ears ring.

 

“Oi! Oi! Geez, lay off will ya?! Gonna fuckin' make me deaf here.” When silence once again descended inside the old miko's home his friends all looked to one another, wondering who should go first.

 

Turned out that Kaede wasn't willing to wait in line.

 

“InuYasha, what have ye done to me?”

 

“Bound your soul, baba.”

 

“You bound her soul?” That from the houshi.

 

“I though soul bonds were for mates only...” Kagome let the rest of her thought slide. Shippou shuddered at the idea of InuYasha mating with Kaede.

 

“'Bound her soul', not 'performed a soul bond.' Big difference.”

 

He dropped his chin and quickly thought up the easiest way to explain himself. After a moment he lifted his head defiantly, as though daring someone to tell him he had done wrong.

 

“I used the power of my blood to link her soul to an object. Same idea as the bonds to you guys, except to a thing instead of to me and my lifespan. Long as the item exists she lives. It's how creatures like that stupid water goddess get trapped so easy, stuck her soul's power into her scepter thingy and-” he shrugged. “It's easy to beat when you have power over it.”

 

“And you would purposely make Lady Kaede so vulnerable, InuYasha?” Miroku looked like he was ready to smack the hanyou.

 

InuYasha opened his mouth to defend himself but Kagome was faster.

 

“That's why you used my photo album.”

 

The hanyou nodded. “It can't make her weak if it doesn't even exist yet. In a couple hundred years she can either destroy it and release her soul, or I can mark her or make it permanent... she was dying, did you just want me to let it happen?!” He sounded so defensive and everyone realized he was expecting to be told he made the wrong decision.

 

The hut was unnaturally quiet.

 

“Thank ye, InuYasha. By using something from Kagome's time ye have strengthened, not weakened my life. And should I ever feel my time has come mayhap ye can retrieve the book for me so I am not forced to live longer than my spirit can bear. But at least now it is my choice.”

 

A collective sigh was released. Kaede was alive, and for once no one was grasping at negative straws.

 

“I—uh, I'm going to the tree, I want time before the full moon.”

 

His friends shared looks, no one had been expecting him to do another ceremony after all of this. But it looked as though the hanyou just wanted a chance to recuperate before the ceremony.

 

He was stubborn, and resilient, no one would argue that.

 

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When the full moon finally graced the world below with her shining face and cheshire cat smile the women had set up the hut just like before. Candles and mats, and all of the anticipation. But none of the fear.

 

Last time there had been a fear of the unknown, this time there was no fear. It was the same quiet confidence they had learned once InuYasha had mastered the Kaze no Kizu. Now that they knew it could be done when needed, there was no nervousness in them.

 

With Miroku's bond done, and Kaede's soul bonded, there wasn't much of a choice. Shippou could be done last, the bond wasn't intended to affect his lifespan at all. And the hanyou was putting off marking Kagome, leaving only one option.

 

And it seemed no one had to be told what it was.

 

When InuYasha re-entered the hut to be met by the warm glow of candles, Sango sat centered upon the mats. She wore an unfamiliar kimono, old and somewhat tattered, the color sun faded and distorted in the flickering light of the candles, the neckline loosened so the garment sat around her shoulders.

 

It was a provocative sight, InuYasha didn't need Miroku's ecchi thoughts in his head to know it. For all he might act oblivious, he could recognize beauty when he saw it. And for just a moment he had to stop, the candles and muted light added a bronze cast to her normally pale skin, the kimono she wore deliberately perched to look as though it hung precariously from her shoulders

 

Though the others were watching, Sango's eyes were closed. Her lips were parted slightly, she was breathing deeply. To keep herself calm, or so the hanyou surmised.

 

Silently, with his natural predator's grace, InuYasha swooped in behind the kneeling taijiya. Her natural light sakura scent invaded his senses as the hanyou perched over his shoulder.

 

InuYasha was not at all attracted to the taller woman, but after a single moment's consideration he thought about Miroku, and all the monk had put him through since their bonding, and he got an idea. InuYasha slitted his eyes, a wicked smile lighting his face. Without warning he threw open the mental barriers between himself and the houshi.

 

He saw the moment the monk's perception doubled. His body was part of the semi-circle around the ceremony, but his perception shifted until he too was crouched over Sango. Her hair was over her shoulder, a faint sakura scent drifting from her freshly washed skin, the play of light across her neck and shoulder, and the way the hanyou's heightened senses picked all of it up to a degree the houshi's human senses couldn't.

 

Miroku's body was so tense it could break, and InuYasha knew he was loving every moment of it.

 

The hanyou smirked before forcing the houshi from his mind and walling himself off from the other.

 

Sango drew a sharp breath as a clawed hand silently wrapped itself around her neck. She felt his breath as the hanyou drew closer.

 

~o0o~

 

Sango woke in the morning feeling energized, but strange. Her head felt a bit muddled, the sunlight seemed a bit bright, and the sounds of the village waking to a new day seemed particularly loud.

 

She knew it was the after-effects of the bond, but she wasn't prepared for it all at once. She thought she would be able to hear something from within her mind from the two males. And from InuYasha she felt, something. But there was only him, she could not feel Miroku, and she didn't know if she was relieved or not.

 

She quickly found InuYasha and had him go over the basics of controlling her part of the bond. And was told that her bond was with the hanyou, not the monk, and therefore she wouldn't pick up anything from Miroku unless InuYasha purposely opened his mind in such a way that would broadcast one's thoughts to the other.

 

Knowing InuYasha had more honor than to 'eavesdrop' on her thoughts, and knowing the houshi could not did a lot for her peace of mind. Within a week she had mastered control of her mind, until it was just as disciplined as her body.

 

If anyone was impressed no one said anything, her friends expected her to do well. They all thought her a strong and capable woman.

 

And no one seemed to notice the tense knot the hanyou slowly began working himself into.

 

~o0o~

 

With the baba taken care of, and the monk and exterminator, there were only 2 people InuYasha had to worry about. The kit, and Kagome. He didn't even have to mark the kit, the fox was just as resilient and long-lived as he was.

 

And he wasn't kidding when he said it was hard, if not impossible to change a bond once done. He wanted to mark Kagome as his. Could he work up the nerve to say anything to her? Could he condemn himself to such a long life by her side and yet utterly alone, with his happiness in reach? His thoughts raced around and around, much like the curry he had dumped into what Kagome called a 'toilet' before it all vanished into the oblivion of 'the dark water hole', it made him dizzy. He hated thinking.

 

 

 

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A/N: Most humblest of apologies! I have been a bad, bad writer! Work's been kicking my butt, as have been boy problems. But these aren't the usual boy problems. Here's where the plot thickens. This man doesn't exist. He's a combination of two actors, one musician, and one or two different men in my life. Friends badger me, guessing at who he is, and the truth is none. He exists in a new story of mine that has whisked away all my concentration. And since you all suffer because of him, I thought I'd give you a taste. I'm going to post a snippit of this new story on MM.org under original works, because it is, and I'll link it here. PLEASE do not break mm.org rules on my behalf, no reviewing it here, no voting/voicing opinions which story is better and which to continue. Review this story here(if you like) and that story over there. This is the first time I ever release completely original work to anyone(I have perhaps 6 stories of 75 to 250 pages a piece sitting on my desktop, but I'm usually too leery of plagerizing to ever let more than a page go) and I think if it gets a good response, I'll post more of what I have done. THANK YOU ALL for putting up with me, and I still stand by my promise, I will not abandon this story. The link is below:

 

http://www.mediaminer.org/fanfic/view_st.php/146373/