InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Pride (In the Name of Love) ❯ Chapter 42

Pride (In the Name of Love) 42 / ??
Written by Jezz-Ra
Warnings - Not all warnings apply to all chapters. Yaoi, Het, Rape, Lemon, Violence, Language, Torture, Angst, Incest, Dark (at times). It's a massive story, folks, it's got a little bit of everything.
Disclaimer - I don't own Inuyasha, don't make money off it. Wish I did.

Sidestories can be found under my author profile at any of my archive sites.
Archived at - inu.adultfanfiction.net, fanfiction.net, and mediaminer.org ::: Anywhere else, ask!
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// blah // indicates thoughts.

A/N - People working on the roof all day + Jess needing to sleep all day for work all night = No Sleep At All = Exhaustion. Stab me with a spork until I expire, it can only feel better than this headache. Ugh.
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A vague sense of something not quite right gnawed at the back of Toga's mind, drawing him from his slumber. He stretched slightly and yawned. His skin felt tight and his flesh tender in several places - mildly uncomfortable, but it meant his injuries were well on their way to being healed.

Toga felt something warm against his side, and a slight sniff confirmed it was Sesshoumaru. He wondered idly at that - he knew from the strong medicinal smell drifting from numerous bottles and jars lining shelves on the wall that he was in the healer's quarters. Rather unsurprising, given the events of the previous morning.

His heart suddenly froze as he realized what woke him up. A low, keening whine - the noise of an inu in the extremes of agony - came from his pup's throat. Toga's eyes snapped open in alarm and he sat up partway to look at Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru had his claws dug deeply into the mattress. He was drenched with sweat and flushed - he looked feverish. His chest was heaving, his breathing coming in short and shallow pants.

Toga cursed inwardly and shook him gently. "Wake up, my Sesshoumaru..."

He was unprepared for the violence of Sesshoumaru's reaction. Wild golden eyes snapped open, although it was obvious from the way they darted and rolled that the younger taiyoukai wasn't seeing anything around him but rather whatever was in his head. With a strangled scream, Sesshoumaru attempted to bolt blindly.

Toga was not about to let his pup go anywhere in such a condition and latched on to him. Sesshoumaru's reaction was even more panicked, and he let out a noise somewhere between a snarl and a whine, struggling wildly. Toga growled and grabbed him by the wrists, shifting to pin him down. Sesshoumaru still almost tore free of him with strength borne of desperation, but Toga outweighed him by a good deal and had better leverage.

Toga gritted his teeth together in a sharp hiss of pain as Sesshoumaru's long claws gouged deeply into his wrists, narrowly arching his neck out of the way to avoid a sharp clicking snap of his son's teeth. He growled deeply in his chest. "SESSHOUMARU!"

Something clicked dimly in the terrified taiyoukai's mind. His thrashing abruptly stilled as his eyes came into focus. He sucked in a breath, trying hard to calm his rapid heartbeat as he took stock of his situation. He choked a bit when he realized the liquid warmth running freely down his fingers was blood from claws still deeply hooked into his father's wrists.

Mortified, he withdrew them, unable to keep the quiver from running through him. He shut eyes stinging with tears and tried to gasp out an apology. Oh, he did not want his father to see him in such a shameful state...but the dream had been so real, the pain, the rending and tearing and the unreasonable horror...

Toga shifted, releasing Sesshoumaru when he realized that he had come back to his senses, although his own distress was acute. He wanted more than anything to be able to comfort his pup's torment. It was painfully obvious how fragile Sesshoumaru was at that moment...his pup had curled up into a ball, clutching his stomach tightly and breathing in shuddering gasps. Toga bit back his own instinctual whine and pulled his Sesshoumaru into his arms. His body was stiff and he resisted at first, flinching at his father's touch...but after a moment he accepted it and curled up tightly against him, burying his face in Toga's chest and desperately seeking comfort from the violent memories that ate at him. He had thought himself free of the nightmares - in fact, he hadn't had one since he had awaken in Kagome's apartment finding himself being eaten alive by bugs. And that, well...it wasn't so much a nightmare as a prelude to a painful reality.

Toga's chest rumbled reassuringly as he slowly threaded his fingers through Sesshoumaru's hair in gentle strokes. He could feel his pup calming down, soothed by his presence, and he offered silent thanks. He flicked a glance to his wrists and frowned slightly. He was still bleeding heavily and the wounds would need to be tended, and soon. It wouldn't do to survive an attack by an enemy just to accidently be bled out by his pup.

Sesshoumaru finally swallowed the last vestiges of his panic, some semblance of calm returning to him. He pulled away enough to look at his father, silently thanking him with his eyes. His nose twitched a moment later and he frowned, turning to examine the deep punctures he'd made in Toga's wrists, his expression guilty. "I...am so sorry...I did not mean...""It is alright. You were not yourself. However, I do need to attend to them...and then, perhaps, a bath for us both? You are nearly as much a mess as I. How did that come to be?"

Sesshoumaru had busied himself snagging bandages and some healing ointments, swatting away Toga's hands when he attempted to take care of the injuries himself. "I came in last night after lending my assistance to the monk and found you injured here. The healer was tending your wounds but I took over. There was some sort of foul substance in them that needed to be scrubbed out. It caused you to bleed a good deal and I rather made a mess."

Toga smiled slightly. "Well, I thank you. I feel much better this morning.""Before or after I impaled you?"Toga laughed softly. "I have had worse in my time, believe me. And the wounds are deep but narrow. I'll be fine soon enough."

Sesshoumaru judged the bandaging to be adequate and stood up slowly. He winced as he glanced at his father, than himself in the mirror, then the surrounding area. Blood was everywhere. "Perhaps a bath would indeed be a quite good idea for us both. Red hair does not become you."

"Hah! I would look good in any color hair," Toga responded, peering in the mirror with a wince. "Hrm. Perhaps you are right." Despite the mess, though, he was quite pleased with how much his wounds had healed. They were little more than angry, tender red marks now save for the very worst of them."This Sesshoumaru is always right."

Toga rolled his eyes. "Ah, of course, how could I ever forget. Come along then, pup. I...have something I need to discuss with you anyway. It is fairly important."

Sesshoumaru nodded. He paused long enough to grab himself some clean clothing, and his father did the same. Soon the two were ensconced in one of the castle's indoor hot springs.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Miroku awoke to gleeful cackling from his lover and slowly squinted open an eye. "Mrrph...what's got you so excited?""I've decided dis blindness is not all bad. In fact, it be damned convenient right now."

"And what makes you say that?" Miroku asked, wondering if the poison hadn't fried Sairex's mind after all.

" Kakaka...no morning zunlight in my eyes!" Sairex chuckled, folding his arms behind his head and basking contentedly in the warm glow.

"Leave it to you to be so pleased by something like that..."

"Mm, lemme alone, I had a good night. Tings feel zo much more intense vhen you can't zee."Miroku chuckled at that. "Well, I'm glad I could assist your mood. I suppose I should go see about getting that dragon heart for you, eh?

"Eh. I zuppose da morning zun is a zmall price to pay for my magic back...but I'll enjoy it until you return."

Miroku leaned in and gave the raven a lingering kiss. "Fine, I'll leave you to bask. I'll let you know how things go."

It wasn't hard for Miroku to find Inuyasha, although he was quite shocked to see Kouga with him.

"Hey! Monk, how's it goin'?""Hello, Kouga...a pleasure to see you. What brings you here?"

"Inuyasha hired me and my pack. New castle guard. Guess this makes me captain or somethin'."

"Well, that's wonderful news." Miroku smiled warmly - he meant it. He had always liked the wolf.

"What's up, Miroku?" Inuyasha asked curiously.

"Oh...well, Sairex needs something that I can't get for him so he can make the antidote to the poison affecting him."

"Really? What's he need? I can get it for ya."

Miroku plastered on his best innocent smile. "The heart of a dragon youkai."

"...You're serious."

"Well, yes."

Inuyasha sighed heavily. Sure, he could take down about any normal demon, but dragons were strong and could be trouble.

"Eh, if mutt-face can't do it for you, I will.""Pfft, I could kill ten before you finished dancing around your first, fleabag."

Kouga's response was cut short at the sudden choked noise from right down the hall. The three males turned in time to see Rin stumbling back against the wall. Her eyes were locked on Kouga as if he were evil incarnate, the terror in her eyes very evident.

"Oh shit...Rin, you don't have to worry..." But Inuyasha was too late. With a noise too terrified and choked to be a scream, Rin took off running, remembering very clearly how the wolves had run her down when she was younger and tore the life from her.

"Way to go, asshole!" Inuyasha growled at Kouga, slapping him upside the back of his head.

"Ow! Hey, I didn't fucking do anything! What's her problem!?"

"Your fucking wolves killed her a few years back. Sesshoumaru revived her and that's how she ended up becoming his shadow. You better make yourself scarce until I explain your presence to Sesshoumaru, cause I guarantee that's where she's headed."

"Fuck my life..." Kouga muttered. "Fine, I'll be in my room...let me know when your brother doesn't want to decapitate me and eat my heart."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Sesshoumaru and Toga spent several minutes in silence, busily scrubbing themselves clean and helping each other with their hair. Eventually they were both satisfied and settled back against the smooth, carved walls of the spring to relax.

Toga was getting more and more edgy, however, and Sesshoumaru could notice it. It wasn't like his father to be at all fidgety. As long as the younger taiyoukai had known, Toga was always confident and sure of himself. "My Lord Father?"

Toga sighed heavily and then shifted so he was sitting next to Sesshoumaru instead of across from him. "I need to talk to you about...something serious.""Of course," Sesshoumaru responded, arching one eyebrow slightly. His curiosity was eating him alive.

"I'm not sure how to say this..." Toga muttered. Sesshoumaru had the distinct impression his father would be blushing about now, if he were anyone other than who he was. "I have, of late, begun to exhibit an extreme lack of self control in regards to you, my Sesshoumaru."

Oh. That. Now it was Sesshoumaru's turn to beat back the heat threatening to color his cheeks.

"I do not know what to do about it. This is a difficult subject for me to broach. Never before my resurrection did I ever look at you as anything other than my precious pup. I loved you terribly, of course, but I never..." Toga sighed. This was not going well and was harder to say than he had thought. "The other day it suddenly hit me that you are not JUST my pup. You are strong, intelligent, and absolutely beautiful...quite possibly the most desirable creature I have ever seen. I have begun to have thoughts of you that no father should ever bear towards their son."

Now Sesshoumaru WAS blushing and no amount of fighting it was meeting with any success.

"I...I apologize. It is...wrong of me to think such things, but I find I cannot help myself. I wish to be close to you and when I am, I am growing overwhelmed. I've already kissed you twice and not even realized I had done it until it was far too late to stop it." Toga sighed heavily, giving Sesshoumaru a vaguely guilty look. "And I... can not bring myself to regret the act, even if I regret the effect it may have on you. I do not want to take advantage of you. I do not want....ah, dammit..."

Sesshoumaru hesitantly met Toga's eyes. "You would never take advantage of me, nor would you ever hurt me in any way. Any action you take in regards to me, now as always, have always been governed by your love. This Sesshoumaru is not so blinded to emotion to recognize this."

"I never meant to insinuate you are. It is just...it...it is wrong of me. You are my pup. I should not want to crush you to me, to taste you and ravish you and claim you..." Sesshoumaru swallowed hard, knowing he couldn't possibly blush any harder, especially at the husky and cracking tone his father's voice took on as he finished his thought. "..but I do. Oh, I do..."

A wave of volatile, conflicting emotions and sensations tore through Sesshoumaru. He had truly believed what he said, that his father would never do anything to hurt him...but that didn't mean he was prepared for this. He didn't know what to do or what to say in response, flicking his tongue over suddenly too-dry lips at the intense and heavy look in Toga's eyes.

It turned out Sesshoumaru didn't have to worry about his response. The door to the bathing room flew open as a sobbing, terrified Rin shot into the room. She ran straight into the hot spring, not bothering to slow down to remove any of her clothing or even her shoes, simply launching herself at Sesshoumaru.