InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Pride (In the Name of Love) ❯ Chapter 96

Pride (In the Name of Love) 96 / ??
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!
Questions or Comments? - Email me at megami_no_remon@hotmail.com
Update List - If you wish for new chapters of this story to be e-mailed to you directly, please send me an email and I'll add you to my update list! Chapters will be mailed as soon as they're ready to go! If you are on my update list, I still appreciate reviews at any of the usual sites I post to!

// blah // indicates thoughts.

A/N - I'm on a writing streak. Zoom. Two sidestories in two days. Finally posted the Inuyasha / Kouga backstory. "Sometimes Goodbye is a Second Chance". At all of my usual sites, just clicky my profile story list thingy.

And not that I think many, if any of you will know what I'm talking about, but...when writing the Naraku scene from the last chapter...and this one, all I could think of was the theme music for Kefka from Final Fantasy 3 / 6. XD I always have a mental soundtrack when writing. That's why all my fics have titles that are either lines from songs or the names of songs. Perhaps I should mention which songs...heh. This one is fairly obvious as it's the title of the song itself. "Only to Be With You" = Line from "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" also by U2. "All My Life to Sacrifice" = Line from "Snow (Hey-Oh)" by Red Hot Chili Peppers. "A Crow Left of the Murder" is the title of an Incubus album, not a song...but...close enough. "Wicked Game" is the title of a song by HIM. "Sometimes Goodbye is a Second Chance" is a line from "Second Chance" by Shinedown. "My Wayward Son", song by Kansas.

Generally I DO have a reason for choosing each song title for each story, but I won't bother ya with em as they sometimes are a bit lengthy in explanation. XD. On with the show.
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Toga slid down the hallways in search of his eldest pup. When he failed to find him in either the library or the arena - it seemed the boy was always reading or fighting - he peeked into the study. No Sesshoumaru.

// Hmm... // Toga didn't have a very long list of secondary Sesshoumaru-haunts. He'd never really needed one. Where he was, Sesshoumaru almost assuredly was too unless he had pressing business. He checked bedrooms with no luck. A quick tour of the kitchens - and a snack - and subsequently the hot springs provided no results. // Well, I suppose he shall have to be snappish, as the monk put it, on his own. // Toga finished his snack and headed into his room, working his way out of his armor and then his haori with some difficulty - stripping is incredibly hard one-handed.

He flicked open the curtain and began to examine the nasty burn on his hand and forearm. It was starting to get itchy, although he knew touching it would bring him a world of pain and just slow down the healing process. // Mm. Looks terrible... // It truly did look dreadful, most of his skin blackened and his limb actually slightly twisted. Oh well, no matter. It'd be better soon enough, healing from the inside out. And since his body didn't have too many other wounds to deal with...

Toga pulled the curtains shut again and then pulled the band out of his hair. He shook out the long, silvery tresses and then flopped into his bed. He'd deal with cleaning himself up properly when he had full use of both his arms. Until then...he was tired. He needed a nap.

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

'Snappish' was probably a poor choice of words for Sesshoumaru's current state. That morning had wreaked utter havoc on the taiyoukai. Toga would be incredibly sorry he had missed breakfast when someone finally relayed the story to him - the inu Lord loved a good chance to see Sesshoumaru flustered and emotional and trying to pretend he wasn't.

Things hadn't STARTED badly, at least not as far as Sesshoumaru knew. He woke up - although he was a bit pouty at least internally that he had to sleep alone. He had gotten rather used to Toga's warm body and soothing scent being next to him. Oh well, no matter. His father would be back tonight.

Recalling his father's words before he had left on his little trip brought a deep blush to Sesshoumaru's face, which he savagely tried to beat down as he went about the room, gathering his clothing for the day. // ...'You will not be getting any sleep tomorrow night...' I wonder if he meant it or not.... //

Sesshoumaru tried desperately to push such thoughts out of his mind and made his way to the bath. He wasted little time cleaning up. When he was convinced his hair was properly brushed and his attire was properly arrayed, he headed for breakfast.

That was when things went awry.

Miroku was the only one who showed up any time soon, which was not in and of itself too surprising. Sairex and Toga were off on business - Sesshoumaru made a mental note to ask specifically what sort of business when Toga returned, and Inuyasha and Kouga were out investigating some burned villages to the south.

Shippo made his way in after a while. After the heron demoness had healed him, the kitsune had more or less returned to his normal self, even though he was exhausted all the time. He had been told it was normal, as his body was still trying to recover. His friends were glad to see he was on the mend. As for the fox, he made a very stern promise that he would never, ever try to mess with Sairex's things again.

Kagome and Rin were late. Sesshoumaru figured they were likely doing something together and would arrive shortly...and he was right. Eventually the door opened and the two of them entered.

The first thing Sesshoumaru noticed was Rin's face burning in a bright blush. Kagome said nothing, merely peeking at Sesshoumaru out of the corner of her eye.

The second thing to hit him was her scent. Sesshoumaru's eyes flew wide before he could stop them and he froze, hand midway to his glass. Kagome blinked - Rin had been right. Sesshoumaru HAD noticed. And quickly.

His ward was in heat. Sesshoumaru tried to kick himself back into gear and resumed snatching up his glass, suddenly wishing it was something a bit stronger than water. Rin's blush had only gotten worse as she sat down, and Miroku eyed the girls and Sesshoumaru curiously before shrugging slightly. He noticed Shippo blink several times and then gasp. If he had been going to say something, however, it was abruptly cut off by a short and dangerous growl from Sesshoumaru. The kitsune wisely clamped his mouth shut.

// Oh, someone is GOING to have to fill me in, I'm the only one here that can't tell what's going on... // Miroku lamented.

Before breakfast had been utter chaos for the human girls. When Rin had first realized that she was bleeding, her initial reaction was one of panic. Her usual routine when panicking or injured was to run to Lord Sesshoumaru, but she had paused mid-stride and burst into a violent blush at the thought of THAT scenario.

She recalled several incidents over time when she had been injured, and things had followed a rather predictable pattern each time. Either she would run to Sesshoumaru or he would come to her. "Lord Sesshoumaru, Rin is bleeding!" Her Lord would ask her where and she would show him. Generally he would tend her wound with a few gentle licks that had, in more recent times, started to make her blush.

Rin burst out laughing despite her blush at the thought of THIS one. // Lord Sesshoumaru, Rin is bleeding! Where?...// Abruptly, blushing, the girl made the choice to go see Kagome instead, unable to hide her giggles at the thought of Sesshoumaru's reaction to THAT one and glad that the priestess had decided to stay in the feudal era with them. It seemed Kagome's fiance was mad at her for being gone so much and having strange visitors, and their relationship was on the rocks.

Rin had done enough reading and studied enough to figure out what was likely going on after the initial shock had worn off, anyways, and her panic receded. She made her way to Kagome anyways...girl talk always helped with things like this and she had begun to view the miko as something of a big sister.

Kagome had helped take care of her and the two had taken a relaxing bath. Rin was somewhat reluctant to head to breakfast, and the miko couldn't help but ask why.

"Lord Sesshoumaru will know."

"Oh, nonsense. You just had a bath and I've got some things for you...trust me, you'll be fine."

Rin stared at her incredulously. "Kagome...he will know the moment I walk in the room, if not sooner."

Kagome blinked. Well, sure, the inu demons seemed to possess an extraordinary sense of smell, but...to notice from across a sizable room the moment she walked in? "Honey, I think you're worrying too much."

"Oh, Rin is not worried. Much."

And so they had made their way to breakfast after getting dressed and ready. Kagome had kept her eye on Sesshoumaru, wondering if Rin's prediction had been accurate. She was rather surprised to see that the girl had been dead on. Sesshoumaru's golden eyes had flown wide and he froze in place. It looked almost funny, but Kagome knew better than to laugh at Sesshoumaru. // Huh. Guess the girl was right. //

Shippo's eyes got pretty big a moment later. Kagome was a bit more surprised at that one, but whatever Shippo's intentions HAD been, they changed abruptly after a short growl from Sesshoumaru. The kitsune snapped his mouth shut and slid back further in his seat.

Sesshoumaru had logically known it was coming, but it was still a shock to him. More shocking than the fact in and of itself was all the thoughts suddenly blooming of their own accord in his brain as his instincts started firing off all sorts of signals. His growl at Shippo had been purely reflexive and made from no conscious thought, warning the kitsune away. The only one that was going to touch his Rin was -

Wait...what?! Sesshoumaru's mind backpedaled furiously from the thought. He wasn't going to be touching her either, he had made that quite clear, even told his Lord Father as much.

It was a hame his instincts didn't seem to care so much about the decisions his mind had made. His inner beast was rankled, and wanted nothing more than to pluck Rin out of this room and take her somewhere alone. Not merely out of a desire to respond to the frightfully enticing scent, but also out of a protective urge to keep her away from everyone else during this time. HIS Rin.

Toga would have picked up on his son's distressed confusion and internal battle fairly quickly, and likely would have been terribly amused. Sesshoumaru made an effort to resume something approaching normal operation, although his actions were tense and he visibly bristled when the servers brought in their food and got too close to Rin. Whether or not the servers noticed her current state or not, they were well trained to pay attention to the mood of their Lord, and they almost fell over themselves in their haste to get out of the room.

Yes, breakfast had been a tense ordeal. Sesshoumaru had finally excused himself smoothly and made a retreat, deciding he needed to get away from the situation immediately...all the while, getting screamed at by his instincts that getting away from his ward was the one thing he absolutely least desired. He should stay there, protect her from anyone that would dare approach her, and he could...could...ARGH, damn instincts!

Sesshoumaru took up a position on the roof of the castle and flopped back onto his mokomoko, angrily watching clouds drift by.

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

Inuyasha stalked back over to Naraku, sword resting against his shoulder. "Alright, Naraku, y--"

Naraku peered at him. "Naraku? Is that my name?"

The hanyou's ears twitched. "Yeah. It is."

"And you are?"

"Inuyasha."

The name certainly set off explosions in Naraku's mind and he struggled to grasp at memories that seemed to float just beneath the surface, barely out his reach. "Inuyasha..." Naraku seemed to roll the name around on his tongue, getting a taste for it. Inuyasha fidgeted a bit, feeling decidedly uncomfortable.

"Look, Naraku...you're going to come with me. Either willingly or by force."

"Is that so?"

"Fuckin' right it's so."

"I see. Well, I'm not going anywhere until I finish my lunch."

Inuyasha stared. "You're fucking with me..."

"I assure you, I'm doing no such thing. I am hungry."

"Alright, fine, eat your damn food." Inuyasha plunked down, keeping his sword out on his lap and watching Naraku intently, wholly expecting a trap or a trick at any moment. Kouga leaned up against a tree nearby, shaking his head slowly. Whatever Naraku was up to...he surely couldn't figure it out.

"So, where is it we are going?" Naraku asked finally, dusting a few crumbs off of his haori.

"Western Castle."

"Ye ain't goin' nowheres, unless you hand over the fancy sword and armor...and all the other goodies ye got."

Inuyasha, Kouga, and Naraku all turned to the sound of the gravelly voice. A particularly ugly band of bandits was approaching, weapons drawn and obviously hungry for blood.

"The hell with that, I'm not givin' you anything."

Naraku nodded and stood next to Inuyasha. "I'm with him."

Inuyasha balked and turned to Naraku. "Hey...you...you like...you can't side with me! It's WRONG."

"Well, too bad. I'm certainly not siding with THEM."

The bandits eyed each other curiously, then looked at the hanyou and the kumo.

"But...but dammit, you're Naraku. We can't fight on the same side. Just....sit back down and leave me alone..."

"You're being ridiculous."

"SIT DOWN, DAMMIT!"

"So you'd rather protect me than fight next to me...?"

"Prot--" Inuyasha stopped dead, twitching. Kouga could almost hear the sound of the hanyou's brain shorting out, and the bandits looked on in confusion, wondering what sort of craziness they'd stumbled into.