InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Pride (In the Name of Love) ❯ Chapter 99

Pride (In the Name of Love) 99 / ??
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.
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// blah // indicates thoughts.

A/N - Wow. There are two very common themes with my recent reviews, and both crack me up. First, there are the people growling for Rin to find her own mate and leave Sesshoumaru alone...XD. Amusing as that is, allow me to point out that ... well, she hasn't done anything....at all. Just got older.

And then there are the people rallying for an Inu / Kouga / Naraku threesome. O.o Alright. I understand that there is a certain suspension of disbelief that must come with any fanfic and a modification of facts and all that good junk. And I understand that I have relationships present here that, while breaching moral code and questionable in content, have plenty of logical backing. Er...Pretty as Naraku is and fond as I am of the baddies, really... I don't think...Inuyasha would want to touch him with a ten foot pole under any circumstances after their past. Kouga either. LOL.... but who knows, with as crazy as this story gets.
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Dinner was an interesting affair, to say the least. Toga paused for a moment before heading off to the kitchen, drawing a raised eyebrow from Sesshoumaru. The younger taiyoukai could not possibly fathom why his father would wander off to join the servants while they worked to prepare the meal, but he let it slide. His gaze inevitably slid to Rin.

Rin, for the most part, was being dead quiet and blushing a great deal. This disturbed Sesshoumaru on several levels - usually, it was a struggle to get the girl to keep quiet. He bit back a sigh. His father was...of course, curse him...right. No matter what things he DID decide, he would have to chat with the girl. Better to do it sooner than later. It...bothered him to think she was acting so upset and un-Rin-like because of him.

"Rin. Come." Without bothering to see if the girl would follow - he knew she would, she always did - he slid out of the room into the relative privacy of the hallway. Once he was sure they were alone and out of earshot, he turned to look at her.

"Rin. Look at me."

Hesitantly she lifted her gaze and offered him a somewhat wobbly smile.

"Why are you so distressed, Rin?"

Rin blinked. It wasn't like Sesshoumaru-sama to directly show such concerns for her or anyone. Her blush deepened, but she did her best to answer honestly. "Rin ... Rin is an adult now but is afraid of what you might think of it."

Sesshoumaru snorted before gracing her with an expression that was halfway one of his rare smiles, half a smirk. "Rin, this Sesshoumaru isn't going to think less of you simply because you are maturing. You can not be held accountable."

"But you looked so angry at breakfast..."

Sesshoumaru sighed heavily, and Rin was rather taken aback. Her Lord was showing visible signs of confusion and concern, as well as a good deal of trepidation. "Rin, this Sesshoumaru is going to tell you something. And you will not repeat it to any others. Do you understand?""Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama. Rin won't tell anyone!"

"First...I...I seemed angry this morning because now that you are an adult, other demons may seek you as their mate. This thought was unpleasant for me. I do not, in honesty, know how to think of you."
Rin blinked, but remained silent.

"Some part of me decided a long while ago that, when you were of age, this Sesshoumaru would take you as a mate. But then things happened. While I do not think less of you, I am uncertain as to my ability to...properly care for a mate, let alone pups. There is more. I...will not take you as a mate if I cannot give you what it is you deserve, and I am not so sure I can do that. I will not give you only half of me and leave your heart barren, or merely use you to gain an heir of my own. It is more complicated than that, however. I do not know how it would be that I would react, should I make such an effort. I do not know if my heart can be thus shared, and it worries me that you will not keep options open were I to try. No matter if this Sesshoumaru does or does not take you as a mate, I....care enough for you that I only want to see you happy."

"I am not sure I wholly understand, and I don't see why it's a big secret..."

Sesshoumaru stared at the floor for a long moment. "The secret is related to what I tell you now. The reason I am not sure if I can care for you appropriately is that...this Sesshoumaru already has a mate. I am...claimed."

Rin's eyes almost popped out of her head at those words, and grew impossibly larger still when he pulled down the collar of his haori enough to reveal the still rather messy bite-mark at his throat. Rin abruptly let out a delighted squeal and flew forward, giving him an excited hug. "That's wonderful, Sesshoumaru-sama!" She blinked as she thought hard, running through possibilities in her head. "But the only one you spend much time with is..."

"My Lord Father, yes. I will not make unnecessary threats to detail what will befall you should you breathe a word of it to anyone. It must not be known. They would not understand, and it would bring great trouble to this House."

Rin nodded seriously. "I won't tell anyone. Thank you for confiding in me, Lord Sesshoumaru."

"It was necessary to make you understand. I want....for you to be happy, Rin. I am uncertain if that happiness could lie with me, and I do not want you to withhold from other opportunities should they arise. I am...too unsure of myself at this time to grant you any insight as to my personal intentions...but I do not wish for you to wander about as you are, silent and melancholy."

Rin flashed him a smile that eclipsed the sun. "Rin understands. And no matter what...Rin is happy for you. You need to smile more, Sesshoumaru-sama!"

Before Sesshoumaru could fathom a response, the girl bounced back into the other room, leaving him standing there. He shook his head slowly in amazement and confusion. Females were baffling creatures. Well, at least the girl seemed relieved and happy, even if he was no less unsure of himself.

The meal itself progressed fairly smoothly. Toga was rather flustered for most of it. His arm was healing rapidly, to be sure, but it still hurt a good deal to try to use it. Being right-handed...and attempting to eat left-handed...made for a rather frustrating meal.

The reason for the inu patriarch's trip to the kitchens became apparent at the end of the meal. A grand cake was brought out, and Toga flashed a grin to the rest of them. "A tribute to both the Lady Rin's coming of age...and a congratulations to your new child." He tipped his glass to Sairex and Miroku.

Once everyone had resumed chatting happily and offering their general congratulations, Toga's good hand slid under the table and rested lightly on Sesshoumaru's knee, drawing his pup's attention. His sire's voice was soft, and Sesshoumaru strongly doubted any of the others heard it. "And to...other significant events."

A smile spread across Sesshoumaru's face before he could hide it. He knew he was blushing, but right now...just this once....Sesshoumaru decided to forgive himself his lack of emotional control.

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

Inuyasha whined and beat his head against a tree. Kouga patted his back somewhat awkwardly.

"Kouga, I don't know how much more of this mind-fucking I can take. I'd rather he was trying to kill us."

"Heh...I'm sure it could be worse..."

"He's a fucking brain ninja! BRAIN NINJA! Arrrgh, my damn head is going to explode!"

"We only need to get him back to the castle and then you don't have to deal with him anymore."

Inuyasha scowled at the empty loops of rope that had once been wrapped around the kumo. "Yeah...whatever..."

The rest of the day, after the encounter with the bandits, had been terribly frustrating for Kouga and Inuyasha both. Naraku had finally decided to allow them to take him prisoner, provided they promised him a good solid meal when they got there. He said he was tired of eating on the road.

Figuring it was easier to accept this relatively simple term than to argue, Inuyasha had grudgingly agreed. Neither Inuyasha or Kouga felt secure with Naraku as a prisoner, and so they elected to tie him up.

This seemed to work until Inuyasha and Kouga felt the ropes go slack. Naraku had stepped right through them, his body flowing around them, as he wandered off a short ways to examine something that had caught his eye. The kumo seemed curious about most everything and enjoyed pausing to check things out, hoping something would spur some spark of recognition.

Noting Inuyasha and Kouga's distress, Naraku had mildly walked back and slid into the ropes again before giving an imperious gesture for them to carry on.

Naraku, for the most part, had agreed to go along for personal reasons. A good dinner would be nice, but this was the first castle he had heard of. It sounded like the perfect place to take over. He just...couldn't help that he kept getting distracted and had nothing resembling a decent attention span of late. Thinking too much, especially trying to remember things or plot things out logically...it really made his head hurt. It was like there was some sort of major gap in his brain that refused to allow things to cross properly. Too much focus and he'd find himself toppling painfully down the steep slope into that gap, only to climb out with blank spots and a nasty headache.

When he returned to 'captivity', Naraku decided to try and poke for more information. "So...what is this western castle like?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "Its...big. And...er...castle-ish."

Kouga snorted. "You're so descript..."

"Oh, bite me, fleabait."

"You wish."

Inuyasha flipped a rather mean smirk in Naraku's direction. "Man, I don't know how things are gonna go. My brother is gonna shit a chicken at the sight of you."

Naraku blinked slowly. "I...see. Why?""He fuckin' HATES you."

"He does? Why would he hate me?""Well, besides the fact that you tried to get him in your body?"

Naraku blinked slowly. "What does he look like?"

Kouga smirked. "Like mutt-face here, only prettier."

"Oh. I must have good taste, then." Naraku smiled, pleased.

Inuyasha blinked, then flailed. "You damn pervert, I didn't mean like THAT! You...you fucking like...absorb demons into you and steal their powers!"

"Oh. I see. It didn't make much sense to me, anyways...I think I would prefer to be doing the taking."

Inuyasha cackled. "Yeah, sure, you go tell Sesshoumaru you want to take him. We'll see how far that gets you."

"Really, Inuyasha, you should learn to be more civil. You too, Kouga. You're both quite crass and vulgar. Not very refined, for being such high-ranking nobles. Do all in the Western Castle behave like you two?"

"Oh, shut the hell up, Naraku."

"You were the one that wanted to bring me home."

"No, I wanted to kill you."

"Well, that's not very nice." Naraku frowned.

"...I fucking hate you."

"But I like you."

Inuyasha gaped. "NO, you DON'T."

"I certainly am a better judge of that than you. Besides, you have cute ears." Naraku gave Inuyasha a cheery grin and reached over to grab an ear before the horrified hanyou could protest.

Inuyasha ripped away fast enough that he almost lost the ear, but he would have considered it a small price to pay for freedom.

"Fucking mind-raping brain ninja, Kouga....DAMN it..."