InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Pride (In the Name of Love) ❯ Chapter 105

Pride (In the Name of Love) 105 / ??
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 - Well, got 30 chapters edited last night, and I hope to get several more done before I go to bed tonight. Then I get to go thru the tedious process of reposting them all on my sites.

Time for me to put on some good crazy-music and see what I can do about THIS chapter....
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Toga groaned, forcing himself to focus. He knew, dimly, that the fact that he couldn't feel the pain was bad. His body was going into shock. It was all he could do to keep from losing consciousness. It occurred to him that he couldn't recall when his face had hit the floor.

With a supreme effort of will he gripped Sounga and pulled the blade from his stomach. The pain was instant and immense. The inu clung to it. If he DID go into shock or pass out, there was a very real chance he could die.

A sardonic smile twitched his lips even as he coughed up a gout of blood. // I spend every day of the last three years worrying over my Sesshoumaru's life only to have him return and end my own within minutes...? How's that for irony... Damn it. I refuse to die from this...I've been run through before...but I think he hit some of my vitals. Figures. Even insane, Sesshoumaru wouldn't MISS. But I never thought he'd strike at ME... //

Before he could give in to the dark fireworks threatening to overwhelm his vision, Toga hauled himself to his feet, falling forward and catching himself on the wall. He knew distantly that if he fell now, he wouldn't be able to get back up. He clamped one hand tightly over the wound in a rather feeble effort both to try and staunch the blood flow somewhat as well as to make sure nothing that was supposed to be classified as his insides succeeded in becoming his outsides.

// Just have to make it one step at a time...oh, Sesshoumaru, please don't get yourself hurt. I will...find a way to help you. I will... //

To his credit, Toga managed to stagger a fair distance down the hallway before a numb sense of unreality took hold of him. It occurred to him that the floor suddenly seemed a lot closer than it had a moment before...but he never felt the impact of hitting the cool marble. He simply kept falling forever...

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

She was looking for him. He could see the slitted, yellow-white glow of her pale eye peering out from the black shroud of night. Stupid whore. He heard the piercing wails that no one else could hear rebounding from the stars as they shrank from his baleful golden glare.

Sesshoumaru grinned fiercely as he stared at the moon. // You send more of your stupid illusions against us? Do you have no new tricks, mother? How many times do we have to destroy them before you give up? // His grin of defiance grew as he gouged his claws deeply into his forehead, not feeling the pain as he tore skin and flesh, ripping the crescent moon from his forehead.

// We refuse to wear your brand, mother...will you strike us down for it? You cannot. All you can do is hide, and watch us, and shriek. We will give you reason to cry out so...we are no longer chained. //

Sesshoumaru continued down the hallway smugly, hearing a chorus of hateful screams in his mind but paying them little heed. He was FREE...or was it another trick? It did not matter. Idly he wiped the blood away that was running into his eyes, licking thoughtfully at it. A dark scowl erupted as he stared at the crimson staining his fingers.

She had made him bleed. It was not HER blood, it was THEIRS, and she had tricked them into spilling it, just to get rid of her mark...!

"Damn you!" Sesshoumaru shrieked in rage, whirling and firing a tremendous blast of energy out the window in the direction of the moon. It vanished from sight without striking the half-lidded orb hanging in the sky, despite how teasingly close that baleful eye was...

She had tricked them, AGAIN, and she had won...she escaped him. He could hear her laughter in the way the wind rustled the trees, the distant ripple of water from the fountains in the garden...

Sesshoumaru growled viciously and slid around a corner, out of sight from the mocking moonlight streaming in the windows, leaning against the wall and shaking in anger. How DARE she...

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

Inuyasha stopped in his tracks as he rounded the corner, his eyes flying wide at the sight before him. Sesshoumaru was pressed tightly against the wall, hands spread out and claws digging into the smooth surface. His body was shaking and a twisted, breathless growl rattled in his throat. Blood was pouring down his face from the center of his forehead and his hair flew in tangles. Wide yellow eyes were staring at nothing in particular.

Inuyasha had never been so afraid in regards to Sesshoumaru in all his life. He was not only afraid OF the absolutely mad inu - in an equal measure, he was afraid FOR him.

The hanyou paused with a frown. He couldn't fathom why Sesshoumaru would be up and wandering the halls. He had assumed that he wouldn't see his brother until the next day at LEAST, and that their father would be taking care of him tonight. Surely Toga wouldn't have let Sesshoumaru walk off like THIS...something had to be wrong.

Hesitantly, Inuyasha took a couple steps closer to his brother, swallowing thickly. His ears flattened back against his skull. "Sessh...?"

Sesshoumaru's breathing and quivering stopped. For a moment, he didn't so much as twitch....then slowly, slowly his head turned and his eyes bored into Inuyasha.

"You dare mock us with your pathetic tricks? DAMN you..."

Inuyasha blinked and took a step backwards. "Tricks?...I...I'm not...what?"

Sesshoumaru pointed at Inuyasha abruptly, throwing his head back with a triumphant crow of glee. "You aren't real! You cannot fool us anymore! Weep and cower, wraith, and perhaps we will spare you!"

The hanyou frowned, uncertain of what to do. "Sessh...it...it's me. I'm not...there's no tricks here. You're home now. You're safe, and everything is going to be alright. Father and I will take care of you."

Inuyasha yelped as a wild lash of green light scythed through the air and collided painfully with his side. He hit the wall hard, gawking at his brother. Sesshoumaru's whip was pulsing erratically and eventually flickered out. The look on his face was one of victory.

"We are not dead yet...we have things to do. We cannot see our Lord Father yet....we are not worthy. We are bad...bad...we lusted and were sinful. We must seek penance, we are no better than her. We are unclean! Do not look at us....don't...why are you...STOP STARING AT US! WE WILL TEAR OUT YOUR EYES!"

Inuyasha barely got out of the way of Sesshoumaru's lunge, jerking his head back as bloody talons sliced the air roughly where his face had been a moment ago. He was off balance, though, and had no hope of getting away from a second strike.

But there was no second strike. Sesshoumaru landed in a crouch and slowly hunched over, bowing his head as he dug his claws deeply into his arms, eyes wide and staring as tears mingled with the blood running down his face. He was mumbling softly to himself. "Sick...don't look at us....don't look....forgive us...we will...our heart?...but you promised...all my life to sacrifice, but you promised...." Inuyasha's eyes widened and he barely managed to stop Sesshoumaru's arm from driving into his own chest in an effort to cut out his own heart.

"Fuck...Sesshoumaru, please...I don't...what the fuck can I do?!"

Sesshoumaru howled and yanked free of him, covering his ears and throwing himself backwards, cracking his spine hard against the opposite wall. "Nooo, he PROMISED! Damn you! GET OFF ME! DON'T TOUCH ME!" Before Inuyasha could do anything, Sesshoumaru threw himself back against the wall again with another bone-rattling crack...and again...and again...and he wouldn't stop making the most terrible wail.

All the commotion had finally drawn some attention. Miroku and Sairex showed up and skidded to a stop. Inuyasha gave them a somewhat frantic look, tears streaking down his face. "I don't know what to do! HELP him!"

Miroku weighed the options hurriedly. They had to stop the crazed inu before he caused himself some serious damage, but...none of them were strong enough to restrain him if Inuyasha couldn't.

"Vhere da hell is Toga?" Sairex grated.

Sesshoumaru stopped moving as if someone had flicked a switch, holding in an almost impossible position without losing his balance or twitching. Ever so slowly he lowered his hands and stood. No one else so much as dared to breathe.

Sesshoumaru's eyes fixated on Sairex. The taiyoukai didn't move, didn't even seem to breathe...he simply stared for the longest time before speaking, his voice trembling. "Y-y-you..."

Sairex blinked slowly. "Yes, Lord Zezzhoumaru?..."

"Y-you...w-we...you can't!"

Sairex exchanged a brief, uneasy glance with Miroku and Inuyasha. "Can't...vhat?"

"Be. We...I...but....it was...no..." Sesshoumaru moaned, shaking his head. For the tiniest moment, the small group saw the tiniest flicker of severely strained sanity in the taiyoukai's eyes before he promptly collapsed in a dead faint.

Miroku sighed. "There you go again, Sairex, making all the guys swoon. Can't take you anywhere. What was that about?"

The raven snorted. "Believe me, I have no idea vhat's going on in dat head of his." Sairex frowned as he slowly approached Sesshoumaru. "Vhat da hell is he doing out here by himself?"

Inuyasha shook his head, choking back the anguish that was still trying to consume him at the sight of his brother being so broken. "I don't know, I was wondering the same thing myself. I can't imagine the old man letting Sesshoumaru out of his sight any time in the next six centuries."

Sairex frowned, a strong sense of dread blooming within him. "Can you two take care of him? I'm going to go make zure everyting is alright vith Toga."

Inuyasha's eyes widened. He had never in his wildest imaginings thought to consider that something could have happened to his father. "You don't really think..."

Sairex shrugged before tearing off down the hall.

They didn't really know what to do with him, so Miroku and Inuyasha managed to get Sesshoumaru into a nearby bedroom. Miroku placed several ofuda on the walls and door, hoping the barrier would keep the taiyoukai contained until they could figure something better out.

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

Sairex slid to a stop as he turned the corner. His worst suspicions were confirmed. Toga had crumbled to the floor, his belly horribly slit open. Blood was everywhere. Toga's skin was an unhealthy grayish shade, and Sairex was afraid to touch him. It seemed impossible that he would be alive with such a garish wound, and it didn't look like he was breathing.

// You can't die on me, you stubborn bastard...please, Toga...I can't gain one friend just to lose another... I can't lose YOU again... //

It took every ounce of courage he possessed for the raven to reach his quivering fingers out to check for a pulse or any sign of life from the terribly still inu.