InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Pride (In the Name of Love) ❯ Chapter 123

Pride (In the Name of Love) 123 / ??
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
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// blah // indicates thoughts.

A/N - I really must be a masochist trying to update TWO fics daily, equally... LOL. Ah, well. It's fun, right? Although sometime Pride here WILL have to end...it CAN'T go on FOREVER.... but there are still things that need wrapping up. I need to hurry and finish it all so I can jump right into the sequel, right? ROFL....oye.....
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Inuyasha had just managed to gather together everyone Sesshoumaru had specified when there was a soft tap on the door. // Shit... // "Who is it? Whaddaya want?""Lord Inuyasha? It's me, Rin!"

Inuyasha quickly headed over to open the door. // I didn't THINK Sessh forgot about her when he listed off the humans I was taking, but... ya never know. // "Hey, kid. Eh...what are YOU doing here?"

Rin wasn't alone - she was with Enriki, Sesshoumaru and Toga's attendant. Enriki bowed and his lips quirked slightly. "I owe a debt to your House. I beg you make haste, and I shall explain as best I can. Do not react to anything I say to the guard, merely act as though it is accepted as truth."

Kagome nodded and yawned sleepily. "Right...that mostly means you, Inuyasha. Behave and don't blow up."

Inuyasha glared at the priestess. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? You sayin' I have a temper?!"

Miroku gave him a wan smile and adjusted his grip on Aliana, who was sleeping in his arms and wrapped in a blanket. He briefly thanked Buddha that the raven demons weighed so little, else he would have gotten very uncomfortable very quickly. "You're always the picture of calm, collected serenity, my friend."

Inuyasha snorted, and Kagome and Rin giggled a bit. A sleepy Kouga looked between them and giggled too, since they seemed to be laughing at Inuyasha.

"I do not mean to be rude, but you must make haste, else you will not escape. The orders from above have not fully channeled down to all the guards yet. Lord Sesshoumaru is stalling for your sake at personal risk to himself. Now hurry." Enriki turned and strode stiffly out of the room, soon followed by the pack of humans and the two little demons.

The guards at the door blocked their path, but this was not unexpected. Enriki gave them a dark look. "Why do you stop me?"

"Orders, sir. We are not supposed to let anyone leave the grounds until further notice, sir."

Enriki gave the guard a look of disdain. "You think I am not aware of that order?"

The two door guards glanced at each other skeptically.

Enriki continued. "Do not let anyone leave the castle, and should Lords Inuyasha and / or Sesshoumaru attempt to leave, detain them by whatever means necessary."

The guards nodded. "Yes, sir. Those were the orders we received."

"Do you see either Lord Inuyasha or Sesshoumaru amidst this group of humans?"

The guards inspected them more closely. Inuyasha held his breath, never so grateful in all his life for his human guise. The guards finally shook their heads.

"No, sir. The human miko and monk as well as the Lady Rin and ... another human."

"He is a personal attendant to the humans from this castle. Hikeri."

"The only demons among them are the monk's daughter and that young wolf. What is the meaning of this, sir?"

Enriki snarled. "The new master of the castle has a great distaste for humans, you damn fool! I was ordered to escort them out. As you can see, no one that was specifically demanded to remain within this castle is leaving with them. Only the humans, their attendant, and their adoptive children. I have the order right here, signed by Lord Sesshoumaru himself." The coyote demon flipped a small scroll out of his sleeve and thrust it into the face of the guards.

The surprised guards struggled to read the order and apologize all at the same time, largely tripping over their own tongues. They knew Enriki was in high standing, far higher than their own as he personally attended to the Lords of the castle, and the coyote's orders came DIRECTLY from said Lords. Despite the orders they received from their captains...to go against Enriki might be to defy the Lords themselves.

The guards abruptly stood down and saluted sharply. "Forgive us for detaining you, sir. Please, be on your way."

Enriki snatched his scroll back and gave the guards a dark look before smoothing a few loose strands of hair back. "Thank you. Come, humans."

The small group followed him as he left the castle. At the front gate, they suffered a similar setback but these guards, too, caved to Enriki's demands.

Inuyasha eyed the coyote demon carefully. He had never given him much thought before - Enriki usually quietly went about his duties and avoided standing out. He easily melted into the background and was simple to ignore and forget...which was exactly why he was so useful at gathering information and doing his job.

Enriki was a bit on the small side in comparison to most males, although that did not affect his ability to put even the biggest and burliest of the castle guards back on their heels, cringing. Inuyasha smirked slightly, imagining what a terror the wily coyote must have been before he had been injured.

Enriki's hair was straight and fell just past his shoulders. It was an interesting combination of gray and brown, even a bit of black, identical to the coloring of his pelt when he was in his true demon form. He had a tail to match. His dark eyes missed nothing, and he was prone to smiles that revealed his sharp fangs whenever he was browbeating some unfortunate guard or errant servant.

When they were a good distance from the front gate, Enriki stopped and turned to face Inuyasha. "It is Lord Sesshoumaru's desire that, if at all possible, you all retreat to the Lady Kagome's home for now, as soon as Lord Sairex returns to you. You must not return to the castle."

Inuyasha scowled. "What the fuck is going on?"

Enriki frowned. "I'm not entirely sure what happened. There was some sort of attack, although I am unclear of the details. It likely coincides with the arrival of the female that came to visit." The coyote paused to scowl - he had personally deemed her no threat and escorted Kimi in, after all. "Something grave has befallen Lord Toga. Capture or incapacitation would be my guess, as Lord Sesshoumaru is not consumed by grief."

Several sets of eyes widened as Enriki continued.

"It is my belief that Lord Toga must be being held captive to enforce the cooperation of Lord Sesshoumaru and, likely but to a lesser extent, yourself, Lord Inuyasha. If this has indeed occurred, then the West has fallen to a new Lord...or, more likely, Lady. In an effort to protect you all and get you out of her reach before she can use you against him, Lord Sesshoumaru moved rapidly to remove you from the castle."

Inuyasha scowled. "If this is true, I'm not about to let my brother face all this shit by himself. He's MY father, too, and I--"

Enriki growled softly. "Silence, pup!" The coyote composed himself rapidly. "Pardon me. Lord Inuyasha. But you must obey Lord Sesshoumaru's wishes, at least for now. He will contact you as soon as he is able. He will need help on the outside. I assure you, you will be of far more use if your strikes cannot be easily detected from within and if Lord Sesshoumaru does not have to continuously worry that you are in danger."

Inuyasha scowled and crossed his arms. "Keh...fine. But if we're all in Kagome's ... if we're at her place, how will he reach us?"

"Lord Sesshoumaru says there is an old priestess living in Edo that y ou are familiar with, and he will send messages to her. You merely need to check in with her now and again."

"Alright, I gu-- Miroku?"

Miroku had gasped and was quickly handing Ali off to Kagome before murmuring and snapping sharply through the gestures to open a portal as Sairex had taught him. "Something is wrong..."

Sairex toppled through the portal a moment later, wheezing and clutching at his arm, which had been shattered terribly. Bone jutted through his skin in more than one place. Miroku was kneeling next to him in the next moment, deathly worried.

A moment later Naraku stumbled through the portal. He had Sesshoumaru's mokomoko flung around his neck like some sort of fashion statement. His eyes were glowing a vibrant crimson, and he was twitching. Occasionally, part of his body would bulge or twist as if something was struggling to burst free.

Miroku glared darkly at Naraku, then frowned at Sairex. "You...what happened? You said you were just guiding him..."

Sairex grinned slightly. "He got into zome zort of trouble zo I vent after him...by rights, I zhould be dead."

Miroku's eyes widened. "What?!"

Sairex sighed. "I...got in a fight vith Zetsukosei. I misjudged it very, very badly. I vas trapped and couldn't fight him anymore. I don't have his phylactery and have few zpells dat vould do too terrible much damage to a lich. He vas going to bite me in half, but...vell. Naraku zaved me."

All eyes turned to Naraku in blatant disbelief. The kumo was striking a heroic pose, Tenseiga braced before him and the mokomoko billowing out dramatically behind him. Before anyone could react, the kumo was suddenly directly behind Inuyasha and purring. "Do you love me now?"

Inuyasha yelped and flailed as he put Kagome between him and the grinning kumo. "Creepy bastard...."

Miroku frowned and closed his eyes, galled at the thought of being grateful to Naraku. "Saved you...?"

Naraku sighed. "Well, I couldn't very well let him get eaten. Then I wouldn't have been able to get back here. Purely selfish, I promise. No need to thank me."

Sairex struggled to sit up, and Miroku helped him to do so. "Kumo....Naraku. I need to ask you, very zeriously...are you going to be able to keep dis up?"

Naraku smiled, the red in his eyes flaring more. For an instant, his smile was far too wide, had far too many teeth. "We'll find out."

Miroku frowned, disconcerted. "What was...that?"

Sairex eyed Naraku warily. "He...absorbed Zetsukosei."

"WHAT?!" All eyes went back to Naraku, who was smirking and looked quite pleased with himself.

Sairex shook his head slightly. "It is not zuch a good ting as it zounds. Zetsukosei's phylactery is ztill out dere, meaning da lich cannot be destroyed. If he cannot be destroyed, he cannot be fully absorbed, and he VILL zeek to get out. But for now, at least...ve have him under wraps." The raven paused and looked around, but Naraku beat him to the question.

"Why are we all standing out in the middle of a field by the forest?"

"It is a long story. I'll explain as we travel. Lord Sesshoumaru bid me escort you as far as Edo," Enriki said as he turned to resume their trek.

"Who the fuck said Naraku could come with us?"

Sairex snapped a look at Inuyasha. "Lord Inuyazha, I owe him my life at da moment...and da alternative is zending him back to da castle vith Zetsukosei vithin him. I don't know vhat is going on dere right now, but it can't be good.""Right. Keep me where you can keep an eye on me...and then I can keep an eye on you, my lovely little hanyou..." Naraku purred.
Inuyasha twitched. "Gimme my brother's stuff...and don't talk to me, look at me, or touch me...and you can come with us."

Naraku did hand over the sword and, more reluctantly, the mokomoko...but then slipped behind Inuyasha and wrapped his arms around his waist, pressing a kiss to the hanyou's ear before Inuyasha could register the act enough to move. "You're no fun..."

"GOD DAMMIT! DONT TOUCH ME! Fucking creepy-ass brain ninja! That's it! I take it back! I'm not going anywhere with you!"

Miroku glanced back towards the castle. "I...don't think we have time to argue right now. They'll be after us. I can't imagine our absence will be entirely ignored for long."

With varying degrees of acceptance, the party resumed their trek. Inuyasha traveled as far from Naraku as possible. Rin struck up a cheery conversation with the kumo, who just as cheerily answered her.

They moved on.