InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Pride (In the Name of Love) ❯ Chapter 144 ( Chapter 144 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Pride (In the Name of Love) 144 / ??
Written by Jezz-Ra
Warnings - Not all warnings apply to all chapters.  Yaoi, Het, Rape, Lemon, Violence, Torture, Language, 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 - Yay for writing too many stories at once!  Rofl.  I had the most bizarre dream last night involving mixed up, mashed up plots from this story and the other I'm currently writing (a Tsubasa RC fic.  I can't help it, I love Fai to pieces).  It was....very bizarre.  Lol... and I had to rewrite half of this chapter... for some reason, my Toga was sounding a lil too much like my Fai.... And damn, this chapter got wordy.

I have so many good crossover stories I could write, but as a rule I avoid doing so... I don't know why.  Most crossovers are just poorly done, it seems...too contrived.  But sometimes, the ideas are intriguing.... lol.

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Sessho umaru glared pointedly at the wall, refusing to look at his father.  

Toga was grinning ear to ear, his eyes sparkling in devious amusement.  "Queen of the West, eh?"

"With all due respect, my Lord Father...shut up," Sesshoumaru growled, painfully aware of the blush staining his cheeks.

"Oh, but my Sesshoumaru...!  I thought 'this Sesshoumaru' was entirely capable of handling a small, untrained child?"

Sesshoumaru let out an unhappy little growl, and Toga burst out laughing, kicking back in his chair and folding his arms behind his head.  He was extremely amused at his pup's expense.  Aliana had latched on to him the moment he got home and told him of her victory in the arena.  Toga had thought it amusing, right up until he confirmed the story and what exactly happened with Sesshoumaru.  THEN he had found it beyond hilarious.

"I tried to warn you.  Children are devious.  They will catch you by surprise."

"This Sesshoumaru is never having pups.  Ever."

"Oh, don't say that.  You have no idea how much different it is when they're your own."

"If I had to deal with things like that on a daily basis, I'd have torn my hair out within a week and died of stress by the following."

"You gave me much more than my fair share of hair-tearing moments, I can assure you.  It's one of the hazards of parenthood.  But trust me, my Sesshoumaru... it was much more than worth it.  I'd love to see you have some pups of your own someday.""So you could steal them and spoil them rotten?"

Toga grinned.  "That's one of the privileges of being a grandsire, is it not?"

"This Sesshoumaru is still surprised that the raven's daughter still wants to be a monk with as much as she idolizes you."

"Well, I think she wants to be Queen of the West by conquest, now.  And she was so close..."

Sesshoumaru let out a new growl at that.  "Damn you...."

Toga laughed, still finding it almost painfully humorous.  Oh, what a blow to his pup's pride to be defeated by a small child, no matter the circumstances.  He figured it was good for his son to have his ego checked now and again.  // Pride, thy name is Sesshoumaru... //

"I hear Sairex has awakened."

Toga decided to show mercy and allow the change of subject.  "Yes.  He's still in pain, but that's to be expected, all things considered."

Sesshoumaru was silent for a few moments.  "Soon we will have to press our attack against the Black Circle, now that the two that can access it are back.  The longer we wait, the more opportunity we afford our opponent to build up his forces and plot against us in turn."

Toga nodded, idly twirling a few strands of his hair around one of his fingers as he thought.  "The only reason I can figure that he didn't press his advantage and attack us while we couldn't retaliate was that he had no knowledge of Sairex and Miroku being first missing and now injured.  Now would still be an ideal time for him to strike, especially if he thought he could get a kill in on one of those two.  Most notably Sairex.  We cannot let it slip any further than it already has that anything happened to them."

"Should that wretched Jormander think he had a clear shot at the raven, he'd throw everything he had at us.  I do not believe he could match us in military strength at present, but he has proven in the past that he was capable of sneaking into the castle.  The raven wouldn't be able to fend off much of anything that might be thrown at him in his current state.  This Sesshoumaru will make sure that the healers and anyone else involved knows to keep their silence."

"Good, good.  We're already at a disadvantage, we don't want to make things any worse.  And I'm sure you're right about his military at present.  If he had the forces, I wholly believe he would have already engaged us.  Sairex and I decimated the forces we encountered at his castle and when they came at us during the war, countless more were cut down."

"Perhaps we could have them make us a portal...myself, you, my brother... and we strike him at the heart before he is ready.  Even if he has some scattered troops, I doubt they could stop the three of us working in concert before we could make our way to the head."

Toga considered it for a moment.  Sesshoumaru wasn't usually one for straight, head-on attacks of this sort and, truth be told, neither was he.   Rarely was a battle won just by charging at the enemy's front door.   However, it did seem rather like it might be a valid tactic in this instance.  Except... "That's fine and well, but when Sairex and I attempted just that, the raven showed me many barriers protecting all facets of his castle.  You saw what had happened to my arm when I came back.  I couldn't force my way through the barrier.  No power I had was capable of breaking it down, and I almost lost an arm for the effort.  I couldn't even see the barriers until I was touching them without Sairex to point them out."

Sesshoumaru smirked.  "You forget, my Lord Father... Inuyasha has improved your fang.  He now can dissipate and disrupt barriers of all varieties with it."

Toga smiled at that.  "You're right, I did forget about that.  Hmm.  I wonder if I could pull off a trick like that with my own fangs given a bit of work..."

Sesshoumaru paused, thinking about that, and his smirk only widened.  "Oh, yes.  I can see you leaping face-first into barriers in an attempt to bite through them."

Toga couldn't help a chuckle, shaking his head a bit at the mental image of himself in his true form diving forward to gnaw on a barrier like an oversized chew-toy.  "No, I suppose that wouldn't be the most prudent of ideas.  Besides, I doubt I could duplicate the method Inuyasha used regardless, even if I knew the details. The fang he has now is far different from the one he originally received."

"You always knew he would need that fang to protect him, didn't you?"Toga nodded slowly.  "I didn't know for sure, but I assumed there was a good chance of it.  Demonkind and humankind don't usually mate for a great many reasons.  Most demons are far too small-minded to have higher emotions and those few that are on a level of higher intelligence and are capable of such feelings rarely are willing to accept the guaranteed heartache of opening their heart in such a way."Sesshoumaru, to his credit, said nothing.  He merely stared at his hands, for once not criticizing or insulting his father for his past relationship with Izayoi.  His eyes had been opened far more, and he found that, despite their general weakness, humans weren't all that different from demons.  He wasn't about to promote their wellbeing, but he could at least understand how one could have caught his father's eye.

"I... did a bit of research on hanyou.  Human blood and demon blood rarely mix well.  Humans are relatively fragile creatures in comparison to our own race....and our bloodline in particular makes that gulf much larger.  Most hanyou tend to fall apart as they grow and their power begins to develop.  Their halves war within them.... there are many factors.  Sometimes they die.... sometimes, like in Inuyasha's case, the demon blood is...far more potent than the human blood can stand and their human side is simply overwhelmed, destroyed."

Sesshoumaru sighed before speaking, phrasing his question very carefully.  "If you knew there was such a risk that you might create such a cursed thing, why did you ever...."

Toga smiled a bit.  "I loved her, my Sesshoumaru.  Such thoughts of what might be didn't arise until after the fact.  We tended to forget our differences when we were together.  It's no different than ignoring the social taboos I do when I'm with you."  The inu patriarch sighed heavily after a moment.  "Your brother is indeed cursed by my blood, no matter that you might argue the opposite.  I forged the Tetsusaiga to both protect his mother and to give to him to seal his power."

"I've seen the demon he becomes when he is distanced from the seal.  You are entirely correct.  He would become a bloodthirsty,  unthinking animal without it."

Toga frowned deeply.  "I know.  I simply don't have the power or the knowledge to do anything to harmonize the two very different halves within him.  The seal within the Tetsusaiga was the best I could do.  It does weigh heavily on my heart to know how small a step it would be for him to lose himself.  I never want to see either of you suffer, and it seems I've rather done a poor job of preventing just that."

Sesshoumaru's gaze snapped up to look at Toga.  "My Lord Father... "

"I know, I know.  I never did it on purpose...but it still hurt.  The last thing I thought before I died was how very sorry I was that I was forcing you into the role of Lord when you were still so young, knowing all the issues that came with it.  My Sesshoumaru...I am so very sorry for all the burdens placed upon you because of my mistakes and my failings."

Sesshoumaru's eyes were still impossibly wide.  He simply couldn't process the thought of his beloved Lord Father, his idol, his god-thing, making mistakes or errors, especially not ones grave enough that they required apology or regret.  "You do not need to apologize to this Sesshoumaru, my Lord Father.  Not now, not ever.  Please, do not."  Slowly Sesshoumaru got up, padding over and kneeling next to Toga's chair, bowing his head.  His voice was soft and thick with rarely expressed emotion.

"I am all that I am because of you, for better or for worse.  Nothing in all my world means a fraction of what you mean to me.  I would do anything at all on your word alone.  You have always, always treated me with kindness and  respect and your love has never been in question.  When you died, I lost the most important thing in all my world, and it was impossible to recover.  I was hurt and bitter and I took it out on anything that came near, trying to mask the void with rage or pain, but I could never hope to succeed.  So please... even if you have  done things that you consider a mistake, I know you always follow your heart.  You are always true to yourself.  I place no blame or fault on you for anything you have done."

Toga blinked before lightly reaching out to  run his fingers through Sesshoumaru's hair.  After a moment, he slid his hand down to cup Sesshoumaru's cheek and tilt hsi face up so he could look him in the eye.  A long moment of silence passed before Toga gave him a small smile.  "I don't believe I've done anything to warrant such pure devotion from you, my Sesshoumaru, but I cannot say it doesn't warm my heart.  Even I make mistakes, and I will not let anyone else take responsibility for them and will not sweep them under the rug.  Come here."  

So saying, Toga pulled Sesshoumaru up into his lap before curling his arms around him and leaning in to give him a long, slow kiss.  Sesshoumaru smiled faintly before simply leaning against him with a soft sigh.  Toga stroked his hair and just held him.  A long while later he finally shifted a bit, although he made no move to dislodge Sesshoumaru.  "Alright... let us come up with a plan of attack.  It is time to end this threat."
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