InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity 2: Defiance ❯ A Youkai's Humanity ( Chapter 43 )

~~Chapter 43~~

~AYoukai's Humanity~

 

Sierra stared into the tea cup without seeing as Kagome set a plate of English muffins on the table before her. “Are you okay?”

 

Sierra didn't hear the question. She hadn't slept well the night before, and now it was coming back to haunt her. After Toga's nonchalant answer about fighting and his automatic assumption that their children would have to do that, too, she hadn't known what to think. `Fighting . . . ?'

 

The thing was, she knew her brothers tended to get into little fights now and then, even with one another, and that hadn't ever really bothered her. Something about the use of real weapons---good God, InuYasha's sword was massive---bothered her, and the direct results of what might happen if they weren't careful . . . . Toga might be youkai and would heal faster, sure, but she was pretty certain that he wouldn't be getting up at all, if he ever took a direct blow from something like that . . . . She wasn't sure what she really thought about all of it outside of the absolute panic that gripped her every time she remembered seeing Toga, lying on his bed and closer to death than she really wanted to think about.

 

“Sierra?”

 

“Huh?” Sierra muttered as she blinked and looked at Kagome.

 

Kagome sat back with a concerned expression clouding her features. “Are you all right?”

 

“Yeah,” she lied as she tried to force a smile.

 

Kagome nodded. “You know, InuYasha used to tell me that I was terrible at lying. It doesn't seem like you're much better.”

 

Sierra stared at Kagome. She liked Toga's aunt, even if she did still have to remind herself that Kagome really was much older than she was. Kagome seemed more like a girl friend than a motherly-figure, which was just as well. With a sigh, she gave in. Maybe Kagome could give her a better perspective than she had at the moment. “I just . . . I guess I didn't realize . . . I didn't know until yesterday . . . He said our children would have to fight.”

 

“And that bothers you,” Kagome finished with a slow nod. She sighed as she stood up to refresh her tea. “Youkai and hanyous have always had to fight. It's . . . it's their way, I guess. Toga learned early on, how to protect himself. Sesshoumaru wanted him to know, even if he never had to. The difference was, Toga never really wanted to use what he knew. That's why it surprised me when he volunteered to go after the cat-youkai.”

 

Sierra digested that for a few minutes as Kagome sat back down with her tea. “Your kids fight, too?”

 

Kagome nodded. “Ryomaru hunts down rogue youkai for Sesshoumaru---the ones who don't like humans . . . the ones who threaten the secrecy of the youkai. Kichiro can fight, though he is more like Toga and would rather not have to. Gin's been trained, too, and I used to fight. I guess we feel that it's better for the children to know how to protect themselves and those they love.”

 

Toga's promise came back to her, and Sierra nodded slowly. `I'll protect you, if you'll let me . . . .' She really hadn't understood what he meant back then. She hadn't really understood a lot of things . . . .

 

“It's . . . a little scary,” she admitted quietly.

 

Kagome nodded. “It can be. It can also be reassuring. InuYasha had to fight a lot. He chose to fight, and he chose to live. Times are different now, and he doesn't have to do that anymore, but it gives us peace of mind knowing that he could protect us all if he had to. Toga . . .” Kagome sighed as she trailed off. “Toga's never been a fighter. Sure, he'd yell at Aiko, and yes, he's been trained in fighting. He'd fight again, if you were ever threatened. In his heart, though . . . he's a good man.”

 

“Hmm, unlike his father.”

 

Kagome smiled as Kagura strolled into the room and sat down at the table. “I didn't hear you arrive,” Kagome said as she got up to pour Kagura a cup of tea.

 

“Gin was leaving as I was coming in,” Kagura explained. “She looked a bit irritated.”

 

Kagome made a face as she poured tea into a thin china mug. “She had an argument with InuYasha.”

 

Sierra picked at an English muffin as she tried to hide her grimace. It wasn't an `argument' as much as it was a very loud debate, actually. InuYasha hadn't been impressed with the young man who had come by to take Gin to the movies, and in true InuYasha fashion, he'd flat-out told the boy to go straight to hell. Gin had tried to argue with her father, and the `disagreement' had escalated into a very heated debate by the time Kagome had arrived home and intervened. Gin's final claim, however, that she was going to die a virgin, had left InuYasha speechless and obviously furious while Kagome has pressed her lips together into a very thin white line. Sierra, who had been trying to remain inconspicuous and seated on the couch, had a feeling that Kagome was trying very, very hard not to laugh at the absolute shocked chagrin on the hanyou's face as he watched his daughter stomp off to her room.

 

That had sparked a round of, “She's your daughter,” commentary by InuYasha as he pointed in the direction that Gin had disappeared.

 

Kagome shook her head and laid her hands on his arm to placate him. “Well, she does have a point . . . she really is old enough to date, you know.”

 

“Feh! Whose side are you on, wench?”

 

“I'm not taking sides, InuYasha. Gin's old enough to decide! I was younger than she is when I fell through the Bone Eater's Well.”

 

“And look where the hell that got you, wench!”

 

Kagome smiled. “That's right. It got me the cutest little dog-boy, ever.”

 

InuYasha's face shifted into a pout that Sierra did recognize, having seen about the same expression on Toga before. “Feh.”

 

“So, Sierra, are you ready for your final fitting?” Kagura asked, breaking through Sierra's memory.

 

“Yeah,” she answered as she forced a smile.

 

Kagome glanced from Sierra to Kagura. “Sierra's having a little difficulty with the idea of her future children being trained to fight.”

 

Kagura nodded slowly, uttering a little `mmm' as she regarded Sierra. “This poses a problem for you?”

 

Sierra shrugged. “I hadn't really thought of it before. I didn't realize that it was a consideration.”

 

“It's par for course for youkai and hanyous. As a rule, we don't have to anymore. Did your brothers ever fight?”

 

“Yeah, just not with weapons.”

 

Kagura nodded again. “Youkai heal faster and are more physically resilient to humans. Toga isn't given to fighting often. He confines himself to training with his uncle when he feels like doing it.”

 

Sierra frowned. “Yeah. His uncle nearly cut him in half,” she grumbled.

 

“Toga's perfectly safe with InuYasha,” Kagome assured her. “He wouldn't hurt any of them.”

 

Sierra didn't find any solace in Kagome's assertions. “Is there really that great a chance that they would have to fight?”

 

“Toga will be tai-youkai. Do you know what that means?” Kagura asked gently.

 

Sierra shook her head. “Not exactly. I know he's mentioned that. He never really explained what it is.”

 

“It means that he will be the one who is expected to make sure that the lesser youkai remain hidden from humans. Years ago, humans rose in power, and when they did, they sought to destroy youkai with their guns and their man-made strength. The only reason we've survived is because we have striven to hide what we are.”

 

Kagura stopped and smiled almost sadly. Sierra waited for her to continue.

 

“Sesshoumaru must take steps to ensure this. When Toga becomes tai-youkai, it will become his responsibility. From time to time, though, it might be necessary for Toga to defend his right to be tai-youkai. He has been raised knowing what his responsibilities are. He will be fair and rational where another who only wants the prestige of the title might not. That is why he has learned to fight. That is why your children would, as well.”

 

“I see,” Sierra finally said. Explained that way did make more sense, even if Sierra wasn't completely at ease with the idea. It had shocked her, she supposed, seeing Toga fight. She knew that he could. It was just easy for her to forget that he really was dangerous, that his enemy might have a weapon that was made for the sole act of killing.

 

Seeing him lying in the bed when she'd first arrived in Japan had terrified her. She knew he had killed the cat-youkai he'd fought. The knowledge did little to alleviate the other memory of seeing InuYasha's sword descending on him, either. `But the question is, can I deal with this?'

 

“In a perfect world, no one would ever have to fight, Sierra,” Kagome said gently. “This isn't a perfect world, and there's not much we can do about it otherwise. It's okay. I know it scares you, but isn't Toga worth that?”

 

Sierra stared at the now-tepid tea in her cup and considered Kagome's words. `Isn't Toga worth that?'

 

She hadn't thought of it that way. Toga was who he was because of the things he'd been taught, wasn't he? He still made her feel safe, made her feel secure. He still gave her the sense of being completely at ease, and that was something, wasn't it?

 

Was Toga worth it?

 

Sierra finally smiled as she thought about the tender side of him that she knew. It was best that she did know what he was capable of doing, right? In the end he was still the same person. It didn't matter what he was because he possessed more decency than most of those who professed to be `human'. He'd never hurt her, and he'd never let anyone hurt his family.

 

`Yeah,' she thought as she stood up and rinsed her tea cup in the sink. `He's worth it. He's absolutely worth it.'

 

 

-=-0-=-0-=-0-=-0-=-0-=-

 

 

“All right, Aunt Gome said something was bothering you,” Toga said as he and Sierra walked through the forest. He wasn't sure how he'd managed to wrestle some time away from everyone else, but he was thankful for the excursion, even if Sierra seemed a little preoccupied.

 

“I just didn't realize that our children would have to fight, too,” she confessed. “It's okay now. I think I understand why. It was just not something I had considered before.”

 

“I'm sorry. I hadn't realized it would be that big an issue for you,” he admitted as he jammed his hands into his pockets.

 

“It's okay, Toga. I trust you.”

 

He blinked in surprise and nodded as Sierra tugged his sleeve until he pulled his hand from his pocket and wrapped her fingers around his. “I think Father is trying to drive me insane,” Toga admitted with a shake of his head. “I think it's his way of getting the last word in about my choosing you as a mate.”

 

“Surely he's not as petty as that.”

 

Toga made a face. “Petty has nothing to do with it,” he grumbled. “He's doing it because he can.”

 

Sierra shook her head. “That sounds petty,” she countered. “You said we'd be together forever, right? So . . . is six weeks really that long a time to wait?”

 

The look he shot her told her that he thought six weeks was close to an eternity. “I was thinking,” he said slowly, carefully. “Maybe we should consider moving back to Chicago.”

 

“Why's that? I mean, my family is there, sure . . . but aren't you needed here?”

 

“I rather appreciated having my family further away,” he admitted. “They're far less annoying that way.”

 

Sierra giggled as she stepped around Toga, dropping his hand as she slipped her arms around his neck. “You know, it doesn't matter where we are, as long as I'm with you.”

 

“So . . . we could just . . . leave?” he asked, unable to keep the hopefulness out of his voice.

 

Sierra shook her head. “I don't think that really has any bearing on it. The wedding isn't that far away, though I wish everyone wasn't so set against us spending time alone . . . why are they doing that?”

 

Toga snorted but wrapped his arms around her to pull her just a little closer. “Feh! It's my father's doing, I don't doubt. Apparently he thinks that my spending time with you will lead to . . . things . . . .”

 

“Things?” Sierra echoed. “Things like what?”

 

Toga didn't answer but he finally did smile. “Just . . . things . . . .”

 

“Toga?”

 

“Hmm?” he murmured as his gaze dropped to her lips, as a shiver raced up her spine at the way his eyes darkened, intensified.

 

“. . . We're alone now . . . .”

 

“Mm-hmm.”

 

“. . . Toga?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“. . . Do you want to kiss me?”

 

“Yes,” he breathed.

 

She tried to smile but couldn't manage as his mouth hovered above hers. “. . . Okay.”

 

Close enough that she could feel the heat of his breath fan over her lips; Sierra let her eyes flutter closed as she waited for his kiss. His arms tightened around her as she reminded herself to breathe. A million sensations rippled through her belly as Toga's subdued strength enveloped her in a comforting warmth. This was what she missed most, this feeling of security, the knowledge that Toga wouldn't let anything happen to her.

 

His lips whispered over hers in a feathery touch, the softest flutter of breath and warmth. Gentleness that was so familiar, the beauty of Toga's humanity was both amazing and frightening.

 

“Kami, Toga! Can't you wait?”

 

Toga stifled a frustrated growl as he turned his head to glower at his sister. Sierra sighed and opened her eyes, acute disappointment washing over her as she glanced at her not-soon-enough-to-be sister-in-law. “Hi, Aiko.”

 

Aiko grinned and hooked and impossibly long strand of silvery hair behind her ear. “Aunt Gome said you and Sierra had gone for a walk.”

 

“You'll understand if I'm not jumping for joy at seeing you here,” Toga remarked stiffly.

 

“Now, Toga, you love me, remember? I'm your darling sister who you adore.”

 

Toga snorted but didn't let go of Sierra. “Feh. Sometimes.”

 

Aiko's grin widened. “Be glad, because I didn't come here to see you. I came to see Sierra.”

 

“Me?”

 

“Yes. Mother thought that I should take you shopping. She thought it'd be easier for you to adapt if you had the honor of decorating Toga's bland home.”

 

“Oi!”

 

Aiko ignored her brother's outburst. “So what do you say, Sierra? Grab his platinum card, and let's go.”

 

Toga heaved a heavy sigh designed to let his sibling know exactly what he thought of her little interruption, but he did let go of Sierra to fish out his wallet and the platinum Visa card. “If they give you trouble, just sign as Mrs. Toga Inutaisho. I'll call the company and have them add you.”

 

Sierra smiled. “Really?”

 

Toga finally smiled, too. “Sure. Why not? Father pays for that, anyway. Spend all you want.”

 

 

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A/N:

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Reviewers

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Sharibet(MMorg):
I figured that we were moving to the story's denoument, now that the biggest obstacle to Toga and Sierra's relationship has been removed, but I'd forgotten about the second-biggest obstacle...Sierra's demon in-laws. Poor girl--as if marrying a guy from a different culture and moving to Japan weren't making her transition to married life difficult enough, she also has the whole youkai culture to deal with! I have a feeling she's going to be quite overwhelmed... Um, does Sierra speak or understand Japanese? I know Toga and his cousins have been making an effort to speak English to her, but what about everyone else? Having been to Japan for the first time recently, it's pretty unsettling to suddenly become functionally illiterate (a lot of signs are in English, esp. for trains and subways, but it's the little things that get you, like the menus or even display placards when shopping...) and not able to understand background chatter, announcements over the PA systems, or even casual eavesdropping. And my experience, growing up in a bilingual family, is that people easily slip back into their native language when the discussion gets heated, or starts to deal with complex or sensitive topics. Sierra's going to feel like a fish out of water, for sure, even if the family's making an effort to try and include her. Anyhow, good chapter and I look forward to seeing how the wedding spins out. I really appreciate the frequent updates to your stories!

 

At this point, it hasn't been an issue. All of the family has been taught English so that's what they speak around Sierra, and Sierra's managed to pick up some Japanese being around the family, as well, even if she isn't really fluent. Bear in mind, too, this the year of this is somewhere between 2020-2025. Since English is taught in most countries schools now as a second language, it is an automatic assumption that it would also be taught later. She probably does have a bit of difficulty now and again, but for the most part, since the only time I've written about her being `out' she was with Toga and the twin terrors, she hadn't had to deal alone.

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MMorg

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Final Thought fromToga:

… Eloping is sounding better and better …

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Blanket disclaimer for this fanfic (will apply to this and all other chapters in Defiance): I do not claim any rights to InuYasha or the characters associated with the anime/manga. Those rights belong to Rumiko Takahashi, et al. I do offer my thanks to her for creating such vivid characters for me to terrorize.

 

~Sue~