InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Redemption ❯ Secret ( Chapter 14 )

Characters owned by: Rumiko Takahashi, Viz Entertainment, ECT.

I make no profit from this story

 

Redemption

Chapter 14: Secret

 

 

It is morning time. Tensei has just awoken. He sits up and yawns for a moment before turning around only to realize that Sesshoumaru is not there. “Hm…what else should I have expected?” He makes a ponytail at the nape of his neck with his closed hand before sliding his other hand over his hair all the way to the tip as he brings the ponytail around his shoulder. Then he places his fingers over his eyes and caresses them briefly. “Why are my eyes so puffy?” - Inuyasha sits in one of the gardens closest to the castle, in front of Sesshoumaru, as he remains silent with hesitation. Sesshoumaru watches him as Inuyasha gazes to the side and makes funny faces that reveal his awkward feelings and irritation with feeling too afraid to say what is on his mind. “So Inuyasha, what would you like to say to me?” Inuyasha doesn't hesitate to speak up after Sesshoumaru's initiation. “You bastard!” he exclaims, “How could you sleep with the enemy behind our backs?” “…The enemy? Inuyasha, don't you think that's being a bit dramatic?” “No, of course not! Are you joking…Naraku was evil! He hurt a lot of people.” “You know, I can't deny the fact that he hurt a lot of people. It wasn't right what he did. But it is not my place to judge him. Besides, our relationship had nothing to do with everything that happened. In the end, your agenda of destroying him was still carried out. I even assisted with his destruction. Do you think that was easy for me to do?” “No…but I just don't understand how you could be in love with someone like him.” “You don't always get to choose who you fall in love with. I'm not making excuses for him or anything. But every action that he had taken was for the sake of acquiring the Shikon No Tama. And he desired it simply so that he could win Kikyo's heart. Then because of his pride, he chose in the end to deny that he was in love with her and instead simply continue to perfect the Jewel, to his own detriment. He continued to pursue the Jewel until he completely lost himself in it. He may have acted prideful, arrogant, selfish, stubborn, cowardly, and even worse, he may have been a murderer…but I don't believe that he was…evil.” “How can you say that, Sesshoumaru? He didn't care about any of the people's lives he destroyed. He was heartless.” “Heartless people are incapable of love. No, I just believe that he was extremely delusional and jealous. But it doesn't matter now. The point is that I love him. I have faith in him. That is all that matters.” “Don't you mean…had…and…loved?” “…Oh-yes, loved.” `Hhmm…that's strange,' Inuyasha thinks to himself.

 

There is silence for a few moments as they both continue to sit there gazing back at each other. Suddenly, Sesshoumaru puts his head down. “Sesshoumaru,” Inuyasha calls out with worry and concern in his tone. Sesshoumaru continues to be silent. Then finally he speaks up with astonishing despondence and foreboding in his voice, “Inuyasha…I will admit to you that there are events that are going to take place, that will be very shocking after their completion.” “Huh? What…what's going to happen?!” Sesshoumaru slowly raises his head in order to gaze at Inuyasha. The terror and anxiety Inuyasha was feeling at first shoots through the roof as he beholds something he never thought he would live to see. “You're…you're crying,” Inuyasha utters completely startled. “Sesshoumaru…you're freakin' me out…I don't know what to do!” “There is nothing you can do, Inuyasha. I have made up my mind.” “…Made your mind up about what?!” Everything is quiet. “I can't reveal that to you Inuyasha.” Sesshoumaru directs his gaze sideward. “Just promise me this…that you will make the right decisions no matter what the future may bring…it is imperative.” Inuyasha peers at Sesshoumaru with a distressed and confused expression, “I…I promise?” “Good…that's all I need to here.” Sesshoumaru sniffles before placing his hand on Inuyasha's shoulder and smiling brightly, which ends up bewildering Inuyasha further. “I have faith in you Inuyasha. Everything is going to work out fine…you'll see.” Suddenly Tensei appears out of nowhere. Inuyasha jerks his head up, but Sesshoumaru calmly turns around already knowing that Tensei was heading their way. Tensei glances nervously in Inuyasha's direction before directing his gaze back towards Sesshoumaru. He says, “Sesshoumaru…um…I saw that you were gone when I woke up so I came looking for you,” in a polite and humble tone of voice. Sesshoumaru notices the slight scowl on his younger brother's face along with Tensei's cat like response to his demeanor. “Oh, don't mind Inuyasha. He isn't going to bite or anything…are you?” Sesshoumaru directs his gaze towards him. Inuyasha responds sarcastically, “Oh, sure. I won't bite…but punching is another story…” “…Inuyasha!” Sesshoumaru rebukes briskly. “Alright-Alright…I won't hurt you Naraku-I mean Tensei.” Sesshoumaru cocks an eyebrow up as he looks at Inuyasha again. Inuyasha sighs, “Whatever.” After a few more moments of awkward silence, Sesshoumaru speaks again. “Well…I think it's time we head back to the castle. Big things lie ahead for this evening.”

 

Without another word Sesshoumaru get's up and after only a few paces immediately begins to rise into the air on his youki cloud. Inuyasha prepares to hop away, but then looks back and see's Tensei, standing there like a lost puppy. `He'll be fine on his own,' Inuyasha thinks to himself, trying to relinquish the reluctance he is feeling in leaving him. Finally he gives in to his guilty conscious. `I can't believe I'm doing this,' Inuyasha thinks to himself. He utters brashly as he turns his upper body around and looks back, “Get on.” “Hm?” Tensei utters with surprise, mostly to himself. “What the hell are you waiting for…get on my back?!” Inuyasha prompts once more as he turns back around briefly. Tensei walks meekly behind him before quietly hopping up. After Inuyasha grabs a hold of his legs, and Tensei wraps his arms around Inuyasha's chest, they take off. Sesshoumaru looks back and see's Inuyasha with Tensei. A warm grin transforms his features.

 

- It is evening time and the sun is the color of a peach. Oranges, pinks, reds and purples paint the sky above. One by one, guests arrive at a beautiful garden filled with exotic blossoms of all colors in landscaped arrangements along with luscious cherry blossom trees that surround a magnificently constructed building not too far away from the main castle structure. Eventually the garden is full of humans and yokai dressed in semi-formal and formal attire. The yokai are composed mostly of Sesshoumaru's family along with a couple of Inuyasha's friends. Sesshoumaru's family, includes his mother, Mizuki, her two sisters, their husbands and children, his grandfather on his mother's side, a couple of his cousins, about eight; their husbands, wives and children, and his extremely elusive identical twin brother, Nibiru, whom everyone in the family always knew about, but simply never spoke about with exception to his mother (he's the true black sheep of the family, along with delighting in black attire and remaining unmated). They all traveled from the China part of the yokai world with the exception of Inuyasha of course, along with his mother who like Sesshoumaru, lives in the Japan part of the yokai world, along with her second husband and their little girl. Inuyasha's yokai friends at the gathering consist of Kouga and his wife Ayame, along with their four sons and two daughters, and Inuyasha's adopted son, Shippo. Then of course there are Inuyasha's human friends, Miroku, Sango, and their three teenage children: two female twins, Misaki and Natsumi along with their younger brother, Nobuyuki and Inuyasha's wife Kagome' along with their two little boys, Yuuki and Setsuyoi. The humans there associated with Sesshoumaru are basically Rin along with her human husband Kohaku (They have no children). (This is like one of those exhaustive lists of Biblical families. Let the drama begin!)

 

Tensei stays behind in the castle, continuing to get ready while Sesshoumaru goes out to mingle with everyone. Once he gets to the entrance of the garden, he halts in order to observe what he is walking into. The first thing he notices is a slightly more mature acting Inuyasha laughing breezily about something as Miroku, Sango and Kagome' gather around him completely engaged in whatever Miroku is talking about. `They're probably talking about old times, offspring and then eventually Inuyasha's going to bring up Tensei and they are going to act really surprised and shocked and wonder where he is so they can see for themselves if he really looks like Naraku…all in due time.' Sesshoumaru frowns for a moment before continuing to think as he evaluates the environment, `Can I really do this? My mother is going to melt my head off when she learns I picked Tensei to be my mate. If she wants full blooded grandchildren, she won't have to worry about that, but I can't tell her just yet. It's as if children were nothing more than stock…I must gather my courage.' After taking a deep breath, Sesshoumaru proceeds to head into the flames. “Sesshie-kun, there you are!” Sesshoumaru's mother almost bomb rushes him, as she stands up on her tip-toes before giving Sesshoumaru a warm hug and instructing Sesshoumaru to bend down so that she can place a kiss on his cheek. Sesshoumaru does a variation of the, `yuck, my mother just slobbered on my face, along with kissing me in front of everybody routine,' by keeping a straight emotionless expression on his face. “At least pretend like you enjoy your mother's kisses,' she says as she taps him on the shoulder with the back of her hand. Sesshoumaru gives her a dramatically bright and obviously insincere smile. “Well if you're going to do that, you might as well just keep the look you had before.” Sesshoumaru gladly obliges her. “Hm,” she utters with an inquisitive expression before picking a piece of something she notices on Sesshoumaru's clothing off. Afterwards she gives his arm a good dusting with her hand. Sesshoumaru allows a small grumble to escape his throat but continues to stand there submissively non-the-less.

 

Suddenly Sesshoumaru's mother turns around as she hears the sound of a familiar voice calling out to her. “Baa-chan,” a beautiful, slender, young woman; in a yellow kimono with flower like patterns, long black shimmering hair, flawless pale skin, and shapely auburn tented eyes, calls out once more in a cheerful and polite manner. “Rin-chan,” Sesshoumaru's mother exclaims with slight restraint before Rin finally gets close enough for them to give delicate hugs to each other. After they finish, Sesshoumaru's mother asks, “Where's that husband of yours…is he too good to come over here and say `hi' to his grandmother?” “Well…I guess he's here somewhere,” Rin replies as she looks around and behind her. “Oh, forget about him. Did you forget your manners, dear? You're not going to greet your father?” Rin smiles bashfully as she gazes at Sesshoumaru with puppy dog eyes and her arms bent and held behind her back. “Hi, Sesshoumaru-sama,” she utters meekly. Sesshoumaru grins slightly with warmth in his eyes without saying a word…but he knows that is unnecessary for the one that will always be the pretty little ningen girl with the bright smile and light heart who changed his life forever. After they continue to gaze at each other for a moment, communicating in a way only they understand, out of know where, Rin feels a strong hand on her shoulder. She turns around to see who it is. “Oh, Kohaku…it's you,” She places her soft hand over his before he removes it from her shoulder. Kohaku looks up from gazing down at Rin, before saying, “Hello, Baa-sama. Hello, Sesshoumaru-sama.” “Hello, Kohaku.” Sesshoumaru replies. “Hello, Kohaku-kun,” his mother follows. She gives them a good look over as they stand very close to each other, “Look at you. It seems like only yesterday that you both were nay high. Don't they just look darling together Sesshoumaru. I swear, if only they were yokai, they'd look perfect together then.” There is silence. “I'm just being humorous, you both look wonderful…”

 

She directs her gaze towards Sesshoumaru before continuing to speak, “But that reminds me...when are you going to find a beautiful Daiyokai female to settle down with? I'm hoping you summoned us all here to introduce us to her today. Every suitor WE pass your way, you simply reject and these were suitors that refused the hand of every other Daiyokai who tried to court them, with the exception of your (twin) brother, but he had no interest in them either…” “Oka-sama, please don't start with this. I just didn't believe they were right for me. It is nothing against you or the family. How many times must I repeat this?” Sesshoumaru's mother responds indignantly, “It is nothing against me or the family? If you don't bare offspring, our line will be buried forevermore, never to see the light of day again! Your father will turn restlessly in his grave before coming back to haunt you until your last waking hour,” “It's not that serious…” “Yes it is, Sesshoumaru!” “I will give you offspring…” “How!?” `I fucking knew this shit was going to happen…I'm such a fool…but I can't back out now,' Sesshoumaru does not respond. Sesshoumaru's mother lowers her voice before continuing to speak, “Do you expect our lineage to be carried on by that hanyou half-brother of yours…and your twin brother who's not even first born (out of the womb)…I don't even think he likes females…I'm starting to question whether or not you're the same way,” “Mother!” Sesshoumaru exclaims with tense restraint. He tries to center himself again before responding in a less tense tone of voice, “Mother…I do not wish to continue this conversation any further-this is not an appropriate time or place for this.” She is quiet for a moment. “Alright, Sesshoumaru…but if our lineage dies out forever, you will be the only one to blame.” Sesshoumaru manages to squash down his intense desire to refute her statement and instead responds with a quick, “That's fine mother.” Kohaku and Rin, still standing there, look on with wide eyes as Sesshoumaru and his mother finish their squabble. Kohaku asks Rin in a whisper, “Are they like this all of the time?” “Err…Ever since Naraku…yes. They hardly ever talked before then…” “Oh, I see.”

 

Sesshoumaru's mother turns away from him and begins to talk to Kohaku and Rin as if nothing ever happened. They all indulge in awkward small talk for a moment, although it is mostly Sesshoumaru's mom doing all of the talking as he stands there with an almost imperceptible scowl on his face and his arms folded in a stand-offish manner. Then at some point, Sesshoumaru takes the opportunity to pull Rin aside in order to address some things with her that's been on his mind as Kohaku leaves to go hang out with Inuyasha's gang and Sesshoumaru's mother goes to mingle with other family members. Once they get a reasonable distance away, Rin chirps, “What's going on, Sesshoumaru-sama?” Sesshoumaru wastes no time in getting to the point as he asks in reply, “Did you let Inuyasha borrow the ring I gave you so that he could get to the castle?” `Dammit, I should have known he would figure it out.' “Sesshoumaru-sama,” she utters as she laughs nervously. “Rin,” Sesshoumaru replies. The look in his eyes, (not a happy one) totally causes her to break down. “Alright…alright, I gave him the ring. But when Jaken told us that you saved a man that looked just like Naraku, and brought him back with you, I was really afraid and I just wanted to protect you…so did Inuyasha. We tried not to interfere but then we just became too worried and gave in. I mean Oto-chan…how else were we supposed to react? We were trying to look out for you…uummm…also I need to tell you something else. Miroku, Sango and Kohaku know about everything as well…oh and…Kagome'…heh-heh-heh.” Sesshoumaru gives her a look as he blinks repeatedly and she can tell automatically that he is more than a little irritated about the matter. She laughs again nervously as her head shrinks into her shoulders.

 

Sesshoumaru takes a few moments to collect himself through his silence, directing his eyes away from Rin as she gazes at him with anticipation and slight fear; inspite of knowing that Sesshoumaru would never hurt her in any way, shape or form. But there is always a first time for everything. Once he finally stabilizes, he utters in an emotionless tone of voice, “Come here Rin.” “Hn?” “Come here,” Sesshoumaru repeats without changing his tone. Rin moves forward hesitantly. “Come closer, Rin.” At this point, Rin is feeling totally oblivious and that oblivious feeling is causing her to panic. `What is he up to?' She asks herself in her mind, but she obeys him anyway. `What did I tell you about putting your nose where it doesn't belong!' he thinks in his mind as he imagines giving her a good spanking across her behind. But in the end he doesn't do what he is thinking, of course. Instead, he decides to perhaps foolishly entrust her to a secret with the exception that she keep her big mouth shut. He says in a hushed tone with slight haste as he grabs her gently by the arm and forms a wall away from everyone else with their bodies, “Rin-I must share something with you. But before I do, you must promise not to repeat what I say to anyone else…especially Inuyasha.” “It's nothing serious, is it?” “You must promise Rin…not to tell anyone else what I'm going to tell you.” After another pause and looking at Sesshoumaru with a confused and worried expression, she finally says, “OK, Oto-chan…I promise.” Sesshoumaru's face slowly erupts with a grin as he gazes down at her because he knows that she is telling the truth. After Sesshoumaru finishes talking to Rin, he sneaks off back to the castle, but Inuyasha notices his departure. `Where is he going…oh…he's probably going to get Tensei? (Sigh) Good luck Onii-chan.'