InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Secrets of the Past ❯ The Male Flute ( Chapter 6 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Chapter 6: The Male Flute

Murasaki's eyes went wide and she began to sway slightly to the sound of the flute.
"Murasaki, no! He wants to trap you!" Inuyasha said as he leapt towards her.
She quickly stepped out of Inuyasha's way and leapt up into a tree.
"Sango, we need to get to where that sound is coming from, fast." Kagome said as she grabbed her bow and headed down the path. Sango quickly followed.
Inuyasha gave chase to Murasaki, jumping into a nearby branch of the same tree.
"Baka, he is going to get you close and then kill you!"
"He will not!" Murasaki said as she leapt to another tree.
"Murasaki, listen. Sesshomaru wants to trap you! If he has Nintashiro, I can guarantee he is already dead!"
"Silence, Inuyasha. I love Sesshomaru! He is the only male I will ever love. He loves me, I know he does!"
"He does not know what love is anymore! He is cold and heartless. You are going to die!"
"So be it," Murasaki said as she untied the cord which held her flute to her obi.
"Stop!"
Murasaki ignored him and put the flute to her lips.
Inuyasha decided to jump down and follow Kagome and Sango.

Sesshomaru continued to play the sweet music on his flute.
"Sesshomaru sama! If you keep that noise up, we could be ambushed! This forest is full of demons!"
Sesshomaru ignored Jaken's ranting and continued to play.
Nintashiro slowly woke to the sound of the flute. He sat up, rubbed his eyes, and looked over at Rin, who had sit beside him.
"Hello."
"You are not a bad boy, are you?"
"No, my name is Nintashiro, what is yours?"
"My name is Rin. Will you dance with me? The music is so pretty."
" I would, but I feel achy. Let me rest a bit and we'll see."
"Okay. Sesshomaru sama plays flute really pretty huh?"
Nintashiro looked up to see Sesshomaru playing his flute. He had not realized it was not his mother playing the song.
He had grown accustomed to his mother's flute over the years. He knew there was something different about the sound of the flute when he woke. His mother's flute playing usually did not rouse him.
"The male flute!" he said.
"What's a male flute?" Rin asked.
"A flute that a boy plays. It make a song that pretty girls like." he said to the child.
"Oh, I see, he wants the pretty lady to hear it."
"Yes, if you mean the pretty lady in the forest."
"Oh yes, I met the pretty lady in the forest. Does Sesshomaru sama like the pretty lady?"
"Oh yes, Rin. He likes the pretty lady very much."
"Good. I liked her too. Do you know the pretty lady?"
"Yes I do. That pretty lady he is playing the flute for, is my momma."
"Ooh, goody. I like you. Maybe you can be my big brother. If you want to."
"To have such a pretty little lady like you as a sister would be an honor."
Sesshomaru heard the banter Rin was making at his feet, but he did not waiver in his song.
A few minutes later, another flute not far away joined in .
"Ooh, another flute! That makes the song even prettier! Now will you dance with me?"
"Alright, Rin. But lets move away from Sesshomaru a little bit. We don't want to interrupt him."
"Yay!" Rin said as she pulled Nintashiro off to the side so they could dance.
Rin whirled around back and fourth, trying to keep time with the music.
"No, not like that, Rin. Let me show you how proper ladies dance." He said as grabbed Rin's hands.
He showed Rin how to stand properly. He stepped behind her and started showing the youngster the intricate hand and arm movements of dancing done in a royal court. Within minutes, Rin had slowed her movements and had them perfect.
"Like this?"
"That is right, Rin. Now let me stand in front of you. Look at my feet, you move your feet the same way, at the same time as you are moving your arms, Okay?"
"Okay Nintashiro sama."
Sesshomaru, looked at the two as they danced. In his mind, he was not seeing Nintashiro and Rin. He was looking at himself and Murasaki when they were very young. He remembered showing Murasaki the proper ways ladies of court should dance. The slow flowing arm movements, the careful steps.
The only difference in the dance Nintashiro was showing Rin was that Nintashiro did not have a court haori with wide, long, sleeves and he did not have a fan. Nintashiro was dressed as a peasant, but peasants did not generally know the type of dance he and Rin were performing.

Murasaki lowered her flute and jumped down from the tree as soon as Inuyasha left. She would have to take a round about way to where Sesshomaru was. If she was careful, she could get there before Inuyasha and his companions did. She put the flute to her lips and began to play as she walked in the direction she needed to.

Tomoaki heard the flute and flew in its direction. He saw Nintashiro dancing with Rin. He saw Sesshomaru playing the flute. He looked both of them and could not decide which of the two was Murasaki's son.
"It could be either one of them," He said to himself. He had not had a chance to meet Nintashiro, so he was not sure exactly who he was looking for. Both of the male youkai resembled Murasaki. He would have to find her in order to ask.
He heard the piping of the other flute. He knew the sound of her flute. Tomoaki had heard it before, when he was scouting to capture the one armed demon.
"I see no one armed demon. I will tell my friends and brood to stay away from conqueror Naraku." he thought to himself.
Within minutes, he saw Murasaki in the trees. He carefully flew down to her and told her what he saw.
Murasaki took her lips from the flute for a brief moment, " Can you carry me there? It is important." and quickly put the flute back to her lips.
"You are not very heavy, I hope. " he said as he grabbed her around the waist and lifted her into the air. "No, you are not heavy for Tomoaki."

Inuyasha quickly bounded ahead of Sango and Kagome. He saw a youkai dancing and pulled Tetsusaiga. He started to go forward but stopped when he realized it was Nintashiro, and not Sesshomaru.
Kagome came up behind Inuyasha.
"What is the matter?"
Inuyasha pointed at Nintashiro.
"Nintashiro!" Kagome yelled and ran towards him, "You are alright! Your mother is worried sick. How dare you run off like that!?"
Kagome ran right past Sesshomaru, who was hidden from view by a small group of trees.
Sesshomaru halted his playing.
"I suppose my worthless brother is with you. " He shouted at Kagome.
Inuyasha growled at the sound of his brother's voice.
"Oh, there you are. I hear you now. I am in no mood to fight you now, little brother. As you can see, I am waiting for someone. Someone who is not you. I will not kill you today."
Inuyasha growled and slowly walked around the trees.
Sango ran up to Kagome.
"Sango, this is Nintashiro, Inuyasha's nephew."
"Nephew? I thought you said that Murasaki was Inuyasha's cousin?"

As Tomoaki flew over where he had seen the youkai, Murasaki halted her playing.
"Tomoaki, quickly, fly lower over the one who was playing the flute. Drop me right in front of him!"
"Is something the matter?"
"Yes! His brother is sneaking around to kill him!"
Jaken saw Tomoaki coming closer to Sesshomaru and screamed.
"Tengu! We must flee from here, Sesshomaru sama. We are outnumbered ! Ah ! We are going to die!"
Tomoaki just squawked at Jaken and did as Murasaki had commanded him. As she landed, she turned her back to Sesshomaru and held out her arms.
Sesshomaru, surprised at someone suddenly jumping in front of him, dropped his flute and pulled Toukijin.
"Inuyasha! Put that thing down NOW . Come out where I can see you. I will not allow you to lay a finger on Sesshomaru!" Murasaki shouted.
"Mother!" Nintashiro shouted, "Behind you!"
Murasaki whiled around to look straight into Sesshomaru's eyes.
Sesshomaru blinked and quickly re-sheathed his sword. With a stunned look in his eyes, Sesshomaru slowly picked up the flute, brought it to his lips and began to play the lover's song again.
Murasaki brought her flute to her lips and began to play the female part of the song, as she continued to stare into Sesshomaru's eyes.
Inuyasha still had Tetsusaiga in his hands. He growled and inched closer, oblivious of what was happening on the other side of the trees.
"Inuyasha! Stop!" Nintashiro yelled as he ran over to his uncle and tackled him.
"Nintashiro, get off of me. I have to stop Sesshomaru from killing your mother. I have to reward her for saving my life."
Kagome and Sango rushed over to help Nintashiro.
"Kagome, talk some sense into this bakka!"
Nintashiro let Inuyasha up once he got him to release Tetsusaiga.
"Kagome! What is the matter with you?"
"The flute playing makes me feel romantic, " she said as she jumped into Inuyasha's arms and planted a big kiss on his lips.
Inuyasha fell back over with Kagome straddling him. He had no choice. He decided to deepen the kiss. The bliss he was feeling was broken abruptly.
"Woo Hoo! Alright uncle!" Nintashiro giggled and hooted.
Kagome's face turned red as she let Inuyasha up off of the ground.

On the other side of the trees, both Murasaki and Sesshomaru lowered their flutes. Sesshomaru's breath became ragged, as he tried to keep himself from crying. He reached his hand out and pushed the hair aside where the mating mark on Murasaki's neck was. He inched closer to examine the mark. It was ragged and rough, but he could smell that it was clearly his mark.
"I, I'm sorry."
"Why, Sesshomaru, my love, my mate ."
"It is obvious. I understand. You came to try and calm my nightmares, that night. I, I took you by force, and roughly by the looks of the mark" He said as a single tear escaped down his cheek. " I don't even remember doing it. I thought I was dreaming."
"Never mind that now. It was a horrible night. No matter how rough you were with me, it was the only pleasant thing I remember about that night." She said as she took his hand and tried to lead him to a spot where they could sit. She gasped at the coldness of his left hand.
"I'm sorry, this is just a temporary arm. I lost my arm in a battle with Inuyasha ."
"You are the one armed demon that he was trying to find?"
"Who?"
"The demons who attacked me called him Naraku."
"Yes, but lets not talk about him now. We will have plenty of time later."
"Alright."
"I am still awed to see you alive, Murasaki. When I awoke to find the dokufu in the palace, I grabbed my sword and armor and rushed to your chambers. The room was nothing but blood. I smelled your blood among it."
Murasaki blushed as her hand went up to her mating mark, "Yes, your mark did bleed quite a bit before I snuck off to bathe."
"That is why the dokufu missed you?"
"Their attack was carefully planned. I was not where I was supposed to be. "
"I was beside myself with grief."
"You continued to be, until you saw me just now, with your own eyes."
"Murasaki."
"Yes?"
"Would you mind if we snuck away and mated? Mated properly ."
"Just a moment. I will tell Nintashiro to lead everyone back to the shrine. "
"Nintashiro, is he"
"Yes, he is your son, conceived on that night. Thinking back, the reason you mated me while still asleep was probably because you could smell that I was in heat."
Sesshomaru got a twinkle in his eye, "You are in heat now. I am not opposed to having another pup."
"How did you know? I am at the end of my cycle. I have never had a male be able to scent that before."
"I am different. You are my mate. Now send our son and his foster sister off so I can enjoy my mate's special company. "
"I suppose you mean Rin. I will be right back"

ancient Japan, including the feudal era, lovers flutes were a sign of propper, courtly love. They were similar to promise rings used today.
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