InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Sesshoumaru's Secret Life ❯ The Secret Is Out ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter 4: The Secret Is Out

 

Fifteen years passed until she saw her brother again. This time pinned to a tree by the woman who supposedly loved him.

 

She had only aged another year and a half during the time her brother had grown as a normal mortal, the infusion of human blood making him age at their rate. Sesshoumaru knew that the demon blood in him would have allowed him to live to be an extremely old man, older than any human could attain, and he more than likely would have kept his strength and mental wits well into old age also.

 

During those fifteen years she had stayed on the western lands quickly becoming one of the most feared and strongest demons around. Killing was nothing to her, she neither enjoyed it or disliked it and would kill demons and humans alike, although killing the humans bothered her for reasons she couldn't comprehend. She would only do so if they attacked her first, then she would show no mercy.

 

She visited Inuyasha only once, the day she learned he had been sealed. She went to the tree and stood there looking at him for the longest time, showing absolutely nothing on her face, and saying not a word. Then, just as she had done when he was an infant, she stepped forward and gave him a light kiss on the cheek before leaving to continue her duty to rule the lands of her father.

 

Fifty more years passed and the human population grew while the demon one waned. Sesshoumaru had attained an immense reputation as the deadly assassin that none could beat. The lands in the west flourished under her protection, doing better than those of other, older lords more experienced than her. She was still considered quite young by youkai standards, only two hundred and twenty years old or the equivalent of twenty two by human standards.

 

She soon realized that she was the last inu, all the others had been killed or run off. She was saddened by this fact knowing that she would not be able to bear pups, pups that she had secretly longed to have since the day she had held her infant brother. She denied herself the pleasure of sex, she could not afford for anyone to find out what she truly was. And mother had always told her that sex was dirty and painful, something only the beasts enjoyed.

 

Even now she feared the intimate contact of another even as she craved it at the same time. She had wondered from time to time at the truth of her mother's words. When she had been touched by Anoki all those years ago she had not felt dirty, and his caresses had certainly not been painful, far from it. But then her mother knew more about it than she so Sesshoumaru would have to take her word for it.

 

She avoided humans and other demons alike for quite some time, trying to keep the loneliness she felt creeping upon her at bay until she broke down and accepted the toad Jaken as her servant. He was a small, weak creature so was no threat to her and she could use a retainer.

 

Even though Sesshoumaru was, by now, one of the most powerful demons to live, she still wanted more. It didn't seem enough and she hated the Tenseiga, father's sword of life, useless to her as it would not cut anything living.

 

The hanyou, she found out, was bequeathed the Tetsusaiga, the stronger sword and she grew angry at her father. Did he know? She wondered. Did he know that I was a girl and his other child a boy and that is why Inuyasha was given that sword? She could not fathom her father's motives, feeling again that she had fallen short in his eyes. So she did as she always did and vowed to become even stronger, to find and take the Tetsusaiga for herself, to wield its power and prove beyond a doubt that she was the best.

 

It is time that I fulfill my promise, little brother, and end your miserable life. She searched and found the Tetsusaiga only to have it taken from her by her worthless brother. They engaged furiously in battle but when it came right down to it, she couldn't do it, she couldn't kill the brother she had only ever seen twice and she lost her arm for her weakness.

 

She recouped and tried again only to once more be unable to destroy him, this time almost losing her own life. The Tenseiga saved her, for whatever reasons she did not know nor did she care. This would only give her another opportunity to take what should have been rightfully hers.

 

She was waylaid slightly in those plans with the addition of the human child Rin. The need to have a pup was so instinctively strong that she had brought the child back from the dead using the power of her own sword. She hated to admit it, even to herself, but that child had captured her icy heart, the only being to not fear her, to show her compassion and she had accepted the girl as hers. Her retainer, Jaken had not liked it but he dared not go against her. She had no qualms in dispatching of the toad if he displeased her and she made sure that he knew it.

 

More time went by and more attempts to gain the sword and kill her brother were made. She eventually gave up on it, realizing that for whatever reasons she had, she couldn't kill him. She would not admit that she didn't want to do it, that from the first time she had seen and held him she had loved him and wanted him to live. Possessing the Tetsusaiga didn't seem as important anymore and they even formed a shaky alliance in order to defeat their common enemy Naraku.

 

That had been quite the battle and that had also been the day that her long held secret had been found out.

 

The battle had been going on for hours and it finally looked like things were going their way when Sesshoumaru saw one of the spider's long spikes make a bee line for her brother.

 

Inuyasha didn't notice the one coming from behind, too busy battling the ones coming at him from the front. Kagome yelled out a warning but it was too late, there was no way he was going to be able to get out of the way in time. Sesshoumaru used her immense speed and leapt in front of the appendage, pushing her brother out of harms way. Blood spurted high into the air as the spike shot through her stomach and out her back. She gritted her teeth against the burning pain and attempted to pull the tentacle from her body.

 

Naraku laughed merrily, and quickly encased her in his hard armour. “I've waited a long time for this,” he chuckled. “Now, I will take your body and power as my own.”

 

Sesshoumaru heard a roaring in her ears and began to feel weaker and weaker. She struggled against the hold the hanyou had on her aghast that she had not realized how strong the spider had become.

 

Inuyasha released the power of the Tetsusaiga to no avail, growling furiously. If Naraku absorbed the taiyoukai, gained Sesshoumaru's immense power and completed the jewel there would be no way that anyone would be able to defeat him.

 

Naraku managed to kill Miroku and Sango and the rest had all but given up hope, stricken down with grief, as the evil hanyou drove them back. Suddenly Naraku shouted out in surprise, a bright bluish glow was emanating from inside the cocoon encasing Sesshoumaru.

 

With a pulse of light the bubble of flesh burst apart causing Naraku to scream out in pain. There floating in the air was Sesshoumaru, holding the glowing Tenseiga. The inu lord was surrounded by an ethereal light, her hair whipping around her from the force of the power she was letting flow though her from the sword. She landed on the ground before the spider demon, casting her now flaming, yellow eyes towards her brother.

 

Inuyasha got the message and brought the full power of Tetsusaiga against their enemy. The inu hanyou called out to the two miko's and Kagome and Kikyo notched their arrows and let them fly simultaneously.

 

All four beings combined their powers and Naraku flew apart in a massive blast that made everyone fly back from the force of it. When it was over, Naraku was gone, totally obliterated, the battle had finally been won.

 

Sesshoumaru was the first to awaken and she stood, swaying on her feet, to survey the damage and check on the others. Her brother, the fire cat and the miko Kagome were unconscious but would survive. The walking dead miko Kikyo was gone; her clay body, unable to withstand the power of the blast, had turned to dust and blown away on the wind.

 

Sesshoumaru approached the dead monk and taijiya and used the Tenseiga to bring them back to life. The sword had then burst into bits, embedding its shards deep into Sesshoumaru's body. The great lord collapsed onto the ground, bleeding heavily from her many wounds and the gaping hole in her body, all her power used up.

 

So this is what it's like to die, she thought without fear as blackness descended on her.

 

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She awoke feeling that every bone in her body must have been broken, the pain was so intense. “Sesshoumaru?” a voice from the darkness questioned. “Are you awake?”

 

All the demon lord could do was groan, the events of the previous day coming back to her only in bits and pieces. “Here, drink this.” She felt cool liquid against her lips and she swallowed greedily, coughing when some went down her airway. She tried to turn her head and focus her eyes on the voice that was helping her. She saw the young miko, Kagome looking down at her with worry evident in her features.

 

Kagome looked up towards the door, “She's awake,” she called to whoever was outside. At first what the teen girl had said didn't register with Sesshoumaru and then it hit her hard.

 

She called me `she', the demoness thought, beginning to panic. Sesshoumaru tried to get up from the futon only to gasp out and fall back, her perceptions starting to fade from the pain she had caused herself from moving so quickly.

 

“Don't move, you'll hurt yourself, you're still healing,” a male voice intoned gruffly. Sesshoumaru opened her eyes to look into ones the same as hers.

 

She growled in anger, this is not happening, I will not allow it! She sat up again, more slowly this time, grabbing the blanket and covering herself when she realized she was naked. She fought the blush that was trying to cover her cheeks. “Where are my clothes?” she asked angrily.

 

“They were destroyed,” Kagome answered her meekly, scooting back away from the angry demon. Naraku's acidic miasma and the force of the blast had broken her armour and shredded the silk that the inu demon always wore.

 

“Cut it out Sesshoumaru, you've got yourself bleeding again.” Inuyasha yelled, he still was in shock at what they had seen when Miroku had awoken them on the battle field.

 

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“Sesshoumaru revived us, Sango is trying to stop the bleeding,” Miroku told the confused hanyou helping him from the ground. Kagome had hugged him with tears of joy running down her face, so glad to have her friends back alive and well.

 

“Where is my brother?” Inuyasha had asked looking around.

 

Before Miroku could explain what he had seen upon being brought back to life, the hanyou had noticed his brother lying on the ground, Sango at his side trying to staunch the flow of blood. He rushed over and stopped, staring down at the near naked, blood covered form in utter astonishment. His brother was a girl.

 

Kagome wrapped the horrific wound and Inuyasha passed Sango his haori to cover the demon lord. The taijiya gave the monk a knock on the head for standing and staring at the beautiful female form on the ground.

 

Inuyasha had then carried his sister to this hut where they had left the two youngsters with Jaken when they had first found Naraku. Then the two human girls had shooed the boys away so they could take care of the near dead demoness.

 

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Jaken came rushing in, “My lady, you're alive,” he cried out joyously.

 

Sesshoumaru was livid; she reached out, and with a roar, backhanded the imp across the room. “Do not ever call me that!” she yelled and then whimpered at the pain that sliced through her. She put her hand to her stomach and it came back red.

 

The others quickly left the room, not overly excited to have their heads ripped off by the incensed demoness. Inuyasha stood between Sesshoumaru and his friends as the toad got shakily to his feet.

 

Jaken crawled towards his master on his hands and knees, “My lord, forgive this Jaken your most lowly servant. I meant no disrespect.” He kept his head and eyes down. The imp gave a quick glance up when no further punishment was forthcoming, sighing in relief when he saw that she was basically ignoring him as always. A sure sign that forgiveness had been given. Not wanting to incur her wrath any further the toad crept out of the room, “My lord I will attain garments for you,” he uttered in his squeaky voice.

 

“Be sure they are proper garments,” Sesshoumaru replied, giving the toad a warning glare. Jaken got the hint loud and clear, no women's kimono.

 

Sesshoumaru laid back on the futon, felling totally drained. She knew she was going to have to endure being with her brother and his human entourage for now, as much as it irked her to have them know of her true form and see her in such a weakened condition. She contemplated killing them to keep her secret but decided that would have to wait until she had healed, she would decide then on the matter.

 

“Do not fret little brother,” she intoned to Inuyasha who was still standing at the doorway in a defensive stance. “As you can see I am no threat to you at the moment.”

 

Inuyasha relaxed slightly and stepped further into the room, motioning for the others to give him and his sister some privacy. “What's going on?” he asked, wondering for the thousandth time why his brother was a woman.

 

“I never took you as an imbecile, Inuyasha. You have eyes,” she replied coolly.

 

“You're a woman,” he stated rather obviously.

 

“You astound me with your insight,” the wounded demoness replied sarcastically.

 

“Why, did you cast a spell on yourself or something? Somebody curse you?” Inuyasha was getting aggravated at that condescending tone in his sister's voice.

 

Sesshoumaru barked out a harsh laugh and then sighed, closing her eyes. She was so tired. “I have always been female,” she told the hanyou. There was a slight pause before she continued, her voice drowsy, “You were the only one who knew, the only one I ever told.” She was beginning to fade out, her body crying out for sleep so it could repair itself. Somewhere in her psyche, she understood that her brother would not harm her or allow harm to befall her. She relaxed more, content that she would be the one to be protected for a change.

 

“What? You never told me! What are you talking about?” Inuyasha didn't receive an answer as the taiyoukai had succumbed to sleep. He reached over worriedly and checked for a pulse, sighing in relief when he felt one and could see his sister breathing normally. He was astounded that the demoness would fall asleep being with those who were, at best, temporary allies. She must be in worse shape than I thought, the hanyou worried to himself, feeling a little odd at thinking of his powerful brother as female.

 

He stayed with his healing sibling, not wanting to leave her side until she awoke. He had more questions he wanted to ask.