InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Seven Feudal Fairy Tales ❯ Brothers ( Chapter 9 )

Disclaimer: These characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi and other associated companies.

 

 

Chapter Nine: Brothers

 

 

“Hold still.”

 

“Look, isn't there some other way we can do this?”

 

“No.”

 

“Fine, just watch that hand of yours.”

 

“Hn.”

 

Sesshoumaru leaned down toward the already blushing school girl, gently slipping his hand under her white, sailor blouse and wrapping his warm fingers around the curve of her waist. Raising her into the air, he easily placed her once more on her designated spot hung over his shoulder. The soft pads of his fingers slowly trailed down the back of her thighs, leaving a growing field of tiny goose-bumps in its wake.

 

“What did I say about minding your hand?” Kagome blurted out with a heavy, shaking breath and a futile kicking of her heels in protest, as her legs above the knees were otherwise occupied.

 

“Be still, miko,” the tai youkai spoke with a quiet sigh, the points of his claws warning her skin with less subtlety. Then with a quick bound, he landed onto the rim of the frayed, wooden gate of the wagon, curls of peeling, red paint around his boots. Patiently, he looked down at the spinning wheels and the disappearing stone bricks of the ground beneath them.

 

“How far down is—“ the school girl began to ask, trying to bend back to look over his shoulder, but before she could, a sudden, familiar lurching gripped her stomach and she watched the smooth, silvery strands of the youkai lord's hair reach up into the heavens. He sprang off the cart with terrifying speed, defying gravity at its own game and Kagome felt a strange weightlessness, as her torso drifted up from the demon's back. Desperately, she grasped at what of his back she could reach and clawed her way down to the obi of his waist, clinging to the thick, yellow silk as she watched the shadowed red and brown blur of the produce cart roll away.

 

A moment before the fast approaching ground could strike; the tai youkai slowed his propelled descent to a light feather fall and Kagome's face slammed into the wall of hardened leather armor and muscle that was his lower back. Gently he drifted down to the smooth, slate tiles, his golden eyes cautiously surveying the broad courtyard and finally settling on the massive staircase leading to the castle.

 

“You don't carry people very often, do you?” the school girl remarked with an edge as she released one hand from his belt to rub her battered chin and nose, “Is it safe? Can I get down now?”

 

“No, you will stay,” he replied firmly, tightening his grip on her thighs lest she had other ideas, “And be quiet.” Aside from his own beat and the somewhat rapid thumping of the human woman's, he could make out no other heartbeats in the surrounding area. That left only potential insect threats, since their bodies emitted very little in the way of distinct sounds. Sesshoumaru furrowed his brow. His hearing was superb, but nothing compared to how skilled he was with scent. Had he really been relying so heavily on a single sense? Perhaps this aggravating condition was a blessing in disguise.

 

“Don't just order me to be quiet,” Kagome grumbled, propping her elbow against his shoulder blade and her palm under her chin. Her other hand wandered over to his hair, as she absently ran her fingers through a few of the strands while she begrudgingly waited for him to finish whatever he was doing.

 

“Miko, stop.”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“I cannot concentrate when you are occupying yourself by altering my appearance.”

 

“Well, what else am I supposed to do?” the school girl half-yelled, surprised by the anger harbored in her own voice, “Is it distracting like when you rub your hand down my legs?”

 

“It is not distracting,” he replied slowly, his voice rising in irritation, “It is inhibiting.”

 

“How? What am I doing now that doesn't meet with your approval, huh? I don't even know why I care about what you approve of anyway. Humans are just ants to you, nuisances that you crush under your heel should you decide to step on them. The only reason why I'm not a pile of ash right now is because the scroll won't let you incinerate me. So, tell me why I should even listen to you, Sesshoumaru-sama?”

 

And with that the distant humdrum of the busy city outside the castle walls filled the silence pooling between the two travelers. Kagome gulped at the hard lump of unease sitting in her throat, growing with each empty, passing moment and feeling the slight pinch of claws tightening and lessening against the back of her thighs.

 

“I cannot scent for enemies,” the tai youkai replied softly, his tone low and quiet.

 

“What does that mean?” she replied, the anger rising in her voice again as she twisted around to face him as best she could. He turned his head slightly, staring into her furious, but confused, sepia eyes with a single cool, amber eye. Then her face softened, her expression brightening in realization and a slight smile curled on her back-lit face. Lightly, she rolled her body up onto his arching, metal, shoulder armor, hoping that it was sturdier than it looked. He slightly loosened his grip on her legs, curious as to what exactly she was planning to do. Biting her lower lip softly in nervousness, her hesitant hand reached toward his face. Remaining still, he watched her closely, as she then tenderly scooped the thick hair she had dislodged earlier and was now laying heavily over his elfin ear. Delicately, she curled the strands back behind his ear once more, silently marveling at how easily it fell back into place. “Is that better?”

 

“It is sufficient,” was all that he said, returning his gaze to the castle steps. She rolled back onto his shoulder again, careful not to touch his hair as she propped herself up against his shoulder blade once more.

 

`Am I always this oblivious?' Kagome thought to herself, watching the hypnotic flowing of the flags on the far walls of the courtyard, `Of course, he was trying to listen for enemies, since he can't smell. I should have remembered and I should have been paying attention. Instead, I made it so he couldn't do that either. He can't fix his hair and keep me from falling off his shoulder at the same time. If he was Inuyasha, he would have just yelled at me and told me that he couldn't smell and needed to listen instead. If he was Inuyasha, he would have carried me on his back, instead of like a sack of rice over his shoulder. If he was Inuyasha, he never would have made me question my ideals and called me a fool. He never would have been so brutally honest. But, he's not Inuyasha, is he?'

 

“Hold on, miko,” the youkai lord said in a still quiet, but firm voice, once he was satisfied with the lack of danger around the steps. Beneath her prone body, she felt his muscles tense and then in a silver flash, they were streaking across the even, slate of the courtyard. The air whipped by, tangling their waving locks of hair in dark, gray blur. The foreboding mountain of brick quickly approached and without so much as a misstep, the demon glided up onto the first raised step of the stairs. With long, loping strides, he sprang up the following steps, leaving the school girl amazed at his smooth motion. Again she found herself comparing him to his younger brother. Inuyasha always needed a short running start between leaps to build up his next jump. Sometimes the hanyou even tried to jump excessively high, as if he was trying to prove himself with each strained leap, fighting some unseen battle within himself only to tumble back to earth.

 

`Sesshoumaru though,' she thought, looking back over her shoulder at the youkai, `Just had that strength.' It lay quietly beneath his cool demeanor, waiting patiently to be used. Pure, raw power funneled into each muscle and his confidence burning with each easy movement.

 

And with each gliding, effortless leap over the steep, stone steps, a thought grew in the back of Kagome's mind, sinking her stomach with an aching dread. He was so powerful and there's no enemy around here, giant human or otherwise that could cause him to even sweat, let alone harm him. His lengthy act of checking for threats must have been for her and only her.

 

“Were you searching for enemies, because you didn't want to take the chance that I'd get attacked?” Kagome asked sheepishly, already knowing she was right. The youkai lord didn't reply, merely pausing slightly in his step, the only clue that he had even heard her. She had hoped he would have insulted her for being a weak human instead. Told her what a burden she was, what a burden all lesser beings were. If only he was just a little bit like the rude hanyou. But, he wasn't and in its place there was only silence and the cold, honest dagger of truth whose quiet blade bore right into her.

 

The seemingly endless steps passed by without incident and without words. At their crest, Sesshoumaru paused once more, investigating the surroundings near the oddly, open iron door leading into the castle. He could hear the conversations of servants within, none of whom sounded particularly hostile, just mindlessly droning on in their dull, pointless chitchat. Sure of the lack of danger, he bent over just enough to allow the morose school girl off of her warm spot on his shoulder, before stepping through the threshold of the enormous doorway.

 

Broad planks of honey colored, polished wood spread out before their feet, the planes sanded so finely and molded so expertly together, that there were no gaps for the travelers to be wary of. Panels of painstakingly carved, darker wood lined the walls, broken by ornate murals ranging from simple sakura trees to elaborate panoramas of Mount Fuji. Dimly glowing, intricate rice paper oil lamps burned on the walls lighting their way.

 

“I've never been to a place so… luxurious,” Kagome said under her breath, mostly to herself. It was true. Even the building they had first appeared in after the scroll trapped them wasn't as beautiful and as extravagant as what little they had seen of this castle. She could only imagine what lay in the court or the throne room. In fact for the first time, she was actually looking forward to what the scroll would reveal next.

 

“Hn.”

 

“Wh-what?” she stuttered, barely hiding her pleasure that he was speaking once again, well in his own way. It was one thing to travel through five more stories with a tall, irritable youkai lord, but if he wouldn't even talk to her anymore… Kagome shuddered slightly.

 

“It is only a house,” Sesshoumaru replied with mild disdain, eyeing her shudder curiously, before dismissing it as yet another strange peculiarity adding to the multitude she frequently expressed.

 

“I think this is a little more than just a house.”

 

“Hn,” he grunted, folding his arm against his chest in a way that seemed strangely natural. “The shack of those elderly humans and the castle of the human emperor are all the same to youkai.”

 

“So,” she, said, furrowing her brow, “Youkai nobility don't build elaborate homes to show off their wealth?”

 

“Some do,” he replied with a shrug, “But only those who seek to impress humans. It is occasionally a necessary evil for diplomatic reasons.”

 

“Well,” Kagome said, pursing her lips in thought, “Do you even have a house, then?”

 

“Of course,” he said, quirking a brow ever so slightly. “It is simply one sufficient enough to house my belongings and what servants that I have.”

 

“Then, how do youkai nobility demonstrate their power, if not through stuff?”

 

“Hn,” the youkai lord snorted. The mere idea of being represented by only material success was such a foreign and equally insulting concept. “Personal power and land in which to protect is what classifies a youkai lord.”

 

“Personal power?”

 

“Yes. My physical strength, my mental prowess and my control over my youkai blood are what define my status. Through that power, I patrol and guard my lands.”

 

“I thought youkai weren't concerned with material wealth. Isn't that what land is?”

 

“I do not own the land, miko. I simply look after it, by maintaining the balance between nature and humanity,” he explained at length, somewhat amazed that anyone with a sliver of miko power would be so ignorant of demon life. “Youkai are born from nature. They are the spirits of animals, plants and elements who gained sentience through a strong desire. Most are weak-willed creatures with simple goals like in their previous existence, while some attain new, stranger needs like drinking lamp oil for instance.” A faint flash of disgust graced both of their faces at the idea. “The youkai,” he went on after a brief moment, “Who are stronger and more intelligent become the rulers who govern over those who are weaker. Their lineages become the nobility.”

 

“How old is your family line?”

 

“Thousands of years old. My great grand-sire came into power many, many years ago. Still we are merely new blood compared to some families.”

 

“Great grand-sire,” Kagome repeated and then arched a brow, “Exactly how old are you?”

 

“I am five hundred years old,” he replied after a moment, mildly curious of what someone who had lived for so brief a time would think of such an age. Rin had asked him once right after he had taken her in under his protection. When he told her, she was rather unimpressed and followed her previous question with “How much is five hundred?”. That was about when Jaken was assigned to his new education duties.

 

The school girl blinked a few times, the demon's words slowly seeping through her mind. A number like five hundred almost didn't seem real to her, he might as well have said a thousand or five thousand at that. Sure Inuyasha was well over fifty, but that was because he was sealed to a tree, wasn't it?

 

“Youkai of such high bloodlines do not age like humans. I may live for thousands of years, should the unlikely event of my falling in battle not occur.” A subtle smile rose on his lips. “Should I be alive in your future, I may even outlive you there as well.”

 

“Will Inuyasha live for such a long time?”

 

“Hanyous are unpredictable,” the tai youkai replied after a pause, studying the woman, intrigued by her obvious concern over his half-brother. “Their human blood taints their purity, unraveling their control over their spiritual strength. Those who are able to cope with their youkai blood may live for hundreds of years, while others who cannot may live for only twenty.

 

“Will he—“

 

“That foolish half-blood is only in danger from his own stupidity. Our father has taken care of the rest.”

 

“I see,” Kagome said with a sigh of relief.

 

“Hn.”

 

The hallway opened up into a huge, open-air room. In a break in the flooring at its center was a beautifully groomed, rock garden. The bright, afternoon light shone down through the opening in the ceiling, highlighting the tiny, white pebbles that rippled around larger stones strewn throughout the perfectly, square box. The school girl gingerly crossed the busy room filled with idle servants and guards whittling away at the day with what activities they could find. The youkai lord strolled behind her, barely acknowledging the thundering steps that swarmed near him.

 

“Well, we're at the house of glory. What are we supposed to do next, Sesshoumaru-sama?”

 

“Tiny voice echoing pride,” the tai youkai repeated the relevant part of the poem nonchalantly.

 

“Am I supposed to just yell at them?” Kagome asked with her voice slightly overwhelmed.

 

“Perhaps. It is your story.”

 

“All right,” the school girl said, taking several deep breaths to build up her courage. If they saw her and decided to squash her, then they'd squash her. There was nothing she could do about that. She took one last deep breath, holding it in as she found the loudest voice she could muster, “HEY YOU!”