InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Seven Feudal Fairy Tales ❯ An Old, Naked Youkai ( Chapter 18 )

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

 

 

Chapter Eighteen: An Old, Naked Youkai

 

 

“Stupid Kagome,” she muttered under her breath, pulling herself unsteadily to her feet. The school girl looked down the road where the youkai lord had left, her vision cloudy and unfocused. Gently, she rubbed her bleary eyes, achingly sore from the tears and the choke hold. At that thought, her fingers traced lightly over the sensitive skin of her neck, still burning and tender from his grip. She knew better. He wasn't human, but a violent youkai who has more than likely killed thousands of other demons and humans for little more than insulting the fluffiness of his pelt, let alone attacking his honor. Despite the pain, she was proud of what she said. He deserved to hear it, every last word.

 

She wanted to be angry at him, like she had been for so long. Angry at him for abandoning Inuyasha to an indifferent and cruel world. Angry at him for abandoning Shiro to his grave fate. But hidden there in his eyes in that flash of a moment before he released her, she saw behind his impassive mask and her anger melted. He in a way it seemed had been abandoned too.

 

“A cursed clan such as this deserves no better,” Kagome repeated in a hushed voice, thinking on the words. Was the Clan of Shiro really cursed? Her head jerked up and she looked up at the empty hill where the white dog had been led a few minutes earlier. “Shiro.”

 

Quickly, she stumbled into the old house, her eyes seeking the rotted box and its gilded contents. She knelt down next to it, her fingers fluttering over the smooth coins within and their fine relief. She grasped a few in her hand, turning the glinting disks of metal over in her hand in the dark firelight.

 

“I could save him with this,” she whispered hesitantly, afraid of her own words and what they could mean. “The man wants gold. We don't need it and the old couple wouldn't take a chest of gold over their treasured dog's life, would they? It doesn't seem reckless. It doesn't seem unreasonable. It was such a small and easy thing.” She gulped hard and nodded, gathering a few more coins in her hand.

 

`To deny him his fate is to dishonor the sacrifice he made,' the former words of the tai youkai ghosted through her mind.

 

“Where was the honor in letting a dog go to die over money?” she muttered seethingly, feeling her tears return. “Where was it? How am I supposed to accept that when a few coins could save him? He doesn't deserve to die.” Her sight wandered over to the spot where she had held Shiro in her arms, hoping he wouldn't leave. She had expected him to be dragged out by the rope, claws splayed and growling. Or maybe she expected him to whimper and hide, seeking safety in her embrace. But, he did neither. Instead, he stood up proudly and barked, eager to go. He knew his fate, but he didn't fight it or hide from it. He chose it. He chose to die.

 

The school girl let each coin slip from her hand and back into the box. She winced at every ringing clatter, each a nail driven soundly into the great, white dog's coffin. She would let him have his fate. It wasn't hers to take from him.

 

“Oh no,” she yelled in realization, looking towards the glowing, gray rectangle of light that was the doorway and rose to her feet, “I need to go watch. Someone has to be there. To be there for him when it happens.”

 

She ran out of the house and scrambled up the hill, following the deep, plodding tracks of the man and the small, light ones of Shiro. Ignoring her heavy breaths and the screaming of her legs at the exertion, she climbed it swiftly. At its crest, she sprinted across the hard dips and soft rises of the long, earthen rows of the dead field. She paused in her step, the papery, brown wisps of the lifeless plants around her knees.

 

“Where is he?” she asked haltingly under her rapid breaths as she scanned the washed out hues of the horizon with its forests and orchards.

 

“I don't need your pity, you filthy beast. I just need the gold. Everything would be better if I just had money,” a voice called out venomously and she spun around. At the far end of the field, she spied the gray form of the man kneeling and before him, muddy and panting, Shiro. Wafting through the still air, an odor curled in her nose. The school girl stumbled back at its nauseating scent, tears squeezing from her shut eyes and her body bent in a coughing fit. Of all the things she would have liked to have smelled in this world, that revolting odor was not one of them. “You could go home. Live happily with them. Never have to die. Never have to watch over them from afar. Be together forever.”

 

“Shiro,” she murmured, straightening up as best she could and squinting through her watery eyes. The dog had turned his head toward her, but his sight went past her, down to the distant unkempt field and house of the old couple. His gaze lingered and then floated for a moment onto her. He wagged his curled tail faintly and then returned his attention to the man. With a good, violent shake of his fur, he sent mud flying before standing confidently, sure of his choice.

 

“You bring this on yourself, dog,” the man spat, his tone both icy and biting as he rose to reach for his shovel. “You force me to do it. I have no choice.” Kagome watched helplessly as the neighbor raised the spade into the air, readying his swing. Then it came down hard and fast, striking Shiro with a resounding crack.

 

“No,” she whimpered, turning away quickly as the blow hit and covering her eyes with her hands. A sob began to build in her throat and she quelled it with a few hard gulps. “He chose it. I couldn't do anything. I wasn't meant to do anything. I won't be reckless anymore. I swore it.”

 

“You will regret your actions, wretched human waste,” a familiar voice tinged with an edge spoke up. “This Sesshoumaru is glad for this barrier that protects your life, for it is the torture that you live through that hurts most.”

 

“Sesshoumaru-sama?” Kagome mumbled behind her hands. “Sesshoumaru-sama, you came?” Peeking between her fingers, she saw his vague silver and red figure holding the pathetic, limp form of the neighbor in the air, his clawed hand around his throat. Standing next to him was one other shape, a mix of silver and beige. She rubbed her moist eyes roughly and mentally condemned all of her recent stress for making her hallucinate. She reopened them, her vision clear. “Sesshoumaru-sama, the neighbor,” she said slowly as she counted the people before her until her sight settled on the last figure. His long, silver hair swayed gently on the breeze, revealing his fit and toned body and namely his rather nice backside for her perusal. A blush warmed her cheeks. “And a naked man.” She quickly pardoned her stress and gave it a medal.

 

“You've done well, pup,” the naked man spoke up warmly. “It's nice to know my clan has gotten wiser over time.”

 

“Eh?”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Sesshoumaru stood quietly, the man being strangled in his hand, forgotten. He slowly turned his head, his almost imperceptibly wider eyes focusing on the striped wrist gently resting on his forearm. His gaze traveled up the pale, muscular arm, decorated with the occasional burgundy stripe and then across the broad shoulders and smooth planes of his chest. Finally, his eyes rested on the man's face. Framed with long, silver hair and bangs, his skin was light with three dark red stripes cutting across his cheekbones. High on his forehead was a familiar navy, crescent moon and his pleased, amber eyes caught his own as a pearly, fanged grin grew on his lips.

 

“Are you going to keep gawking at me, pup or are you going to say something to your old great-granddad?” the naked man commented with an easy chuckle and his eyes sparkled in amusement. Sesshoumaru closed his mouth quickly; unaware it had dropped open slightly. The shock worn off, his raised brows furrowed as he glared at the naked man.

 

“I suspected it was you, Shiro-sama,” the tai youkai spoke firmly. “So, this is where you have been hiding for so many years?” The naked man sighed deeply, releasing his hand from the youkai lord's arm.

 

“Accusing an elder of abandoning his clan doesn't suit you, pup,” Shiro finally replied, sounding disappointed. “And you are too smart to think that it would be so simple.”

 

“No, it is not that simple. And neither is the curse of this clan.”

 

“The curse is what it is. Your anger will not change its fate. Your actions will not change its fate. There is nothing that will change its fate.” Sesshoumaru stared hard at the great-grandsire; his jaw set and then turned his attention on the dangling human gasping weakly in his grip.

 

“You will give me that tree,” he ordered, his expression foretelling certain doom should he not receive it. The neighbor nodded and the tai youkai retracted his hand, unceremoniously dropping him into the pit Shiro had dug. The demon cast about the ground, his sight finally settling on a worn axe, its edge chipped from use. Grasping its smooth, wooden handle in his hand, he swung it at the tree, cleaving away at the fibrous trunk. With each sharp thunk, the tree shook violently. Arms crossed, Shiro watched in silence and after several more well aimed blows, the tree moaned plaintively and fell to the ground. Axe still in hand, Sesshoumaru moved around it, deftly removing the branches. Once he was satisfied, he tossed the tool away and reached down, grabbing the trunk, his nails digging into the bark. With unnatural ease, he picked it up and placed it carefully onto his shoulder, minding the arching metal piece of his armor. Facing the old hovel, the tai youkai pivoted slightly to look back at his great-grandsire. “I must attend my duties, Shiro-sama. Excuse me.” Then he strolled away without waiting for an answer.

 

“Pups,” Shiro said under his breath, before rubbing his forehead with his hand, slowly trailing his claws through the hair of his head, scratching at his scalp. They were so moody and depressing. He shrugged in defeat. The pup couldn't go far. Smiling mildly as a new thought caught in his mind; he stretched back, his arms reaching toward the sky as he yelled joyfully into the heavens, “I'm tall again! And I know you're over there, young one.”

 

A distant squeak of surprise turned his smile into a toothy grin and he looked over his shoulder, spying a girl in green and white who was now crouched down facing away from him in embarrassment. He could hear her rapid breaths and mumbling stream of unintelligible words as the moment rapidly proved too irresistible to resist. Noiselessly, he moved closer to her, his bare feet treading softly as he masterfully stalked his prey.

 

“Is there something of interest over here that I missed,” he whispered behind her as he crouched as well, keeping his overwhelming amusement in check.

 

“Pervert,” she blurted out and swung to slap him with eyes firmly shut. Her aim was poorer than he expected and he easily dodged, slipping down to sit next to her, his arm around her shoulders.

 

“As I see it,” he remarked, feeling her stiffen under his embrace, “It is you who was staring at this old demon's body earlier. I should be calling you a pervert.”

 

“You're running around naked. You're the pervert,” she contested, her cheeks growing in rosiness.

 

“I was naked before and you didn't mind.”

 

“You were a dog!”

 

“Details, details,” he said, waving his hand dismissively in the air.

 

“Don't you have a robe somewhere? Or at least pants?”

 

“Hmm… Perhaps. It has been a while since I needed clothes. Besides, I like being naked. It was how I was born,” he answered thoughtfully.

 

“Well, can you find something? I want to open my eyes eventually,” the school girl huffed, crossing her arms.

 

“Have you not seen a man naked before?” he asked, perplexed.

 

“Not really,” she replied, her face growing hotter, “I've accidentally seen a couple guys at the hot spring, but that's it.”

 

“Really? Only accidentally?” he commented, his tone a touch accusing.

 

“I wasn't peeking!” she yelled, her eyes flying open to glare at him, which she instantly regretted. Seeing far more up close than she had ever in the past, her blush reached new, uncharted hues and she squeezed her eyes close once again.

 

“Now you can say you have seen more than that,” he laughed, hugging her closer for a moment and then let her go. “So young one, it seems you are not the mate of my moody pup and obviously not a youkai yourself. I would wish to know how it is that you were trapped in a scroll belonging to a clan of dog demons.”

 

“Eh,” she murmured as she thought, “I accidentally read the scroll belonging to Inuyasha and trapped Sesshoumaru-sama when he went to investigate his own scroll.”

 

“Inuyasha?”

 

“Yes. He's a hanyou from your line. Sesshoumaru-sama and he both have the same father.”

 

“I see,” he remarked, scratching his chin and chuckled, “I thought that pup would take a liking to her. You cannot fight what you are.”

 

“Eh?”

 

“Nothing, young one,” he answered with another chuckle and an unwanted hug, “This old demon just loves to ramble. I haven't heard the sound of my voice in over sixty years. I missed it.”

 

“Sixty years? You've been in here for sixty years?” Kagome asked incredulously.

 

“For a fair bit more time than that, I'm afraid.”

 

“How long?”

 

“Fifteen hundred years to be precise.”

 

“F-fifteen hundred y-years?!” she exclaimed, nearly opening her eyes again.

 

“It's been a while. I'm kind of tired of autumn to be honest. Summer would be a nice change.”

 

“But Sesshoumaru-sama knew who you were,” she reasoned. “He's only five hundred years old. That doesn't make sense.”

 

“That pup is a wise one,” the great-grandsire remarked with a content smile. “None of my other pups knew it was me. Even the ones who had met me before I was sealed here.”

 

“He said, he scented you. That he knew that you weren't an illusion.”

 

“Not everyone within this scroll is conjured by its magic.”

 

“Really? Who? And who sealed you? Was it Susanou? And-and, why can't you just break out? You're a powerful tai youkai, aren't you?”

 

“So, many questions, young one,” he interrupted, rubbing his eyes tiredly. “You will get only one response from me. Do not insult a god, especially an exiled one. They're particularly sensitive. No sense of humor whatsoever.”

 

“What?”

 

“Now let us go and see what my moody pup is up to.”

 

“Right now?”

 

“I will walk behind you lest your lustful desire to see me naked proves too difficult for you to resist.”

 

“How dare you!” the school girl exclaimed, her eyes flashing open yet again to confront him and the regret swift to follow.

 

“Tsk, tsk. And I am the pervert, young one?”