InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Silver-Haired Beauty ❯ Reflections ( Chapter 13 )

Week Two

Day Four: Morning

"Oh, hello. I thought Kuroi was here."

*blush* "Greetings sir, she'll be back soon though."

"What is your name?"

*harder blush* "Midori."

*smile* "Has anyone ever told you that you are a very lovely shade of green?"

*red* "No sir."

"Please, call me Kiso."

*smile*

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Afternoon

"Look bouzo, don't try anything stupid around her, understand?" Arms folded before him, Inuyasha scowled at Miroku. The monk didn't know whether to laugh or weep. His friend was back to his usual grumpy self and Kagome didn't seem in the least put out. According to Inuyasha, she'd been having bouts of sickness for the past few days, but so far she seemed to be feeling fine. She and Sango had stayed at the cottage while the two guys went on a small hunt.

Miroku knew that Inuyasha was really meeting Kuroi.

"I promise to be on my best behavior Inuyasha. After all, I am a holy man." He flashed his most winning smile to signify his sincerity. Inuyasha didn't bat an eye. "Hands off hentai."

"But he has such nice hands Inu!" two arms wrapped themselves around the startled monk's neck from behind and squeezed. He smiled dreamily when the lovely body attached to them bounced up and down is concordance with her enthusiastic greeting. "Hi guys!"

Kuroi let go and came around when the growling got too loud to ignore. Miroku swallowed nervously and blessed her. The hanyou glaring at him looked as though he could crack boulders with his looks alone. However, he still needed to return the greeting properly.

"Greetings Lady Kuroi, it is a pleasure to see you again." Violet eyes noted that she once again wore a short, sleeveless robe that showed off her supple arms and legs nicely.

He mentally blessed her again.

"What would you like to do today?"

Tapping a finger against her chin, she proclaimed brightly, "Go see Kagome!" Before either man could protest, she leapt into a tree and headed for the cottage.

"SHIT!" Fists clenched, Inuyasha took off after her. Miroku sighed patiently and followed at a more sedate pace. "He really does have issues when it comes to those two."

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Sango considered herself a patient person. After the last few years with Miroku, who wouldn't be? However, she thought even a saint would be tried by Inuyasha.

"SIT THE HELL DOWN!" Covering her mouth from the uncharacteristic outburst, she repeated herself in a more normal manner. "Inuyasha, please sit still. You're giving me a headache."

"Yeah, yeah. Hold on a sec." Still not landing as requested, he instead continued trying to hover like a mother hen by both Kagome and Kuroi. The taijiya sighed. It wouldn't have been so bad if both girls were on the same side of the table, but they weren't and it gave the impression that the hanyou was pacing. A yelp sounded out as Kuroi caught the edge of his hakama and tripped him.

"Stay still Inu or I'll hit you!" he muttered something nasty into the floor.

Turning a shy smile to the amused girl across from her, Kuroi wrinkled her nose cutely. "I'm sorry about the letter. Maybe I shouldn't have left the way I did, but I didn't want a repeat of the last time Sessy and Inu met." Looking around at the others, her smile seemed to fade a bit. "I wouldn't want any of you to get hurt because I know how much you mean to Inuyasha."

Touched, Kagome reached out and clasped the girl's hand. "Thank you Kuroi, but we've been fighting demons and youkai for a long time together." Rubbing Shippo's head, Kagome gave a little laugh, "I'm sure we could even give Sesshomaru a run for his money!"

Inuyasha grumbled something rude from the floor. Kuroi pinched his arm. Leaping away from her before she could give him another one, he yelled. "Damn it Kuroi, that hurt!"

"Bite me baka boy."

A clawed finger pointed at her accusingly. "This is why I didn't want you two to hang out together. Now you're being as big a bitch as she is!!" Two sets of blue eyes narrowed into slits. Sango and Miroku looked at one another before they bid a hasty good bye and left. Gulping as he backed up slowly, Inuyasha thought, 'This can not be good.'

"Kagome, how does that necklace work again?" Darkening steadily, Kuroi's eyes looked like flecks of smoky ice.

Kagome's were almost black. "Like this. SIT!"

BAM!

"…nagging old women…"

"SIT!"

"BAKA!" *pinch*

"ARGH!"

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Night

Sesshomaru sighed. He was sitting in his room meditating by the door overlooking an inner garden. Meditating, such a polite way of saying he was trying to get his shredded restraint back together. Even after all these years, he still found it hard not to laugh out loud at something or to openly show his displeasure. Now he couldn't even remember when he'd started doing it, or why it had been so important. After all this time, he felt himself trapped in what he'd created.

A calm, emotionless mask of his own design.

"You would think that I had it under control by now." he whispered tightly to himself. The problem with building a reputation like his was that you had to maintain it. It wouldn't allow change after this long a time, even if he was sick of it.

Glancing outside at the garden again to try and calm himself, he gritted his teeth in sheer frustration. He hated to admit weakness, even to himself, but he really was tired. Not just physically exhausted from holding himself upright in that pose of impossible regality, but mentally as well. Honestly, he was sick of being the model son of a demon Lord and heartily tired of being the strongest youkai in an encounter. He pinched the bridge of his nose and frowned. Just plain fucking tired.

Gentle laughter tickled his ears. Startled, he looked around to locate the source of it. Movement in the garden caught his eye. A flick of the wrist sent his light whip out to extinguish the lamp. Waiting a moment to see if the sound came again, he stood when it did. Moving silently, he slipped out the door and behind a tree close by. Thin slivers of moonlight illuminated the area poorly, but to his eyes it was as bight as midday.
Where was the…there.

Long arms flowed through the air as she twirled slowly in a circle. Hair that had lain smooth and flat by the river, now trailed lazily behind her as she danced. Another twinkling laugh filled the air as she flexed and swayed to a music only she could hear. Graceful and almost ethereal in both form and motion, she sighed as a mellow breeze played down her body and filled his mind with the overwhelming smell of peach blossoms. Eyes closed in rapture, Kuroi raised her face to the moon and smiled. It was the most beautiful thing Sesshomaru had ever seen in his life.

The fact that she was doing it without a stitch of clothing was quite a sight as well.

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At the moment, Jaken found himself squeezed around a large table and jostled rudely as food was grabbed at and raucous laughter filled the room. He felt himself growing wistful as the atmosphere of warmth flowed around him. Youkai families were not usually this close knit and it was becoming quite an enjoyable experience for him.

The thought crossed his mind that maybe he should just stop right here and not try to report back to his Lord. A shudder ripped through him. No. That was not even an option. Putting on his best smile, he turned to the aged youkai beside him, "So tell me again madam Shinaki, how did you find the Lady Kuroi?"

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"Come and dance with me instead of just peeping silly." came the quiet invitation.

A little amazed that she'd sensed him, Sesshomaru stepped out into the open and tried to look as though shamelessly spying on naked young women was something he did regularly. Kuroi didn't even stop dancing as she turned to look at him with a bright smile.

"Hi."

Not wanting to admit just how disorienting the smile was, he scowled at her instead. "Why is it that every time I see you, you're unclothed?" Pulling off his top, he averted his face and held it out to her. Now she did stop dancing to tilt her head and stare at him. Walking forward languidly, she reached out towards the offered robe. Satisfied that she would take it, the stalwart youkai was startled to feel her hand set down gently on top of his and turned to look at her sharply.

Mistake. Those eyes, those beautify mystery filled eyes looked up at him sadly as she asked, "Have you ever danced like this beneath the moon Sesshomaru?" Stepping closer, she pressed herself against him, never once looking away, "Or lain exposed to the sun on a fair day?"

Unsure of what to do, Sesshomaru wanted to deny the very thought of him doing such things, but could only stare back feeling lost and confused. It didn't help that he was suddenly having difficulty breathing. "I don't understand you Kuroi." he admitted, startling himself. "You do not do things that are considered acceptable. Unlike my brother who does it because he does not want to do the acceptable, you seem to do only what you desire at that moment."

Watching the smile dancing at the corners of her mouth he wanted to know, 'Am I something you desire as well?' but he couldn't allow himself to ask. He didn't know where he found the strength to tear away from that probing gaze, but he found it easier to breath when he did. "Unlike you, I have no desire to do those sort of things Kuroi." Opening the robe still in his clenched hands, he draped it around her and started to move away.

A hand snaked around his waist to rest on the curve of his spine, stopping him.

Snapping his attention back on her he was unprepared for the crush of her mouth against his. Since she was a full head shorter than him, he wondered briefly how she'd accomplished that feat. Unconsciously, he wrapped his hands around her waist to hold her while his mouth opened to permit the tongue trailing lazily across his lips to enter. As she slipped into his mouth he entered hers and lost himself.

Peaches, oh god she tasted like spiced peaches. Tilting his head, he moved a hand to cup the back of her neck in order to deepen the kiss further. Lapping up her sweetness, he nipped the edge of her lips before plunging his tongue back inside. She shuddered against him and he felt her starting to slip away.

Wanting to prevent the loss of that heated body pressed against his own, Sesshomaru shot out his other hand to steady her and pull her harder against him than he could have thought possible. When her hands trailed up his chest to thread themselves into his hair and pull herself closer still, a hungry moan poured out of him and into her mouth.

At the sound he pulled away abruptly, suddenly mindful of their location and what they'd been doing. With a muttered curse, he let her go and stepped back. Taking quick deep breaths, he pulled himself together even as his gaze took in the effects the kiss had had on her. Her chest heaved as she breathed the night air deeply, her skin flushed and nipples erect under his robe. Another scent mingled delicately with the fragrance of peach blossoms and almost made him moan again.

Arousal.

Pulling his robe closed around her, Kuroi smiled and touched her tongue to her swollen lips. "So you can feel something. I had wondered about that."

Her softly teasing words put a damper on his desire. Chilly eyes glared at her in indignation. Her comment, coupled with his earlier thoughts made them narrow dangerously. So, she did that only to test him? He'd be more careful in the future. With a cool 'good night', he turned on his heel and went back into his room, leaving her slightly confused.

When it was obvious he wasn't going to return, Kuroi shrugged and hopped up on the roof to take the aerial route to her room. 'Well, that went over like a virgin bride in labor.' she thought wryly as she leapt a ten foot gap between the tiled surfaces. Landing in the small side garden near her room, she opened her door and went inside. A quick scan confirmed that no one had been in there, so she went to her mattress and sat down.

Now she was more confused than ever. He'd liked the kiss, she knew that he had, so why had he stopped? He couldn't have been that put off by what she said could he?

The girl simply could not understand how he could keep that tight of a leash on himself. "He was ready, I felt it." Remembering the sensation of that coiled and sleekly-honed strength pressed up against her body caused an unfamiliar blush to touch her cheeks and a liquid heat to pool in the pit of her stomach.

"Ooh Sessy, you may be pretty but you are all man."

Wondering where the hell that thought came from, she frowned, "No, oh no. I can't like him already can I?" With a muttered curse, Kuroi rapped a fist lightly against the bedding. Laying down on the yielding surface, she thoughtfully reviewed the last two weeks at the mansion.

Every time she'd seen her future husband, he'd been so damned polite that she wanted to scream. Always asking how she was doing, but never really seeming to care. Listening to even the bawdiest tales without so much as a smirk. Nothing she did around him garnered more than an incomprehensible stare or worse, no response at all.

Not to mention that dinner party a week ago.

Groaning as she thought about it, she played with the sleeve of the robe. Okay, so maybe killing a fourth of the family was no way to get on someone's good side, but they had really pissed her off. All of those snide comments and back-handed jokes about her. "Mom was right, I need to learn to control my temper better. I'm probably coming across as wild as Inuyasha does sometimes."

Lord Yamatsu hadn't been angry. Sheesh, he'd laughed about no more freeloaders coming around, but Sesshomaru had just given her that long unreadable look. She huffed and blew her bangs out of her eyes. If he'd been mad or disappointed or something she could have dealt with it, but he'd just looked at her with nothing. Angry at the thought of marrying a living statue, she'd proceeded to get drunk while envisioning stabbing him with the sword to elicit some kind of response, even as she'd passed out.

The hangover had so-o-o not been worth it.

Rolling over on her side, she drew her legs up into the large folds for warmth. Kami knew that she had tried to get along with the other handmaids, but they kept touching all of her stuff! Yeah it was their job to help her unpack, but when you had twenty brothers and sisters who were youkai, you tended to get a bit volatile about people putting their hands on your shit.

Midori was okay though. The first time the handmaiden had reached for something of hers, Kuroi had growled low in her throat and watched in approval as the green hand smoothly by-passed the item to rearrange a flower. The girl learned fast. Aka and Ki just didn't touch anything at all.

As for the hairdresser... Playing with a silky strand of her hair Kuroi mentally apologized to the youkai since that was as far as the words were going. That bitch had burned her on purpose! Talking on and on about how human hair just wasn't as nice to work with as youkai. How it wasn't as soft and manageable.

With a fiendish smile, Kuroi wondered how that wig was working out.

The make-up woman was a complete fiasco. Looking like a giant doll had never appealed much to her personal sense of aesthetics, and looking like a gilded doll hadn't help it change. The two of them had ended up in a screaming match that had left the professional in a powder and lacquer-coated huff.

"All that powder made my nose itch and the nail-lacquer felt weird." Kuroi grumbled defensively into her arm.

Now the dressmaker had been an honest accident. He was supposed to design outfits around what she wanted, right? Well she thought she was being helpful by showing him the short and simple robe her brother had brought her and asking him to make more just like it. She thought he had agreed with her choice because he'd been pulling out a bolt of cloth as she left the room.

No one was more surprised than her when the news spread that he'd hung himself with it instead.

"This is not going well at all." she muttered miserably into the sleeve, marveling absently at the supple feel of it. "I was trying hard, I really was." Inhaling deeply, she wondered why she suddenly felt so relaxed. Sandalwood faintly tickled her brain even as it made her drift off. 'He smells so nice.' she thought as she slipped into the welcomed darkness.

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Inuyasha wasn't a hundred percent comfortable at the moment.

Bounding through the forest on his way to Kaede's village to see if the old miko was finally free, he'd paused by his father's house to peek in on Kuroi. What he'd been treated to was a first row seat of the kiss between her and his brother. On any other day, he might have taken a minute to rain a few choice words on the pair, but he was in a hurry.

'Shit, she might actually like the bastard.' For some reason, the thought kicked up a protective urge that surprised him. With a shake of his head, the speeding young man plowed through a lone youkai that tried to block his way.

'Inuyasha, this is no time to get picky about the women in your life. Let the shit go.' As he pounced from tree to tree, he made a vow to sort it out at the first opportunity.