InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Strange Duet ❯ Chimokoumaru ( Chapter 3 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

First of all, thanks to all of you who reviewed for this story, I hope you're all enjoying it! This is hopefully going to be my longest and best work yet. Anyways, I do have a long list of chapter titles, most of them with a track attached to them, so, this story is not going to end for a while.

Blanket Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of Inuyasha.

Tracklist:

C1: Sarah McLachlan- Fallen

C2: Evanescence- Understanding (Wash It All Away)

C3: Garbage- Not My Idea

`Too close!'

Her thoughts screamed at her, over and over, like a broken record as she stood, paralyzed like a deer in the headlights. The heat coming off his body, no, that wasn't warmth from his body; it was the overwhelming force of his youki smothering her still awakening powers.

`Is this what it's like to drown?'

She wondered silently as she desperately, though unconsciously fought against Sesshoumaru's power. For some reason, everything became heightened, smell, touch and hearing especially, as she opened her eyes in panic. Something flickered across the edge of her mind as she felt the brush of fangs at the joining between her neck and shoulder.

A low nearly silent scream emerged from her lips as her head fell back, the clawed hand holding her firmly in place as she felt the sharp point of his fangs dig into her throat, a choked whimper strangled itself in her throat as she stood there, paralyzed by fear and by the overwhelming power of the youki that was surrounding her in a reddish haze. It seemed like forever before she felt something burning against the place where his fangs had penetrated her flesh. Tears sprang anew to her eyes as they closed, either in submission or in preparation for death, neither of the two beings knew.

`He tricked me, and I fell for it like an idiot.'

That same voice, always so devoid of emotion and tone reached her ears, it had to be her imagination but, she thought she felt a little irritation inside his voice. Of their own accord, the blue-grey eyes opened, dark with more than a little fear and suspicion as they caught the youkai lord placing something that suspiciously resembled a feudal age vial into his haori.

“Dress yourself, lest you encourage lower beings to come to you.”

Kagome's eyes flared up angrily, the dark storm hued eyes flashing to the starfire blue as she clenched her fists, feeling a rush of uncontrollable rage stream through her veins, increasing the temperature of her body and making her face burn as she glared daggers into the turned back of Sesshoumaru.

`Of all the back-handed insults I've heard during these past years, that had to be the worst!'

“I'm not what you and so many other youkai and ningen call me. And I would be dressed by now, if you hadn't taken my clothes away!”

“I expect you to don appropriate training attire when you come to me in the night. I will not tolerate indecent clothing in my presence.”

The taiyoukai walked away, the moonlight catching him for a split second and transforming the white clad form into an ethereal, almost dreamlike glowing spirit before he vanished into the shadows of the forest. Kagome shook herself out of her dazed state and scowled again, looking at her reflection in the water before jumping slightly, startled by what she saw even as her hand lifted up to touch the mark.

`That cocky…who says that brothers, even half brothers aren't alike?! Both of them are rude and self-centered, not to mention egocentric idiots!'

“What on earth is this?”

A small mark, about the size of her thumb pad lay where he had bitten her, what startled her most about it was the fact that it was in the shape of a small crescent moon, an exact replica of the one on his forehead. It tingled slightly, like when her arm or leg fell asleep from her laying on it too long, when her fingertips brushed against it. Her brow furrowed slightly as she lowered herself back down into the water, splashing water and rubbing at the mark, trying to see if it would wash off. Even when she used the washcloth and even the louffa, it didn't smear or rub off. Kagome gave up and scowled angrily, muttering about selfish arrogant men and territorial marking habits as she stepped out of the water, grabbing her towel and beginning to dry off. She had just bent down to grab her nightgown when an all too familiar voice yelled at her, sounding disgruntled and annoyed.

`Great, either this is one stubborn form of ink, or he just gave me a tattoo of sorts. How am I going to explain this thing?!'

“Oi wench, the hell do you think you're doin out by yourself at this time of night?!”

A shriek escaped her lips as Kagome toppled head first back into the hotspring, coming up with a spluttering cough and rage kindling the angry flames that burned in her eyes as she glared at the comically surprised hanyou who hadn't moved an inch from where he was. Although she noticed the slight reddening of his cheeks, it didn't matter, everything that had happened coupled with this incident was too much for her already short fuse to take.

`It would figure.'

“I.nu.ya.sha… sit!”

With a flash of violet light, the rosary reacted, dragging a yelling hanyou to kiss the ground even as the now sopping wet girl pulled herself out of the hotspring and jerked the cotton garment over her head, not caring that the scarlet fabric was clinging to her still wet body as she picked up her things and stormed back to camp, wet hair sticking to her back as she approached the camp. Sango stood up, looking concerned as she quickly grabbed her own “towel” as Kagome had called it, and gave it to her friend.

`What on earth happened to Kagome? She's soaking wet…'

“Kagome-chan? Are you alright?”

The young woman's eyes blazed out in fury as she took the towel and proceeded to dry her hair off, Sango caught the furious mumbles of something that had to do with arrogant jerks who snuck up one people.

`Sounds like Inuyasha found her.'

“Kagome-chan, why don't you sleep for a while? I'm still awake from that strange drink you brought us to try. Houshi-sama went after Inuyasha when he came back and found you missing so, he might be a while in finding him.”

“He'll be fine, I hope his nose hurts. and that was coffee Sango-chan, you and Miroku-sama seemed to like it.”

Sango smiled, though a small blush stained her cheeks as she reached over and pulled the “mug” over to where she now sat, beside Kagome's sleeping roll. Kirara mewled softly in greeting and jumped on to Kagome's shoulders, rubbing her face affectionately against the girl's cheek before going to Kagome's lap. Shippou snored softly and kicked out with his feet as he rolled over, mumbling about how he didn't want anymore pocky before sighing and continuing to sleep, oblivious to the matching smiles of the two women who watched him.

“It is good, do you like it Kagome-chan? I haven't seen you drink it very much.”

Kagome made a face before she reclined against the pine needle covered forest floor, her eyes searched the nearly covered sky above her for something unknown, even to herself as she recalled Sesshoumaru's words from not even an hour before.

“This Sesshoumaru will offer his time and training, for a price.”

`The price was my blood? What could he possibly want with my blood?'

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Somewhere within the Western Lands……

Amber eyes pierced through the darkness, seeking out the cave he knew was there. It was the home of an old acquaintance, one who had bestowed him with much information that was vital in securing the Lands and holding them from those who were unworthy to claim it from his hands. Smooth and cold, his voice penetrated the inky darkness of the cave's entrance.

“Chimokoumaru, I know you still reside within this cave, your scent is here alongside the blood of your victims.”

Six scarlet eyes emerged from the darkness, the ones that stood nearly eye level to the taiyoukai's fading to a lighter red-violet as the youkai stepped out, twin black wings were folded against the man's broad shoulders as a mane of raven hair fell into his eyes. A pair of fangs slid from his upper lip and rested lightly against his lower one before they were bared into a feral and threatening looking smile. One clawed hand rested on a black clad him, the dark sepia toned skin glinting slightly in the moonlight as a deep voice emerged from the man.

`Ah, the taiyoukai.'

“Fifty three years it has been since you last sought me out, Sesshoumaru. What information do you seek now? The whereabouts of the miasma stenched half youkai fool?”

A slender woman emerged, wearing a form fitting black blouse and skirt, her skin tone was lighter, the color of the dust at their feet as her penetrating yet stoic ruby eyes studied Sesshoumaru, one clawed hand toyed with the messily tied braid at her waist as the other rested on the shoulder of the small seven year old boy beside her, their wings against their back as well.

`My husband did not inform me of this kind of meeting, he only said that he had connections in high places.'

“What honor are we being presented with by your presence, Sesshoumaru?”

Chimokoumaru's eyes narrowed slightly as the taiyoukai reached into his haori and removed a vial-like container. He knew all too well what that was and what the taiyoukai expected of him to do with it.

`Something isn't right here, why a sudden shift in attention?'

“Sesshoumaru-sama, how might my family and I be of service to you?”

“Enough with the formality, you and I both are aware that they do not exist among the Inu no Taisho bloodline.”

Sesshoumaru responded, feeling his irritation grow by the way his father's ally was deliberately teasing him without any fear. He did not know what had hit his father in the skull when he had struck the deal that Chimokoumaru and his family would serve under him, giving information and whatnot in exchange for being immune to any attack from his bloodline. His eyes narrowed as he placed the vial into his father's most trusted ally's possession and turned around.

“Perform your usual services and use the contents of the container to assist you. Do not harm her.”

Chimokoumaru watched as Sesshoumaru vanished once again, the glowing white light that seemed to follow him around swallowed up by the shadowed forests. His eyes narrowed, darkening to a deep ruby hue as he studied the blood.

`Sesshoumaru, you give something as valuable as this to be in my possession?'

“Chikouko, please come here with Yachimaru. We have a job to do.”

His wife's eyes narrowed immediately as she glowered at the blood in the vial, shaking her head and pulling her son away from his father before she spoke, her voice harsh and anger as she bit out a few choice words before speaking to her husband directly.

`There is no way I am letting my son drink any of that.'

“Chimo, I will not allow our son to drink that blood. My grandmother, before her soul departed from this world, told me of a woman who's blood could overwhelm even the strongest of our kind. Not since Midoriko have I seen such pure blood.”

“We have no choice koi, we need to do as instructed. Besides…”

Chimokoumaru held up the vial to the moonlight, letting the brilliant white light filter through and cast a ruby glow against his skin as he absorbed the aura emanating from the blood.

“I'm curious to see how Sesshoumaru caught interest of a ningen woman of such power.”

`Sesshoumaru, have you brought this to me knowing of her potential?'

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A long groan escaped her mouth as she turned on to her back on her sleeping bag. There was no way she was going through something like that again. Inuyasha had driven their party nearly into the ground at a grueling pace, trying to catch up to Naraku. 12 hours had gone by, he had woken them up at the crack of dawn and had wanted to keep going, had Kagome not threatened him.

`I'll remember that trick next time he wants to be a bossy jerk. I'll sit him into the ground and threaten to throw his ramen into the river. And if he still acts up, then the ramen does go into river.'

One arm was thrown over her forehead as she tried to will away the headache that the full blown shouting match with Inuyasha had brought on. As far as she knew, he was still gone, still fuming over their fight from earlier. Although, Kagome thought to herself, feeling her mood return to melancholy, he has said things that shouldn't have been said.

`That whole Kikyou comment wasn't necessary…'

She sighed, silently wishing it wasn't so easy for her to be depressed over a stupid argument. Her long raven hair fell into her eyes as she blinked back the tears.

`No…crying won't solve anything, anything at all…'

Before long, she had almost fallen asleep, eyes heavy as she began to drift off. A sudden surge of energy entering her body startled her, jump starting her heart as her eyes widened. Unknown to Kagome, when her eyes had opened, they had flashed for the briefest of moments, a sun like amber. Her hand flew to her neck, covering the spot where he had bitten her the night before.

`That almost felt like…a heartbeat…'

Another pulse made her close her eyes, biting her lip as her body shook slightly from the wave of energy that surged through her veins. Her breath hitched in her throat, choking her as she rolled on to her stomach and pushed up on shaky arms.

`It's getting faster, more frequent and powerful now.'

Kagome pushed up and slid from her sleeping bag, eyes casting around the area and finding her companions asleep. A choked whimper caught in the middle of her throat as another surge of energy hit her. She began to stumble from the clearing, running blindly in one direction, trying to make the throbbing stop.

`I don't know what this is…but, I want it to stop!'

His eyes flashed as he saw her briefly, racing through the brush and trees as if Naraku himself were after her. Silently he fell in step beside her, watching as each pulse of energy changed her eye color to a shade only a little darker than his own. Finally, the scent of the girl's panic grew too much to stand and he reached out, grabbing her around the waist and halting any and all progress she tried to make. Before she could scream, he spoke into her ear.

“Be silent. I will commend you on answering my summons.”

Kagome's head turned slightly, coming cheek to cheek with none other than Sesshoumaru. Blue-grey eyes widened slightly and darkened before she swallowed hard and nodded once, waiting for him to let her go.

`That throbbing…that was a call for me to answer?!'

Sesshoumaru released her, eyes darkening slightly as she stumbled away from him and glared. He could feel the anger inside of her, along with several other emotions that overpowered each other. His eyes noted the apparel she now wore. Odd dark blue fabric covered her legs and clung to them, showing off their shape and length before ending just above her bare feet. A black long sleeved blouse with small white bows around the collar clung to her upper body. To finish off his mental inspection of her, he noticed that the long raven hair that he had seen so often worn down, was now pulled into a high ponytail.

“You removed the indecent clothing as instructed, perhaps there is some form of intelligence inside the mind of a ningen.”

“Bite me.”

Kagome blurted out before she could stop herself. A long heavy silence began to build between the two, her hands had flown up and covered her mouth while the blue-grey eyes had widened in shock.

`Really great comeback there Kagome…not!'

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the girl shakily step back from where he remained motionless, only following her every move without expression. She was a cheeky thing, too wild, too free-spoken and spirited for someone of her low born rank. The silence and tension that mounted continuously was palpable, hanging heavily in the air as the taiyoukai broke the silence between them.

“I believe this taiyoukai has performed that service once.”

Kagome stared, dumbfounded at the cold image of the half brother of the man she was deeply and, sadly, in unrequited love with. When the words managed to bring the full force of their meaning into her half frozen mind, the young woman began to giggle helplessly, hands pressing into her mouth to try and stifle the sounds of her mirth from escaping.

`He…he made a joke?! He, of all people, made something so human as a joke?!'

After a short while, Kagome noticed the faint disgust in the youkai lord's presence and immediately began to end her laughter. She removed her hands from her mouth, wiping them of the moisture that had accumulated on her skin against the rough fabric of her jeans before looking up, slightly embarrassed and sheepish through her thick raven bangs and gave a small smile to the disgruntled Sesshoumaru.

“Sorry… We can start, if you're still willing.”

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed yet again, from one emotion to the next, was there one emotion this damnable woman could choose and stick with for more than half an instant? Removing such thoughts and storing them for later pondering, the mighty youkai lord closed the distance between them within half a heartbeat, startling the girl in front of him and causing her scent to spike up in uncertainty. From his obi, Sesshoumaru removed a startlingly pale wooden practice blade and held it out to the girl in front of him.

Kagome's eyes moved from the wooden blade to Sesshoumaru's face, lingering for more than a brief moment as she tilted her head slightly to the side, searching his face and his eyes for something that she wasn't even sure was capable of being there before she reached out for the pale practice sword. For one brief moment, due to the contact of their skin, both saw a briefest flash of…something, neither of the two knowing exactly what it was before the moment ended, the wood in Kagome's slightly shaking hands.

`What was that just now?'

Sesshoumaru considered discarding the second practice blade he had brought along for himself but, he knew that Goshinki's power still held hatred of the hanyou who destroyed him, and since this slip of a girl was under the hanyou's pathetic excuse for protection, doubtless the vengeful spirit of the youkai would take whatever form of revenge it could on the girl herself.

“Show me what you know.”

Sometime later that night……

`I take it back when I said that Inuyasha was a slave driver. His brother's even worse!'

Kagome fumed bitterly as she sank lower into the steaming water with a low almost inaudible groan of one who had endured a royal beating. Even her hair hurt, that wasn't supposed to be even possible, she thought with a wince as she rose up slowly from submerging her entire body. It looked like she'd be wearing long sleeved and ankle hugging outfits for a good long time, or at least until their next battle with some youkai seeking the shikon no kakera. She examined one leg and winced at the number of bruises beginning to darken the flushed skin. A quick prayer to what ever gods that hadn't abandoned her this far along in life was made, begging and pleading with those who listened to the prayer not to let Inuyasha, Miroku or Sango notice the marks if they stumbled upon her undressing or in the hot spring.

`I've got bruises on top of bruise on top of those bruises. When did the word “training” mean “beat the human girl within an inch of unconsciousness'?!'

Little did she know that her every move was being watched over and noted carefully by two pairs of scarlet eyes. A low whisper from one of the figures was lost to the wind as its companion listened intently before nodding in agreement, silently unfurling great wings and taking off into the sky above.

`For a human woman, she show more potential for growth in both physical and spiritual strength.'

Long glossy raven hair hued with bloody highlights shone briefly in the waning moonlight as the crimson eyes turned back to stare at the faint steam of the lake sized hot spring where the girl nursed her sore, battered form before sighing and shaking their head, muttering under their breath.

“I'm getting far too old for this kind of job.”

`Still, if such a soul has that much room for improvement, that means that the greater part of her strength has yet to be tapped into.'

Another long weary sigh escaped the lips of the shadowed form as scarlet eyes found the very place he had been seeking, or rather, the very person he had been searching for. His ears had alerted him to the youki of the infernal keeper of the hanyou the woman traveled with. With a slight thud of flat feet against the well beaten ground, the youkai smoothly intercepted the rabbit attempting to dash away from him, catching it by the ears and breaking it's neck with one smooth flick of his wrist before grabbing the tiny form that tried to leap off of the now cooling body.

“Ah, Myouga, you run from me? An old friend of yours? I'm wounded by your fear.”

Thrashing about in the prison made by the bat youkai's loosely clenched fist, Myouga felt his panic rise in great abounds, he hadn't thought he'd be running into Chimokoumaru since the time he had needed to know where Inuyasha had been some years ago.

“Old friend indeed! What makes you attack an old harmless flea?!”

A deep chuckle surfaced from within the youkai man's chest as he tightened his grip, pleased by the squeak of protest made by the flea youkai before he smiled, voice almost pleasant as he spoke to the shivering body in his hand.

`Now I'll be able to get at least of few of my questions answered. No use allowing a second Midoriko to surface, at least, not with out proper knowledge of the woman's strengths, personality, and weaknesses.'

“Myouga, dear friend, what can you tell me about the young maiden in the strange clothing who travels with the hanyou called Inuyasha?”

:stabs multiple hole into the fic while glowing furiously at it: This is ridiculously insane on how picky I'm being with this story. Anyways, I hope it feeds the cravings from any fans for this story. I'll begin the 4thchapter soon.