InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tale of the Twins ❯ Chapter Six: Arigatou ( Chapter 6 )

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

Chapter Six

Sesshoumaru woke when he heard little feet running down the hallway. They stopped at the door. It pushed open a little. He pulled up the sheets over his shoulder. Shuarra Meitsuki peered inside.

“You `wake?” she wondered.

“Hm.” Sesshoumaru turned his head, looking. Naraku was feigning still being asleep in the hopes that she might leave. Similar to Sesshoumaru, she was an early riser. Kuraimaru, however, would sleep all through the morning, given the chance.

She smiled and stepped inside. “Oneechan is still asleep, and Kurai-kun can't get up yet. So…”

“Go away,” Naraku muttered.

She giggled. “Sesshy-kun! Get up and play with me!”

Sesshoumaru just wanted to sleep. They had stayed up for most of the night, after all. Just one more hour… “Shuarra Meitsuki… Is the sun even up yet?”

She rushed to the other screen, which had been left open. She pointed outside. Sesshoumaru's gaze shifted to the screen. The first rays of the sun were spilling into the garden. The youkai lord suppressed a moan and burrowed back into the sheets, pushing his face against Naraku's chest in a futile effort to block out the rest of the world. “Take care of your daughter,” he said.

“Unh…” Naraku didn't even seem to have heard him. He was probably only pretending.

Shuarra Meitsuki pouted. “Get up!” she whined. Neither made a move to get up. She began dancing around in a circle, singing loudly and off-key. “Sesshy-kun, u-up! Sesshy-kun u-up! U-up! Nara-chan, u-up! Nara-chan, u-up! U-up!”

“Silence…” Naraku groaned.

She continued with her song, bounding around the room. She began to clap in time with her song, occasionally getting off-beat.

“Shuarra Meitsuki,” Sesshoumaru said.

She froze in place on one foot.

“Desist from singing. Now.”

“What's that mean?” she wondered.

“Stop,” Naraku hissed.

She was undeterred. “But you need `up' to play with Shuarra!”

“Let us sleep.”

She pouted. “But Shuarra is bored.”
“Go be bored somewhere else…”

“But Shuarra is bored!”

“Go away…”

“Shuarra Meitsuki, why don't you go back to sleep for a while?” Sesshoumaru wondered vaguely.

She looked down forlornly. “Okay…” She turned around and drug her feet on her way out. She shut the door.

The two waited a few minutes, then Naraku said, “She'll be back in five minutes.”

Sesshoumaru sighed deeply and rose. He took a light sleeping kimono (Author of fanfic is not sure of correct terminology) and pulled it on. He tied it closed and tossed a second to Naraku. “Precisely.” Naraku sat up enough to pull it on, tie it, and then more or less fell onto his back. Sesshoumaru slipped back into bed, curling up to him. Naraku turned and pulled him close, kissing the crescent moon marking softly.

Sure enough, Shuarra came creeping down the hallway again. She poked her head inside. “Has it been a while yet?”

“No…” Naraku moaned.

She ignored him. “Shuarra can't sleep.”

Sesshoumaru sat up and reached out one arm. The gesture was understood immediately. Shuarra literally jumped onto the futon, landing on Naraku. He grimaced. She giggled and rolled in between them. She squirmed a little bit, then got comfortable. Sesshoumaru laid back down. She squirmed a bit more, then fell silent and went to sleep. Finally…

Kuraimaru woke up some time in the late morning. Not even Iria wanted to wake up him up in the morning to give him his medication. Instead, she had left it out.

Kuraimaru was prone to being in a violent rage if anyone woke him up. Sesshoumaru was probably the only one who didn't evoke absolute wrath. For the time being, it was kind of funny, but if he kept up this habit it might prove hazardous. However, he showed no signs of giving it up.

He sat up. It was a bit of a strain, but he could tell that his leg was healing. The water was lukewarm. Iria hadn't been able to guess when he would wake up, apparently. Nevermind that though, he needed drink the medicine she had left, and lukewarm water was better than nothing to wash it down with. He might have tried to go without the medication, except that his leg was throbbing. He downed the cup of medicine and made a face, then drank the water. The god-awful taste was still in his mouth, though. He had to get up—now. He climbed to his feet. The medicine had not yet taken affect, and the steps he took were painful.

He pushed himself on, forcing his way to the kitchen. Iria… She had to have known that she didn't leave him enough water. There would be a servant there that would go fetch him some, though. Each step he took increased his anger. That Iria… She would pay for this. Doing something like this to him…

He finally made it into the kitchen. Iria was sitting at the table, chatting Rin. He glared at both of them.

Iria smiled. “I'm glad you made it,” she said. She offered him a cup of cold water. He took it and swallowed it immediately. She poured some more into the cup from a pitcher. “I wanted to see how your leg was healing. You can walk a bit better, so I can lower your medications now.”

“Oh…” So it had been intentional, but not in the way he had thought. She had just been testing him.

“We have to check your leg now—to see if the walk here did any damage,” Rin said. “So could you sit down?” She indicated a floor pillow next to them. He sat down. Rin rolled up his kimono enough to see the leg. Iria prodded at it gently. Rin couldn't help but flinch. She could literally see the part where the bone had not yet grown back. How anyone could walk on that was beyond her, but youkai were strange about those sorts of things.

“Good. There's been no added damage.” Iria smiled warmly. “That means that it's healing well, and you'll be just fine in a few more days.”

“I hope so,” Kuraimaru muttered darkly.

“We hope so too,” Rin said.

Her persistently cheerful attitude annoyed him. It was too early for that. “Yeah… Where's Father and Sessh?”

“Still asleep,” Rin said. As always. She preferred not to think about why, but the answer was fairly obvious. They weren't very discreet—hence why everyone else fled to the other side of the palace at night. Paper doors weren't always the best idea.

“But they're always up before me,” he said with a frown.

Iria shrugged a shoulder nonchalantly. “It was the pain in your leg that made you wake up earlier.”

“Hm.” His body seemed to realize this suddenly. He yawned. Going back to sleep sounded like a good idea. He forced his way to his feet and limped, trying to make it look as if he weren't limping, out the door. He went to his parent's room, listening for a moment. He could hear breathing, and smell Shuarra inside as well. He opened the door, walked through, and slid it shut. Sesshoumaru woke up. The other two were fast asleep. Sesshoumaru moved over a bit. Kuraimaru crawled into bed with them.

Sesshoumaru thought sarcastically to himself, Great. Now where is Rin going to fit?

Shuarra Meitsuki was the first one to wake up, but upon seeing her two sleeping parents and her brother, she didn't feel as though it would be right to wake them intentionally. They looked really peaceful.

Taking her time, she pulled away from her father and slowly sat up. The movement woke Sesshoumaru—who was obviously the lightest sleeper.

He put a finger to his lips. She nodded her understanding and crawled out of the bed, which woke Naraku. He glanced at her, and stretched. They should really get up. They had been asleep for a long time. Shuarra Meitsuki was already out the door. The loss of her body heat made Kuraimaru shiver. He pulled closer to Sesshoumaru. He yawned and opened his eyes.

“How's your leg?” Sesshoumaru asked.

Kuraimaru yawned again. He stretched, then curled back up in a very dog-like manner. “I can walk, but it still hurts. Iria-chan says it will be fine in a few days.”

“Mm.” That was good. Sesshoumaru, being a parent, couldn't help but blame himself for this. Seeing his child in so much pain was hurtful. It was unbearable--especially to know that he could have done something to prevent it. He shouldn't have left them with that stupid imp. Maybe then, this would not have happened. Well, of course it would not have happened. Anyone but Jaken could have diverted the twins from going up on the roof. Oh, but there was no use blaming the toad. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't deter the two of them. To do so took skill, charm, and strength that he could never possess.

So, really, Sesshoumaru could only blame himself for leaving them. His fault that Kuraimaru had gone through so much trauma. His fault…

“Sessh-kun?” Kuraimaru wondered. He looked at his son. “You don't look well.”
“Oh?”

Naraku sat up and looked at him. He realized what it was immediately. Guilt. “Sesshoumaru blames himself for what happened to you,” he explained.

The boy looked from Naraku to Sesshoumaru. “But it's not your fault. I was the one who climbed on the roof.” He pulled up Sesshoumaru, wrapping his little arms around him. “Don't feel sad. I'm all right.”

It felt like some great burden had been lifted off his shoulders. “Arigatou,” he whispered.

The door opened. Shuarra Meitsuki came in, followed by Rin and two servants, balancing trays of food. “Breakfast is served!” Rin chimed.

Shuarra Meitsuki leaped back into the bed, once again tackling Naraku in a storm of giggles. She resituated herself on his lap. Naraku sort of sighed, wondering why she never did this to Sesshoumaru. Why did she tackle him every time she saw him, climb him like a tree, and other such nonsense, but she never did this to Sesshoumaru? In fact, both of the children treated Sesshoumaru very respectfully. It really didn't seem fair. At the same time, though, he was often the more likeable parent, as he was less likely to fulfill a punishment.

Rin laughed at Shuarra Meitsuki's behaviour, setting down a tray beside Sesshoumaru, who was sitting up and pulling Kuraimaru onto his lap. Kuraimaru stretched his back and yawned, trying to wake up enough to eat.

She pointed to a particular teacup. “This is for Kurai-kun. It'll be better for him.”
He rolled his eyes a bit. “I'm tired of the special treatment,” he complained, but took the teacup anyway. He took a sip. Well, it didn't taste horrible at any rate.

Shuarra Meitsuki was causing her usual ruckus as she attempted to play with the rice rather than eat it by making geometric patterns on the tray. Kuraimaru and Sesshoumaru ate in a dignified, slow manner. Naraku just tried to eat while simultaneously keeping his daughter under control.

Rin smiled. As weird and random as this family could be, she was glad to be here.