InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tale of the Twins ❯ Chapter Thirty: Recovery ( Chapter 30 )

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

Chapter Thirty

Recovery

It happened completely by accident. Kuraimaru had really had no intention of running in to her. But it happened. He hadn't known it was her, and he just bumped in to her.

It was Shuarra Meitsuki. Of that, he was certain. She just froze upon seeing him. Not moving, not even breathing nor blinking. Rin was the next one to notice him.

She tossed aside all formalities and threw her arms around her adopted younger sibling. Kaida frowned, looking from one to the other. Still, Shuarra didn't move.

“Kuraimaru! It's you, isn't it? We haven't seen or even heard from you in years!” Rin exclaimed.

He smiled, a little awkwardly. What was wrong with Shuarra Meitsuki? “I apologize. I wasn't in a place where I could write you.”

Rin finally pulled away. She glanced at Kaida. “Who's this?”

He looked at the dragon, then back at Rin and his twin. “This is Kaida. We met up in the mountains during a blizzard…” His voice trailed off. Rin seemed to understand. She quickly ushered everyone away from the hustle and bustle of the docks. Soon, she was leading the way back to their manor. Shuarra Meitsuki fell in to step behind everyone else. It troubled her twin to see her like that. It just wasn't the Shuarra Meitsuki he knew. Her personality was all wrong.

He introduced Kaida to Rin and Shuarra Meitsuki and explained in brief his relationship with each and how it was that Rin was basically immortal to Kaida.

He explained how he had met Kaida, and they talked for a while about his wanderings. What he really wanted to know, though, was how everyone else was.

“How's everyone?” he said.

Rin shrugged one shoulder. “Same. I think Sesshoumaru-sama and Naraku-san are going to be coming back from England today. Kuraimaru, why don't you stay for a while? You haven't been home in so long and everything…”

He glanced back at Shuarra. “Yes, perhaps.”

She hadn't said a word to him. Not a single word. It was so… wrong. He had always envisioned he and Shuarra's reunion as being very loud and joyful. It was so wrong.

Shuarra should have been bouncing off the walls, shouting exclamations, hugging him, badgering him with questions. Instead, she was somber and quiet. It was unnatural; acceptable, but quite unnatural—like a flower blooming out of season.

It ended up that the ship was late. But it was okay. He was given a guest room, and Kaida was given one as well. She felt awkward about it; he could tell. She had never stayed indoors before.

Still, his sister was as silent as he had ever seen her. It worried him. Was this the affect of his long absence?

Sesshoumaru slowly drug himself back from his thoughts. Continuing to stare out of the window, he asked, “Do you ever wonder about what became of our son?”

Naraku paused, considering the answer as well as his choice of words. “At times.”

“I have been considering it,” Sesshoumaru said slowly. “It may be best if we try to track him down. For Shuarra Meitsuki's sake mostly.”

Naraku closed his eyes, enjoying the large Western style bed. “Indeed. Tracking one renegade dog should be easy.”

“Don't be so certain of that. He is our son. Weren't we difficult to find once?”

The spider sighed and nodded. “True. When the world seemed larger.”

“I miss those times,” Sesshoumaru admitted quietly. Naraku heard him. He turned to look at his lover. “I regret them ever passing me by at times.”

“As do I, my love.”

Sesshoumaru finally looked away from the stars above. His golden gaze landed on Naraku. “I miss the battle of that era as well. The way you and I fought. Inuyasha, too.”

Naraku opened his eyes. “Sesshoumaru. There's no one left for you to fight any more.”

He looked somber about this. “Yes, I know.” The only one truly left was Kuraimaru. He didn't really have the heart to kill the kid, even if Kuraimaru might want to kill him. He sighed. The world certainly was growing dull. He was getting restless. He needed something new. Something interesting. For a while, the New World had sufficed. The travel was enjoyable. But now… Now, it felt like he had seen everything there was on this earth worth seeing. And, despite that there was nothing left of this world for him, he was still here. He felt sort of out of place when he thought about it.

He glanced back at Naraku. No, there was still something left in this world for him. There was Rin, too. She would always be there, it seemed. He knew that the odds of him outliving Shuarra Meitsuki right now were fairly high, and Kuraimaru might be dead already. No use including them in that list, though it seemed cruel.

“Do you ever consider that this world is rotting?” Sesshoumaru asked quietly.

“Rotting?”

He looked back out the window again. “Yes. Rotting. There used to be so much to it. Now, it seems that humans have become the dominant specie. They are advancing technologically, but it's not interesting. It's making this earth rot.” There was no other way to describe it. All the magic, the mysticism, the spiritual power… everything just disintegrated and became nothing, lost in the winds of time forever. Sometimes, he wondered if he was supposed to have died years ago. Maybe… But he certainly didn't belong here any more.

“I understand what you mean, Sesshoumaru. But it doesn't mean it's rotting. It's just changing, and you don't like it.”

He sighed. That was true too. “Do we really still belong here?”

“What do you mean?”

He considered his words carefully. “Youkai. Do we still have a place here? We're certainly considered nonexistent anyway. It merely seems as though…”
He felt Naraku's hands resting on his shoulders. When had he gotten out of bed? “You're wrong,” Naraku said. “It doesn't matter if we do or don't have a place here. We're here.”

Sesshoumaru leaned back against his chest, closing his eyes. That was true too. They were here. That was truly what mattered. But it didn't change one simple fact. “The world is becoming dull,” Sesshoumaru muttered.

Naraku, to his surprise, laughed. “I think I would like to see where this technology takes this world. Yet you think that this world is boring.” He leaned down and kissed his lover. “Let's make it just a little more interesting. If for just a while.”

Of course, Sesshoumaru could never say no to that.

Maybe, it was because he was so hopelessly in love. Lust? Hah. That had passed quite a while ago. It was true, he desired him sexually. However, lust was far past him now. Lust was a raw, almost loveless passion infused with sex. Desire was passion to the depths of the soul, love to the far-reaches of the heart, and yearning beyond the limits of the body.

Not to say that he absolutely no longer fell victim to the plague of lust. That hounded him too. But mostly, it was that burning desire.

It never seemed to matter how many times it happened. It never became routine, and it never got boring. It always merely seemed to happen.

Sweat. Gasping. Pants. Ragged breathing. Sighs. Screams. Moans. Claws, blood. Pale flesh on darker skin. Dark hair tangling with silver.

The movement had a special rhythm, in time with the other sounds like a small symphony.

One scream rose like a solo, then was slowly drowned by the chorus of sighs and moans.

Finally, came the apex. One last groan, one last thrust. Done over. The sounds of the night see splashing against the ship created the applause of the audience.

Sesshoumaru was already falling asleep before Naraku had even lain down beside him. “I love you,” Sesshoumaru said, very quietly. So quietly, that even Naraku had to strain to hear it. But he did. It was enough.

During the night before, Sesshoumaru had come to a decision. He was going to use the Sacred Jewel. One last time.

He felt like, maybe, he should feel saddened, or depressed. But, it was for Naraku. So instead of being depressed… he felt strangely at peace. Content. Even glad to be doing something like that for another.

It was strange, but pleasant. When was the question. When…?

As soon as possible, he supposed. Rin had the Sacred Jewel. He would get it from her when they got back, and then…

He smiled softly to himself. Then…

Maybe life would get a little more interesting.

Kuraimaru sniffed the air. That was him. Sesshoumaru. He could already smell him. He moved so that he would be downwind of him when he arrived in the courtyard. The gate opened. Naraku and Sesshoumaru entered. Sesshoumaru paused and looked around, sniffing the air. He turned and looked directly at Kuraimaru.

The younger dog sighed. He had suspected as much. “Hello,” he said, walking up to them.

“How long have you been here?” Naraku wondered.

“Yesterday.”

“So you've spoken with Rin and Shuarra Meitsuki?”

He nodded, still troubled about Shuarra. Right now, Kaida was getting to know his family. It was kind of nice, actually, that she would do that. He didn't know why he felt happy that they got along. It wasn't really like it particularly mattered or anything… “Yes. Shuarra-kun… Troubles me. No, her disposition troubles me.”

“It troubles all of us,” Sesshoumaru assured him.

Kuraimaru fell in to step with his parents. “It slipped my mind yesterday, but whatever happened to Iria and Jaken?”

Sesshoumaru, as usual, showed no emotion as he spoke. “Jaken passed away four years ago. Iria left us to study medicine in England a year later.”

He wasn't quite sure what to think of all of that. Jaken was dead, huh? Well, that little imp had been fairly old. Not to mention the beatings he usually took. Losing Iria was a shame, though. He had been looking forward to seeing her. Maybe when he and Kaida went to England, he would locate her and see how she was doing.

Shuarra Meitsuki suddenly appeared at the door. The look on her face made all three of them freeze in their steps.

She was smiling. She wore a smile as if her twin had never left. As if her years of depression had never occurred.

“It wasn't a dream,” she whispered. The next thing Kuraimaru knew, he was staring up at the sky, with his twin's arms wrapped around him in a vice grip. His head hurt from the fall, his arms were going numb, and there was a rock digging in to his back, but this was preferable.

Shuarra Meitsuki sat up, sitting on his stomach. He was about to say something to her when she slapped him. Hard. Not like the punches she used to throw when they were younger, either. This one was going to leave a bruise. His cheek already stung. He looked at her and was about to protest again when she punched his other cheek. “Never do that again!” she reprimanded.

Despite the pain, he laughed. It felt really good to do that. She laughed with him. It felt even better to see her laughing too. “I won't,” he promised her. “I swear to you that I will not.”

“Good,” she said. She got off of him. He climbed to his feet, brushing off the dirt. “Now come inside. We have a few years of catching up to do.” The younger twin hauled her older brother inside as if he weighed naught but a feather, so eager was she to speak with him.

Sesshoumaru and Naraku were speechless.