InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tamatebako ❯ Chapter 2

Inuyasha © Takahashi Rumiko

Chapter 2

She wasn't sure what had awoken her, only that something had changed. It didn't feel wrong per se, only different. But when her eyes had focused and she'd seen him holding her baby, his nose tucked into her neck, she'd frozen. Looking back, she'd always believed that if her child were ever in danger she'd scream and fight and beat the threat away, yet something baser inside her had reacted instinctively and she'd frozen. She hadn't even attempted to wake Kenji.

In the dim light, she couldn't immediately make out the stranger's features, but as her eyes adjusted she took in his alien appearance. His hair was the first thing she noticed. It was long, near to the floor, even pulled back as it was. It was pale, even in the dark room it seemed white, but he didn't look old. Far from it. At first he seemed taller than he was, but she realized, belatedly, that his broad armor and the large white mass he carried over his shoulder had made him look much larger. Perhaps that was its purpose. Armor? Very old style armor, and yet it looked new. There were two swords belted at his hip. They looked disturbingly real.

She couldn't see his face, buried in the swaddled child, as it was. But as he raised it, not once taking his eyes from her daughter's face, she caught a hint of his features in the moonlight filtering in through the window. There were dark-shadowed lines on his face; she couldn't make out the dim contrast in the half-light.

As she stared at him, he seemed to become aware that she was awake and he spoke, “No harm will come to her. The males of my father's line are sworn to her protection. When her time comes, we must both let her go.” His voice was deep and seemed to rumble through her and she felt chilled.

“Who…” she started, her heart pounding in her chest. The stranger lowered the child to her and her arms came up to take her. His hands brushed her skin as he released the baby. He was warm against her cold skin. Too warm and real, making it impossible for her to mistake his presence for a dream later.

He turned from her and walked to the end of the bed and in that moment an odd thought crossed her mind, that he didn't seem the type to do something as mundane as exit through the bedroom door. She wasn't disappointed. As he approached the end of the bed and turned his head and looked at her for the first time, “I won't be far,” he informed her and before she could process whether the statement was a promise or a threat, he vanished.