InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Bliss of Nights Forgotten ❯ The Scent of Sesshoumaru ( Chapter 10 )

By: EvilNekoEatsYourSoul

Author's note: Yukiko is an original character I put into the story. Yukiko means "snow child"

Last time: As she turned to leave, Sesshoumaru grabbed her arm, spinning her around to face him. He looked calm, as always, but something in his eyes looked desperate as if pleading with her.

"If you leave this room now, it will be the end of it. I won't come after you this time. Leave now and you'll be nothing but Rin's teacher." His even tone was at odds with the sickening feeling in his stomach, the rapid beating of his heart. The emotions he had tried to hide for so long were now screaming and pounding at their bonds.

Her face looked anguished and the tears were still flowing as she nodded her head and walked out of the room.

Chapter 10: The Scent of Sesshoumaru

~*~

A slight breeze ruffled the boy's hair as he looked off into the distance. His feet moved on their own, taking him to stand before the well-house's entrance. He looked longingly at the run-down building, a few tears coming to his eyes.

`Kagome. . .' thought Souta, `please, come home soon. . .'

Unbeknownst to the young boy his mother watched him through one of the house windows; her heart aching for the same reason.

`Five months have passed since she left. . . What could have happened to her? She's not dead. . . she can't be, I'd know if she was dead or seriously hurt. I shouldn't worry myself; she's fine. I just hope. . . I hope it stays that way.' Kagome's worried mother wiped away a few tears from her eyes, heading towards the door to retrieve her grieving son.

~*~

A gentle knock sounded on Kagome's bedroom door, making the girl freeze in her place. She tried to steady the beating of her heart and forced herself to breath. But despite her best efforts her voice shook with grief and worry as she spoke.

"Come in." A simple enough statement under different circumstances, but it took a lot of energy out of her.

The door seemed to open in slow motion, the person entering hidden behind the massive piece of wood. Kagome breathed a sigh of relief recognizing the girl who had helped her in the woods.

The girl spoke, her voice soft and timid.

"Are you alright, Kagome-sama?"

The miko stood, putting a false smile onto her face and beckoning the girl further into the room.

"I'm fine, please sit down, and don't call me `Kagome-sama,' just Kagome is fine. Besides, I owe you my gratitude for helping me. . . I'm afraid I wasn't in my right state of mind when you found me in the forest. I don't even remember telling you my name and I'm sorry, but for the life of me I can't remember yours."

A blush formed on the girls cheeks as she made a half bow to Kagome.

"Gomen nasai… You never told me your name. The little girl in Sesshoumaru-sama's keep, it was from her I learned your name. As for mine, I never told you so do not be grieved over not knowing it. I am Kanagawa Yukiko from Okushiri village."

"Ah, yes. . . Well, arigatou gozaimasu Yukiko. I really appreciate what you did for me. I'd like to give you something in return. . . But at the moment I am unable to do so, I am myself, just a guest here."

A surprised look crossed Yukiko's face as she shook her hands back and forth in front of her.

"Oh, no, it's not necessary! You've helped me, at least for the night I had somewhere safe to sleep. . ." the girl looked away, suddenly embarrassed.

"Yukiko, what do you mean? Don't you have a family?" She nodded, avoiding Kagome's eyes.

"I don't mean to pry. But what happened to them?"

Tears formed in her eyes as she began to speak.

"I. . . that is, my father. . . I left them. I brought nothing but shame and dishonor to my family. I can never go back there, better for me to just die." Startled at the girl's sudden show of emotion, Kagome went to her. She embraced the girl comfortingly and spoke words to soothe her.

"It can't be that bad, Yukiko." The girl just clung to her, the tears staining Kagomes robes.

"E. . . even if I were to. . . to go back, there's no place for me there. It doesn't matter, I won't live long anyways. . ." suddenly, the girl began to cough, she brought a handkerchief to her mouth as she pulled away from Kagome.

Guiding her to a chair, Kagome bid her sit and poured Yukiko a glass of water.

"Arigatou" the girl rasped, before taking a sip of the shimmering, clear liquid. Her body seemed to relax after a minute or so and she held out the white kerchief to Kagome. Frowning in confusion, Kagome approached her; looking at the cloth in Yukiko's hand.

Seeing a splotch of thick red liquid staining the cloth, Kagome brought her hands to her mouth to cover her surprise. For the first time the other girl's voice held conviction as she met Kagome's eyes with her own doe brown ones.

"You see, Kagome? Slowly but surely this illness. . . it's killing me."

Both turned away, unable to meet the others' eyes, as a cold silence filled the room.

~*~

The Great Lord of the Western Lands sat alone on his balcony, watching the sunset. He recalled a particular evening with a raven-haired miko who had told him it was soothing to watch the daily rise and descent of the sun. He didn't think so now. Nothing could soothe him now. He had even lost his nearly infinite patience with Rin. Anything that reminded him of Kagome was unbearable at the moment.

When she had left, that had hurt him on so many different levels. He had always thought that in the end she would give in, would proclaim her undying love for him and forget the rest of the world. It split his heart asunder to find out otherwise. Not only was his heart aching over this, but it had but a major dent in his pride as well. To have his hanyou half-brother chosen over him was unconceivable. Her actions had even wounded him mentally, thoughts of her crowding his mind, leaving him unable to think coherently. He even felt physically weaker, though something in him knew that was impossible. She had not physically done anything to him.

So caught up was he in all the thoughts and emotions, he didn't hear the door open or close. Neither did he notice the soft sound of approaching footsteps; his nose didn't catch the scent of the miko who owned his thoughts.

"Sesshoumaru." Her voice was controlled. Sounding even a little friendly, though he could tell it was forced. He closed his eyes tightly, hoping she would just go away if he were to ignore her.

`Great now I'm being as childish as my pathetic brother' he thought to himself. Grasping at his many years of practiced stoicism he put on an emotionless mask as he turned to face her. He could tell she too wore a mask of feigned unconcern.

Knowing she risked another break down, yet unable to avoid the action, she met his golden eyes with her own. Thinking of all her friends who would soon be here, she was able to strengthen her will.

"I need to talk to you." Inside relief and fear coursed through her; Relief that her voice was steady and fear that at any moment her carefully constructed barrier of nonchalance would crumble before the youkai's own powerful will.

He nodded, motioning for her join him on the balcony. Both their eyes were drawn to his bed, memories of the shared experiences making it more difficult for their shields to hold.

When she reached the balcony she stood a few feet away from him, not wanting to be close enough for an accidental brush of hands or a gentle breeze to bring his silky platinum hair to caress her. Those things would only help to destroy her already quickly depleting sense of purpose.

"There are two things I need to discuss with you. First of all, Inuyasha and the others will be arriving tomorrow. When they get here, naturally the reaction will be different this time, since things between you and I are different then before. Inuyasha won't run off and no one will be hurt, I think Yukiko is a sign that things will work out this time. She wasn't here the first time around so obviously the events will be altered. I plan to send them back to Inuyasha's forest as soon as possible. I will stay here to complete Rin's training. It shouldn't take more then another month or so. However I can only teach her the basic fundamentals and ideals because she is still too young to undergo full training." She saved the rest of the talk about Rin's training for another time. Taking a deep breath, she brought up the next subject.

"The second thing is a request I have. I know you don't owe me anything, but I ask on behalf of Yukiko. She. . . she needs a place to stay, she has nowhere to go and is very ill. Soon. . . she will die, I can feel it and so can she. I'd just like for her to know she is safe and comfortable before she leaves this world. Can I keep her here with me?"

There, she had accomplished it. She had gotten through her carefully thought out speech without any mishaps. Now all she could do was wait for his reaction. She honestly didn't know what to expect. Maybe he'd just throw her over the balcony and really end everything for her, slice her with his poisonous claws. . . strike her with his sword, wrap those delicate looking hands around her throat and snap her neck. . .

`Or maybe he'll just agree' said her inner voice sarcastically. . . If inner voices can be sarcastic.

The reaction she got was definitely not what she had expected. He grinned at her, a cold mirthless twisting of his lips. All the cruelty he possessed put into that grin, yet his eyes looked a hollow through the gold.

"You're forgetting one important fact about my brother. He's half demon, think about it." Not waiting for a response from her, he swiftly hopped over the edge of the balcony to land lightly on the ground below. Before walking away, he glanced back up at her and for a second she thought she saw sadness in those captivating eyes, but before she could be sure he turned away again.

~*~

Yukiko, not knowing what else to do had let Kagome talk her into staying at the castle, at least until Sesshoumaru told her to leave. She felt a bit uncomfortable, not knowing what kind of relationship lay between the two and if it was appropriate for her to stay here. But in truth, she had nowhere else to go and Kagome made her feel wanted. She had never had a friend before.

She had spent her second night in the beautiful room she had been given reveling in the feeling of safety around her. It was definitely a change from sleeping on the dirt of the forest ground. Kagome had even given her a new kimono to wear.

As Yukiko sat in the courtyard of the castle, basking in the afternoon sun, chatting with Kagome and watching Rin play she was filled with an odd sense of longing she had never before experienced. For the first time in her life she felt cheated, she could feel her own unsteady breaths and every so often she had to stop in her conversation with Kagome to cough up the bloody mucus clogging her lungs. She had finally found happiness in friends, and it would all be over too soon. Everyday her death was drawing nearer; it had never bothered her so much before. She had known at a young age that her life would end early in comparison to those around her. But it seemed even shorter since she'd been having fits. . . only for her to wake up hours or even days later without remembering a single event that had occurred during that time.

Fascinated by Kagome and her stories, enthralled by Rin, who seemed to be joy incarnate and of how good living could feel; she smiled. Even through her fits of coughing, there was a smile imprinted inside of her heart. Still, she had no idea just how joyful life could really be.

~*~

"Hurry up Inuyasha! Can't you go any faster?" it was the first words Shippou had spoken to any of them in quite a while. The prospect of seeing Kagome had brought him back to life, much to the relief of Sango and Miroku. As usual, Inuyasha just looked annoyed with the kitsune, although he too was relieved. If the he had brought Kagome her surrogate son looking sullen and withdrawn he would probably have been sat until he was in a hole as deep as Japan was wide.

"There, I see the gates!" cried out Shippou, jumping off the hanyou's shoulder to race ahead of him. They could see her sitting on the grass, the sun shining on her face.

"Kagome!" the two demons called out at once. Upon seeing the source of the voices the young miko stood, a smile gracing her face.

"Shippou! Inuyasha!" she ran to meet them at the gate's entrance, taking the small red haired youkai into her arms. Tears came from beneath her closed eyes as she held the kitsune to her heart. Relief washed over her, he was safe.

Waiting for Kagome to finish hugging Shippou, Inuyasha noticed another girl behind Kagome. She was pale and thin, looking nervously at the scene before her as Rin held her hand. Her height was comparable to Kagome's and her hair was black, held in a neat bun atop her head. She wore a traditional kimono of blue silk and her eyes were soft and confused. Perhaps sensing his gaze upon her, she looked up at him. Her lips parted slightly, a look of awe showing plainly on her face. Her timid brown eyes met his intense gold ones, a blush spread over her cheeks as she looked away.

`She's pretty when she blushes,' Inuyasha thought.

". . . Inuyasha!" Kagome's arms were suddenly wrapped around him and a blush of his own covered his cheeks. But the hug was over too soon for Inuyasha as she went to hug Sango and Miroku. First, giving the monk a warning about his wandering hands.

Again, he was left facing the girl patiently waiting for Kagome. But this time his study of the girl was cut short by Kagome's voice.

"Oh! Yukiko, gomen! Everyone, this is Kanagawa Yukiko, a friend of mine." Kagome continued by introducing each member of her group to her new friend.

When Inuyasha was introduced he took a step forward, trying to sniff the air around her without being too obvious about it.

`She has a strange scent. . ." the hanyou thought, `reminds me of running through the forest at night, or jumping through the treetops. . . Not just the normal human scent'

But before he could think more on it another scent caught his nose, a very unwelcome scent.

"Sesshoumaru. . ." he ground out.

But the youkai was nowhere in sight. Inuyasha looked around him, trying to figure out where the scent was coming from. He closed his eyes and decided to just follow his nose.

"Uh. . . Inuyasha, what are you doing?"

"I smell. . ." walking towards the scent, he bumped into something.

"Sesshoumaru!" he opened his eyes to find Kagome staring at him, a look of terror on her face.

Anger consumed the hanyou as he grabbed Kagome roughly by the arm.

"Tell me," he whispered. She would have preferred if he had yelled, the cold gaze he ran over her body made her shiver and the quiet tone frightened her more then any scream would have.

Not knowing what to do or say she tried to feign innocence.

"What are you talk-" he shook her, warning her of the consequences of lying.

"Why do I smell Sesshoumaru's scent mixed with yours? Tell me Kagome! There's only one way that happens between humans and youkai-" he stopped abruptly, releasing her arm and turning away.

"Forget it, don't tell me. I don't want to know what kind of sick things you've been doing with my brother" the last word was a sneer, making Kagome wince at his tone.

The other's just looked at her, confusion apparent on each face as Inuyasha ran rapidly back towards the forest from which they had just come.

"Inuyasha, wait!" yelled Kagome desperately, tears of despair falling from her eyes.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*