InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Final Bow ❯ Revalations and more Questions ( Chapter 11 )

Disclaimer: it is as it was as it ever shall be! ( very philosophical, aye?)

AN: (Authoress creeps nervously to center stage, looking guilty and a bit frightened) Hi (ducks tomato) heh, yeah I guess I deserve that (dodges watermelon) that too ( dives off stage as a 1974 Volkswagen bug is hurled on stage) Now that's going a little far don't you think? Anyways. Sorry for the delay, hope you enjoy.

The Final Bow

By Undecidedly Certain

Chapter 11

Revelations and more Questions

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Last time

"I don't know why, but I feel kind of nervous about opening this." she said with a nervous smile. "Kind of silly, huh?"

"Not really. There may be answers to many of our questions in this book. We may not like all of them."

Her smile brightened considerably, and with a determined nod she opened the book.

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Now

With nervous hands Kagome reached out and gingerly pulled back the old tanned binding. The leather felt soft and worn against her skin, very natural, not like the processed leather of today. It had a quality of workmanship lost long ago to the impatience of man.

The first page of the book was brushed by hand in beautiful kanji, obviously done by a skilled scribe. It read only this;

Heed the days of old and ye shall find absolution.

Kagome cocked her head to the side and read it again. That seemed like an odd opener for a legend. She cast a sideways glance at Sesshoumaru who seemed to be looking for hidden meaning as well, his skillfully chiseled face set in hard, concentrated lines.

With a shrug Kagome gently lifted the corner of the ancient rice paper, yellowed and thinned with age, and turned the page carefully so as not to damage it in anyway. The next page began a little more traditionally. In the way that any good story teller would begin a story it began with an introduction.

(text)

I am but a traveling monk, a humble servant set upon this earth if for no other reason than to record the events that have changed the lives of many and quite possible the fate of the world as well. I do not know all of the finer details or proceedings for I myself did not join in the plight until our lands were teetering on the precipice of destruction, but I will relay to the best of my knowledge the events leading up to the war for the Shikon no tama.

It is said that at the breaking of dawn in a peaceful village on the boarder of Mushashi one spring day a woman child was brought into this world with a destiny greater than height of mount Fuji. The child was said to be beautiful and full of life and possessing of a great amount of spiritual power. She had a soul so pure that it reached out and touched everything around her, cleansing those around her of hate and ailments, purifying evil and reaching out to the good in all creation.

When this woman child came of age she was entrusted with a great task. The Shikon no tama, a jewel of great and terrible power, was commended into her protection for she alone possessed the power to keep its power pure and untainted.

The woman child grew into a beautiful young woman, a miko of great power, but she was flawed. Her compassionate heart would not allow her to kill gratuitously. Perhaps, in the end, it was her greatest strength as well as her greatest weakness.

A great evil arose in the land, origins unknown, but it was rumored that a man with heart of black called upon the demons to feast upon his flesh in exchange for their power. This evil was neither man nor Youkai nor truly Hanyou for his blood was tainted with malice and his heart was vice.

This evil set upon his sights the Shikon no tama seeking its power to remove his human blood and become immortal, but his human heart betrayed him. He became obsessed with the beautiful protector of the jewel and lusted after her, coveting her and the jewel for his own. The miko was too powerful so stealing her away was futile, and though he could have killed her his human heart would not allow it.

Setting his sights once more on power this evil aligned himself with the great demon lord of the west, biding his time under his service like a serpent lying in wait to strike its prey under the cover of deceit and darkness.

Using a dark sorceress the psudo-hanyou ensnared the great Western lord. The young lord was grievously injured before he was able to free himself. The psudo-hanyou escaped to evade his death at the demon lords claws, but the lord himself was injured nearly to the point of death.

The miko found and healed the demon lord, despite his violent protests and together they built a great army to take back the western lands that had been claimed by the psudo-hanyou.

It was unheard of for demon and miko to work hand in hand and it was rumored that the lord had attained the woman's services by force, or that the miko was on a god sent mission to rid the world of such great evil, but the truth of the situation was much simpler.

She was in love with the demon lord and he her, though he was disinclined to admit it, such things were forbidden. Miko and demons were sworn enemies. Miko were taught from the beginning of their training that demons were evil, a taint to the world, while demons believed that humans were inferior and insignificant.

This particular miko took no heed of the ancient teachings, her innocence and reverence of all life showed her that demons, as with men, could be good or evil or simply somewhere in between. Her universal acceptance of everyone she came across and her open honesty and fearless spirit drew people to her in droves. The great demon lord was no exception. He had no more power to deny the pull of destiny than to deny that the sun rises in the east or that summer will fade to fall.

It was inevitable for two such souls to merge. A balance was needed between the world of man an Youkai and these two willing vessels were unable to deny.

The army raised by the miko and demon lord was unlike any other ever heard of. Men, Youkai, and hanyou all working together, fighting together, living together, and dying together came to understand what our young miko was born knowing; that blood does not determine the color of your soul.

When the great battle came the demon lord demanded that the miko remain on the outside of the skirmish, but she could not remain idle for long. When the demon lord was injured she rode into the heart of battle, the trail of her power blazing hotter than the sun.

It was a glorious sight as she joined him in battle. They fought side by side eventually defeating the enemy army, but unfortunately the psudo hanyou escaped with his life.

This is where our story should end, but unfortunately the psudo hanyou was not willing to relinquish his claim to either the miko or the tama. The demon lord and the miko should have lived happily ever after, but duty and malevolence stood between……

(end text)

Kagome turned the page looking for the rest of the story, but the next two pages had been torn out.

"No!" Kagome shouted in outrage. "It cant just end like that! Who would tear out the end of the story?"

"Hm." Sesshoumaru commented flipping lazily through the rest of the pages. The rest of the book was filled with maps and statistics and other odds and ends deemed record able at the time. Nothing worth reading at nearly 4 am.

He closed the book and looked over at Kagome. She had her head buried in the cradle of her arms, her dark hair spilling about her in waves. He actually began to ponder whether or not she'd fallen asleep when her head popped up suddenly.

"Well that was totally useless ." She grumped, placing her chin on her fist dejectedly.

Sesshoumaru nodded, silently studying her face. She looked so beautiful sitting there shadowed dramatically by the darkness around them. "It did concur directly with the visions we've been seeing though. At least we have an idea what we're dealing with."

"I guess." She sighed letting her elbows slide out from under her so her chin rested directly on the table. " So…what do we do now?"

He couldn't stop the wry grin that spread across his face if he tried. "Well seeing as its nearly 4 am, we could go to bed."

"Why Sesshoumaru, how lewd." She said as regally as she could while mimicking his customary quirked brow. He really did smile this time. She was just so…amusing.

His smile was so beautiful, Kagome's heart seemed to speed up at the sight of it. No wonder he didn't smile more, he'd risk attack by amorous fan girls if he did. It could even be a new reality series. `When horny fan girls attack'. Maybe they'd let her host.

When she started to giggle out loud at the insane turn her thoughts were taking, Sesshoumaru placed a gentle hand against her forehead, checking for fever. She giggled again, a happy flush coloring her cheeks as she concilitatingly waved him off.

"Sorry." She said softly with a playful glint in her eyes. " I get kind of silly when I'm tired."

"So I've noticed."

The sat there looking into each others eyes for a few moments, content just to be so near, when the heavy pull of sleep began to weigh at her eyelids. Before she knew what was going on she was being gently scooped into a pair of strong arms and carried upstairs.

Sighing in contentment Kagome snuggled her head under his chin and wrapped her arms around his neck breathing in his heavenly scent. 'Hmm' she thought dazedly, 'he even smells good in the middle of the night.'

Kagome felt as light in his arms as Rin did, only with a longer and more lithe frame. When Kagome's' slender arms came up around his neck, her soft breathing fanned against the sensitive skin of his neck and her hair tickled his chin. He could hear her breathing starting to even out and knew that she was drifting off to sleep.

`At least one of us is.' He thought irritated, though a soft smile tugged at his lips. It was truly amazing the way this girl seemed to lure his guard down in a way it had for no other. 'Even though she completely drives me crazy.'

At the top of the stairs he turned right down the hall and pushed her door open with his foot. The moon cast a soft blue glow over her bed from the window making her burgundy bedspread look like black silk in the dark.

Standing next to her bed he felt for the first time an almost irrepressible urge to do something completely unproductive with his time. He just wanted to hold her, though it would serve no real purpose he just wasn't ready to let go of her yet.

She looked so beautiful, her head tucked comfortably against his shoulder, a soft smile playing about her soft pink lips. A voiceless sigh escaped him when he caught his gaze lingering. He felt so drawn and frustratingly attracted to her . Every time they managed to end up alone either someone interrupted or, as in the current situation, she was in no condition for what he had in mind.

Gently he lowered her to the bed, but as he was pulling his arms from beneath her his hand grazed her side.

Kagome jolted awake with a gasp and bolted upright, her hands going protectively over her ribs. It had been such a gentle touch, yet it had sent a tremor of pain through her strong enough to bring tears to her eyes.

Wide blue sleep hazed eyes surveyed the situation, quickly realizing that Sesshoumaru had carried her up to bed. "I-I'm sorry…you just startled me." She lied hoping it was late enough to be convincing.

Sesshoumaru, unfortunately, wasn't buying.

With a tight frown pulling at his handsome features he gently removed Kagome's hand from its protective post at her side. He guided her down on the bed and lifted her shirt, quieting her protests with a forceful glare, stopping them before they could even roll off her tongue.

Even in the pale light he could see the dark purple bruise covering nearly the entire breadth of her tiny rib cage. A bruise in the shape of a mans hand. Sesshoumaru's jaw clenched in anger as his hand tenderly traced the swollen marks marring her fair flesh, his rage escalating when she winced at such a feather soft touch.

Kagome watched in fascination as his eyes narrowed at the bruise. Even though it hurt, his touch was welcome and comforting in a way. When he hit a particularly tender spot with his fingertips and she winced his jaw clenched and his eyes flashed in the moonlight. Yellow? Was that even possible?

Before she even got a chance to ponder whether her eyes were deceiving her with a trick of the light Sesshoumaru dipped his head down to her side. 'What the hell is he….?' but all thought flew right out of her head as she felt something silky and wet caress her skin. 'Is he….Oh my god, he's licking me?' Of course it was having a rather strange effect on her, instead of grossing her out like it probably should have, a man she had only known a few months 'licking her wounds' so to speak, it was turning her on.

Really turning her on.

In all honest, Sesshoumaru seemed to have lost control of his motor skills the moment he laid eyes on the swelling contusion against her side. It felt like something primal that had been laying dormant inside him suddenly sprung to life and took control of his body.

Before he knew what he was doing he had his face buried in her side, his tongue making long, sweeping strokes across her hot, inflamed skin. There really was no explanation coming to mind as he searched for answers, any answer, as to why he would want to lick her…ok, lets rephrase that…why he would want to lick her injured side. It just didn't make any sense.

And yet he couldn't pull away. He felt compelled to coat every inch of marred skin with his tongue, as if it would make it better.

Kagome couldn't explain the feelings he was stirring in her just from such a simple, and very weird action. She was feeling flushed and tingly and incredibly warm, yet her skin prickled with goose bumps with every languid stroke he made. His tongue was warm and silky, leaving a trail of wet skin rapidly cooling in the night air in its wake. For the love of God, if he didn't stop she was going to lose her mind. She barely even registered that almost all of the pain was gone.

"Um…" She squeaked pitifully before clearing her throat and trying again. "Er..Sess-ohhhh" A heat like none other engulfed her face at her outward expression of just how good he was making her feel. She had to try again before this got out of hand. "Se-Sesshoumaru." She whispered urgently. "What are you doing?" Her voice had taken a slightly desperate edge, that being the deciding factor that finally caught his attention through his primordial haze.

Pulling his head up from her side Sesshoumaru noticed several things that he should have been aware of all along. A healthy flush covered Kagome from her hair line right down to where it disappeared under the collar of her tank top. Also his traitorous hand had evidently taken upon its self to slowly inch up underneath the scrap of silk bunched below her breasts until it was mere millimeters away from claiming its prize.

Also, he was now in dire need of a cold shower.

Slowly withdrawing his hands from her shirt so as not to startle her, he gently arose from the side of her bed. Unable to meet he eyes he simply headed for the door, calling out a quiet `get some sleep' before disappearing down the hall.

He stalked off toward his bedroom absolutely furious. His hands were balled into tight fists, so tight he could feel his nails biting into the flesh of his palm. He was angry at Naraku for inflicting such damage on such a beautiful creature as Kagome, angry that he would have the gall to touch what belonged to him. But most of all he was angry at himself. Angry that he felt so damn possessive over the frustrating woman, and angry at his strange, neigh uncontrollable behavior. He despised being out of control and even more, he despised embarrassment and damn if he didn't feel both right now.

Flinging his door shut behind him, Sesshoumaru made straight for his private bathroom fully intent on slapping some sense into himself with a good dose of cold water. Not even bothering with the light he went straight for the sink turning the cold water on full, reveling in the sharp splattering the water made slapping against the marble.

Catching some of the cool water in his cupped hands, he splashed it on his face, the cold bringing his skin to life with tingles. He splashed a few more handfuls before rearing back and letting the cold droplets trail down his neck. Opening his eyes in the dark he started to reach for the hand towel, but stopped at what he caught sight of in the mirror.

He could barely make out his silhouette in the darkened mirror, but that's not what startled him. What had him on edge was the fact that his eyes were glowing. Glowing yellow, standing out like spotlights in a darkened field.

Quickly, yet never taking his eyes off the image in the mirror he moved to flip on the lights. As the light flickered into the room, his eyes stayed glued in wonder at the sight before him. His eyes…they were…yellow.

He reached his hand out to touch the image in the mirror reverently. What was happening to him. When his suddenly talon like fingernails clicked against the reflective glass his eyes darted to his hand, or more specifically…his wrist. Two fading red stripes wrapped themselves around the slender appendage like some sort of odd tribal tattoos.

Tattoos…..

`You had long hair and …tattoos.' Kagome's words echoed through his mind like a drop of water in a dry basin.

He watched as his nails retracted back to where they belonged and the markings on his wrists began to fade. His gaze shot up to his reflection in the mirror, disturbed as his eyes faded from yellow to hazel.

`What in hell is happening to me?'

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AN: Okey dokey! Hope you enjoyed! Next chapter will be more about the actual filming getting ready to begin, and some more fan service, and the beginning of the end of Naraku's acting career! Yeah! If any of you want me to e-mail you when I update, just send me your address and I will be sure to get the word out when the next chapter is done!

And don't forget to review! Toodles

U.C.