InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Inu Slave ❯ Switching Hands ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

He sat, reclining against the wall. There were few people around him, just a handful of customers at the small tea house. It was one of those rare times when he decided to pull himself from the tranquility of the woods and immerse himself in society. Well, he’d go to traveler’s tea huts. Which was the most he could handle. Too many humans for his taste.

A geisha in a pink and gold kimono bowed before him and handed him a cup of tea. Which, he could smell, was spiked with sake. Just the way he liked it. Bowing again she walked away to attend to her other customers who consisted of 3 humans and a fox demon.

Sighing, he drank the tea and tried to ignore the feeling of emptiness settling over him once again. For a moment, he entertained himself by watching the geisha and the men she was serving. None held his interest, none worth watching.

A gust of wind swept into the room, making everyone stop and glance towards the door. Slitting open his eyes, he looked at the room over the rim of his cup. In walked a man dressed in red and black, his dark hair just brushing the collar of his haori.

He noted with interest that the man held what looked to be a leash in his hand. Lowering his cup, he watched with feined boredom as the man spoke momentarily with the geisha than wandered over to sit more in the middle of things, giving the leash a sharp yank as he went.

When he saw what was on the other end of the leash, he had to smother the gasp that wanted very much to escape. The leash was attached to a collar, which was around the neck of a young woman.

He couldn’t believe it. There were few humans who could get away with such a thing. Which ment the man was probably well connected. Normaly it wouldn’t have really effected him, but something about the woman struck him as odd.

She had on an open long black and silver haori of some kind, and her clothes underneath were black and tight, leaving little to the imagination. Which was probably the intent. He couldn’t see her face as it was hidden behind her long black hair, but he noted how pale and long her fingers were. In fact...He glanced down at his own hand. She had the hands of a demon.

He looked back up to find them sitting almost exactly in the middle of the room. The man was currently talking with a couple of the human men and the geisha, while the woman sat slightly behind him.

When she shifted, he could tell she did indeed have demon blood in her by how fair her skin was. He watched in silent curiousity as she stared at the tea before her. He could feel her sorrow, saw it in every little thing she did.

Seemingly senseing his gaze, she looked up at him. Brilliant rose colored eyes locked onto his and he felt a jolt within him. The black stripes under her eyes marked her as being an Inu, but the small, thin, vertical stripes under her eyes marked her as a dragon. Not to mention the coloring of her eyes.

And yet...And yet he could smell human on her. Strange, the woman. He’d never seen a half-breed like her. And the look in her eyes..It was hard to place, which made it all too easy to understand. Sorrow, hopelessness..For some insane reason, he felt for her.

Cursing himself mentally, he looked away. He wasn’t going to get involved.

The sounds of a struggle made him look back up. The man had hold of the geisha’s wrist and seemed to be trying to pull her into his lap.

With a yell, she swung at him, hitting him hard on the side of the face. Growling, he grabbed her by the front of the shirt and drug her down to his level. Pulling his hand back, he made to smack her.

As he made to swing, the woman grabbed his wrist.
“Leave her alone.” Her voice was soft, and though it was mostly devoid of emotion, he caught a hit of anger within the nothingness.

The man looked back at her, momentarily stunned. Seeing her chance, the geisha pulled away from him. Blinking, the man growled at her, then in a flash had turned and backhanded her. She cried out in general pain as she hit the floor, which made him suspect that the man had a jewel shard in his arm.

He felt anger flare up within him as he watched the man move to hit the woman again. He just couldn’t help it. When the mans hand came down, he decided enough was enough. He knew the woman was unable to defend herself, so for some insane reason he decided to do it for her.

Standing, he walked calmy over towards them, ignoring the looks of the men as they noticed him for the first time. Drawing Tokijin, he stopped before the man and held the blade to his neck.

“Enough.” The man stopped what he was doing as soon as the cool steel touched his flesh. Slowly, he turned to look at the one who was threatening him. The man looked startled as he took in the fact that it wasn’t just some human with moral issues who was threatening him. It was a demon.

He stared coldly down at the man before him. He could feel the eyes of everyone in the room on him, including those of the woman.
“This is none of your concern. She needs to learn her place.”
He pressed the blade harder against the man’s throat, drawing blood. “Get up.” For a moment, the man just looked up at him, before raising his hands and grinning.

“Hey man, chill out. No need to freak.” He said nothing. “What? You want to play with her? Cause if you do, it’s gonna cost you. Perhaps...That sword.” The man was eyeing up the blade as he spoke.

Slitting his eyes, he drew the sword back. The man grinned as if he was about to make the deal of a century. But it was the demons turn to grin. Though he didn’t. In one swift movment he’d drawn the sword across the man’s chest, ripping his shirt and drawing blood.

The man just blinked for a moment, then looked down and saw the blood. “You son of a bitch.” With that he lept to his feet and drew his katana. “You’ll pay for that!”

The man swung at him, but he easily blocked it. Snarling in annoyance, he drew the blade above his head then drew it down with as much force as he could muster. The demon blocked it easily, much to the man’s annoyance. “Why. Won’t.You. Die?!” He swung his sword with each word, each time being easily blocked. “Damnit!”

The man lept back, moving towards the door, dragging the woman with him. Annoyed at this, he decided it was time to end it. He was in no mood to humor the stupid human any longer.

Extending his first two fingers, he held his sword blade down, puling it close to his chest.

The man watched him warily, knowing he was up to something.

Opening his eyes, he swung his arm in an outward arch, and as he did so, summoned his energy wip. It appeared from nowere and snapped forward at his command, slicing through the chain the man was using as a leash.

The man cried out in suprise, then looked fearfully at the demon before him. The woman stumbled back and away from them, knowing damn well it wouldn’t be smart to stay near.

Shifting his eyes back to the man before him, he drew his sword up at an arch so it was inches from resting on his shoulder. The man took a step back, fear evident in his eyes. “Come on, we can work something out. There must be something you want?”
“I want you to shut up.”
With that, he drew his sword down, an arch of blue energy exploding from it. The man tried to turn and run but he was too slow. The attack tore into him, cutting him into two. His blood soaked the floor as his body crashed to the ground.

Sheething his sword, he turned to look at the woman. She was sitting on the floor, leaning back against her arms staring up at him, stunned. Noting that she seemed more or less unharmed, he turned and began walking away.

After a moment, he heard her climb to her feet and begin following him without a word. He left the tea house without a second glance, not bothering to acknowledge the strange inu woman following him.

They continued on in that fashion for some time, neither saying a word. The forest began to close in around them, the tea hut nothing more than a blood-soaked memory behind them.

And still she followed him.

Why, he wasn’t a hundred percent sure, though he figured it had something to do with the fact that he’d just slaughtered her master. Which he figured ment it was up to him to decide her fate. Which was something he really didn’t feel like doing.

“Thank you.” He shifted his gaze back to the woman, who was watching him silently, her luminesent eyes fixated on his. He said nothing to her, unsure how to broach the subject of her position. Shifting his gaze back to the forest before him, he decided to let his silence speak for him.

“May I know the name of my new master?” He felt a slight frown flit across his face. “I am not your master.” His tone was sterner than he had intended, though he figured he’d at least get the message across that he wasn’t interested in having her serve him.

“Then how about the name of my savior?” He mentally scowled. He didn’t want to be thought of as anyone’s savior.
“I am not your savior.”
“But you saved me from Him. That would make you my savior, would it not?”
Sighing mentally he decided it best to indulge her lest she keep at him all night.

“Sesshomaru.”