InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Price of Freedom ❯ breathtaking ( Chapter 2 )

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I don't own InuYasha or the characters within… le sigh

 

Chapter Two

 

Two more girls rushed through the bushes and fell at his feet. There was still someone coming through the woods. The men readied their weapons and prepared for a fight as they heard a man's voice. “You won't escape wenches! I will find you and return you to Master Naraku where you will be punished!”

 

A man burst through the bushes and stopped when he felt the tip of a sword against his throat. He dropped his gun by his feet and swallowed hard. “What business do you have with these girls?” A booming voice rang out from beside the man. He looked over to see a demon standing beside him. The sword was coming from a younger demon with white hair. “My father asked you a question sir. It would be wise to answer him.” Sesshomaru said with the sword still pointed at the man's throat.

 

“These girls belong to my master. They escaped and I am returning them to him.” The man bowed his head as he spoke, showing respect to the demons.

 

Sesshomaru lowered his sword. “I did not know that one could own another human. One owns objects, not another's life.” Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow while awaiting a response from this low life.

 

“My master paid very well for these three, I intend to see them returned to him.” The man raised his head with challenge in his eyes.

 

Inutaisho watched as his oldest son handled the situation. I always knew he would be the one, Inutaisho thought to himself. Sesshomaru may be hard on the outside, but he has a caring heart. He will be the head of the family one day. Inutaisho stood back, and allowed his son to continue.

 

“How much did your master pay for these girls?”

 

“I don't know, but I know he paid well, sir.”

 

He paid well, huh? Well, then I would be able to by them their freedom with mere change. Sesshomaru looked at the man. He pulled a money pouch from his white gi and tossed it to the man. “Take this back to your master. Tell him that Lord Sesshomaru has bought these girls lives. They no longer belong to him.”

 

The guard looked down at the money pouch and stumbled on his words as gold coins filled the bag. He looked up at Sesshomaru as the sword was being placed back in its sheath.

 

“Never look for these girls again. They are not your concern anymore.” Sesshomaru turned away from the man. He walked over to where he had laid the girl on the ground, picked her up, and carried her away.

 

Inutaisho looked at the man as he turned to walk away. InuYasha and Miroku where helping the two other girls back to the camp sight. Yes, things were about to change for his sons. He could hardly contain the smile that threatened to reveal itself.

 

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Sango and Kagome sat around the fire with blankets around them. The rain had stopped, but now they were wet and cold. Inutaisho sat back and watched his sons; he included Miroku as a son, take care of the girls.

 

InuYasha and Miroku had made some hot tea and gave it to the girls to help warm them up. InuYasha thought that the girl called Kagome was beautiful. She had eyes that were so alive, yet she had been locked away as someone's property. That wasn't the case anymore. Sesshomaru, for all the shit that InuYasha gave him, handled the guy great. The man was scared shitless, and Sesshomaru used that to his advantage. He looked over to his brother who was kneeling beside the girl that had collapsed. “What's her story?” InuYasha looked at Kagome.

 

“We're not sure. She was brought in a couple of days ago. She was the newest addition to Naraku's slaves. She had told me that she had been attacked by wolf demons shortly before her arrival. She doesn't even have a name. She has no real idea who she is. She was sold to Naraku by a man that claimed to be her uncle. Naraku gave her the name Kauga, but she hates it. She wants to change it.”

 

“Kauga does not suit her. She would be wise to choose something softer.” Sesshomaru said as he pulled a blanket up over the girls' shoulders.

 

Did he just say softer? InuYasha thought to himself. I've never seen Sesshomaru acting so, so, what's the word I'm looking for? Gentle? His brother, the hard ass, is being gentle. He parted with a lot of money for these girls. Why did he do it? Watching his brother being so tender with that girl, he thought he was looking at someone else.

 

Sesshomaru sat down beside the girl. He took a good look at her face. She was covered in dirt. She looked so helpless, defenseless. The urge to protect her from everything was overwhelming. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.

 

Snap out of it Sesshomaru. She is just a child. She couldn't be older than 16, and you're, well, you're over 300.

 

“You're only in your early 20's Sesshomaru.”

 

“Father?”

 

Inutaisho sat down beside his son. “I could tell by the look on your face. You think she is too young for you. You're wrong.”

 

Sesshomaru stood up intending to walk away. “I have no idea what you are talking about father. I am not interested in this human girl.”

 

“What's so bad about humans my son. I married one. You call her mother, don't you?”

 

“That's not the point father. My point is that I am not going to marry. I never plan on marrying. You and mother will have to get used to that fact. InuYasha can take over as head of the family someday. It is not for me.” He was walking away when he heard the girl cry out. He went back to her side, and knelt beside her. He caught himself wanting to push the hair off of her forehead, but resisted.

 

Ha! Inutaisho thought. This girl will change my son's whole perception of his life. Wait until I tell his mother. Inutaisho stood and walked towards the fire.

 

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Hours later when the moon was high above the horizon she awoke. She looked towards the fire that was slowing burning out and saw her two friends asleep. On either side of them were two boys. One had white hair and was sitting while he slept. The other with black hair was beside Sango. The older man was sitting with his back against a tree, a sword at his side, sleeping. The man whom she had bumped into sat beside her asleep.

 

Looking at him she sat up. His hair was a silvery white color that reflected the moonlight. She remembered his eyes were a deep gold. He had two markings on both of his cheeks near his temples; his ears were a little pointy. He was a demon! She needed to leave. Demons were bad. Wolf demons had tried to hurt her before. She had survived, but barely. She looked past him to see how far she was from her friends. She needed to get to them.

 

“I will not harm you.”

 

She looked at him. His eyes slowly opened and she saw beautiful gold eyes looking at her.

 

“Why do you fear me?”

 

Lowering her head, she said just above a whisper, “You're, I mean, you are a demon.”

 

“I am the same man whose arms you ran into. I am the same man you asked for help. I am also the same man who bought your freedom. Why now, do you not trust me?”

 

“I don't trust anyone.” She said softly. Lying back down, she pulled the blanket up to her neck and closed her eyes. He was right. He had saved her. He was also a demon. She couldn't trust him. Betraying herself, she fell asleep thinking about him.

 

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Kagome opened her eyes. There was no cell holding her now. She decided she would take a walk. It had been along time since she could do something she wanted. Now that she could, she figured she should start right away. She was walking towards the crest of the hill when she heard someone following her. She turned and saw InuYasha standing behind her. “What do you want?” Kagome asked, fear in her voice.

 

“I just wanted to make sure you were alright. Sesshomaru may have bought you your freedom for the moment, but that doesn't mean that Naraku won't keep looking for you.” He walked over to the tree that Sesshomaru had been sitting at the night before. He plopped down to look up at the stars. Kagome walked over and sat beside him. She looked up at his ears. “What're you looking at?” InuYasha knew she was looking at his ears.

 

Kagome got to her knees. She reached out and started rubbing his ears. “They're sooo cute!”

 

“Would you stop that! I'm not a puppy ya know!”

 

“Sorry.” Kagome sat down beside him. “They're just so cute, I couldn't help myself. I'm sure you get that all the time from girls huh?”

 

He scratched his head and wondered about this girl sitting in front of him. “Actually, you're the first. Every once in a while a kid will do that, but never a woo… never a gi… I mean, never someone of the opposite gender.”

 

His face was turning red. He was embarrassed Kagome thought. How cute. She smiled up at him.

 

“How long were you at Naraku's?” InuYasha saw the smile fade from her face and was angry with himself for even bringing it up. “I'll, I mean, my family and I will need to know more in order to protect you. That's the only reason I brought it up.” He turned his head away from her and looked up at the sky.

 

Kagome looked at InuYasha then leaned her head on his shoulder. He stiffened slightly, but then relaxed when he realized it felt kind of nice. “Can you let me have tonight InuYasha? Tomorrow, I will tell you and your family all there is to tell.”

 

“Okay Kagome.” Looking up at the sky he found his arm trying to make its way around Kagome. She leaned into him and looked up at the stars. She fell asleep in the protection of his arms.

 

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Sango had heard InuYasha following Kagome and went to check on her. True they had saved them from the guard, but still. Kagome was her friend and she wanted to make sure this InuYasha guy kept his hands to himself. She stayed behind some bushes and was watching them. She could barely make out what they were saying.

 

“That's eavesdropping ya know.” A voice said softly into her ear.

 

She turned around and saw Miroku standing right behind her. She hadn't even heard him approach her. “I wasn't eavesdropping. I was just making sure he didn't try anything on her, that's all.”

 

“InuYasha's harmless really. I wouldn't worry too much about him. He's not the type to take advantage of someone.” He turned to walk away and looked at her, “Coming?” He asked making sure to let InuYasha and Kagome have some privacy.

 

Sango reluctantly followed. Walking beside him she started to get a funny feeling in her stomach. She had noticed that he was cute, she wasn't dead ya know. It's perfectly normal to feel this way about a man who had helped save me, she kept telling herself. She was lost in thought when she heard her name. “Huh?”

 

“I was saying how this night turned out to be very nice. We actually left a day early ya know. If we hadn't, well, needless to say, we wouldn't have been on the mountain this morning, and you never would have happened upon us. I guess things happen for a reason, don't you think?” He had stopped in front of her and was looking deep into her eyes.

 

A slight blush crept into her cheeks. “I guess so. We were lucky you were here.” She smiled up at him.

 

Miroku took that as a good sign. “Well, we should be getting back before Master Inutaisho wakes.”

 

He led her back towards the campsite. After she had lain down, Miroku laid down beside her. “If there is anything you need Sango, don't hesitate to roll over and ask. I am only a few inches away.”

 

Looking at him, she saw a look of devilment on his face, “I'll keep that in mind.” She said very flatly and lay down to sleep.

 

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Izayoi sat at the desk in the library looking through an old book. She shut the book and stood. The house was too quiet without her boys. They weren't due back for two more days and she had no idea what she was going to do with herself until they returned. She was driving the servants insane with her pacing and wandering. She had tried to paint out in her shed, but she ended up throwing the canvas away. She tried baking and was thrown out of her own kitchen by their chef. She tried cleaning and was told she was paying people good money to do these things for her, so she should just sit down and enjoy the peace. Maybe she would try planting some flowers. It relaxed her when InuYasha was a little one. Maybe it would relax her until her family returned.

 

She had changed into a pair of old, faded jeans, a cotton t-shirt, and a pair of sneakers. She was walking out the front door when the gardener stopped her on the porch. “You leave flowers alone. I know what you do. You try doing every one else job today. You no do my job.”

 

Izayoi stood there in shock as the gardener walked off the porch and towards the gardens. “That's it. This is my house and by God if I want to plant flowers, I'm going to plant flowers.” She started off the porch toward the gardens when she heard the SUV pulling into the drive. She looked to see her boys coming home. The thought never even crossed her mind that they were home early. She was just excited to see them.

 

Running over to the vehicle, she met her husband as he climbed out of the SUV. “Oh Inutaisho! I'm so happy you're home. I missed you so much.”

 

He leaned down and kissed his wife. “Izayoi, there is something you and I need to talk about.”

 

Izayoi looked over to see three young girls standing in front of her boys. “Oh my.”

 

“Now honey, don't get too worked up. These girls needed our help, and…”

 

She never heard the rest of her husband's sentence. She was over by the girls in an instant. “Oh my! You poor girls. Come in the house. I'll tell the servants we have guests. You girls look like you could use a hot bath and some nice clean clothes. I'll see what I can find for you. Oh you poor dears. Come on, move along with you. Into the house, let's go.”

 

Kagome looked over her shoulder as she and the others were being herded into the house and smiled at InuYasha. He shrugged his shoulders and started to unload the car.

 

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While the men were in the library discussing the situation at hand, Izayoi was upstairs fussing over the girls.

 

Now then, let's get you girls out of those dirty clothes and into these kimono's while I get you a bath ready. She laid three beautiful cotton kimonos on the bed and went into the bathroom to start the tub. The girls quickly shed their clothes for the kimonos and went into the bathroom.

 

Izayoi decided that she would stay and help the girls. They were covered in mud from head to toe. Kagome and Sango started to bathe while the other girl tried to get the dirt from her hair. “Here dear, let me help you with that.” Izayoi said. She took the brush from the girls hand and grabbed a cup. Filling it with hot water, she poured it slowly into the girl's hair. “What's your name dear?”

 

This woman was being so nice to her, she didn't know how to act. “I don't have one m'lady.”

 

“Call me Izayoi. Now then, I can't refer to you as girl all the time now can I? You know, if I had had a daughter instead of a son, I would have called her Rin. What do you think of that name?” Izayoi lathered her hair carefully as not to pull on the knots and mud that was plastered to her head.

 

“It's really pretty.” Kagome added thinking back to what Sesshomaru had said. “It's a soft name. I think you should use it.”

 

The girl looked at Sango who nodded her head in agreement. “Then my name shall be Rin” she said. Izayoi smiled as she rinsed Rin's hair.

 

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“Have you ever heard of the man named Naraku father?” Sesshomaru asked as he paced the library with a glass of sake in his hand. He stopped to look out the window as the night started to creep in. They had all showered and changed. Gi's are comfortable while training, but they had been wearing them for two days. While the girls were cleaning up, they figured they would too.

 

Inutaisho took a sip of his sake and shook his head. “Unfortunately, no I have not. I will make some calls first thing tomorrow and see if I can't find out. InuYasha. Miroku. I want the two of you to watch over the girls tonight.”

 

Miroku's eyes lit up with excitement. Now maybe he might be able to find out more about the lovely Sango. THONK! “Ouch! What'd ya do that for?”

 

InuYasha thumped him on the head again. “I saw that look in your eyes you lecher. He said to watch over them, not paw over them.” InuYasha sat back down in his chair.

 

Inutaisho chuckled. “I want to put them in the room between yours and Sesshomaru's. Miroku, you will stay in with InuYasha tonight. Sesshomaru, your ears are more sensitive than InuYasha's, so I will be counting on you to hear anything out of the ordinary.”

 

There was a knock on the door. Inutaisho walked to the door to open it. Izayoi walked in. “I thought you might like to see the girls before I have some dinner brought to them. They are tired, so I figured they could eat early and then get some rest.”

 

InuYasha stood. “It's not like we haven't seen them before mother…” His voice faded as Kagome walked into the room. She had color on her cheeks and her eyes were sparkling. Her long hair was smooth and shiny, laying down her back. She blushed as InuYasha stood there with his mouth hanging open.

 

Izayoi walked over to her son and putting her hand under his chin, closed his mouth for him.

 

Miroku started laughing as Sango walked into the room. Miroku had the same expression on his face as InuYasha had had. “Ha!” InuYasha said as he smacked Miroku on the back.

 

“Sango. You look lovely.” Before she could thank Miroku for the compliment he grabbed Sango by the hands. “Would you consider bearing my children?”

 

“Oh Miroku.” Izayoi said as she buried her face in her hands.

 

SMACK!

 

Sango turned and walked away from him leaving a red handprint across his cheek.

 

While all this was unfolding, Sesshomaru had been standing looking out the window. He heard the smack, and InuYasha laughing. Then silence. He turned to see the girl standing in the doorway, shy, hesitant to enter. She was breathtaking. Her skin looked like fine silk, while her green eyes sparkled in the light. Her ebony hair was long and wavy hanging over the shoulders of the black and yellow kimono she wore. Sesshomaru set his glass down and started walking towards her.

 

Izayoi saw the sudden change in Sesshomaru. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn't have believed it. He softened immediately. His features, the way he moved, everything about him changed in that one instance. Izayoi looked at Rin and saw her stiffen. She looked back at Sesshomaru and saw the softness disappear.

 

He walked towards Rin who was stiff as a board. “You are breathtaking.” He whispered so only she could hear, and left the room.

 

Tears started to well up in Rins eyes. She turned and ran from the room.

 

“Well now, what was all that about.? She looked as though she were afraid of him.” Izayoi said half to herself.

 

“She was attacked by wolf demons. I think she is a little afraid of him.” Sango said as she removed Miroku's hand from her bottom.

 

“Sesshomaru would never harm her. I think I should go talk to her.” Izayoi said as Inutaisho put his hand on his wife's shoulder.

 

“Let me,” He said to his wife. “You go talk to Sesshomaru.”

 

Inutaisho walked towards the door. “InuYasha, why don't you and Miroku take the girls to the kitchen and see if you can find them something to eat?”

 

 

 

Thanks all Please R&R

Fluffy802005