InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Price of Vengeance ❯ Chapter Twelve: Affected ( Chapter 13 )

Chapter Twelve (Affected)

"SesshouMaru."

The whisper was faint and held an edge of fear.

The Taiyoukai smiled.

"Miko." He inclined his head slightly, allowing the smile to disappear into cold disdain. He studied the girl for some moments, allowing the silence to stretch between them while the scent of her fear grew to dominate her own uniquely feminine scent. The girl even trembled slightly under his chill gaze.

She was passingly pretty, ningen heritage notwithstanding. If counted by human standards, she was beautiful. Her black hair was the shade of the darkest night, so inky black it seemed tinted with blue in certain lights. She was small and slight, but her brief yellow shift more than allowed one to follow the promising curves beneath. The girl who he had first met three years before had blossomed in more ways then one. The task before him might not prove as distasteful as he had once believed.

Something flashed in the girl's brown eyes, and the Taiyoukai was slightly taken aback as the girl jumped up, determination and foolish pride firming her delicate jaw. Somewhat intrigued, the Lord waited.

"Well? What do you want? You don't expect me to sit here and make polite conversation do you?"

A silver brow lifted at the girl's audacity.

"You take me away from my friends, and lock me up in this stupid rock-pile for who knows how long, come in and give me the fright of my life and now you're going to stand there and say NOTHING?"

The girl's fear was mingled with the scent of desperation. Pointless human bravado had her standing up to the feared Lord of the Western Lands. She was actually shaking a finger at him in her indignation. Her reactions were uncommonly intriguing. Her passionate defiance was delightfully stimulating. Was this why the half-bastard hanyou was so taken with her?

As the Lord's silence drawled on, the girl stared at her pointing finger and blinked. With a little shake of her head that made her black hair swirl across her shoulders, she dropped her hand to her side. Her features were hidden a moment as she bowed her head before him. SesshouMaru waited with faint curiousity as she seemed to come to a decision. Her fleeting emotions could be read over her overly expressive face, and he found her actions slightly amusing.

Thin shoulders firming, the girl looked back up at him, and glared.

Glared? At him?

"You're a jerk." She pronounced, eyes flashing.

The Taiyoukai had her thrust against the stone wall in a flash, his hand wrapped around her throat, claws digging through the tangles of her raven hair to clench at the stoned wall behind her. Golden eyes glinted like molten lava.

"You are impertinent." He growled.

He could feel the rapid beat of her heart beneath his palm, and the jerking of her throat as she struggled for air. He tightened his hand minutely, and she gasped. Wide brown eyes seemed to dominate the white face, and the Taiyoukai could smell the overwhelming fear that surged and sent her trembling. Her hands had come up instinctively, and her small palms pushed at his chest futilely. The fact that she even tried to struggle was even novel. Most stupid ningen would have been like lifeless dolls, praying their last prayers and handing him their fates with fear-filled resignation.

Her throat convulsed, and he released his grip just enough so that she could draw breath and speak. Again, she surprised him.

"Ow."

*Ow?*

"You didn't have to hit my head like that." She whispered hoarsely, her eyes flashing with annoyance. Her small hands firmed on his chest, and she again tried to push him away. Futile move.

"You are strange." He pronounced thoughtfully, staring intently into her brown eyes. His grip softened slightly as he allowed his thumb to trace along her delicate jawline. Denying the laws of nature, the girl's eyes grew wider as she realized just how close their bodies were. Amused, the Taiyoukai allowed himself to press more familiarly along the girl's small frame, crushing her against the unforgiving expanse of stone behind her.

She trembled, and SesshouMaru's claws tightened reflexively. A small drop of blood welled up from where his thumb traced her jaw. The Lord stared at the drop of blood as it beaded brightly red on the white skin. He watched with fascination as a single tear fell down the pale cheek and mixed with the blood, turning it faintly pink. Feeling his inu youkai blood stirring, the Taiyoukai dipped his mouth to the cut, pressing the girl's body into the stone as she struggled helplessly.

He touched the wound delicately with his tongue, allowing the healing saliva to seal the small puncture. His hand loosened from her neck and he traced her sharply defined collarbone with his fingers, careful lest he puncture the delicate flesh again. His lips tasted the side of her neck as he inhaled the strongly feminine scent of the girl.

The girl had stiffened in his arms at the initial touch of his mouth against her neck, but then she forced him away from her with a surprising show of strength. Glaring at him with shock and anger, she shouted.

"HENTAI!"

SesshouMaru snarled, his demon blood stirring at the girl's rebellion. Golden eyes flashed with red. The ningen's defiance was even more compelling than her fear.

*Interesting.*

Again, his more logical mind asserted itself, and he stepped away from the girl. The tight control he kept over his youkai nature was harnessed once more as he stared at the girl with cool detachment.

The girl had one hand clasped to her neck, where he had kissed her. Her pale cheeks were heated in a blush even as her eyes snapped at him. Her innocent outrage was almost amusing. But not enough for him to put up with her defiance.

"You are growing tedious. I do not tolerate disobedience."

"Disobedience?" The girl sputtered. "I am not a dog!"

The Taiyoukai smiled faintly.

"No, you are not." Golden eyes glinted with amusement as he turned to leave.

"Pity."

*~*~*~*~*

"Something bothers me about the demons who came after us yesterday." Miroku said thoughtfully as he tossed dirt over the dying embers of their fire.

Sango paused in mid-stretch, trying to ease the kinks out of her tired muscles. "You mean, Naraku's demons?"

"Yes. Naraku sent quite a few youkai at us. That in itself doesn't make sense." Miroku used the hem of his blue robes to wipe the dirt from his fingers.

"Why? He's done that before." Sango continued her stretch. A muscle cramped, and she rubbed her thigh. Miroku ogled the shapely appendage appreciatively, but her returning glare made him sigh.

Averting his eyes to the dusty remains of their fire, he continued. "Yes, but after InuYasha discovered how to use the Wind Scar, Naraku has become more cautious about just throwing youkai at us."

"True." Sango agreed. "But then, he was helping SesshouMaru capture Kagome."

"But, if I remember rightly, SesshouMaru had denied any association with Naraku." Miroku used a stick to stir the dirt, looking for any remaining embers and trying NOT to look at the beautiful taijiya, who had continued her stretching.

Sango paused again. "But SesshouMaru's worked with Naraku in the past. Or so you told me. Didn't he use a human arm that Naraku had given him when he took the Tetsusaiga from InuYasha?"

"Yes..." Miroku let the thought trail off, doubt written across his features.

"So it can be assumed that SesshouMaru and Naraku were working together again. Naraku has become afraid of Kagome's miko powers. She nearly killed him with her sacred arrow that time at his castle, when he tricked and poisoned Koga." Sango jerked her head up suddenly as the brush parted, and InuYasha strode toward them from the forest. Concern glowed in her brown eyes for the hanyou, before she shielded her thoughts. As a warrior, she well knew that InuYasha would not appreciate her pity or concern.

"SesshouMaru was working with Naraku." InuYasha bit out as he joined them.

Miroku surveyed his friend with a jaundiced eye. "So you have finally decided to join us, hmm?"

"Spare me, monk." The hanyou's amber eyes flashed, and Miroku held up his hand in mock defense.

"Just trying to lighten the mood."

"Well, I don't need it. What I need to do is go and rescue Kagome." The hanyou bit back.

"You mean, WE need to go and rescue Kagome." Sango replied quietly, determination lacing her words. The hanyou glared at the slayer for a minute. Sango met his glare with a level one of her own. Unreadable emotions sparked through the hanyou's fiery amber eyes before he nodded sharply, signifying his agreement.

InuYasha unhooked the sheath of the Tetsusaiga from his side and, in one graceful motion, sat cross-legged next to the amused houshi. "Fine. We will ALL go and find Kagome."

"So..." Miroku passed a glance between the two warriors. "Do you even know where to start looking?"

InuYasha snorted. "Of course."

"SesshouMaru is Lord of the Western Lands." Sango said, lost in thought. She ignored InuYasha's growl. "I do not know where his castle lies, but I know where his lands..."

"I know where it is." InuYasha cut her off. Sango looked at him, her brown eyes unreadable, but she nodded slowly. InuYasha must have spent some time in his younger life at the castle of his youkai father.

"Yes. I understand."

InuYasha flashed her a quelling glare, and shrugged his tense shoulders. A clawed hand clenched at the hilt of his sword.

Miroku drummed his fingers on the haft of his staff, making the rings chime faintly. The sound made the taijiya and hanyou quit staring at each other and fix their attention on him. "What I want to know, is whether or not Naraku will try and interfere."

"Probably." InuYasha shrugged, uncaring.

Miroku smiled sourly. "Good enough for you, InuYasha, but those youkai of Naraku's were pretty tough."

"Not all of them were Naraku's." InuYasha growled. "Those Ash-demons are SesshouMaru's minions."

"What?" Shock flashed in Sango's eyes.

"I didn't remember at first." InuYasha said. "But my father defeated them a long time ago." A clawed hand waved away the tale as unimportant. "He took them as his own servants, and now they are one tribe of a few who serve my stupid brother."

"So that fire youkai who first attacked us by the Bone-Eater's well was a servant of SesshouMaru?" Miroku rubbed his chin thoughtfully, his blue eyes dark with the implications of that thought.

"Meaning that SesshouMaru has been planning this for a while." Sango finished grimly. Her own hand sought her sword hilt. The leather bindings were rubbed shiny with long familiarity.

InuYasha stood up with an impatient scowl. "All this talk is getting us nowhere. Come on. Where are Shippo and Kirara?"

"In the woods." Miroku stood as well, mentally groaning as his tired muscles flexed and his ankle cracked annoyingly with the sudden movement. The friends should really stop and rest for a whole day, allowing their wounds to heal and bodies to rest. But they couldn't waste any more time in trying to rescue Kagome. "I made him go and fetch water for us. He's the one most affected by Kagome's abduction, and I thought he should be kept busy so he won't think about it."

The amber glare sent his way made the houshi blink. "Er...well...ahem." He turned to Sango, extending a helpful hand.

The taijiya ignored the monk's assistance, and got to her feet in a fluid, graceful motion. No joint-popping for her, Miroku noted sourly. Maybe he should ask her about the stretching she did every morning. She certainly wasn't moving like she was as tense or tired as he was. His sour look turned appreciative as the girl leaned over to pull the strap of her Hiraikotsu up. With a practiced flick of her wrist, she settled the towering boned boomerang over her shoulder.

A mewl of greeting from the neko alerted them to the emergence of Kirara and Shippo from the forest. Shippo hauled two full water casks after him, the leather straps dragging unheedingly in the dirt. The little fox looked defeated and lost, his motions mechanical and withdrawn. Even his furry orange tail drooped and dragged in the dust behind him. He was affected by Kagome's loss more than anyone.

"Let's go."

The houshi glanced at the departing hanyou's growl.

*And then again, maybe not.*