InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Price of Vengeance ❯ Chapter Fifteen: Angelbite ( Chapter 16 )

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own any of Rumiko Takahashi's characters or stories. This story is for private entertainment purposes only.

Chapter Fifteen (Angel Bite)

Kagome giggled as a yellowy gold tassel tickled her nose. Rubbing her cheek on a soft, velvety cushion, she felt like a warm puddle of honey pooling over the pillows. A tangle of black hair distracted her, and she played with it bemusedly.

"Miko."

The stern voice intruded, and Kagome smiled at the white angel.

*He's beautiful...*

The thought warmed her.

*Such pretty eyes.*

The golden eyes blinked, and Kagome giggled. Did she really speak that thought aloud? Her mind seemed distant and drifting on the current of warmth that flowed through her body.

"Pay attention."

Kagome closed her eyes and hummed a light tune popular in her own time. She pictured her brother Sota, who had smirked at the sappy love song. For some reason, she didn't have any of the heart-aching pain at his memory.

*Sota...how I miss you.*

"Who is this Sota?"

Who was Sota? Sota was her brother. And Mom. And Grandpa. And Buyo.

"Buyo?"

The stern voice intruded again, and Kagome tried to feel some irritation, but she still drifted on the soothing warm waters. *He's my cat.*

"The neko youkai?"

Kagome giggled. She could just imagine fat Buyo growing as big as Kirara, with long fangs and flaming feet! Could he even get up in the air?

"Where is your family?"

The sadness was distant and submerged in fond memories as the hazy warmth took the pain away. *The shrine and the God's tree. Where I saw InuYasha for the first time.*

"I do not care how you met my brother."

The voice was so cold and biting. Really, he should be nicer to his brother. InuYasha needed all the love he could get...he had had so little as a child. Poor InuYasha...

"Enough. Answer the question."

*What question?*

"Where is your family? Where do you live?"

Pictures of her own time in the modern age flashed through the girl's mind. Tokyo, with its busy streets and bustling people. Her friends and classes. The outrageous lies her grandfather made up to excuse her from school, and the math homework she loathed and yet struggled with...she hated to lose a battle...even a worthless battle like Algebra...

"Where is this place?" The voice intruded again.

Kagome giggled. *Don't you mean when? When is this place?*

In the future...

The voice showed a faint astonishment. "The future?"

*Five hundred years in the future...and I can never go back.*

"Why?"

*The well...the dry well was burned. Burned to ash by the ash-demon.* Kagome giggled again, and then sighed. Regret tinged her memories, and then was swept away by the warmth that enfolded her soul.

The voice was silent for a long time, and Kagome yawned sleepily, nestling into the soft pillows around her. But the voice finally returned, and prodded her awake, and she reluctantly opened soft brown eyes to gaze dreamily at the white angel.

*So tall and commanding.*

"Enough. You do not flatter me."

What was he saying? Was he denying his unearthly beauty? Foolish angel.

Fangs gleamed in a wickedly beautiful smile. "I am not an angel, miko."

*Miko. That is not me. That is Kikyo.*

"Is Kikyo your sister?"

Kagome shook her head in negation. Never! The surge of denial drowned again in the honeyed warmth.

"Who is she to you?"

*My heart break.* The girl thought sadly. *He loves her...*

"Why do you look like each other?" The voice was cool and distant.

*They say I am her reincarnation. Who are they?* The wisp of thought drifted past her bemused mind and flowed away.

"You are strong. You see the shards of the Shikon no Tama. Some say you once possessed it, like Kikyo."

*It was in my body...* The faintly pink glow of the Jewel, whole and unbroken, flared through her mind. Memories of the awful centipede demon danced over the warm haze that surrounded her, and Kagome slid fingers over her small hip, where the scar of the demon's fangs was but a white, star-shaped reminder. That was when she had freed InuYasha from the God's Tree, and changed her life forever. Not when she was pulled through the well. But when she had freed InuYasha. Then she had started to live and feel and know...

"Enough." The voice was icy now, and Kagome wanted to protest its very coldness. But the thoughts swirled away in the honeyed warmth that surrounded her. She yawned again, and nestled deeper into the pillows.

*~*~*~*~*

The girl was quickly falling into somnolence. He had gained as much information as he could for now. If he wanted to mark her, then he had to do it soon.

Kneeling down beside the girl, SesshouMaru brushed back a tangled lock of raven hair that had fallen over her cheek. He used a single claw to trace the line of her jaw to the white column of her neck. He could feel the heartbeat throb its life-giving song under his finger, and his eyes flashed red for a moment, his own blood stirred by the dance.

Deep brown eyes opened and regarded him softly. "Angel..." The girl murmured, and the Taiyoukai stiffened, his cooler side taking hold. Why the girl insisted on calling him such a repellent acronym...

The girl yawned innocently. "I'm tired..." Her eyes closed.

SesshouMaru growled softly, but the girl didn't stir.

Quickly, the Lord pulled off the girl's wispy garments. The soft yellow shift was no match for his claws, and it parted easily with a faint ripping sound. He allowed her to keep the strange bindings she wore over her breasts and hips, they held no interest for him---at least not now. He stared at the young flesh with faint curiousity. He had rarely seen a ningen woman thus attired and had the leisure to simply look at her.

The girl shivered as chilled goose bumps littered her bare arms, making the small, delicate hairs stand on end. SesshouMaru brushed the tiny hairs, marveling as they stood up once again under his claws. He had not known that ningen had hair. Sparse, yes, and barely adequate to warm them. Still, it was there.

A small hand brushed his silver-white hair, which had spilled over the girl's legs as he leaned over her, studying her intently. SesshouMaru captured the hand, and looked at the small, feeble claws that decorated the end. Feeble weapons, barely adequate.

The girl stirred restlessly, and SesshouMaru dropped her small hand. The girl tried to turn and nestle deeper into the pillows of his sitting dais, and he stopped her with a strong hand on her hip. He ignored the girl's murmured protest, and studied the white, star-shaped mark on her hip that glinted in the firelight between the grip of his long fingers. The girl had been bitten before, and quite deeply. Was this the mark she had told him about, from the centipede demon who had first attacked her? He used his thumb to trace part of the scar, and a muffled giggle froze him in impatience.

Her brown eyes were open again, and looked at him with befuddled amusement. "Tickles..."

*Enough of this.* The Taiyoukai drew back, away from the intriguing miko. The girl let out a sleepy sigh, and closed her eyes again, lashes fluttering on white cheeks. *I must mark her, and now.*

His tail unfurled even as he reached a strong hand to pull the limp body closer to him. His tail firmly wrapped around the girl's slender waist, and her raven locks fell in a long tangle over his arm. The girl's blood was heated, and her breath exhaled softly on his chest as he cradled her close to him. Her small left hand with its inadequate claws came to rest on his chest and tangle into the white fabric of his haori. Wrapping his tail more firmly around the girl's waist and legs, SesshouMaru used his claws to comb the dark tendrils free from her neck and shoulder.

He was taken aback at the faintly pink marks on her shoulders. Something had clung to her there, sharp claws had pierced the delicate skin. His half-bastard brother had been inept at protecting the little miko. The girl was far stronger than he had realized, to have survived so many battles.

He followed the round of her shoulder to the curve of her neck. The dreaming girl laid her cheek on his upper arm, giving him easier access to the hollow of her neck, where her heartbeat sang again to his own demon blood.

This time, the Lord allowed his inu youkai blood to stir unchecked. He stared at the quick flutter of her throat as she breathed, felt the steady, strong pulse of her life-blood as it sang to him. Intense golden eyes bled red, and he could feel his fangs growing longer as the hunger took hold.

Still, he was Taiyoukai, and he reined in the furious need to just plunge his fangs into the delicate female held tightly to him. He would only mark her, not kill. The faint bitterness of his poison edged his gleaming fangs, and he deliberately controlled the amount. The girl was only human, after all, and she would not survive more than the tiniest bit of his poisoned fangs. Lips curling back from his sharp canines, he bent his mouth to the exposed expanse of her neck.

Using the sharpened tip of his left fang, he pierced the white skin with the barest scratch, allowing mere drops of his greenly glowing poison to trail the half-circle mark he made with his fangs. The girl hissed in her breath sharply, and he felt the small body convulse in his arms as the pain seeped through the hazy remains of the spiced sake. A muffled gasp against his arm, and the girl struggled helplessly against him.

Now. Now he could unleash his youkai blood.

A roaring filled his ears, and the Taiyoukai's eyes glowed blood as he snarled at the struggling girl. He allowed the poison to dissipate from his fangs, and he curled his tail tighter around the girl, moving it up to wrap around her arms, holding her immobile. Fangs gleaming, he sought her neck with his lips. Finding the ends of his poison-created crescent mark, he breathed in the female's fear for a blissful second before plunging his fangs into her neck.

A scream echoed in his ears, making him wince, but the Taiyoukai held onto the girl with a firm grip. The sharp metallic warmth of blood filled his mouth, and he felt the stirring of his soul answer the beat of the girl's strong pulse. Gripping the struggling body tighter, he lapped at the life-giving warmth, allowing his healing saliva to coat the wounds even as he licked up the delicious taste of her.

Weak claws scrabbled at his chest, and SesshouMaru growled in answer. A sharp pain erupted from where the girl's small hand brushed his chest, and cut through the haze of his youkai desire. Speedily releasing the girl, the Taiyoukai stepped back, cold anger blending with the roar of his stirred inu blood. The scorched remains of his haori and the burn mark that marred his skin beneath made him narrow his eyes angrily on the girl.

The pink glow of sacred energy was dying in the girl's small hand even as she curled in upon herself in the cushions, whimpering even as healing darkness took her. The Taiyoukai wiped away the smear of her blood that edged his chin, and regarded the miko coldly, his anger at her denial leaving him icy. Eyes glinting with molten gold, he turned away, and swiftly left the room to the unconscious miko.