InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Secrets of the Shinju (Part I): Sesshoumaru's Stolen Memories ❯ The Ultimate Punishment ( Chapter 16 )

Chapter Fifteen

The Ultimate Punishment

Young Sesshoumaru sat there looking up at his seething father. Finally, his father spoke. "You deliberately disobeyed my orders. You have been told to stay away from humans!" Sesshoumaru began to tremble but tried to look brave, as showing fear would only enrage his father more. "How dare you associate with a female human? I will not allow my son to mate with a human!" His father moved towards him, Sesshoumaru did not allow himself to cower further though he badly wanted to run for his life. Lord Inutaisho grabbed his son roughly and lifted him from the bed. "You will take a demon as your mate!" Sesshoumaru stared at him but said nothing, which infuriated his father. "You will take Sakura." Sesshoumaru winced as his father dropped him on the floor. "You will take Sakura as your mate, or I will kill her and castrate you." Sesshoumaru stared up at his father, knowing his father would keep his word.

"You will not ask her; she is just a female. You will just claim her as yours, as a mighty demon warrior should!" What his father was telling him to do was slowly sinking in. Sesshoumaru felt the urge to cry but knew that doing so might result in his very death. Finally his father turned and left his room. Sesshoumaru burst into tears and crawled back to his bed. He had smelled human blood on his father. He recognized the scent of the young girl he had spent the day with. By disobeying his father, he had caused the girl's death.

The next morning he slowly left to find Sakura. If he didn't find her and obey his father's orders, she too would die a horrific death at the hands of his father. He found her sitting under a tree near her home. She was reading a book. He stood there watching her for sometime, feeling dirty about what he had to do. He slowly approached his friend, who looked up at him with love in her beautiful blue eyes.

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Kagome felt a heavy weight on her. She tried to roll over but found she was pinned to the ground. As she woke reality came into focus. She was lying several feet from Kilala. Sesshoumaru was on top of her. He held both of her arms above her head, pinned to the ground by his left hand. His other hand was pulling at her clothes. She began to struggle frantically, but couldn't get him to release her. She looked to Kilala who was in a very deep sleep. She could instantly feel Hitomi there. She was in Kilala, keeping her from waking. She began calling Sesshoumaru's name, hoping to snap him awake, but couldn't. She looked at his face. He had his eyes closed tightly and he was crying uncontrollably. She realized he was reliving some horrible dream. She stopped struggling and did her best to ignore what was happening to her.

She willed her spirit to leave her body. Seconds later she was at the castle. She rushed to the room where Hitomi was, and burst through the door. The demoness was not smiling this time. She held a very serious look as she studied the mirror. Kagome rushed towards the demoness. Suddenly Hitomi turned and held a look of disbelief as she stared directly at Kagome. The priestess had a look of rage on her face. Hitomi's concentration was broken and Kagome felt herself snap back to reality.

Sesshoumaru's dream quickly dissolved and he was looking down at the frightened eyes of Kagome. He looked up and saw that he had her pinned to the ground. His dream flooded his mind and he grew confused. He could again she Sakura's blue eyes before him, yet he saw Kagome there. He released her and backed up hysterically. He held a look of madness in his eyes. He continued to scurry backwards until he hit a tree. Then he began to sob. Kagome sat there for a moment, not knowing what to do. Sesshoumaru looked like he was on the brink of insanity. She moved to Kilala and the cat began to stir. She cuddled close to the cat, frightened of what was happening to Sesshoumaru. Kilala woke and immediately and sensed something was wrong. She moved in front of Kagome protectively, letting out a low growl in the demon's direction.

He now had tears streaming down his face. He saw the look of fear in Kagome and was instantly thrown back to the hurt and frightened look he saw in Sakura. He began to tremble and felt a surge of desperation rush over him. Kagome watched him and began to soften. He was being controlled by Hitomi; he had not meant to harm her.

She got up and moved to his side. "Please calm down." She touched his arm and could feel him shaking violently. She quickly pulled him into an embrace. "What did he do to you?" She asked almost to herself. She suddenly felt pity for the great demon lord. Never before would she have guessed that he had lived through such terror. She held him for quite awhile before he began to calm. He then told her what he had been forced to do to his best friend. She could hear the regret in his voice. "I would have dealt with his punishment for me, but I couldn't let her die." His voice cracked as he looked up at Kagome. "I almost did the same thing to you." She hugged him again. "That wasn't you, your mind was being controlled and you couldn't do anything to stop it." He began to speak in a sad voice. "She hardly spoke to me after that. I told her why I had to do it, but she always feared me after that day. I drove away my only friend, and hurt her in a way that is unspeakable."

Sesshoumaru pulled himself away from Kagome and walked away from the campsite. Kagome gathered her things and prepared to leave. They had to get to priestess Toshi before this went any further. She could see that Sesshoumaru was being driven mad by his memories. She then began working on her spirit barriers. Today she would master them, so that she could protect them from Hitomi at night.

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Miroku knew they were very close now. They had just started out for the morning. Another day or so and they would find this Hitomi. It was taking all the power in his body to keep going. He stopped and looked around; trying to feel out which direction the power was coming from. The barriers were severely limiting his abilities.

InuYasha watched Miroku trying to detect which direction they should go. He then glanced at Sango who held a very worried look on her face. Miroku had grown very weary. He had almost stopped sleeping, and the strain of the barriers where getting to him. He had lost weight and was beginning to look gaunt. His eyes had very dark circles under them. On a few occasions he looked as though he would just pass out in front of them, yet he drudged on. InuYasha had offered to carry him, which shocked Sango and only made her worry more. If InuYasha thought Miroku was sick enough to offer to carry him, then Miroku had to be trouble.

Miroku turned to his friends. "We are very near. We should find her within two days at the most." The group continued to walk all throughout the day. InuYasha and Sango purposely walking slowly so that the monk would not over exert himself. As they sat around their camp that night, the monk addressed them. "It is important that Hitomi not be killed until we find the place where she has stored Sesshoumaru's memories." Sango nodded her head, but InuYasha inquired as to why they couldn't kill her until the memories where found. "If she is killed before his memories are restored, they will be lost forever. Seiji said it was important that his memories be retrieved. They hold the information about the shinju." InuYasha agreed and then he and Sango fell asleep. While Miroku lay awake watching the stars, again seeing his father's death in his mind.

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Kagome and Sesshoumaru had walked all day with no resting. Kagome insisted they get to Toshi as quickly as possible. Again she ate nothing, and they finally made camp just after nightfall. They had barely spoken to each other the entire day. He made himself comfortable and again closed his eyes, dreading the images that would haunt him yet too mentally drained to stay awake. Hours later he woke up and realized he had not had any memories come back to him. He glanced to his right and saw Kagome sitting beside him wide awake. He then noticed a blue aura surrounding the three of them. She had finally made a spirit barrier and was using it to keep Hitomi out of his dreams.