InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Tale of Sesshoumaru ❯ You are so gross ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimer: I do not own copyright to any of the Inuyasha characters. Wish I did. I make no profit off of my fan fiction. Wish I did.

 

Disclaimer #2: I do own the character of Akanesuji and Smart Ass. If you would like to use them, please contact me at skycladstrega@yahoo.com

 

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Cold had wrapped the lands in bitter winds and the fields were empty. Sesshoumaru sent the courtiers home for the winter so that they would empty the castle. The lesser nobles left shortly to tend to their own lands. High grasses were brown, the roads dark and muddy. They sky was always a pale gray. Soon the snows would come and everyone would be in place for the season. If there was not enough food stored harvested away, there was no way to obtain anymore.

 

The halls of the castle were darkened. Many rooms were closed off and the women's wing was locked. The soldier's garrison housed rats and mice but nothing more. In the higher towers, the black stained wood floors felt cold on Rin's bare feet and fires were kept in the hearths. Sesshoumaru was glad everyone was gone. He would not have to hear their whispered gossiping through the palace. In the spring he would again leave before the court came back.

 

Sesshoumaru had smelled her on the wind several times over the last months. She had been near, but she had not made herself known. Every time her scent was in his nose it made him pause and remember their short time together. It would distract him and he did not like it. It confused him too. Thoughts of love and intimacy would crowd his dreams at night and he would wake wondering how he became so out of control.

 

Standing on the roof he could see deep blue snow clouds on the horizon and with them was her strong perfume of cinnabar. Watching he could see a rider on horseback and an ox card leading a pony as they slowly approached the gates through the peasant's village. From a distance it looked like the rider was wearing a sheep on their head. It was definitely her.

 

He returned to the common room and yelled for Jaken. He ordered him to open the large doors for her and to bring her inside. Rin ran for the windows and threw open the oaken shutters, letting the cold air in. “Close them Rin,” he admonished. “You will only make the place cold for yourself.”

 

“It does not matter today, Sesshoumaru-sama. Akanesuji is here. She will have gifts for me.”

 

When Akanesuji was in the inner courtyard, she yelled up to windows. “Come down Rin! Come down! I have a present for you.”

 

Sesshoumaru's plans to have her enter and greet him in the throne room were spoiled. He would have to go down and see what Akanesuji was doing. Right from the start, she directed his actions, not the other way around. He grumbled down the stairs.

 

Akanesuji looked more beautiful than ever. Her hair was wild about her, pulled up in her two corded horse tails, white fluffy strands falling down and blowing in the cool breeze. Her face and skin was clear, all of her scars and bruises completely gone. She had pulled her bangs up to show her red striped forehead and it looked good on her. She wore a bright red kimono and hakama pants, with little fur lined tabi boots on her feet. A mantle of deep white fur was around her shoulders and a deep purple sash wound around her thin waist.

 

To Akanesuji, he looked good too. He wore several kimonos, layered against the cold. The outermost in a deep black with small geometric patterns. Half of his hair was pulled up into a top knot with a black band, the rest fell down his shoulders like soft shiny silk.

 

Akanesuji dismounted easily, a seasoned rider in the saddle. Her horse was just a horse, a mild surprise to the great demon. Of all the mounts she could chose, she picked a common animal. Rin and Akanesuji were quick to hug each other, Akanesuji picking her up and carrying her to the cart. From bundles she pulled out a thickly quilted outer kimono of brocaded fabric. It was lined inside in a vibrant red, the collar tufted with her own wolf fur. “I made this just for you,” she said as she helped the little girl put it on. A woven belt of silken strands with drilled pearl beads kept it closed together. A matching red hat completed the set.

 

She lifted the little girl and set her on the back of the pony. It was a fat little thing and didn't seem to care. “Now you must learn to control the pony yourself,” she said. “He isn't like Ah-Un. If you fall off him, he will leave you behind or go eat grass. You have to tell him which way to go with the reins and kick him when he needs to go faster.”

 

“He isn't as smart at Ah-Un is he?”

 

“No dear, but he is cute isn't he?” Akanesuji turned to Jaken. “I have a present for you too, little man.” She gave him a lacquered box which held a silver brush writing set inside. “When I leave in the spring, you will need to continue to work with Rin on her characters.” Suddenly, Jaken wasn't so happy with the present. “I have a box of rice paper too.”

 

Turning to Sesshoumaru, she gave him a plain lidded basket. Lifting the lid he found a pile of sleepy toads and frogs. “They will be much more fun when we get them inside where it is warm.”

 

“Gee...thanks.” he mumbled.

 

Akanesuji swooped up Rin and carried her on her back towards the palace. She neighed and whinnied and stomped her feet, leaving Sesshoumaru and Jaken with her things. “Just put everything away Jaken.” the demon said.

 

“Shall I get rid of the toads my lord?” Jaken asked, trying to take the basket from his master.

 

“No,” he said, taking it back. “I am sure she has something planned for them.”

 

When he got to the top of the stairs, Rin ran and stole the basket of toads from him and took them back to Akanesuji. “Hurry, hurry Sesshoumaru-sama. We are going to race them down the hall and she has bet me that I can beat you.” He exhaled deeply. Already everything was going just smashingly. Akanesuji certainly was back to her old self. Too much so.

 

All of the toads were being warmed up by the hot coals, Rin holding up a particularly big one with a bright yellow tummy. “Can I have this one?” she asked Akanesuji, who was holding a very warty brown one.

 

“No, no Rin. You can have this one.” She pulled one bigger and with longer legs from her kimono sleeve where she had kept it warm, guaranteeing that it would win any race. “That yellow one is for Sesshoumaru-sama.”

 

“Totally unfair.” he said, picking up the yellow toad. “It is cold and slow.”

 

“Then I guess you better warm him up in a hurry.”

 

Akanesuji lined all the toads up in the end of the great hallway. There were big ones, little ones, fat ones and skinny ones. Directing Rin to slap the floor behind them to scare them, they counted down and let watched them go. A great bout of yelling and floor slapping commenced. Sesshoumaru kept flicking his toad in the butt which scooted a few inched at a time. Akanesuji's toad was slowly walking along, but Rin's was jumping a few feet at a time. It really didn't want to jump, but when she smacked the ground really passionately it would. The little frogs and toads were going much quicker than all the others and Rin would pick them up and put them back at the beginning of the line.

 

In twenty minutes, Rin and Akanesuji were laughing hysterically and Sesshoumaru sported a good sized grin for a change. Sitting at the end of the hall with toads all around, Rin curled up in Akanesuji's lap and pat her cheek. “This was so much fun. Let's do it again.”

 

“Why don't you round up the toads and put them back in the basket? We will let them get warmer so the next race will be more fun.” Akanesuji suggested. “I think they need a rest.”

 

While the little girl chased the toads around, the adults sat facing each other lazily. “Welcome home” Sesshoumaru said, being polite.

 

“I am so glad to be here.” Akanesuji scooted over to him and threw her arms around his neck, planting a big noisy kiss on his cheek. “Did you miss me?”

 

“Who me?”

 

“No Fluffy. The gardener.” she chimed. Wrapping her finger into a strand of hair, she pulled it until it jerked his head.

 

“Alright...alright. Yes. I missed certain aspects of you.”

 

“That is so sweet,” she said, letting go of the hair and digging her nose in his chest. Sesshoumaru couldn't help but breath in the scent of her since she was so close. It made him tingle down to his toes. Akanesuji was well aware of what he was doing, her demon senses noting the rise and fall of his chest and the sound of the air traveling through his nose. “I have another present for you. But I didn't want to give it to you in front of Rin.”

 

“Oh?”

 

She pushed her self up and away from him so that she could look him in the face. She found his deep golden eyes looking at her in interest. “So where am I sleeping? I noticed the lady's wing is locked.”

 

“I thought you might like the room that overlooks the southern wall. It is one of the warmest in the winter.”

 

“Your mother's old room?”

 

“Yes,” he said. “It is linked to mine.”

 

Akanesuji was quick to jump up. “Let's go see it. I haven't been in there for centuries.” She tugged at his arm until he too stood up. “How much has changed around here since I left?”

 

“When do I get my present?”

“My, my. Aren't we greedy?” she poked.

 

Sesshoumaru's eyes lit up a little. “What is it?” he asked as she dragged him down the hall. “Is it something alive or something dead?”

 

“Something not alive.”

 

“What color is it?”

 

“I'm not telling you, that will give it away.” Akanesuji turned the corner of the hall to see the double doors on the southern room open. Her trunks had already been brought in but kept locked. Only she had the key. Stacks of quilts and bed coverings had already been put away and a beautiful Persian rug lay over the ground.

 

“What is that?” Sesshoumaru asked, pointing to the rug and it's strange designs, colors and textures.

 

“It is a knotted rug from a western land across the sea. It is made from the wool of the sheep. Lovely isn't it?”

 

Sesshoumaru squatted down to look at it, drawing his hand across it. Akanesuji drew a key from around her neck and opened one of the two trunks. Inside, wrapped in rice paper, were all kinds of fine prizes. “Look at this,” she said, handing him a wrapped parcel. “It is a plate made of porcelain clay. It comes from a place called France.” She handed him another. “And this. This is a pot from Aachen.”

 

“Where did you get these things?”

 

“From trade ships. Look at this. It is a book that is printed, not written.” The eager Akanesuji pulled out a thick stack of papers bound on one side with metal covers on back and front. “I don't know what it says, but look at the strange pictures.”

 

Sesshoumaru was fascinated. He of course knew that there were lands beyond the sea and had seen some of these type things before, but the variety and bright colors of the objects was stunning. “What of this is for me?”

 

Akanesuji pulled out an oddly shaped package and unwrapped it herself. It was a darkened metal tube with a wooden handle and smelled smoky. “This is a handgunne. It is the future of warfare. It will make man stronger than demons and change our lives forever.”

 

“Whatever. I was hoping for something alive.” Sesshoumaru pulled her tight and kissed her forehead, quickly moving to her lips. It was so good to have her back in his arms tight against his body. She opened her lips to him and took his reaching tongue into her mouth, kissing him back. He backed them up towards the hall, only letting go of her to fumble at closing the doors.

 

A little face looked up at them from the hallway. “Eeeewww. You guys are so gross!” Rin exclaimed.

 

“Go play,” Sesshoumaru commanded, shuffling her out into the hall. Rin plopped down on the hallway floor with the basket of frogs. “No Rin. I mean, go play somewhere else.” Taking her basket and giving them a pouting look, she meandered down the hall in her own sweet time.