InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Telling ❯ The Two ( Chapter 2 )

 

 

The elegant taiyoukai sat beneath a tree, one long leg outstretched, head up, gazing at the stars through the forest canopy. His posture and expression relayed the idea of absolute tranquility if not boredom, but the truth was that he was keenly aware of something occurring. Something, dare he think it, strange. Although the night was quiet and he could sense no aura of youkai, he could distinctly hear the rush of many wings as bird's miles away took flight. A copious amount of birds no less. An almost inaudible “Hn.” was the only tell of his slight confusion.

And then he felt it. A tidal wave of intense power. Although no casual observer would have noticed, every muscle in his body tensed at the intense spiritual blast. It had come so suddenly and with such vengeance; it was something that he had never experienced before. He was interested....... The great taiyoukai of the West was...... curious. It was not a feeling that he was comfortable with.

Without the slightest rustle of leaves or earth, he was on his feet. Glancing at the little toad that constituted his retainer, he spoke for the first time that evening.

“Jaken.”

The dozing toad was caught off guard by his master sudden vocation. “Y... Yes milord?” he stuttered quickly hoping to all the Gods that the taiyoukai had not noticed his drifting towards sleep. His hopes were dashed however by the sight of his master slitting his eyes at his response. Jaken inwardly shuddered.

“You will stay with Rin.”

“Stay with Rin?” The toad squealed. The little human was definitely not one of Jaken's favorite creatures and the thought of being left alone with her was discomforting to say the least. “But where are you going?”

Jaken's question was initially met with only another narrowing of his master's amber eyes. The toad could only grimace at the gesture and pray that this night would not be his last.

“I would have expected that you would be able to contain these vocal declarations of insolence by now Jaken.” The taiyoukai stated simply. “However this Sesshomaru will not abide them for much longer.”

“Yes milord.” Jaken replied while silently thanking every deity that he knew of for his reprieve.

Sesshomaru regarded the toad closely before reiterating “you will stay with Rin.” After a moment's contemplation, for the Lord of the Western Lands was never hasty, he continued, “You will be sure to guard her with your life, for in the event that anything happens to her, I will consider said life forfeit.”

“Of course milord!” Jaken enthusiastically exclaimed for certainly there were much worse things than spending a few hours with a ningen. Repetitive slayings at the hand of his master's Tokijin was right up there.

“Hn.” With one last impassive glance at his retainer, the campfire and the human girl who trailed him, Sesshomaru took flight.


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“Inuyasha! Would you please just sit down and listen to reason?” The hanyou's ears instinctually flattened at the use of the dreaded “S” word.

“Oh stop your cringing and listen!” Miroku sighed. Sometimes Inuyasha's antics and lack of understanding what inevitably followed them were exasperating. “You are going to accomplish nothing by chasing after Kagome and yelling at her” he continued.

“But I didn't do anything wrong dammit!” The hanyou yelled. “I told her that I didn't give a shit about chasing after Kikyo as long as I knew that she was OK now! I just wanted to make sure Kagome was all right and she starts screaming that she hates me!” Inuyasha all but whined.

Heaving a hefty sigh, the monk decided that it was past time for him to explain a few things about women to the hanyou. In fact, he began to realize that perhaps they should have had this discussion long ago when he had first noticed Inuyasha covertly starring at Kagome during the group's breaks. And certainly he should have attempted to hold some kind of discourse with him after the evening that he had woken up to see Inuyasha away from his usual night watch in the trees, and instead holding a different type of vigil right there on the ground, up close and personal with a sleeping Kagome. Yet the monk had felt pity for the hanyou when the girl had unexpectedly woken up and slapped him, and had not wanted to increase Inuyasha's embarrassment by letting him know that he had been seen.

“Inuyasha, I think it's time that you and I had a little chat about Kagome.” The look of wide-eyed shock and the slow reddening of the hanyou's face almost made Miroku want to laugh out loud. However, knowing the gravity of the situation, mainly, the high probability of Inuyasha being “sat” until his body broke through the other side of the earth if he went chasing after Kagome now, forced him to contain himself.

“Why the fuck should we talk about her when I can just go and get the stupid wench?” Inuyasha demanded feebly while seemly finding something very interesting to look at to the left of his feet.

“Inuyasha, how do you feel about our little miko?” Miroku asked.

“I feel like she's a pain in the ass” the hanyou retorted smartly.

With a swiftness that Inuyasha kept forgetting the monk possessed, Miroku grabbed his staff and promptly bonked the hanyou between the ears.

“Fuck! Whadya you do that for houshi?” Inuyasha yelled.

“Because you are not listening to anything that I am saying.” Miroku responded calmly. “Now, I will ask you again, how do you feel about Kagome?”

“Feh.” the ever-eloquent Inuyasha stated and then proceeded to continue staring at the spot by his foot that he had previously found so interesting. Yet after hearing the jingle of the monk's staff the hanyou simply stated “you know. She's too nice for her own good. Always thinking that she can help everyone and that every asshole out there is really good at heart and deserves a second chance.....”

“Even assholes like a certain hanyou that I know?” Miroku prodded with a grin, only to be rewarded with another “Feh.”

“Alright then, let's try looking at this another way. Why do you think that after all the times you abandoned Kagome to go chasing after Kikyo, why, why do you think that she continues to travel with you? Surely you must realize that every time you left her to see Kikyo a little part of Kagome died inside? You must know that she cares about you.”

“Of course I fucking know that monk! That's one of the reasons why I didn't go after Kikyo today! And all I got for that was Kagome telling me that she hates me!” Inuyasha was looking more dejected now than Miroku had ever seen him.

“But you cannot take the words of someone who has been hurt so many times as the truth Inuyasha. That is why when you asked Kagome to apologize, she couldn't recall saying that. She didn't mean it. Those words were only spoken in the heat of a very angry moment. Don't you realize that she only said those things because she cares for you and was wary of being thrown aside and hurt again?”

A look of comprehension was beginning to fill the hanyou's face and Miroku couldn't help but thank his Gods that he was finally making some kind of progress with Inuyasha. But as quickly as understanding dawned, sadness took its place.

“But monk, she couldn't possibly care about me as much as you make it seem. She is so ...... Kagome, and I'm just a filthy fucking hanyou....” Inuyasha all but whispered the last. Miroku certainly hoped that his intuition was correct about Kagome's feelings for Inuyasha. The hanyou just looked so downtrodden crouching there in the grass.

“Perhaps Inuyasha, you should talk to Kagome about this instead of going on a tirade like you were previously planning? That is, if you`re interested in what her responses might be.” Miroku helpfully suggested.

 

Inuyasha's silver ears perked up a little at this last comment. “You know houshi, I think you might be right! I'm gonna ask her!” He declared. And with that, the hanyou took off into the night following the miko's scent.

“I didn't mean to ask her NOW you fool! Let her calm down first! Inuyasha!” Miroku yelled into the night. His cries were futile however as Inuyasha was already gone. “Ah well, one step forward......” He muttered to himself as he started to walk back to camp.