InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tomaru's Story 2: Prejudice ❯ Chapter 15

Tomaru: I'll make this quick and painless- I've missed you, Haruko! Don't forget about me, okay, Tenchi?

 

Chapter 15

 

Haruko gave Tomaru a disdainful, haughty look that was completely at odds with the rush of illicit desire his husky words evoked. “You are wasting your time. You broke the betrothal- my father will not stand for this insult.”

 

Sesshoumaru appeared, seemingly out of nowhere and proceeded to interrupt their “conversation.” “We are finished here,” he announced in a rather bored tone.

 

Tomaru flicked one last smirk at Haruko, who continued to scowl with bright red cheeks up at him. “As you command, Father.”

 

Haruko's dark look got even darker. “Hai, Lord Sesshoumaru.”

 

Kagome walked over, almost as if she had sensed the storm clouds swirling around the female hanyou's mood. “You two will have to go back without us,” she told them hesitantly.

 

Two pairs of white ears perked forward. “What?” Haruko asked in surprise.

 

“Why?” Tomaru added.

 

“We have business in the village,” Sesshoumaru answered in a brisk tone that brooked no argument. “We will return home after we are finished.”

 

“Hai, sir,” came the dual reply.

 

The two hanyous bowed respectfully as the tai-youkai and the two ningen turned and walked away, heading toward Kataki's village.

 

Once the trio was out of sight, Haruko whirled on Tomaru. “Don't you for one second think I'm going to let you-!”

 

Quick as a flash she found herself riding most indecently on the handsome hanyou's back. “That's enough out of you, Princess,” he said cheerfully. “It's a long way home.”

 

Mortified at not only having her kimono pushed up over her knees and her bare legs exposed nearly to mid-thigh, but also at the truly delightful sensation of having her body pressed so intimately against Tomaru's, Haruko blushed furiously, her ears laid back slightly.

 

Afraid to speak out of fear of betraying the emotions rolling throughout her body, Haruko remained silent as Tomaru ran expertly through the dense forest. She tried not to think about the fact that his hands… his strong hands… were firmly holding the backs of her thighs, keeping her balanced on his back as he ran.

 

Holding on to his shoulders carefully, Haruko leaned forward slightly and spoke into one furry ear. “It would seem I am not the first person you have carried thus,” she murmured.

 

Tomaru flushed but kept running. “Let's just say that it's instinctual.”

 

She mulled that over for a moment before speaking again. “There is something not normal about you, my lord.”

 

“Tomaru.”

 

Sapphire eyes blinked. “Pardon?”

 

“My name is Tomaru. I told you before not to call me `lord.'”

 

She scowled. “You most certainly did not. When do you believe you informed me of this?”

 

Tomaru's ears flicked. “At the celebration, of… course…” he trailed off as he remembered…

 

She hadn't been at the celebration party.

 

It had been Niji he had told to call him by his given name.

 

Nice one, pup. Dig your way out of THIS grave…

 

“I was not allowed to attend your celebration,” she informed him icily, her claws digging into his shoulders slightly. He winced- not from the insignificant pain but from the frostiness in her voice.

 

“Why not? I am sure your father attended…” he trailed off, hoping to avert a looming disaster.

 

Her claws loosened and she turned her head to the side, ashamed. “He did not… because he did not want to leave me alone. He claimed he… did not want to celebrate anything without me by his side.” Then she scowled, even though he couldn't see her from where she sat on his back. “I think he was more ashamed to be seen among so many youkai with his half-breed daughter.”

 

“Your father is a fine inu, Haruko. He would never be ashamed of you.”

 

He didn't notice that she was blushing- he had called her “Haruko,” instead of just “Princess.” It gave her shivers. She smiled softly. “Arigatou… Tomaru.”

 

Those shivers he did notice. And he fought against the rush of blood from his brain to other strategic and inopportune locations. It reminded him of the blatant sensation of his hands on her bare thighs- it would be so easy to slide his hands up even further, to seek the heat at the very core of her, to stroke her and bring her to the very peak even as they traveled…

 

Unaware of his lusty thoughts and unconsciously squirming slightly against his back, Haruko changed the subject. “So… what happened back there? That is not the first time you have acted as if you were someone else entirely.”

 

His ears went flat against his skull and his face went about as pale as it could go. His arousal diminished as quickly as if he had been splashed by ice-cold water by one of his sisters.

 

Tomaru slowed and gradually came to a stop. Haruko blinked. “What is wrong? Was it something I said?”

 

As the female hanyou got off his back, Tomaru gritted his teeth and shook his head. “We should talk.”

 

Haruko eyed the dense forest around them skeptically before lifting a perfect silver eyebrow at him. “And it must be done here?”

 

“Hai.”

 

The seriousness in his tone alarmed her slightly. She did not know him well, but she knew him enough to know that he was not usually this solemn. She primly sat on a nearby rock. “Very well, my lord. What concerns you?”

 

Much to her surprise, the next tai-youkai began to pace, running his claws through his long silver bangs, only to have them flop right back over his goldenrod eyes. After a moment he turned to her. “We are to be mated,” he began, his face betraying no emotion but his eyes were filled with… wariness?

 

She haughtily lifted her chin. “That remains to be decided,” she replied tartly. “After all you br-“

 

“You will be my mate,” Tomaru interrupted with a soft growl. “And as such, you need to know exactly what you are in for.”

 

Haruko's sapphire eyes widened. In for??

 

She watched in silent confusion as Tomaru closed his eyes and the green crescent on his forehead disappeared once more. When his eyes opened they were darker gold, and seemed to be much, much older than before. He dropped down to the ground in a comfortable crouch and looked up at her, his eyes locked on hers.

 

“I'm Inuyasha. Tomaru's my reincarnation.”

 

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Kagome's head lifted and she turned, gazing far across the landscape as if she could see something far in the distance. Sesshoumaru paused for his mate. “What is it, miko?”

 

She blinked, shaking her head slightly. “I… I can't be sure. But… No, that's impossible…”

 

The tai-youkai suppressed a sigh and moved closer to the dainty woman. “You still need to learn to come directly to the point.”

 

Kagome blushed. “Well,” she said, rather embarrassed, “I thought… I thought I could feel something. Something I haven't felt in a long time.”

 

A silver eyebrow lifted. “Are you insulting this Sesshoumaru?”

 

Whacking him on the shoulder, she mock-scowled up at him. “Baka! What do you think?”

 

“I should hope not. Your lethargy this morning proves I have not lost my touch.”

 

Now Kagome's face was furiously red. “Will you stop that? We have a teenager right behind us!”

 

“My apologies, miko,” Sesshoumaru nearly purred, his golden eyes dancing in mischief. “Now, would you care to explain what it was that you had not felt in a long time so that my male pride is not crushed?”

 

Kagome glanced back at Kataki, who was walking sedately behind them, dressed in comfortable haori and hakama, his mother's Hiraikotsu strapped to his back. He appeared lost in his own thoughts, his gaze locked on the ground before his feet.

 

“I thought I sensed… a Sacred Jewel shard.”

 

Sesshoumaru actually frowned. “The Shikon no Tama vanished over twenty years ago. Surely you were mistaken.”

 

His raven-haired mate turned her eyes back to where she had felt the old familiar tug. “Yeah… Probably just my imagination…”

 

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Haruko tilted her head to the side slightly, her ears twitching once. “Did you say… Inuyasha?”

 

Tomaru/Inuyasha turned his head to the side, his ears flattening. “Yeah. My soul was born again in Tomaru's body. I shouldn't be able to take control like this, but for some reason I can.”

 

She lifted one clawed finger to her lips in thought. “You are dead.”

 

He shot her an irritated look. “Don't be dumb, wench. I'm as alive as you are.”

 

“Then why do you remain with Lord Sesshoumaru? The tales of your rivalry are known everywhere.”

 

“Keh!” he snorted. “He's technically my old man now. And Tomaru's the heir. We can't just leave.”

 

Haruko leaned forward and brushed the long silver bangs out of his eyes, her fingers soft and cool against his forehead. “So when you, Inuyasha, take over Tomaru's body, his royal seal vanishes?”

 

He fought against a flush of awareness at her touch. “S-something like that.”

 

“Fascinating.”

 

Crouched on all fours like he normally did when he was alive, Inuyasha tilted his head and looked at her, perplexed, much like… well, like a dog. “You… you're not freaked out? Your mate's not normal.”

 

She offered him an impish smile. “I knew that from the beginning.”

 

He flashed a toothy grin. “I knew I liked you.”

 

Now she paused. “Why?”

 

“Why what?”

 

“Why should you like me? Arranged marriages hardly require that either party tolerate each other, let alone approve.”

 

He regarded her for a moment. Then he shrugged. “I guess because you're a lot like how I used to be.”

 

She gave him a level stare. “When you were still considered Inuyasha.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

A long moment passed in silence, with only a passing breeze stirring the air. Finally she spoke again. “Is Tomaru listening?”

 

He looked surprised. “Well… yeah. I mean, he's still here. We're not too sure how this whole thing works.”

 

“I see.” She looked up at the sky, observing that the sun was steadily sinking toward the horizon. “And you are no longer in love with Tomaru's mother, I take it?”

 

He sputtered and coughed, falling over in a heap. “What the hell?” he hollered, his face bright red and full of shock. Quickly he jumped to his feet and shook a fist in her unconcerned face. “Lemme clarify something for you, Princess… I was never in love with that wench! Yeah, I loved her, but it wasn't the same thing!”

 

Haruko gave him a rather bored look. “Oh?” she asked nonchalantly. “How do you figure?”

 

He turned away from her and started pacing- a habit Tomaru had that sort of meshed over to his soul. “She was my friend,” he explained in a much quieter voice. “My companion. We fought together and nearly died countless times together. She was a royal pain in my ass, but I still couldn't imagine her not being here.”

 

She lifted a slender eyebrow at him. “And the stories of your confession of love as you lay dying? What of those?”

 

“Keh!” he snorted, dropping down on all fours again. “I wanted her to know that I loved her. Not… romantically- gods no! But as a friend. Everyone thought otherwise because, apparently, Kagome thought she was in love with me.”

 

“Was she?”

 

“How the hell should I know?” he retorted, not unkindly. “Never did know what that wench was thinking half the time and didn't understand her the other half.”

 

“Hmmm…” Haruko mused. “It would seem that the story of your star-crossed love was grossly exaggerated.”

 

“No shit.”

 

She gazed at him silently for a while, her sapphire eyes locked with his. “And you… approve of our match?”

 

He flushed and turned away. “You're a much better choice than that scrawny wolf's cub, that's for sure.”

 

“Tomaru does not seem to agree with you assessment.”

 

“He's Sesshoumaru's pup. Common sense isn't exactly part of the blood-line.”

 

She smiled and it made her impossibly twice as beautiful. “And of his claim that I will be his mate?”

 

He shrugged. “Maybe he's starting to wake up from his delusions.” He glanced at the sky. “Come on. We need to get back before nightfall.”

 

Haruko nodded and stood, smoothing out her kimono skirts. “I agree. That would be most intelligent.”

 

As she returned to her perch on his back, Tomaru grinned. She never realized that he had taken over control once again right after she asked if the old dog had approved of their match, and had answered her questions truthfully.

 

.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.

 

Sorry for the lateness- lack of ambition, I guess. I'm hoping for a few more chapters then finishing this off. Yes, it's going to be shorter than usual, but I can't seem to focus on it lately. Naruto has completely overtaken my brain! O.O Anyways, thanks to those of you who have remained faithful and reviewed for me- you know who you are. And if you haven't reviewed… SHAME ON YOU! Get off yer tush and do it.