InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tomaru's Story 2: Prejudice ❯ Chapter 16

Chapter 16

 

“Dammit, dammit, dammit!”

 

Haruko's silver ears perked forward. “Is there a problem, my lor- er, Tomaru?”

 

The handsome inu prince snorted softly. “Indeed,” he replied in a voice much too serious. “We won't be making it back to the Western Lands before sundown.”

 

Alarm resounded in Haruko's head. Outwardly, she showed no signs of concern. “W-why not?” she managed to ask, attempting to keep a tight rein on the calmness of her voice.

 

In reply, Tomaru pointed at the sliver of sun hovering above the horizon. “We are at least two hours away from my father's castle, and sunset is upon us. We will not make it.”

 

He slowed his pace, his golden eyes flickering left and right as he sought a suitable place to shelter them for the night. Haruko focused all her attention on keeping her breathing even and her threatening worry subdued. “Is there nothing-?”

 

“No,” he replied, sharper than he intended. “I am not able to turn full Inu, and I'd wager neither are you. It is impossible for us to return home tonight, and I am not willing to travel during the night.”

 

Haruko cleared her throat delicately. “As luck would have it, I share your sentiments. Er, too many unknown threats in the dark, regardless of heightened senses, hai?”

 

Tomaru paused and allowed her to dismount. Once her feet were on the ground, he gave her a perplexing look. “Hai,” he replied, somewhat disconcerted. “Threats in the dark.”

 

There's a small cave nearby, pup. It's well-hidden and I don't smell any youkai lingering. You'd better hurry though…

 

The hanyou mentally nodded as he searched the area for the cave his inner youkai spoke of. Sure enough, buried in dense foliage was a stone hollow, perhaps six body-lengths' deep and two across, dry and protected from the elements. And intruders.

 

Glancing at Haruko, he indicated the small cave with a nod of his head. She held her head high as she walked past him, lifted the hem of her kimono, and entered the darkness within. This is not the scenario I would have preferred for tonight, Uncle Yasha.

 

I know, whelp, but it cannot be helped. Find some wood for a fire and--

 

Tomaru lifted his head and looked at the horizon. The last light of the sun had finally vanished and night was upon the land. He took a deep breath through dulled senses and looked up at the moonless sky.

 

And, once again, I am alone. One night a month, I am simply myself- no inner youkai to interrupt my thoughts. No soul from the past to try and control my future.

 

Picking up a bunch of small, dry sticks from the immediate area, he turned and, bracing himself for the worst, entered the small cave.

 

---------------------------

 

Haruko knew the moment the sun went down. Her world was subdued, diminished, nearly silenced by the loss of her hanyou senses. Once again she was an ordinary ningen, frail and weak. She only maintained the smallest glimmer of her magic, gifted to her by her mother's scrolls.

 

A form entered the cave and walked the short distance to where she sat. An armload of kindling was dropped to the stony floor, startling her slightly. “T-T-Tomaru?” she whispered, unable to hide the worry (she refused to call it fear) in her voice.

 

“I am here, Haruko.”

 

A wash of relief swept over her. “I will assume that this wood is for a fire?”

 

“If you are knowledgeable in starting one. I am afraid it is not one of my talents.”

 

She took a few of the sticks and created a small campfire circle. “I may have just enough magic for it to spark, but it will be up to us to maintain the flame once it starts.”

 

If he thought her words odd, he didn't say anything. Instead, he remained sitting adjacent to her, staring at her through the inky darkness of the cave.

 

“Kasai!” she muttered, placing her palms over the sticks and forcing all of her remaining magic into the spell. A small, sputtering spark flew from her palms and ignited the wood, which quickly caught fire. Tomaru added a few larger sticks to the pile, letting the warmth and the light fill the small cave.

 

Haruko turned to him to speak- and suddenly she couldn't. It wasn't Tomaru who sat next to her- it… it…

 

It was a human. But it was Tomaru. She knew it as she knew herself.

 

He had long, silky jet black hair, with long strands dangling over the deepest chocolate brown eyes she had ever seen. As she stared at him he reached up and tucked a section of hair behind his human ear, seeming oblivious to her scrutiny. Yet, he seemed uncomfortable, as if caught in the act of doing wrong. He refused to look at her.

 

“So. Now you know.”

 

She blinked. “I… I was not aware…”

 

He snorted very softly, nowhere near as loudly or as rudely as when he was hanyou. “How could you? Only my family knows, and that is because my siblings all have their own human nights too.” He turned his face toward the opposite wall. “You must be appalled.”

 

“A-appalled?” What in the world is he talking about?

 

“Yes!” he nearly cried, overcome with weak human emotion. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. “I am a freak. Not human. Not youkai. Although I suppose with that blasted uncle of mine controlling me when I am hanyou I shouldn't complain too much.” Tomaru finally lifted his head and looked at her, his handsome face rendered even more so by the amber glow of the firelight. “How could… you…”

 

He trailed off as he saw her long ebony tresses, curling gently around her shoulders and down her back. Large sapphire eyes, those same sapphire eyes that were constantly glaring at him, gazed at him in complete understanding. “You are not the only one with a ningen night,” she murmured.

 

The only thing he could do was wet his lips unconsciously. She was… she was… stunning. Even more so than when she was a hanyou. Sure, she was a sight to behold, with her long silver hair and cute puppy ears, but his stern youkai blood refused to show any weak human emotion. And now, with that blood gone, and only his human senses to guide him…

 

“By Kami,” he breathed, gazing at her as if she were water and he were dying of thirst. “You're gorgeous.”

 

Haruko blinked several times. No one had ever told her that. Her father often told her she was pretty or lovely, but that surely didn't count. Not like this. Most who saw her were repulsed by her obvious hanyou traits, or worse, the human traits that showed even when in hanyou form.

 

To have someone know her, know what she was, and to still find her beautiful…

 

“Tomaru,” she whispered, flushing and looking away. “You… you aren't yourself. It's the human emotions talking. You… you don't…”

 

He moved closer to her, sliding his long fingers along her alabaster cheek to cup her face, urging her to meet his gaze. “You are gorgeous, Haruko,” he murmured. “Both as a hanyou and as a ningen. Those other bastards were fools if they could not see the magnificent female in front of me.”

 

Tears, curse them, sprang to her eyes at his words. “Don't,” she gasped, shivering slightly at his touch. “You don't mean it… if we were both hanyou, you wouldn't be saying these things…”

 

He paused in the soft rubbing of her cheek with the pad of his thumb. “You are right. I would not.”

 

Her chest clenched and she squeezed her eyes shut tight to stem the threatening tears.

 

“Because I would not be able to. Inuyasha's soul would not let me.”

 

Haruko's eyes snapped open and she stared at him in disbelief.

 

Tomaru gazed at her, seeing his one salvation in her sapphire orbs. “He is very much an unaffectionate creature. He makes things… difficult… to express properly.” He winced slightly. “He is a very loud inner youkai.”

 

She gave a small laugh, which prompted him to slide his other hand around to the nape of her neck. “He seems very… adamant,” she agreed softly.

 

“But on this one night, he is gone,” Tomaru continued as he leaned closer. “I don't have to listen to his constant cursing and griping inside my head. I am free, if only for one night. And I do not want it to go to waste.”

 

Haruko's ningen heart beat harder. “Tomaru…”

 

Tomaru pulled her gently toward him and he lightly pressed his lips to hers, giving in to the urge he'd been fighting since he first collided with her in the castle corridor. And this time, it wasn't Inuyasha making the moves.

 

It was all him.

 

Just for her.

 

Haruko gave a slight gasp at the gentle pressure of his lips on hers, so different from when he had kissed her before. Which, if she thought about it, was actually Inuyasha kissing her… which wasn't that bad. Was it? Why was she thinking?

 

Giving in to the torrent of ningen emotion (along with some of her own, but she didn't know that), Haruko slid her arms around Tomaru's shoulders and tilted her head to the side ever so slightly in a silent invitation.

 

Which Tomaru gladly took. He deepened the kiss, dipping his tongue inside to touch hers, causing shivers of delight and wonder to ripple down her spine. Was this what she'd been fighting all along?

 

He was a good person. He was caring, considerate, and loving toward his family. He was obedient with his father, as she was, and he was quick to protect those he cared about. She really couldn't ask for more in a mate.

 

The fact that he was heart-stopping gorgeous as both a human and a hanyou didn't hurt either.

 

He was hesitant with his kiss, almost shy, and it seemed as though he was unsure of what he was doing. For all his flirting with that meaningless wolf bitch, he was an innocent all the way. The thought made Haruko smile against his lips.

 

Tomaru gently pulled away from her, slightly breathless. “Haruko,” he whispered, his now-chocolate eyes locked with her azure ones. “I meant what I said. I do want you as my mate. I have since I set eyes on you.”

 

A sadness entered her gaze. “Then why did you break off the betrothal?”

 

He looked away without releasing his hold on her shoulders. “I… I was a fool.”

 

A slight smirk appeared. “Obviously.”

 

“I… I wanted to prove to my father… that I could win a full youkai bride- and not weaken the bloodline any more than I already had.”

 

She frowned. “You did not want me because I was not a full youkai?”

 

“No!” he nearly shouted, turning back to her with such an intensity in his eyes, she was almost afraid. Almost. “No. I didn't want to disappoint my father any more. So many youkai have ridiculed him for `weakening' the Inu no Taishou bloodline by mating with a human…” His eyes saddened. “And having a half-breed heir. I didn't want my father to go through that any more. So I thought if I could make a full youkai my mate and strengthen the bloodline…”

 

Understanding dawned- as did sympathy. “I know,” she whispered, caressing his cheek with the palm of her hand. “Believe me, I know. I, too, would do anything for my father…”

 

“Even marry me,” Tomaru chuckled weakly.

 

“No,” she replied in all seriousness. “If you were truly the hentai I believed you to be, he would never ask me to be your mate. But he had asked me to marry a youkai, in order to strengthen the bloodline.” She sighed. “But I could not. None would have me.”

 

“I will have you,” Tomaru whispered. “I'm not a full youkai, but I want you. Onegai. Our fathers approve. Our Lands need us. Our people need us. Marry me. Be my mate and bear my pups.”

 

Emotion caught up in her throat. “How… how do I know that's not just the human sentiments talking?” she sniffled, losing her own battle with the onslaught of unusual feelings.

 

In response, he kissed her again, putting more feeling behind it. “I swear it,” he murmured against her lips. “On my life, on my honor, on my recycled hanyou soul-“

 

She giggled.

 

“-I want you, Haruko. No other will do. My youkai told me you were the one, but I didn't want to listen. I wanted to fit into a world that did not want me- neither youkai nor ningen- and they aren't what I truly wanted. I want only a world with you in it- as my mate. As my Lady.”

 

Haruko gave in to the moment (and her ningen romantic side) and kissed him, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks. Tomaru laid her back onto the stony floor of the cave and gazed down at her, her long black hair cascading around her shoulders and across the floor.

 

“Aishiteru, Haruko…” he whispered as he dipped his head for another kiss. “I was just too blinded by my own faults to see it.”

 

.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo

 

A/N: Annnnnnnd…. Well, I'm not sure what this is. Is it the end? Is this just a good spot for a lemon and more angst and chaos for our favorite hanyou pair? I'm as perplexed as you. This was incredibly difficult to write, as I've been busy with moving and getting settled and working and falling down the stairs and messing up my knee and dealing with a baka boyfriend who cares more about the loss of a paycheck than the serious injury resulting from the fall down the stairs…. Grrrr…. So, anyways… if anyone is still reading this fanfic, please review and let me know if I should continue or just end it with the next chapter, as it doesn't seem like anyone really cares about this particular story anyway.

 

Warm-ice-sama excepted. Hugs to Haruko. Sorry if she's OOC in this.