InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tomaru's Story ❯ Chapter 8

Chapter 8

 

Sango gasped and Miroku stepped forward. “Kagome! Are… are you sure…?”

 

Kagome's gaze never left Sesshoumaru's. “…He won't ever revert back to normal… will he…” It was a statement, not a question.

 

Sesshoumaru shook his head slightly. “He will continue until he is killed.” He placed his hand on the Tetsusaiga, which rested comfortably next to its twin, the Tenseiga. “He has chosen his fate.”

 

Her gaze hardened, the tears she held back making her eyes bright. “Then… onegai… I want you to be the one to do it. No one else would be able to.”

 

He smiled ever so slightly. “It's shocking that you think so highly of me.”

 

Sango and Miroku both took a step back in surprise as Kagome growled and launched herself at the tai-youkai, beating on his chest with her small fists, tear streaming from her eyes.

 

“You… you insensitive…baka!” she cried as she hit him. The tai-youkai's gaze never left her, nor did he move. The miko's pathetic hits were as nothing to him. Yet something odd flickered in his eyes.

 

“Inu… Inuyasha… I…” she trailed off as she started to sob, her whole body shaking. She hunched over, her arms wrapped around herself as if she were cold. “G-gomen… gomen… nasai… Inuyasha…”

 

He should be feeling nothing. The miko's emotional outbursts were just annoyances. Yet something… shifted. What if this was Rin, sobbing over your imminent death?

 

Highly unlikely. The ningen will die long before this Sesshoumaru does.

 

An uncomfortable feeling followed that thought. Rin was so young, so full of energy and life force… it was sometimes impossible to remember that she would age and die in normal human fashion. Her life would be no more than a blink of an eye in his long existence.

 

His Rin. What if something were to happen to him? What would befall his young charge? He had never contemplated his own demise before, other than he figured it would happen when another youkai challenged him and defeated him, thus claiming the title of tai-youkai for themselves. But what if tragedy occurred, ultimately ending his life prematurely?

 

He stood suddenly, turning and walking away a few yards. Kagome crouched in a ball on the ground, her fingers digging gouges into the grassy dirt as she tried to fight the waves of sadness and horror that threatened to overtake her.

 

There was a solution. A strange one, granted, but a viable solution nonetheless. It would leave Rin with a guardian should anything happen to him and it would provide the miko with protection from the hanyou in case he somehow failed to kill him.

 

Sesshoumaru turned and looked back at the grieving miko. Her friends had gathered around her and were giving her their support. They looked up at him as he turned.

 

“You will come with me.”

 

Kagome blinked. “W-what?”

 

“This Sesshoumaru does not repeat himself.”

 

Miroku took a step forward, as though to stop the tai-youkai. When that molten gaze landed on the monk, he thought better of it. He cleared his throat.

 

“Perhaps… you would be so kind as to enlighten us? Why take Kagome with you to… deal with Inuyasha?”

 

Silence. Miroku half expected a “this Sesshoumaru does not explain why” from the tai-youkai. Instead, he actually got an answer.

 

“She will reside at my castle in the Western Lands and take care of the human girl, Rin, that I have there. That way, Rin will have a guardian in the unlikely event that I should be slain before she reaches maturity. In return, the miko will have the protection that my estate provides should I fail and Inuyasha lives.”

 

“Fail? You mean, if Inuyasha kills you first?”

 

The Inu no Taishou did not answer. He reached down, grasped one of Kagome's hands and pulled her to her feet. She pulled back, trying to get him to release her.

 

“No… wait! What about Shippou? I can't leave him! Or my friends!” she protested.

 

Sesshoumaru paused. “The kit that is always following you around. Why would you wish to have him near you? Surely he is nothing but a nuisance.”

 

She glared at him. “No more than Rin is to you.”

 

She got him there. He almost sighed.

 

Without another word, Sesshoumaru scooped Kagome up and took to the sky again. “If I bring the kitsune, you will look after Rin?”

 

“Hai.” She looked at him, her eyes full of conviction.

 

“Where is the kit?”

 

“Kaede's village- just over there.”

 

She pointed to the nearby human village. Sesshoumaru descended upon the small community, releasing Kagome once they had landed.

 

“Shippou! Shippou, where are you?” she called, heading for one particular hut.

 

“Kagome!” came a delighted squeal. Sesshoumaru almost winced at the high pitch of the sound. Superior hearing was sometimes a curse. A small ball of tan fur flew out of the pathetic building and landed in the miko's arms, hugging her tightly.

 

“You came back! Then… Naraku is gone? Where is everyone? Where's Inuyasha?” His green gaze turned and landed on Sesshoumaru. “Why is he here?”

 

Kagome gave the kitsune a squeeze. Her gaze saddened as she looked at the kit. “Inu… Inuyasha… he…” She choked and broke off, unable to tell him everything that had happened.

 

Sesshoumaru stepped forward. “She will explain everything later, kitsune. Right now you are to come with me.”

 

“What?” Shippou looked confused and incredulous all at the same time.

 

“This Sesshoumaru does not repeat himself.”

 

Kagome looked at him. “I think this Sesshoumaru just did,” she said wryly. He blinked.

 

She turned her head and looked down at the little kit in her arms. “I just worry about the others.”

 

He stared at her impassively. “I believe that my half-brother is only after you, right now. Isn't that correct?” At her nod, he turned away. “Then your friends should be safe. They are fighters- you are weak.”

 

“Hey!” Kagome bristled, glaring at him.

 

“Um… Kagome? What's going on?” Shippou looked up at her, worried.

 

She relaxed and looked at the kit she loved like a son. “Don't worry, Shippou. Sesshoumaru has offered us his protection. He's a friend now…”

 

…I hope…

 

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Sango looked at Miroku. “Do you really think it's a good idea to let him take her like this?”

 

Miroku looked thoughtful. “I have to admit, at first I had my doubts, but it would seem that Sesshoumaru has changed somewhat. While he is still cold and calculated, he is not without feeling.”

 

He looked at Sango's brother, who was playing with Kirara nearby, all his worries finally gone. “He revived Kohaku, when he had no real reason to. He protected Kagome when Inuyasha first transformed. Now he is offering her his protection, should Inuyasha survive their next encounter.”

 

Sango nodded. “It would also seem that he is offering to protect Shippou as well. Perhaps he only is agreeing to taking in Shippou to get Kagome to take care of Rin, but still… it's not the Sesshoumaru we're used to.”

 

Miroku rubbed his smooth chin. “I noticed a strange look in his eyes when Kagome broke down, after she had… `attacked' him. Something about her tears for Inuyasha had affected him- perhaps reminded him that he, himself, is not truly immortal as he thinks.”

 

Sango nodded again. “It would seem, Houshi-sama, that the great tai-youkai possesses a conscience after all.”

 

“Perhaps. The real question is if he possesses a heart as well.”

 

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Shippou clung to Kagome as if his very life depended on it. He looked down from the great height that he and Kagome were flying at, his green eyes wide.

 

“H-he w-won't d-d-drop us, will h-he?” he stammered, little youkai fangs chattering in fear.

 

Kagome smiled at him. “Don't worry, Shippou. If it was his intent to kill us, he would've done so long ago.”

 

Sesshoumaru made no notice of whether he had heard their comments or not. He tightened his hold on the miko slightly, mentally smiling when she looked up at him in surprise and gratefulness.

 

One could drown in those eyes…

 

He blinked. Where in all the hells did that thought come from? This Sesshoumaru does not lust after ningen females, let alone a miko who has barely reached mating age.

 

Ah, a sly voice countered, but there is something about this girl that attracted your brother. Perhaps we should find out what it is?

 

Why bother? She's just a weak human. Nothing special.

 

I say that she is.

 

What do you know about humans? You've despised them as much as I have.

 

The voice sighed. It's the little girl's doing. She has made me realize that all humans are not necessarily bad.

 

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes fractionally. What is your reasoning behind this?

 

His youkai snickered. Let's just say I have noticed something of interest in the miko's soul. Surely you have as well?

 

He sighed. Indeed. The girl's aura was like a candle-flame on the darkest of nights. Shimmering in soft pastels- pale green, lavender, light blue- especially the pale green- her aura drew him, taunted him, beckoned him. Blasted miko. Why in Kami's name won't she leave my thoughts?

 

His youkai only laughed.

 

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Shippou looked around from the safety of Kagome's arms. “This is where Inuyasha's brother lives?”

 

Kagome could only nod her head slightly. Who would've known that the Inu no Taishou had such a palace as his own? She always thought he had no home- that he simply wandered from place to place like a nomad. If he had a home, she never would've pictured something so… bare… as this.

 

Certainly, the palace was large in size, but it was almost completely empty. No decorations adorned the walls, no tapestries or anything. They followed the inu-youkai deeper into his holdings, trying not to gawk at the obvious lack of care his home experienced.

 

Sesshoumaru led them down an unadorned hallway. Not another soul was in sight, which bothered Kagome somewhat. Were they to be left here all alone? Where was the little girl?

 

Sliding open a door, Sesshoumaru stepped into a new room. Immediately a young girl's happy squeal filled the deathly quiet atmosphere.

 

“Lord Sesshoumaru!!” a little girl, no more than 7 years of age, ran across the room and attached herself to the inu-youkai's leg. He looked down, his topaz eyes softening a bit as he held himself back from smiling.

 

“Rin. I have returned.”

 

“Hai, my Lord! I was waiting for you!” Rin looked over at the girl and kitsune partially hidden behind Sesshoumaru and his mokomoko-sama. “Is that Kagome? Your brother's mate? Why is she here?”

 

Curse that clever little girl! “She is Kagome but she is not my brother's mate. She has come to be your guardian should something happen to me.”

 

Rin's brown eyes widened with that comment. She let go of his leg and stepped back, looking up at him with confusion in her eyes. “Happen to you? What could happen to you, Lord Sesshoumaru?”

 

He nearly smiled again at her. She truly believed him to be invincible. As close to a god as he was, he still fell short- not that he would ever disillusion her. “I am not invincible, Rin. I have made a bargain with Kagome and she will now be your guardian.”

 

Rin looked at Kagome warily. Kagome looked down at the little girl and stepped out from behind Sesshoumaru, standing beside the inu-youkai. She knelt down, Shippou clinging possessively in her arms.

 

“Hello, Rin. I'm glad you remember me. Have you ever met Shippou?”

 

Rin eyed the kitsune in the older girl's arms. Shippou blinked. His fluffy tail twitched. Her face broke into a grin.

 

“You've got a mokomoko-sama like Lord Sesshoumaru!” she squealed, making both youkai in the room wince. Shippou jumped down from Kagome's arms and took up a brave stance in front of Rin.

 

“No, I've got a tail. Sesshoumaru doesn't have a tail.” He turned around and swished his tail around in front of her. “See? Mine's attached.”

 

Rin giggled anyway. “You're so cute!” She reached down and huggled the kit, who blushed in embarrassment. Shippou looked up at Kagome for help.

 

Kagome shrugged, smiling. Rin also looked up at Kagome, then at Sesshoumaru.

 

“Does this mean that Shippou-chan is my brother now?”