InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tsuki ❯ Inuyoukai ( Chapter 2 )

--Written by: Naki

&nbspA middle-aged man looked up from the rice patty that he was up to his knees in. There was no mistaking that voice. He laughed and made his way out of the rice patty.

"Tsuki!" He called, waving. A moment later he was nearly tackled by the hanyou and nearly had his ribs crushed as she hugged him. He broke away from her and took a good look at her. She hadn't changed and this didn't surprise him in the least. She hadn't changed since he was a boy.

"I missed you, Uncle."

"How long has it been? Three years?"

"Three and a half, Uncle."

&nbspHe chuckled and led her inside his house. She had been staying in the house since Tori was born. Tsuki went straight to her room to change. She would go wash her clothes tomorrow at the river.

"Anything new I should know about, Uncle?"

"Not really. About three new additions and a wedding scheduled for next week."

"Oooo, I get to marry a couple?"

"Maybe."

&nbspTsuki slid the shoji screen that led into her room closed and pulled off the kimono top. She straightened the underkimono and tossed it onto her bedroll. Taka had always been laid back, ever since he was small. That's where Tori got his anti-serious personality from. Tsuki remembered Tori's mother. She was a fragile woman who died in labor. Tori, an only child, never knew his mother and Tsuki knew that deep down Tori felt that somehow he had caused his mother's death.

&nbspIn a neat little stack on the floor across the room from her was another set of miko robes. Tsuki smiled; she rarely wore this outfit unless she absolutely needed to. It belonged to her mother.

"How's my son doing?" Taka called through the shoji screen.

"He wanted to come home with me," Tsuki replied. "But I wouldn't let him."

"He still needs to mature?"

"How did you know?" Tsuki asked with sarcasm on her voice.

"He's my son, that's all you need to know."

"Ain't that the truth."

"Hey now, that was uncalled for," he laughed.

&nbspTsuki stripped and slipped on a yukata.

"Why am I finding cat hair everywhere?" Tsuki heard Taka's voice from the other end of the house. She chuckled and left her room.

"Been consorting with the enemy?" Taka raised an eyebrow at her and held up some cat hair.

"No," Tsuki shook her head. "That's wasn't my fault. Tama comes into my room at night and curls up next to me."

"Tama?"

"He's not really a cat cat; he's a nekoyoukai."

"A nekoyoukai? At a Shinto Shrine?"

"Don't ask me. Your beloved son found him in the forest and brought him to the shrine. Tama's made himself quite at home."

"He's not creating a problem?"

"A problem? Uncle, everybody loves Tama. He doesn't act like a youkai should." Tsuki fell silent.

"When Tori was three?" Taka asked. She nodded. "Well, don't feel bad about it; I keep telling you not to be remorseful. It was that guy's fault anyway."

&nbspTsuki was lost in thought and she didn't notice it when Taka left the room. Coming back to reality, she looked around.

&nbspShe sniffed the air. "Uncle?" He wasn't in the room anymore. She left the room and followed his scent. Taka had gone back out into the rice patty. She watched him through the back door, not wanting to go outside dressed as she currently was unless she really had to. Taka had his pant legs rolled up and he, small woven bag in tow, squelched about in the patty, sticking rice seedlings into the soil underneath the water by pulling them one by one out of the bag.

&nbspTsuki leaned on the doorframe and watched Taka. It felt like yesterday when she had woken one morning and found Tori outside in the rice patty with his father, learning the tricks of the trade. Tori was four years old then. He was so excited to help his father with the daily chores. He idolized his father enough to want to become a monk as his father once was. Taka taught his son martial arts from as soon as Tori could walk. That's why Tori had the capability to defeat most of the other young monks at the age of nine.

&nbspTaka felt eyes on him. Looking up he smiled at Tsuki. He straightened up, stretching his back and feeling it pop and crack. He looked into the woven bag. It was almost empty. For this Taka was glad, for the sun was going to set soon.

"Papa! Papa, can I help you?"

&nbspTaka looked back to the house. A four-year-old Tori stood in the doorway of the back door, his black hair tied back and his pant legs rolled up just like Taka's were. Taka couldn't help but chuckle at his son. He knew Tsuki wasn't up yet so she couldn't babysit Tori.

"Sure, come on," Taka motioned towards him. "Just be careful where you step."

"Car-ful wear I step?" Tori blurted in his four-year-old vocabulary.

&nbspTaka held out his hand. "Come on, I'll show you where to step."

&nbspHe showed his son what to do every step of the way. Tsuki came to the back door, looking for Tori and had followed his scent. Tori looked up and saw Tsuki. He promptly called to her and waved his hand empatically.

"'Suki! 'Suki! I'm helpin' Papa!"

&nbspTsuki looked away from the horizon behind Taka and concentrated on the scent her nose had caught. What in the world… It wasn't a human scent. Then what was it?

"Papa, my foot is stook," Tori lifted his hands up to his father.

"See, I told you to watch where you step," Taka pulled Tori free of the mud with a sucking sound. He set his son on firm ground outside the rice patty. "I can finish on my own, thank you."

"But Papa, I wanna help!" Tori pouted. Tsuki came up behind him and picked him up, careful of his muddy feet and legs.

"Come on, I'll take you paddling in the river." She said, putting him back down on the ground and taking his hand. "As soon as I get dressed."

"Bye bye, Papa," Tori waved.

&nbspTsuki wandered towards the scent, despite what she was wearing. She wandered beyond the sight of the house. She froze when she saw a figure stumbled towards her. The figure looked like a man, with long jet black hair. He was grasping his side with a hand. His hand was covered in blood and blood ran down the side of his face.

&nbspHe reached a hand out to her. "Help me," he gasped. He collapsed onto the ground.

&nbspTsuki rushed over to him. She shook him slightly. He was unconscious.

"Uncle!" She screamed.

&nbspTaka snapped out of his reverie about Tori when he was hailed.

"Uncle!"

&nbspRegardless of where he was, Taka dropped what he was doing and peeled off in the direction of Tsuki's voice. He came across where she was hunched over the unconscious man.

&nbspTsuki washed her hands off in a bowl of fresh river water that was on the floor next to her. She had just finished tending to the massive wound on his right side, near his hip, and the smaller wound on the left side of his face. Tsuki was overly curious about this male. His was the scent she had smelled earlier that day. He was not human. He had pointed ears and a deep blue streak that ran from the corner of his eye down to his jaw on the right side of his face. He was a full youkai of some sort. Tsuki sniffed at his scent once more.

&nbspTaka entered the room. "How is he? What is he?" He added.

"He is fine, Uncle. He will live." Tsuki answered. "As for your second question, I think...I think he is a full blooded Inuyoukai."

&nbspTaka froze. "Are you sure?" He knew of Tsuki's lineage.

"I think so. A priest at the shrine described to me what a full blooded Inuyoukai looked like. I can always wait until he comes around and ask him."

"Are you so sure you can trust him? I mean, youkai in general are sly." Taka asked.

&nbspTsuki turned her eyes away from the male on the bedroll. "Uncle, he begged me for help. Would an unworthy youkai beg for help? I think we can trust him."

"I hope you're right," Taka left the room in a huff.

&nbspTsuki turned back to the youkai in front of her. She couldn't wait for him to awaken. He was such a beautiful creature but Tsuki couldn't remember for the life of her what color his eyes were. His scent was intriguing. She reached over and brushed a few strands of his incredible jet black hair from his face. Tsuki finally pulled herself up off the floor and picked up the bowl of water. Some things needed to be taken care of.

&nbspTsuki carried the bowl to the back door and dumped it out. Taka was tending to a fire in the small fire pit in the middle of the main room. He turned to look at her.

"You look half dead." He commented.

"I feel half dead." She sat down heavily on the floor across from him.

"Are you hungry, Tsuki? I mean, you skipped dinner and I could always whip up something fast…" he was cut off by a loud thump. He looked over in the direction of Tsuki. She had fallen over onto the floor and was fast asleep.

&nbspTaka chuckled and got up. He found a spare blanket and draped it over her.

&nbspTsuki came to sometime around late morning. She sat up and stretched, adjusting her yukata because it had shifted as she slept.

"Sleeping beauty awakes," Taka chuckled as he entered the house. "Although her prince charming is still comatose."

"He is?" She asked, rubbing sleep from her eye.

"Yes. And while you slept, I had to fight off a village full of people, because they found out you're back in town. Gods, it's a wonder you slept through it all." As he spoke Taka had placed a pot full of water over the fire and waited for the water to boil. Next to him he had a large bowl of uncooked rice, from the last harvest, no doubt.

&nbspFifteen minutes later they were eating rice from small, floral-printed rice bowls. Taka observed how quiet Tsuki was being.

"May I inquire on your thoughts?" He asked.

"I had a dream last night," Tsuki said. "When Tori was three and I struck that young man..."

"From what I understand, you were protecting yourself. From what, I can't remember."

"He grabbed me in an inappropriate place that no woman should ever be touched by a man other than her husband. I felt violated so I defended myself from further violations."

"And you left him three souvenirs right down the side of his face. Those scars are beauties although he doesn't see them that way." Taka said.

"He's never looked at me again," Tsuki smirked. "And for that I'm glad."

"You did what you had to," Taka said.

&nbspTsuki's smirk faded. "But I hated having to expose my little cousin to that horrible side of myself."

&nbspTaka chuckled.

"You find that humorous, Uncle?"

"No. I'm just remembering when you called me cousin. Why did you stop?"

&nbspTsuki stood. "Your father was dead and you became a father. That's why."

&nbspTsuki slid open the shoji screen that led into her room. The male lay on the floor, still unconscious. He had not moved since last night. She had with her fresh bandages so she could clean his wounds and change the dressings.

&nbspShe gently removed the dressing on his side and inspected the wound. Good, it had not become infected. Due to the severity of the wound, Tsuki was forced to stitch it closed and then applied pine resin to it to protect against infection. Satisfied that she had cleaned it she gently redressed the wound.

&nbspShe turned her attention to his head wound. This one was not life-threatening so Tsuki didn't stitch it closed, she just used more pine resin and a soft dressing that was wrapped about his head with thin strips of cloth. The cloth went around his head at his forehead and then at his chin.

&nbspTsuki inspected the cut. It was healing quite nicely. She began to clean it as she did the other one. She was halfway done when she heard it.

&nbspA low growl.

&nbspHis hands contracted around handfuls of sheets and he sat up, tearing the sheets as he did so. Tsuki let out a surprised shriek and leapt back. He continued to growl as he looked around, uncertain of his surroundings. He attempted to rise but whimpered in pain as he clutched his side.

"No!" Tsuki barked, rushing over and easing him onto his back. "You're injured."

"That much I know!" He growled.

"Don't growl at me, I saved your life. You owe me." Tsuki scowled at him. He scowled back. "Besides," she continued. "You sound awfully odd now considering how you begged me for help yesterday."

&nbspHe could vaguely remember anything before he blacked out, but he could sketch out a blurry image in his mind. "That was you?"

"Yes!" She continued to scowl at him, but he did not return it. She noticed his eyes for the first time, they were a beautiful silver and a complete contrast to her golden eyes. Her face relaxed. "You kept me up almost all night." She sat down on the floor next to him.

"My apologies," he said. "May I have the honor of knowing your name?"

&nbspTsuki's ears twitched in unison. He's pretty gentlemen-like for a race that's supposed to be vulgar and completely impertinent. She could feel his eyes on her and she colored lightly. "I'm Tsuki."

"Kuroi-Inu."

&nbspShe looked up. "Pardon?"

"Kuroi-Inu. That's my name. But, you can call me Kuroi. That's what everyone else calls me."

"Everyone?" Tsuki asked.

"My people," Kuroi answered. "The Inuyoukai. But, you probably already knew that."

"Not really," Tsuki replied. She continued when Kuroi gave her a curious look. "I just guessed. I was raised by my mother's family. I'm a hanyou, Kuroi. I was raised by humans. I have no idea how the culture of the Inuyoukai works."

"I'll explain it to you sometime," Kuroi said. "When I recover."

&nbspTsuki gathered the old dressing into a pile so she could burn it later to destroy it. She heard a low growl. "I told you not to growl at me anymore, you animal!"

"That wasn't my fault, I swear it!" Kuroi gave her an innocent look.

&nbspHer angered look turned to one of confusion. "Oh, wait. You're hungry, aren't you?"

"How'd you guess? I haven't eaten in over a day," he said.

"Then tell your stomach not to growl anymore and you drop the attitude," Tsuki stood and went over to the shoji screen. "I'll be back in a little while. Do you care if I leave the screen open?"

"Sure, I don't mind," Kuroi said.

&nbspKuroi lay there, staring at the ceiling, for about fifteen minutes. He breathed in and caught the scent of a human. "So, you're awake," a voice came from the doorway.

&nbspKuroi didn't bother to turn his head. He could tell from the scent that this person was a human male. Male being the key word here. Kuroi's instincts kicked in and he became territorial despite the fact that he was bedridden. He growled.

"Hey now, don't get territorial on me."

"Then leave!" Kuroi snarled.

"Hey," Taka leaned over him. He looked disarmingly down at the Inuyoukai. "I'm not trying to impede on you. Just trying to be nice. You're in my house, you know." He offered his hand. "Taka."

&nbspKuroi turned his head away from him. He didn't bother to move his arms. "Ask the hanyou if you want to know anything. She's bent over backwards to help me, unlike you."

"What do you mean?" Taka asked.

"She's standing right behind you," Kuroi said without moving his head.

"You two be nice."

&nbspTaka turned. "Tell him that. I was trying to be hospitable."

"Think about it, Uncle." She was carrying a large bowl of a broth made from mussel meat and she sat down next to Kuroi. "He's immobile, and a strange male comes near him. It's instinctual; he's going to become territorial because he can't protect himself."

&nbspShe sat the bowl on the floor and helped him into a seated position. She dipped a small bowl into the large one and handed the bowl to him.

"Thank you," he said before consuming some of the broth. He swallowed. "Very good."

&nbspTsuki smiled. She turned to her uncle. "His name is Kuroi, Uncle. Please let him be until he gets better."

"Okay, fine, whatever," Taka turned on his heel and stalked out of the room.

&nbspTsuki turned back to Kuroi. "And as for you... I really didn't like the way you referred to me as 'hanyou.' I'm a person, you know. Just like you, and just like Taka. Only...somewhere in between the two of you."

"My apologies, Tsuki. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"Apology accepted. Please hurry up and finish the soup." Tsuki got up and walked out.