InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Vying for Dominance ❯ At Last ( Chapter 34 )

At Last

 

 

“What is she doing?”

 

Peering over Inuyasha's protective shoulder, Enai looked curiously at the miko who had folded herself on the ground, her eyes closed, and so still it seemed as though she were in a trance.

 

“Shut up, bitch.”

 

Huffing in indignation at the rude hanyou, Enai crossed her arms stiffly over her chest. “Hmph. You probably don't know, do you.”

 

A growl broke out of Inuyasha and he turned stiffly to face the golden girl. “I said, shut up, bitch!”

 

But Enai only tilted her chin. She didn't take orders from him. “It was only a question. All you had to do was say you didn't know.”

 

“I do know, stupid,” Inuyasha rebutted harshly. “I just ain't happy about it.” Leaning closer to the Inu girl, he met the jewel emerald of her eyes with the hardened amber of his own. He had seen her in action earlier. She was good, he'd give her that. But he was better. And they both knew it. “So why don't you shut the fuck up and let her get it done so that we can get the fuck out of here!”

 

Enai stiffened in outrage, her pride not letting her back down from the challenge. “You tell me to shut up one more time hanyou…”

 

“Ah, My Lady. If I might take this opportunity to have a formal introduction.”

 

Enai blinked. She had almost sworn that that human male had just called her a Lady. Her features drawing tight in confusion, she looked to the monk. “You talking to me, mortal?”

 

“If only the Lady would permit it,” Miroku replied with a charming grin and a sweeping bow. “I am the Monk Miroku.” His smile grew as he looked up at her. “And you might be…?”

 

“…Enai…” she replied hesitantly.

 

“Enai, what a fitting name for such a spirited Lady.” Reaching forward quickly, the monk caught the young Inu girl off guard when he captured her hand in his own. “Then might I ask you, Enai…” He beseeched her imploringly with the look of a man who had found heaven on earth. “…Will you bear my children?”

 

Inuyasha actually cringed when he heard the impact from behind him. That idiot monk sure got it this time for his lecherous ways. But though he had heard the exchange between the Inu girl and the stupid, now-unconscious, monk; it was Kagome that held his eyes.

 

She seemed still, but if one looked close enough, knew her well enough, they could see the way she would flinch every time she sensed something, or the way her features were drawn with concern and shifting with her anguish. She was watching. She had made them stop just beyond the barriers guarding the Inu Gathering Ground, setting herself into this meditative trance. Inuyasha had seen her do this before when she was looking for a shard of the Shikon Jewel, honing her senses to focus on one unique aura. But this time, he knew, it was no jewel she was looking for.

 

It was Him. Even though it had passed beyond even the range of his nose, She was watching Sesshomaru's battle through her mind's eye, using the tear Tetsusaiga had made in the barrier's shield to see beyond. Every impact, every blow he suffered, she made herself suffer as well by feeling the shifting currents of his power.

 

The tiny whimper of distress that left her lips, however, was the last that Inuyasha was willing to take. Marching his way over to her with determined strides, Inuyasha planted himself right in front of Kagome. When she showed no response, he stomped his foot loudly to get her attention. It didn't work. She remained still in her trance.

 

Aggravated, and growing angrier by the second, Inuyasha growled and reached down to snag her arm, pulling the unsuspecting miko to her feet in one determined haul. “Snap out of it, bitch!” he told her with a rough shake.

 

“In…Inuyasha?” Kagome was dazed, half her mind still caught up in the battle being fought. “What…?” She looked to her hanyou friend in confusion. “Is something the matter?”

 

“Yeah something's the matter!” Inuyasha barked back. Releasing her none too gently, he took a step back to more effectively glare at the girl. “You're the matter!” he told her gruffly. “You're the one sitting here all weepy because that fucker is getting a little bloody. Well guess what, Kagome! Ain't nothing in this world that's free! There's no use in crying over a little spilt blood.”

 

“Inuyasha!” Kagome gasped in horror. “How can you be so cold? He's your brother!”

 

“Keh,” Inuyasha brushed off her words. “Ain't like he's gonna lose or nothing.” But looking back, his expression grew serious again. “What you should be worrying about is what he's gonna do to you once he gets back here and demands you give him that `favor' of yours.”

 

Kagome's eyes widened in shock that Inuyasha would even bring such a thing up, but her features were rapidly taken over by a heated blush. She looked quickly away. “Inuyasha…” she stammered nervously.

 

“It was you, wasn't it?” He cut her off, his voice a dark whisper of anger and accusation. “You were the one that went to him on that night, weren't you?”

 

The time had come for the truth to come out. Taking in a deep breath, Kagome turned to her friend. She reached out to take his hand, to tell him without words that no matter what she would always love him. “Inuyasha…”

 

But he pulled back abruptly from her touch. “Damnit! I fucking knew it! How could you, Kagome??!! How could you fuck my own fucking brother??!!”

 

Squeaking shrilly in absolute outrage, Kagome reeled back from the hanyou. Anger came to her defense, and she spit back at him. “Well it's not like I had any more appealing options! At least he wanted me for me and not some walking corpse!”

 

Inuyasha went rigid, taking a tense step towards the miko that had just gone one line too far. “You take that back, bitch!”

 

“Or what?” she snapped back at him. “You can't do anything to me!”

 

He took another step. “I can take you back home and make sure you never come back!”

 

“You wouldn't dare!” She stepped forward to meet him, lifting her chin to keep their eyes level. “Besides, he knows, Inuyasha! I told him!”

 

“You what??!!” Inuyasha was beyond furious. “Why the fuck would you do something so stupid??!!”

 

“Because he deserved to know!”

 

She had stamped her foot in added emphasis, but Inuyasha would have none of it. “Fuck that! That bastard don't deserve nothing! Least of all you!”

 

“And how would you know?!” She lifted a finger to jab it accusingly against his chest, smiling vindictively when she hit a sore spot that only proved her point. “The two of you never stop fighting long enough to ever get to know anything about each other!”

 

“Oh, what?” He slapped her hand away. “And I suppose you think you know him?!”

 

“I do know him!” Her hands shook at her sides, and she closed them tightly into fists as she tried to curb the anger building within her. “I know him better than anyone!”

 

“What a fucking crock!” That was something Inuyasha just couldn't accept. “Don't be stupid, Kagome! He don't give a shit about you! He's using you!! Why can't you see that??!!”

 

“You're the one that's stupid!” Her voice cracked with straining emotions, but she forced herself to continue. “Can't you see what he's done?! Don't you know what it meant for him to call you his brother in front of all of them?! Don't you know what his fight with that black Inu was all about?! He's fighting for me, Inuyasha! He's fighting now because he wants to be with me! And I want to be with him!”

 

“It don't make any sense!” Inuyasha threw his hands up in frustration so acute he couldn't contain it anymore. What had he done to her to make her think such things? How could she be so set on this? How could she be so sure? “He tried to kill you, Kagome, and me, countless times! How can think for even a second that he gives a flying fuck about you?! How can you stand there and tell me that you want to be with someone who wants to see you dead??!!

 

“Because, damn it! I love him!”

 

The air seemed to still around her as she spoke the words, the moment stretching on in a silence that echoed only her voice.

 

Inuyasha blinked, and time moved forward again. The hard edge in his posture sagged and he took a step back from Kagome. “Keh. Well I always did say you were stupid.”

 

“Inuyasha…”

 

The threat in her voice was clear, and far too well-known. “No fucking way, bitch! Don't you even think about…!!”

 

“SIT!!!”

 

Fists clenched, chest heaving as she panted to regain her breath, Kagome glared murderously down into the crater that now held Inuyasha. A soft cough, however, finally reminded her that they weren't alone. Breathing in deeply to dispel some of her more destructive thoughts, Kagome turned slowly to her audience. She had thought to apologize for the scene; but when she turned and found Enai looking at her strangely, her mouth agape and her eyes wide in astonishment, Kagome quickly lost her composure again.

 

“What?” she snapped. Because, really, the idiot hanyou had totally deserved what he got.

 

Continuing to stare at the miko in wonder, Enai replied slowly, “You…are like…my idol.”

 

And Kagome released a frustrated breath and rolled her eyes before turning stiffly away from her audience to return to her meditations.

 

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

 

The battle had finally come to an end, and Kagome stood waiting for his return.

 

She was alone. Inuyasha had, eventually, and after many times being sat, allowed her to go where her heart would have her be. The danger, she had argued, was nothing compared to what they had already been through, and she couldn't bear to see another fight. So the hanyou had finally given in and let her go off on her own.

 

She stood now on a rise in an empty field. The wind blew softly, caressing hands that brushed against her skin; and on it she envisioned the ripples of her scent that would bring him back to her. He was coming; she could feel it as clearly as she had felt his victory. The others had known it as well, had heard his powerful voice lifted to carry over the land and tell all creatures of the New Order; but none of them had known it as she had, none had felt the swelling of his pride that surge of his power. No one but her. And she had shared that moment with him, just as she had shared so many and would share so many more.

 

She smiled as he drew closer, joyful anticipation making her heart flutter and her breaths quicken. At last they would be given the chance to know each other openly, to not have to hide or make secret their relationship. The impossible barriers that had held them apart were no more, and they were being given the chance to see what more could become of something once-forbidden.

 

It was like a dream, a happy ending made solely for her Feudal Fairytale. In this time of myth and legend, where magic was as real as the monsters of nightmares, she had found that one thing most elusive of all. She had found it in the most unlikely of places, with the most unlikely of beings; but she had never known a feeling so incredible.

 

It was fear and comfort, happiness and sorrow. It was dark with pain but so bright with joy it was blinding of anything beyond. There was no right and wrong, no second-guessing, no consequences; it just was. She couldn't explain it, could begin to fathom how in such a short time her heart could be healed of the emptiness that had left it broken. All she knew was that this was real.

 

What fleeting chance, what twist of fate, what dark curse or blessing from above, whatever had brought them together, had made them see and feel and know that teasing taste of the forbidden; that had left them long ago, been lost somewhere in the night. Where she stood now, it seemed so far away from that place. It was not chance that would bring them together now, not fate or magic or anything so fleeting. Heart and will would bring them together now, bound of honor and love and by a choice made freely.

 

Choices. There would be many to be made in the days to come, many that would not weigh easily on heart or mind. So many choices. So many uncertainties. So many things left undone and unsaid. But those things would come as they may. Those things would be the beginnings and ends of another day, another adventure. What was left on this day was to see one choice brought through to its fruition, to have one promise made kept.

 

It was strange that she would fear now. Not fear of danger or for her life as she was so accustomed to; but a new kind of fear, a fear of something unknown, a commitment she could only pray she had the courage to keep. But it was this fear, this uncertainty, the exhilaration that came from stepping into the unknown that made it so much more real, and made her so much more certain that she had the right choice.

 

Because no matter her fear, no matter the questions and uncertainties that plagued her thoughts and clouded the way forward; those things deeper and stronger knew without question the path ahead. And this, too, made it real. It made her see that whether it be fear or anger or jealousy or spite - those emotions that were so jaded and hateful and so easily blinding - they could not break through what was real, what was in her heart.

 

How long had she loved him? She couldn't help but wonder. Is the heart so easily swayed that it had only taken these few days to choose its course? Or was it something more? In so many battles fought, had there been something there all along that she simply could see until he took the blinders away from her eyes?

 

Did it even matter?

 

No. What mattered was that they had this day, and the promise of tomorrows to come. A future…a future…a…

 

Her thoughts were scattered upon the winds when a surge of power tore through her senses. She looked up expectantly, knowing he had come at last. What she saw at first was only a shadow, something so massive it could block out even the light of the sun. She drew in a short breath, the lingering traces of mortal fear being provoked by the sheer size of the Great Beast and causing her to hesitate. But her hesitations were not to last. She knew him, knew this beast, knew that beneath the ferocity and terror beat a heart that had captured hers. And that was all that mattered.

 

When he landed, the impact sent tremors through the earth. Kagome shook as well, but not because of the shock wave. Now fully visible in the bright rays of the afternoon sun, she could see the full terror of what stood before her. Not the Youkai beast, not the razor fangs filling the crushing maw or the fierce claws adorning the massive paws, not the size of force or power that stood before her, not even the burning of demon fire in his eyes; it was the dark coating of crimson that streaked the flashing silver of his fur which marked the wounds he had suffered in a battle of her making that made her tremble.

 

Tears clouded her vision, and it was through a hazy film of moisture that she watched him change. His massive size began to dissipate, the energy sustaining it being pulled back and concentrated once again in his immortal body. Sunlight reflected back with silver sheen in a spinning dance around him as crimson fire blazed in a dance of its own. It lasted only seconds, and in the time it took her to blink, the transformation had been complete.

 

Still using his arms as though they were his forelegs, he remained crouched on the ground. The flowing silver of his mane spread around him, the glinting surface shifting with each of his panting breaths. She couldn't see his face, but she could see the cutting streaks of crimson blood that remained to mar the beauty of his porcelain skin, just as terrible now as when he was in his truest of forms.

 

She couldn't stand any longer. She needed to go to him, to touch him, to know he was here with her again and well. She ran to him, his name leaving her lips on a fearful breath that begged to know he was alright.

 

“Sesshomaru…”

Only paces away, she was brought to a jittery halt when he released a deep and reverberating growl.

 

“Sesshomaru?” She called again, but her voice wavered in uncertainty. She didn't know what he was saying, didn't know what he wanted of her. All she knew was that she wanted to be there for him, to help him, even if she didn't know how. She dropped down onto her knees beside him, reaching out carefully, wanting to touch him, but not daring to do so. “Are you…alright?”

 

He growled again, but this time it was choppy, rumbling somewhere between his demon voice and the mortal tongue he would use to speak with her. The sound was wicked, but not meant to be threatening. And she realized as he finally lifted his head to face her, and she saw the feral grin parting his lips to reveal the dark coating of blood staining his teeth, that he was laughing.

 

And abrupt shift of his frame, and he had brought himself to his knees. So quickly she couldn't even register the movement with her eyes, he had wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her tightly against him. Kagome squeaked in startled shock, but was silenced when she found herself held in the intensity of his smoldering gaze.

 

“That I can call you mine,” he replied slowly, every word and every syllable intensified and made deeper by the growing voice of his animal spirit, “and I have never been better.”

 

With no more words to be spoken, his mouth crashed down onto hers. The kiss was hard, demanding, controlling; and she stiffened under the sudden assault. Bitter copper made sweet coated her lips, nauseating in its thick potency. She tired to pull away, but she couldn't. He wouldn't let her. She whimpered in distress, fear spiking within her, telling her she didn't want this. Not like this.

 

He was angry. Even more than hearing the fierce snarl that tore from his lips when he ripped away from her, she could feel it in the blazing surge of his aura as it whipped around her. Another tremor of fear shook through her, but she couldn't pull away. She wouldn't. Though timid and uncertain, she met his furious gaze.

 

“After everything…” He seemed torn, fighting with himself, forcing the words to the surface. “Everything I have done for you…Everything I have given you, would give to you…And you refuse me now?”

 

“No.” She denied it instantly. It wasn't true. “I didn't. I don't. Sesshomaru…?” She reached out to him, her fingers brushing tentatively across parallel lines of torn skin stretching down his right side. “What's going on? Why haven't you seen to these wounds?”

 

Something about her touch seemed to calm him. The burn of fury faded from his eyes, and the hard edge in his posture softened as he lifted his own hand to cover hers. He pressed it against the wound hard, but never flinching or showing any sign of pain or discomfort. The building pressure forced more of his blood to flow. She could feel it seeping through her fingers, coating her skin with its heated thickness.

 

Not being able to watch any longer, she looked up to him, asking, pleading for an explanation, for what he wanted of her. The fire in his eyes had been shielded behind barriers of amber glass, the shifting currents beneath not quite concealed by the placid gold. And when he spoke, the heavy vibrations that had deepened and corrupted his soft tenor were no longer present.

 

“Don't you remember, Kagome?” he asked her quietly. When she didn't answer, only continued looking at him in confusion and worry, he lifted her hand away from where he had pressed it to his side, bringing it to his mouth to gently cleanse away the blood coating her fingers.

 

“The waterfall,” she whispered as understanding finally dawned on her. “You…you treated my wounds. And now you…want me to treat yours?” She hadn't meant to be offending, but she realized after she had said it that her question must have seemed so stupid from his perspective.

 

He released her hand, leaning back and stretching himself languidly on the grass. “It is hardly necessary,” he told her, his voice not nearly as soft as only moments before, and reminding her far too much of that of the Assassin.

 

“No, I'll do it. I mean, I want to. It's just…just…”

 

“Speak, miko.”

 

Now that most definitely was the voice of the Assassin. But while its cold measure and toneless threat was meant to invoke fear, for her, all it seemed to do was make her angry. “I'm not a dog, okay!” she snapped at him, planting her hands stubbornly on her hips and leveling him with the best glare she could muster. “I don't get off on the taste of blood!”

 

His glare matched hers and then some, the golden surfaces glinting fiercely in the sunlight as they narrowed in anger. But it was him who broke the eye contact, sniffing in what might have been offense or disgust, she wasn't sure, before he looked away.

 

“It is meant to be an honor to share in the victory of one's mate.”

 

For a moment, Kagome only stared blankly. But once her mind finally processed what he had said, she found herself highly grateful that he wasn't looking at her. Because she knew that if he was offended now, then it would have been ten times worse if he saw her cringe in disgust.

 

It wasn't his blood.

 

The Big Bad Dog that he was had brought her the gift of his hunt. And now, not unlike her cat when she had scolded the little beast for bringing her the most wonderful gift of a dead bird and left it in the middle of her bedroom for her to find, the not-so-little puppy was sulking. If she hadn't been busy chocking back her gag reflex that was busy trying to heave up what she was almost certain was blood belonging to the Black Inu Kuro, she would have been hard-pressed not to laugh. As it was, however, Kagome was just grateful she managed to keep down her stomach contents.

 

It took her a minute or so to finally bring her body back under her full command, but when she did, she turned her attention back to the Inu who still refused to look at her. “Me and you,” she told him in all seriousness, “Are due to have a long talk about the dos and don'ts of interspecies matings. But…” She paused as she moved closer, leaning over him as she shifted her legs to straddle his waist. The movement finally brought his eyes back to hers, and she smiled. “Right now, I think I know a puppy that needs a bath.”

 

“Miko.” His growl of warning was sorely lacking conviction, especially when she lifted her hand to brush upwards along his cheek before rubbing his ear gently between her fingers. Of course, being Sesshomaru, he couldn't let her win quite so easily. “Why do you insist on calling me by that ridiculous title?”

 

Now this was what she had been waiting for, this closeness, this intimacy, this feeling of warmth and comfort and of knowing that there was no place she would rather be than there with him and sharing in this moment. Her smile grew and she giggled playfully. “Well, I could always call you Sessy, or Sunshine, or Love Muffin, or - I know!” Grinning impishly, she leaned in closer and rubbed her nose against his. “Cuddlebum!” she squeaked with glee.

 

And that was the last straw. In less than a second, she found herself pinned to the ground with a very predatory looking Inu hovering over her. “Call me that again,” he told her with a deep growl of warning, “And I shall be calling you dinner.”

 

But his threat could not wipe the wide smile from Kagome's lips. “So, puppy, then?” she asked in mock innocence.

 

Sesshomaru released a long breath and shook his head. He just couldn't understand it. Her teases and taunts irritated him to no end. Her obstinacy and open defiance were often time aggravating if not infuriating. And her ignorance as to the ways of his kind, though no real fault of her own, drove his beast to the edges of its restraints and beyond.

 

Why, then, was it these things which he found nearly as compelling as the whit burn of her power and the radiance of her light? Why did he find himself enjoying the fact that she actually thought she could tell him what to do, and more, why did he actually find himself doing it? How could one mortal girl be so much trouble, and yet seem to him as though she was worth ten thousand times the trials she had already put him through?

 

Why couldn't he get enough of her?

 

“You are going to be the death of me, Kagome.” Though he very well might have been speaking the truth, he could for the life of him find anything wrong with it.

 

She, however, had taken his words to be something of a joke - which in itself was nearly laughable. But the sound of her voice lit with merriment as she laughed was so beautiful it was almost a shame that it was silence when he covered her lips with his own…Almost.

 

This time there was no resistance, no hesitation. She gave herself over to him and exchange of their mouths as they joined together, sighing in blissful contentment as she wrapped her arms around his neck to bring him closer still. And for him there was no more pain, no more fight or struggle, not even a world outside of this time and place where he lay with his chosen mate, and she with him.

 

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