InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ What Your Eyes Did To Me ❯ Where the Blame Lies ( Chapter 4 )

4 - Where the Blame Lies

 

 

 

His attempts to stop the fight weren't very successful so far. Inu Senior had never seen them fight quite like they were before. They were serious and it was obvious that each desired and meant to kill the other. He should have expected something like this. He knew how Inuyasha felt about Sesshoumaru and how he protected Kagome like pack. He'd been distracted by the thought of Kagome becoming a full member of the family as well as the surprise that he knew Sesshoumaru's mystery girl all along. After all the years that had passed since Sesshoumaru reached maturity, he'd begun to doubt that his son would ever find a mate, and finding out that the female he desired was Inuyasha's sweet little Kagome was definitely a surprise.

 

 

He glanced quickly between a crimson eyed, jagged striped Sesshoumaru who looked on the verge of transforming and a crimson eyed, jagged striped Inuyasha who was lost completely to his demon half. He had to do something soon or the entire house would be brought down around them, endangering his mate, Kagome, and all the servants as well.

 

 

His attention was ripped from his sons when he heard a shrill scream from upstairs, the fear in her voice sending a chill down his spine. “Inu! Kagome's passed out! The cut was from Sesshoumaru's claws and I can't stop the bleeding!”

 

 

Apparently that was what they needed to hear, as they both froze in mid-attack, focused on Izayoi's words. “Boys, we need to take care of Kagome. We need to save her,” he said slowly, hoping that their sanity and control would return, quickly if at all possible.

 

 

Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru stared at each other while their minds swirled. Kagome was in danger. Kagome was hurt. Sesshoumaru cut her. Inuyasha caused Sesshoumaru to cut her. Each was a threat to the other's claim on her. Instincts warred with common sense. They both wanted to rip the other's throat out to end the issue once and for all, but with Kagome in danger they each knew they had to help her first. The desire to protect her finally overrode the need to protect their claim and Sesshoumaru's beast surrendered control while Inuyasha's demon half receded.

 

 

Inu Senior let out a sigh of relief. “Sesshoumaru, go to her now. You are the only one that will be able to save her life. Inuyasha, you stay here. We will go to her when he has finished.” Sesshoumaru disappeared in an instant and Inuyasha grumbled but obeyed his father's command anyways. “Son, I know this is hard to understand, but killing each other isn't going to make anything better.”

 

 

“He slept with Kagome! How can I just let her be with him? You know how he is with women! He gets what he wants from them and then throws them away!”

 

 

“Inuyasha,” his father said softly, laying a hand on his shaking shoulder gently. “This is different. You don't understand the circumstances.”

 

 

“The fuck I don't! He picked her up in a club for a one night stand. He just got lucky enough to get two for the price of one!”

 

 

Inu Senior's claws dug into the hanyou's shoulder a bit as his hand tightened in anger and frustration. “I know you and your brother don't get along, but you need to shut up and listen. Two months ago, the morning Kagome finally called you; your brother came to me.”

 

 

“Yeah, we passed the asshole on the driveway,” Inuyasha growled before letting out a hiss of pain as claws dug deeper into his shoulder.

 

 

“Did I not say to shut up?” the taiyoukai snarled. “He came to me for help. He told me of a beautiful woman that he'd met the night before, a woman he felt a strong connection with. He told me he desired much more than one night with her but that she'd disappeared and he had no way to find her. He has been depressed since that day, his heart and soul yearning for her. When he arrived this morning and caught her scent he assumed that she was dating you and he was broken until she came to me and described an almost identical situation. They both missed each other. They both wanted more. Kagome is no one night stand. She wasn't a one night stand then. He just didn't get to tell her.”

 

 

Inuyasha glanced up at his father's face and saw the look of seriousness and absolute honesty. “You mean…?”

 

 

“Your brother desires her as his mate. He would never cast her aside.”

 

 

“Fuck!” Inuyasha screamed. “I didn't mean to! I didn't realize he was touching her and he just made me so mad and the next thing I knew I was on his back and she was bleeding! It's my fault she's hurt, that her life is in danger. I was just trying to protect her,” he whimpered before dropping to his knees.

 

 

“Your demon half was in control, as was his beast. She will be fine, I promise you. Sesshoumaru will save her, my pup.”

 

 

--------

 

 

Izayoi had left the door open, knowing that Sesshoumaru would be on his way. If she hadn't she would have been ordering a new door, as the flash of silver that whipped past her towards the growing scent of Kagome's blood and the weakening scent of Kagome never slowed. She was close to dying, too close. He knelt on the bathroom floor beside her and gently pulled the blood soaked towel from her cheek to see the wound.

 

 

It was deep and the edges of the cut were a bright angry red, proof that only he could help her now. His claws had begun to produce his poison the second his beast gained control at Inuyasha's words. The beast hadn't realized, and neither had he, that the wound caused by the hanyou's foolishness would be lined with it. The poison would keep the blood from clotting and the wound from healing so that the intended victim would bleed to death, even from the tiniest scratch.

 

 

She hadn't been intended as a victim and this was no scratch. He had to stop the effects before her heart gave up. It was already slowing and struggling to beat and he listened to the straining organ fighting to keep her alive and her shallow breathing. Sesshoumaru reached out and traced the wound, almost in a trance. The scent of her blood was overwhelming and he had to fight to keep control as his beast raged inside. Their mate was hurt and they needed to help her. Once she was saved then the one who caused it would die, he assured the beast and himself.

 

 

“Izayoi,” he almost whispered. “I need a cup or a glass.”

 

 

The human woman looked surprised for a second before rushing to grab the glass that sat by the sink. He'd never spoken her name before and for a second she was sure she'd imagined it. She watched in silence as Sesshoumaru began a rite that should have been done with Kagome's permission as a part of their mating, but had to be done now to save her life.

 

 

It had been too long. She'd lost too much blood and the poison had spread too far into her body for him to simply remove it. If he had cleaned the wound properly as a mate should immediately then none of this would be necessary. Sesshoumaru wanted to kick himself. He should have noticed. He should have known. Why did he have to be so focused on Inuyasha? Why hadn't he worried about her safety first? It wasn't just the hanyou's fault. It was his as well. He had already failed her as a mate and he'd yet to even speak the word aloud.

 

 

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and took a calming breath, though it wasn't very calming filled with the scent of blood and impending death. He then opened his eyes and, using the claw of his left index finger, slit his right wrist, allowing the blood to flow into the glass. When the bleeding slowed to a stop he called up his poison in the claws of his left hand and dripped the deadly, glowing green liquid into the collected blood. He watched carefully as the color of the fluid in the glass changed color. He had to do it just right. Not enough and it would fail to save her. Too much and she would only die faster. There was a flash of light and he pulled his hand quickly away. It was ready.

 

 

The taiyoukai slipped one arm under her neck and lifted her into a reclined position, not quite sitting but not laying flat on her back either. He opened her mouth carefully, disturbed by how limp her muscles were. She felt dead already. He started to pray that it wasn't too late and slowly began to pour the now glowing mixture into her mouth. He took care to make sure she didn't choke, encouraging her to swallow, a challenge considering how weak she was. Swallowing was almost beyond her capabilities. He tipped the glass higher, making sure she received every drop, and then wiped his finger around the inside of the glass, gathering what had clung to the sides. This he spread carefully over the cut. Now all he could do was wait and pray he'd gotten to her in time.

 

 

- - - - - - -

 

 

Inuyasha sat downstairs in the entryway against a wall with his legs pulled up to his chest, his arms around his legs, and his face buried in his knees. He'd never felt so guilty in all his life and now the one person that mattered to him more than anything was in grave danger and there wasn't a damn thing he could do for her. If she died he intended to follow her. It was the least he could do, and besides, if she died, Sesshoumaru would kill him no matter what their father did. Hell, he'd be doing him a favor, sending the hanyou to see the little miko his world revolved around in the afterlife.

 

 

Their father had gone up to check on the situation a while ago and hadn't returned, leading him to believe that there was no good news to be had. Inuyasha lifted his head, only to bang it against his knees as hard as he could. He deserved the pain, he deserved a lot more but at the moment he lacked the ability to move much more than he was. It felt like he was buried under tons and tons of sand and no matter how he flailed and fought he was dragged farther and farther underground.

 

 

“Inuyasha?” a soft, feminine voice called out to him. For a minute the world was in color again, he could move, like the sand had lifted, and the ache in his heart subsided, but only for a minute. He realized that it was just his mother and his head dropped back to his knees again.

 

 

Izayoi frowned when he failed to answer and she sat down beside her son. “Inuyasha, it'll be okay.”

 

 

“No it won't,” he said, his voice muffled since he refused to lift his head. “If she dies I die with her. If she lives she'll never forgive me and he'll still want to kill me. She'll pick him over me. She pretty much said it, that she loved me but she wouldn't let me ruin it for her. I didn't get it. She loves me but she loves him more.”

 

 

“Inuyasha, she's going to live, I'm sure of it. She's a fighter, has to be to stand up to you, my stubborn little boy.” He made a sound like he was about to protest, but when he felt her fingers on his ear he relaxed. It was almost like Kagome was with him then, rubbing his ears like she loved to do. “You should know better. There is nothing you could ever do to make her not forgive you. She shouldn't have to choose between the two of you. If you force her, I'm sorry honey but she will pick him. There isn't any reason that she can't be your friend and his mate.”

 

 

“Sure there is. That bastard hates me. He'll never let her hang out with me. I'll be lucky to ever see her again, and that's if he doesn't kill me.”

 

 

“He's not going to kill you. That would only hurt his relationship with her. She loves you too. Killing you would hurt her and he wouldn't ever be able to make up for it. You're her best friend, honey. You all just need to sit down and talk… and listen… and I know everything will work out just fine.”

 

 

Inuyasha slowly lifted his head and looked at his mother. She always knew just what to say. “She's gonna be okay?” he whispered.

 

 

Izayoi nodded. “It was too late for him to remove the poison. He had to do `it'. Sesshoumaru isn't sure yet that she'll be okay, but your father and I are. She just needs time now, to recover and for her body to adjust. She'll be fine, better than fine even.”

 

 

He nodded his understanding and she opened her arms to him. The hanyou hugged her tightly and she stroked his hair just like she did when he was little. Izayoi held her son and hoped and prayed that she was right and it wasn't too late. She couldn't be wrong. Everyone had too much to lose if she was. Kagome was an integral part of all their lives and she was afraid they would all fall apart like a house of cards in a hurricane if the little miko died.

 

 

- - - - - -

 

 

Upstairs in his bathroom Sesshoumaru held her tightly to him. Her heartbeat was soft but steady, her breathing shallow but even. It appeared that he'd made it in time. When he'd finished helping her drink his blood and poison he'd sat and held her in his lap for almost an hour, his father checking in every now and then. It was eventually decided that she was not getting any worse so hopefully she would soon begin to get better. He then decided she needed to be cleaned up and placed where he'd been trying to take her in the first place, his bed, to rest, heal, and adjust.

 

 

While he peeled the sticky bloodstained shirt from her body he thought, remembering how she'd looked at him right before she was hurt when she asked if he meant it. Of course he meant it! It wasn't something taken lightly amongst demons, and when he claimed her as his own he meant every word. Why had she looked so surprised? Didn't she get it? He wanted her, he needed her, and most of all he…

 

 

Sesshoumaru frowned as he stripped out of his clothes as well and turned on the shower. He knew how he felt so why couldn't he say it? Why was it so hard to even think? He'd been able to think it before, when he'd thought he'd never find her, so why not now? He needed to be able to tell her! He needed for her to understand just how strongly he felt, so why was the word so difficult? It was just a word, four little letters. How could it be so hard? Those four letters though, when put together in that order… they were scary. What if she didn't feel the same? He'd thought she did, but now… What if he put his heart out there and she didn't want it? If she could doubt whether he meant his claim then maybe she didn't feel the connection between them like he did.

 

 

He didn't know what to do, but it didn't matter much at the moment anyway. She was unconscious and probably would be for a few days. When she woke up he would see how she reacted when he told her what he had to do to save her. If she was angry or upset then she didn't feel the same way. If she didn't mind then chances were good she did… damn, he couldn't even think the word when it was her… having feelings for him. What in the world was it that made that word so terrifying? The more he thought about it the worse it got. Finally he decided he needed someone else's opinion. He would go speak with his father once he had her settled.

 

 

Holding her carefully against his body, Sesshoumaru stepped into the shower and under the running water. The scent of her blood increased as the dried sticky red substance began to wash away to reveal her pale skin and he had to close his eyes tightly. It was horrible, painful almost, having the scent of blood coming from her so strongly. Usually it would excite a demon like him and he would yearn to taste it, but this was too much. If he didn't care about her then it wouldn't have bothered him a bit, but he did, more than he'd ever cared about another being in his entire life.

 

 

He allowed his hands to glide over her skin, removing the more persistent stains. Finally she was clean and he admired the body he wanted to hold for all of eternity. She was overly pale but otherwise she was perfect, flawless in his eyes. Sure, she had a few little scars, but those weren't flaws. They were Kagome. They made her unique. He'd seen a lot of beautiful women, mostly demonesses, but she was by far the most perfect. Her ass was just right, soft and squeezable but not overly large. Her breasts were just what he liked, enough to fill his hands, enough to pillow his head, enough to nurse their pups…

 

 

Sesshoumaru chuckled to himself. He couldn't even think the L word, but he could think of having pups with her? It was ridiculous. Now he was not only able to be terrified at the mention of `talking' but by a four letter word as well. Kagome had changed so many things about him already and she had no idea at all. Deciding he needed to get out before the hot water ran out, he held her now slippery form carefully and shut off the water. Grabbing a few towels he walked out into his bedroom, set her near the bottom of the bed, and began drying her off.

 

 

It was something he would never have done for another, something that he'd always considered below him. This was different somehow. Inside his beast was purring, thoroughly enjoying taking care of her. When he took the time to think about it, it made sense. Inu were creatures that thrived on touch, companionship, and pack; all things he'd denied himself for centuries, thinking himself above his instinctual side. It was instinct to groom each other, to be affectionate, and to care for each other. He'd never experienced it before, how it made him feel when he finally allowed himself to do what came naturally. Only she could bring it out in him. He'd never before felt the desire to do so, but now, now all that mattered was taking care of her, making sure she was alright.

 

 

He toweled her soft black hair dry before slipping her under the covers, resting her head gently on his pillows. A small smile pulled at his lips and he bent to kiss her pale lips. “I shall return soon, Kagome.” Sesshoumaru quickly threw on some clothes and went to seek out his father. He needed to talk to him about his difficulties with the L word, as well as the hanyou's impending fate. He needed to know if their father would interfere. Inuyasha needed to pay. She'd almost died because of his stupidity!

 

 

As he made his way downstairs, where he was sure the elder taiyoukai would be, he stepped over and around the debris that he and his half-brother had caused during their fight. The servants were already cleaning it up, and they scattered as he approached, none of them wanting to be in his way.

 

 

- - - - - - -

 

 

Once Sesshoumaru had taken Kagome to his room, Inu Senior headed downstairs to tell his wife and younger son that she would be alright. When he took in the sight of Inuyasha in Izayoi's arms his heart ached for the boy. He knew that his son hadn't intended for Kagome to get hurt. He would never put her in danger if he could avoid it. Inuyasha loved Kagome.

 

 

The elder taiyoukai frowned. He was going to have to find a way to keep Sesshoumaru from killing Inuyasha, not just because he loved both of his sons, but because Kagome did as well. If Sesshoumaru were to kill her best friend, she would never be able to see past it and he would lose her for good. He was going to have to make sure his older son understood that. The brothers would have to find a way to get along for her sake.

 

 

When they heard him approaching, both looked up at him, worry and fear in their eyes as they saw the look on his face. He quickly replaced his frown with a small smile. “She's going to be fine. Sesshoumaru has taken her to get her cleaned up and make her comfortable.”

 

 

“Are you sure?” Inuyasha asked in a low voice.

 

 

“Yes, Inuyasha, I am. If she was going to get worse she would have done it by now. He made it in time.” A little bit of light came back into the hanyou's eyes, but it faded again when he remembered why she'd been hurt to begin with. Seeing this, Inu Senior spoke again. “You did not intend for her to be injured. She will not blame you and Sesshoumaru will not kill you. I won't let him, for his own good. Kagome will be with us all for a long time to come.”

 

 

“See, sweetie?” Izayoi said happily. “She'll be fine and everything will be alright. He'll understand that hurting you would only hurt her as well. Everything is going to work out, you and your brother will talk, and you will find a way to get along for her happiness.”

 

 

“I deserve whatever he's got for me.”

 

 

“No, you don't. I should have explained things to you better but I thought it would be best coming from her. I should have known that the two of you would end up fighting each other for your claims.”

 

 

“So then it went well? Her body didn't reject it?” Izayoi asked in curiosity.

 

 

“I was worried that her miko energy would interfere, but it hasn't. Now we just wait and see how it goes. Everyone reacts differently, but you know that, don't you dear?” he asked with a smile. She'd gone through the same rite; though they had done it during their mating as was the usual practice. How else would she have been alive when both of his sons were young and still live now? She'd been with him for centuries. The rite had affected her in the most minimal way possible, but it varied greatly from person to person. The strength of the demon, the strength of the human, their ages, lots of things contributed, making it too complicated to predict.

 

 

“Do you think he'll let me see her?”

 

 

Inu looked down at Inuyasha. “I don't know if that is a good idea yet. He's probably still angry and he's definitely going to be in protective overdrive. Let me talk to him first, okay son?” Inuyasha nodded sadly. He didn't like it, but he understood. Sesshoumaru was going to be her mate, and he was going to have to respect that, even if he didn't like it. Of course that was assuming he lived through the night, and he wasn't too sure on that one yet.

 

 

Inu sat down on the floor beside Izayoi and the three fell into a semi-comfortable silence, just sitting and waiting. Sesshoumaru would come down eventually and neither parent wanted to leave Inuyasha's side at the moment, just in case.

 

 

- - - - -

 

 

Blue eyes fluttered open and gazed at an unfamiliar and unfocused ceiling. They blinked a few times in hopes of a clearer picture but the fuzziness remained. The lids dropped back down in surrender. It was too hard to keep them open, and if they wouldn't focus then there wasn't a point in trying.

 

Deciding to go with a difference sense, she focused on the noises around her. Too bad there weren't any to speak of. She could hear her breathing and every now and then when she tried to move she could hear the slight swishing of fabric, but other than that, nothing.

 

 

She spread her fingers out as much as she could, about the extent of her ability at the moment, and felt something so soft it could only be silk. Breathing in through her nose gave no new clues and Kagome gave up trying to figure out where she was or what happened for her to have no idea. Her eyebrows scrunched while she tried to think of the last thing she remembered. Okay, she remembered talking to Inuyasha on the phone. She remembered telling him she would be there the next afternoon. She remembered leaving that day, a day early…

 

 

Kagome sighed and stopped trying. Everything was fuzzy. Maybe things would be better after a little more sleep.