InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ When the Truth Rings ❯ Decision Making ( Chapter 9 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

AN: Already then, I do believe that we are on Chapter Nine, and I'm also ever appreciative of the reviews that I get from those of you who enjoy my fic. Review if you can and enjoy the chapter below.


"Hey, Kaede, can you come outside for a moment?" Inuyasha asked, peeking his head inside her hut. Everyone inside became quiet and just stared as Kaede slowly stood and silently shuffled toward him. "You guys can finish eating, I just want to talk to her for a second."

He waited until they were safely out of earshot of the others before he began. "I have to ask you something very important."

"What is it ye want to know?"

"Well, it's about...bonding," he said quietly.

"You mean mating," she said, smiling softly. "I never thought ye would be so shy about it."

He didn't look at her, and surely didn't open his mouth. It was amazing; he was usually so articulate.

"Are ye going to tell me what the problem is, or am I going to have to guess?"

Finally his eyes rested on her, and he found his voice. "Do you think that Sango would want to mate with me?"

"Why wouldn't she? She loves ye, does she not?"

"She does, but that doesn't mean that she'd want to be stuck with me until she dies."

Kaede looked him square in the eye. "Sango is not one to take her feelings lightly. Clearly she cares for ye, and for that question to even pass ye lips, she'd knock you out cold for it."

Inuyasha nodded his head slowly as her words sunk in; however, it wasn't enough. "It's not that I don't think she does, but will she be willing to accept all that comes with it?"

"What do ye mean? What will she have to accept?"

"Well," he began, swallowing hard. "Since she's human, if we mate, then she will gain strength, and maybe even a few features of mine."

Kaede seemed amused. "Ye mean ears or fangs?"

"...yeah. It won't be much, but she'll get something. Most importantly, she'll become physically stronger and her lifespan will be extended. Besides that, it just depends."

"On what?"

"I don't know, maybe it's by random. We'll see when we mate, I guess."

"I assume ye will have pups, right? I'd love to see how they'd turn out."

"Of course we'll have pups! They'll be so.... strong..." As his voice trailed off, Kaede looked at him in concern.

"What is it?"

Seeming to snap out of his trance, Inuyasha shook his head. "It's nothing. Really, don't worry about it."

"Ye could never lie. What's wrong? Are ye afraid that ye pups won't be very strong.?"

"..."

"Is it because they won't have much demon blood in them?"

"A little."

Closing her eyes and exhaling heavily, the old miko had enough. Grabbing him by his rosary necklace and pulling him down close to her face, she yelled, "tell me, is Sango not strong? Is she not a fierce warrior? Isn't that way ye fell in love with her in the first place? Are ye telling me that she cannot produce strong pups? She is the only human woman that will rival the ferocity of any female demon, and her beauty is unmatched! Don't ye ever doubt her again! She is the woman ye should have been searching all ye life for! Learn it, and never speak of this again!"

He listened to her intently, knowing that she was right. The demon slayer in fact was the woman he had been searching for. Neither Kikyo nor Kagome could ever be the type of aggressive fighter Sango is. And neither of them could equal the natural and simplistic beauty she possessed. And neither one could deal with the pain and memories Sango has to everyday. It became clear to him now; she'd be the perfect mother of his pups, and they'd be just as able as if she were a demon. He planned to mate with her soon, and when she finally gives birth, they will have tangible proof of their love for all to see, and that would be the proudest moment of his life. He knew already.

"OH!" Kaede gasped in surprise, tearing him from his thoughts. He noticed that she still held his necklace in her grip, yet now she was looking closely at it. "We need to fix this."

"What's wrong with the rosary?"

"Kagome still has control over it."

His eyebrows rose as he remembered this. 'That's right. So either she takes this off of me, or she transfers the power to Sango. I'd personally like to get rid of this damn thing altogether, but I have a feeling Sango would want me to keep it. This damn rosary...'

"I assume that Sango will have control of it now," he said, watching her finger the beads in her hand.

"That all depends," she said, looking up at him. "If she wants ye to keep them, I can transfer the command to her. But she wants ye to get rid of it, then I will free ye from the curse."

His face twisted in thought. 'Would she free me from this thing? Nah, she won't. I guess she'd want to make sure I don't do anything stupid. I have done stupid things once or twice before...'

"We will worry about that later," Kaede nodded, letting go of the beads and allowing him to stand up straight. "There is one thing that has to be done."

"What?"

Her soft smile reappeared. "A feast to celebrate the union of ye and Sango!"

Scratching his head, he told her, "Um, you know that the celebration of union is supposed to happen after we mate, right?"

"Of course, Inuyasha, but I want to have it tonight while Kagome and Kouga are here; I want them to be here for the festivities. It will all happen in the village, as all the people there know ye and Sango. They will all be happy for the two of ye!"

Inuyasha was dumbfounded. Kaede's excitement was baffling to him. He couldn't understand why she was so happy. He decided to ask. "Why do you seem more excited for this than I am?"

The soft smile faded. A sigh ensued. She cleared her throat. "Inuyasha, I see ye as a son. Whenever all of ye come to see me, I am glad; it is like a family coming together. And for ye and Sango to come together and find love in each other, it makes me happy. It is almost like this celebration is my letting go of ye, Inuyasha, and giving ye to Sango to take care of. Now promise me this, Inuyasha. When the bonding is complete, don't forget about me. After all, I am like a mother to ye, yes?"

Inuyasha couldn't help but feel good by her words. He wouldn't tell her, but she was like a mother to him. She'd always feed him, tend to his wounds, and give him advice of whatever he asked her about, and some things he didn't ask for. He would never forget about her. "I won't," he assured her. "We'll continue to visit. I promise."

"Good. Now when do ye plan to mate with Sango?" she asked, quickly recovering from the sweet moment and getting down to business. "Tell me it is soon."

"I was planning to do it tonight, but with the party and all --"

"Isn't that sort of early?"

"How long am I supposed to wait?"

"Longer than a day of getting together."

Shaking his head, he told her, "You don't know how long I've wanted to --"

"Tonight it is!" she said, raising a hand to silence him.

"But what about the party?"

Kaede looked at him with an expression that begged him to keep up. "Ye will mate during the party. Then when ye are done, come to let everyone see her mark."

Inuyasha's eyes bulged. "What?! We can't do that! Mating is not something that can be done in 10 minutes and then you go on about your business!"

"Ye don't understand. I am aware of the time it all takes. That is why ye will have private time prior to the celebration. It will start without ye, but if the bonding is completed before the celebration's end, then I want to see her mark."

He didn't have anything to say after her reasoning. But still, he didn't like the idea very much. First, he'd have to tell Sango about the whole mating thing, because she is involved in all of this. "Well, Sango needs to know first. Can I talk to her in private before anything is settled? I'm sure she will have an opinion about all this."

"Fine. When I go back inside, I will send her to ye. Do what ye can to make her agree; her mark might come in handy." Then she was gone.

Left alone to wait, he began to think of their conversation. Something in the back of his mind told him that there was something that she wasn't telling him. For the very life of him, he couldn't figure out why she wanted them to mate so soon. Clearly it wasn't just him wanting them to bond almost immediately. He hoped that trouble wasn't near, because if it strikes while he and Sango are mating, somebody will be in soul-consuming pain. And he wouldn't want to do that. At least not when he's supposed to be holding Sango, not his Tetsusaiga.

"Hey Inuyasha, you wanted to talk to me?" Her melodic voice brought his eyes to rest upon her. She was in her demon slayer suit but her hair was down, dancing about her shoulders as she walked up to him. "Is something wrong?"

"No, I just need to talk to you about something, nothing's wrong," he told her, looking down at the ground. Somehow, he found it hard to talk.

"Well, are you planning to tell me what's going on or are we going to stare at leaves all day?"

He rose his gaze to her eyes, and found comfort in them. They told him she was curious but a slight bit scared despite his assertion that nothing was wrong. They also told him that she'd be willing to accept what he was about to ask. "Sango, what do you think about us mating?"

She was silent for a moment, then a light flush came over her cheeks. Softly, she replied, "I think that it will have to happen at one point. I mean, if we love each other, why wouldn't we?"

"So you're okay with it?"

"... yeah. Why wouldn't I be? Are you alright with it?"

"Of course! Uh, I mean, yeah."

'Smooth.'

She looked away from him. "When do you plan for this to happen?"

Taking a step toward her and placing a hand on her cheek, he tilted her head to look into her face. "Whenever you are ready."

She smiled at him, and placed her hand on his. Closing her eyes and leaning into his touch, she whispered, "I don't want to wait too long."

Inuyasha agreed with her, and somehow, he was sure it was for similar reasons. But the last thing he wanted to do was pressure her before she was ready, so he said, "Well, I'll wait for whenever you want it to happen. Just let me know, okay?"

She opened her eyes again and looked at him with a small smile. "Alright. Thank you for being patient with me."

He nodded at her and turned to leave when he felt her smaller hands on his shoulders, turning him back toward her. Without a word or warning, she got onto her tip-toes and planted a shy kiss in his lips. But she didn't draw back. Not needing an explanation, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to his body. She gasped in surprise and he smiled onto her lips as he began to kiss her harder, a little more roughly.

Parting her lips for him, he slid his tongue in her mouth to meet hers, and could tell she didn't have much experience in kissing. But he wasn't surprised; he knew from her scent that she was inexperienced all around, in kissing and in other things as well. However, he was surprised at how she was managing to keep up. She knew a little.

Finally getting the hang of kissing, Sango began to get a little brave and wrap her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him. 'Oh Gods,' his mind screamed. 'If she doesn't create at least an inch or two between us, we'll end up mating right now!'

Luckily for him, rustling of leaves behind them made her break their kiss. "Sango! Inuyasha! Where are you?" It was Kagome.

Releasing their holds on each other, Sango called, "We're over here!"

Walking into the clearing, Kagome smiled at her. "Sorry to interrupt your talk, but Kaede said that it's time for lunch. Apparently there's gonna be a celebration for you two and she wants to get started early."

"Really?"

"Yeah, that's what we were talking about," Inuyasha butt in, hoping to sound convincing enough to stray from what they were really doing. Or about to.

"Oh," Sango nodded. "Well, that's very nice of her. Are you going to stay for it, Kagome? I mean, if you want to leave..."

"Of course not," Kagome smiled softly and grabbed Sango's hand. "I'll stay. Besides, why wouldn't I want to go to a celebration for two of my best friends?"

Sango smiled back and squeezed her hand. "Thanks."

Inuyasha just watched them, and was secretly relieved that Kagome accepted the situation and was still able to be friends with Sango, his future mate.

As the girls walked back in the direction of Kaede's, he followed them, deep in thought. 'Tonight I will finally get what I want; finally I will be able to take Sango as my mate. Tonight, she will understand just how deeply I feel for her, in ways that I would never be able to say. Tonight... she will be mine.'

AN: Alrighty then. So it seems the mating will come next chapter. But don't get too excited; it won't be a full-on lemon (I don't think it will be. It might.) But the rating will be raised either way. We'll see how this turns out. Review if you can!