InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Whispers Behind Rice Paper Walls ❯ chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3: A night of confusion and heart-break

 

Two ethereal beings were staring at a bright coloured silk heap at their feet, a frown marring both of their own handsome features. However, the thoughts swirling under those silver hair of theirs were far from similar.

 

The female youkai was truly confused. 'Did this foolish human really think her hanyou would not find her? Why did she seem so surprised about all this? I can feel no guilt coming from her, just... plain embarrassment, and fear? Stupid mortal, they never take responsibility for their actions.' She snorted disdainfully and turned her back to the prone figure of the young miko, now staring at the second son of her departed mate.

 

The male youkai, however, was not feeling any of the confusion his mother was currently experiencing. 'She just had to come now, before I could prepare the half-breed. As always, her timing is far from ideal. Such an unpredictable creature this girl is. How did Inuyasha manage to protect her? Did she come to inform this Sesshomaru about something? What is this scroll she's holding against her?'

 

His pondering was interrupted when his half-brother crouched near Kagome's unmoving form, his clawed hand reaching towards her to assess her well-being. A low growl came out unchecked from the daiyoukai's chest, warning his sibling that touching the small female was not a good idea at the moment.

 

Inuyasha's head snapped up, his body still hovering protectively over the miko's unconscious one.

 

“What the fuck, Sesshomaru? You have no right concerning Kagome! We are going to get married in a month, damn it! Do you really have to spoil my happiness, again? I thought we were over this stupid sibling rivalry,” he uttered under his breath, all brashness forgotten. In his amber eyes, determination battled with hope that, for once, his brother would understand and let go.

 

Sesshomaru cringed internally. Unexpectedly, Inuyasha was being uncharacteristically reasonable, and was speaking to him in a near-to-civil tone. Too bad he still needed the cooperation of the girl to fulfil his plans.

 

“This Sesshomaru does not repeat himself, half-breed. The woman will stay here until I do not need her presence any more. Just know that she will probably be back before a month is over, so that your impending wedding may occur in a timely manner.” Focused on his brother, he never detected the slight movement signalling the awakening of his current charge.

 

“What? You mean, brother, that you will use her like those paper handkerchief of hers and then give her back to me for our marriage? Do you hate so much humans that you won't even give them this kind of respect? I've waited for three years for her to come back to me, I even had to go with lowlife bitches to calm down the frustration I felt, and now she's not even a virgin any more because my own sibling tainted her? I can't accept this shit from you!” His hand was still on the hilt of his sword, but a scent stopped him cold.

 

The scent of salt and water.

 

“Inuyasha,” the fallen miko spoke in a rusty voice, no emotion transpiring in her words. “Did you really go to see whores while I wasn't there?” Her head was still bowed, but her tears were obvious to all the dog youkais in the vicinity nonetheless.

 

“Yea. What of it? You didn't expect a male to wait that long without any satisfaction, did you?” The hanyou's hears were flat on his skull, belying the bravado in his tone.

 

“Ah, yes. I've forgotten. The males of this era do have different morals, don't they? So, if I understand correctly, the female I am can wait for three years and have to stay untouched for her future husband, but the male you are don't give a flying fuck if I'd wanted you to stay faithful to me, even while I was gone?”

 

And as the little woman-child's gaze lifted slowly from the ground, the air cracked with raw power, her aura sizzling with tiny bright pink lightning bolts. All youkais near her flinched, their skin hitching and their instincts screaming at them that, truly, they didn't need to stay this close to the little ball of fury still sprawled at their feet.

 

One short sentence escaped the now thin line of her pursed lips.

 

“Get. Out. Of. My. Sight,” she seethed through clenched teeth, glaring at the offending half-youkai with barely restrained anger.

 

“Kagome...” he tried to calm her down, his hand touching her shoulder so that she would listen to reason. “I've never been unfaithful to you. It was just to appease the needs of my youkai blood, I was not in control...” He tried not to whimper when his fingers began to smoke, but broke the contact with her. He still needed the appendage, after all.

 

“Sesshoumaru?” she asked, her gaze never leaving the hanyou, her voice softening minutely.

 

“Yes?” the lord replied simply.

 

“Is it common for hanyous not to be able to control their urges?” she wanted to know.

 

“Yes,” he answered, noticing the tension in his brother's shoulders. All thing considered, he didn't want his own sibling to suffer from a possible separation from his female. Even if he didn't acknowledge love as something useful, he remembered how much Inuyasha seemed to be attached to the little miko. All hate forgotten between the two sons of the Inu no Taisho after so long, they didn't need to fight over a female, a human one at that.

 

“What are you not telling me?” Her eyes shifted from one male to the other, searching his soul and finding it.

 

Sesshomaru almost squirmed under the pink hue coating her irises. Almost. The memory of her purifying their long time enemy to death with a single arrow surfaced in his mind, and a small sigh escaped him. If this woman didn't trust him, he'll never found out who the traitor was.

 

“The Fang should be able to seal his youkai blood, thus enabling him to control it more efficiently,” he admitted at last.

 

“You're not going to believe him, are you!? He's lying!” Inuyasha screamed.

 

Amber clashed with gold, silent death threats shining in both pair of eyes. But before the youkai could answer to the insult at his honour, a now tired feminine voice beat him to it.

 

“Sesshoumaru never lies,” she uttered quietly. “Or at least he doesn't when there's nothing to gain for him. And I assure you, he doesn't need me here. He can deal with it on his own perfectly. And don't think I'm stupid enough not to have thought about Tessaiga myself. You just didn't want to stay in control, did you? Get out of here, Inuyasha. I just don't want to see you right now. I'm going to help Sesshomaru, if he still wants me to, and then I'll decide what to do about you. For the moment, I consider the wedding to be cancelled.” She was still seated on the cold marble floor and she shivered from exhaustion and sadness.

 

“But Kagome...” Inuyasha implored.

 

“Half-breed,” the demoness interrupted him, a bit miffed about being blatantly ignored by the trio, again, “The woman asked you to go. This Sumire is aware that you lack even the basic skills in courtly etiquette, but she is one of the courtiers of the West, one of the Lords' concubines, thus her station being above your own, you should just heed her command and go.” She turned her heels and sauntered gracefully back to her purple silk covered throne.

 

The young woman shuddered again, and something in the daiyoukai snapped to attention. Her frail mortal body would become ill if she stayed this way, and the disrespect the foolish pup showed her was taking it's toll. She looked nothing like the warrior she was, defeated by her own love, weakened by the one that had vowed to protect her so long ago. She would be of no use to him if she broke.

 

Jaws set in determination, he flickered from their sight so fast that no one could follow his movements. He picked Kagome up effortlessly and reappeared a few yards from where Inuyasha was now standing, golden eyes wide with shock.

 

The girl in his arms stiffened, but he didn't relent his hold, keeping her close to his chest to give her the heat her human body needed. Realising she'll never be able to escape his grasp, she relaxed minutely and enjoyed the warmth of his embrace, closing herself to anything else than his overwhelming presence. The discussion was over anyway, as far as she was concerned.

 

“What the fuck! Give her back, you bastard!” The young male screeched in outrage.

 

“Obviously, she have had enough of your presence, half-breed. Now, get out of my sight, my patience is wearing thin. She will come back to you, eventually,” he added the last sentence to avoid any upcoming confrontation. He had had enough battles for some decades now, and just wanted to rest a while in his home. The little female still in his arms, he started to walk back into the palace walls, sensing the hanyou approach him from behind.

 

He didn't even have to say anything, a quiet “Osuwari” taking care of the nuisance for him. He snickered internally. He had always enjoyed it when the miko subdued his brother, and this time was no exception.

 

He entered his own chambers and put the woman-child on his futon, letting her curl under the heavy blankets by herself and quickly fall asleep. She was going to realise what just happened soon enough, and having a heavily distressed female in the middle of plotting bitches would not do. After all, using one's weakness against oneself was a basic skill for a courtesan, and he needed Kagome to keep her sanity as intact as possible.

 

He snorted in disgust. If he had known his plan would make him cater to a frail human's needs, he would have dispatched his court with the efficiency he had been accustomed to a few years ago.

 

'No,' he second thought himself, 'I wouldn't have done that now. I've changed a lot lately, thanks to Rin, and probably thanks to that woman currently slumbering peacefully in my own bed. How the mighty have fallen.' He grunted, dissatisfied with his line of thinking, and went to his office next door to drown himself into paper work.

 

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Unfortunately, the little display didn't go unnoticed. Every youkai, from the counsellors to the low grade servants, knew that the Shikon Miko was currently residing in the palace of the West.

 

The rumour mill rumbled happily like a well oiled bee hive, speaking about the Love Triangle from Hell, the wedding of the Miko and the hanyo, deceased before it was even born because of the fickleness of that brash dimwitted Inuyasha, the Powerful Shikon priestess seeking solace into the warm embrace of the Mighty Lord of the West, and who better than the Great Sesshoumaru-sama to protect her from the irate half-breed? Soon, the human woman-child would fall in love with the handsome youkai, and when she would realise the impossibility of any reciprocity from the noble Daiyoukai, she would impale herself on a kitchen knife and bleed to death.

 

The situation was made with the stuff of youkai fairy tales, the ones where the filthy human bows to the superiority of the spirit realm, rather wishing to finish his own pitiful existence than to face his own inadequacies. Usually, the male hero ends with a beautiful female youkai who was conveniently passing through, having many litters of pure blooded pups for the centuries to come.

 

They almost forgot they were supposed to be bored to death.

 

Some of them even pitied the poor woman. Being trampled all over by a hanyo, really. What would be lower than that?

 

However, those gossiping females left a little detail unnoticed by their remarkable intelligence: even humans could hear the air headed comments they shot at each other. You'll have to be deaf to miss that.

 

The repercussions on said Miko were few and far between anyway. That's what she tried to convince herself at least, while grumbling about proud Daiyoukais and their foul tastes concerning their choices of female acquaintances.

 

However, and luckily without her own cognizance, she chose to deal with her own inner turmoil with the same solution Sesshomaru had adopted for himself, immersing herself in mind-numbing work. She wreak havoc into the centuries-old routine of the servants, rescheduling each and every one of their tasks, changing their assignments when she deemed it necessary, pacing the castle grounds endlessly in search of something useful to do, or even anything that would distract her from the dull ache she felt constricting her ribcage.

 

The evening, she was supposed to spend the night in Sesshoumaru's chambers but found herself reticent, preferring to stay alone to ponder about her future and her perhaps-not impending marriage. So, instead of going to her “Lord”, she went to the hot spring and searched for the most secluded part of the giant bath house, disrobing quickly and immersing her sore body into the warm waters.

 

The soft caress of the mineral liquid on her skin massaging gently her now shivering muscles, she relaxed progressively, the barriers she had erected since the “disagreement” with Inuyasha falling quietly into the murky pool. So did her silent tears, rolling down her pale cheeks to add their own salt to the springs' own ones.

 

She was fed up, she decided. They had had their own share of arguments during the shard hunting year, and then after that. The three years she had spent away from him hadn't change that, her short temper clashing with Inuyasha's own brashness.

 

Like others, she wasn't fooled by his ruff exterior. The hanyo was far from stupid, and he excelled in the art of surviving and protecting what was dear to him. Even so, he was far from understanding, more so when it concerned her feminine needs. Subtlety and tact were never his forte, even when he tried really hard, and even if Kagome loved him with all her heart, she was reaching the limit of her usually considerable patience.

 

She knew for sure he loved her as well, but why then had he been fooling around while she wasn't there? She realised she was a shy woman, and that they had only kissed once before they had had to part ways, but even then, what was three years when you were two centuries and a half old? Couldn't he have waited for her? Was that the extent of his love for her? She had sacrificed her family and her own world for him...

 

She felt the ripples of the water against her collarbone before she even realised she was not alone any more. A smooth baritone resonated a few inches from her, making her toes curl up and her skin crawl.

 

“What are you doing here, girl?” He sounded bored, but she recognised the edge always coating his voice when he was about to resort to death threats to make his point.

 

She didn't answer, looking up at him with pain still making her sapphire orbs shine slightly. That's when she realised his state of dress, or his lack thereof. She screeched, blushed, and averted her gaze, finding the grey stones of the wall suddenly fascinating. He gently took her chin with the tips of his clawed fingers, making her look at him again, and she complied reluctantly, her eyes locked onto his own.

 

That's when she saw his golden irises flicker to the side and then back to her. They weren't alone, and she would have to go with the music, playing her role in spite of the darkness that had began to engulf her aching heart. She nodded imperceptibly into his grasp, blushing deeper nonetheless.

 

“Why is this concubine avoiding her Lord and Master?” he asked again, his tone a little softer.

 

“Hum... Sesshoumaru-sama... I was not avoiding you, my Lord. I was merely preparing myself to please you satisfactorily, and didn't see the time. If I offended you with my tardiness, please my Lord, accept this Kagome's deepest apologies,” she crooned, lids lowered seductively.

 

Sighing softly, so quietly that she even thought she had imagined it, he started to bend down and she couldn't stop her body from stiffening in reflex to his closeness. She thought he was going to kiss her, but he cocked his head slightly to the side, his warm moist tongue darting out of his mouth to lick the salty tracks of her tears away.

 

“The only tears one of this Sesshoumaru's concubines is allowed to shed are ones of pleasure, my dear,” he murmured, his warm breath caressing her neck; and she couldn't stop a shiver from coursing through her spine, relishing in the sensations he was provoking within her body. Play or not, she had needed the attention, and she was somewhat grateful for the comfort the youkai gave her.

 

Never was she to know that, for Sesshoumaru, it was beginning to be a little more than a game.