InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Wicked ❯ Secrets of the Past ( Chapter 6 )

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

Chapter 6: Secrets of the Past

“This must be why Sesshoumaru is so against humans and youkai getting together. We're coming from two totally different ways of looking at things,” Kagome sighed, reaching out a hand and gently touching the aged bark of the Goshinboku.

She'd arrived back in her time three days ago, with high hopes of finally getting some peace in her sleep. They were dashed, however. While the dreams weren't quite as intense, they were still there, and because of that, even the decrease wasn't enough to give her any real meaningful rest.

Trailing her fingers down the trunk of the tree, she sighed again, and turned her back to the tree to sit against it. Her mind was a morass of uncertainty, fear, and desire, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Nothing except seal the well and stay on her side of it. And if she were to tell her mother what was going on, there was a good chance that she'd demand her daughter do just that. But she couldn't turn her back on her duty in the past – or her friends. No matter the consequences.

After all, she'd known since the beginning that her adventures could mean death – and if she was willing to chance that, why would she flee because of this situation? As bad as this was, she chuckled, death was certainly worse, and she definitely wasn't a coward.

But oh, did she wish at this point that she was...

Leaning her head back against the trunk of the god tree, she let her gaze trail along the different branches, feeling better than she had in a while. There was just something about this tree... this place that she'd first met Inuyasha. It had given her strength so many times, and apparently this time was no different, as, for the first time in nearly a week, she relaxed, letting the tension just drain out of her.

Before she knew it, she was asleep – and not dreaming.

She could never say, afterward, how long she sat there asleep against the Goshinboku before she was woken by a rough voice demanding that she get her lazy rear up, and with a frown, she muttered, “Sit,” the crash and mumbled cursing finally bringing her back to full wakefulness.

“Damn it, Inuyasha,” she growled sleepily, “why'd you have to wake me up from the first decent sleep I've had in a week? Can't you go bug someone else?”

“No, wench, I can't! We need to talk, Kagome, and this is the only time I could get you away from the big bastard that calls himself my father. So wake the hell up and look at me!”

With a scowl, she finally opened her eyes, only to find to his golden gaze inches from her face. “Ah! Inuyasha! Why can't you back off?” she huffed. She waited for him to move away and sit next to her, then glanced at him, still annoyed. “So what do you need to talk to me about?”

He shot her a classic, 'Duh!' look. “What the hell do ya think? We gotta figure out how to keep him away from you, wench!”

She blinked. “Inuyasha, what makes you think that situation is any of your business?” she asked blankly. “After all, you have Kikyou to worry about now.”

He stared at her, then began spluttering. “W-what? You stupid wench! Do you think I'm just gonna let him have you? Huh? 'Cause I ain't!”

With a weary exhale, she shook her head and looked away. “And anyway, what do you think you can do about it, Inuyasha? This time... you can't fight this person and win. So what now?”

He snarled at the thought of being faced with an opponent that he couldn't beat, but said, “I'll find a way, K'gome, but in the meantime... I think you should stay here. Don't come back until I come to get you.”

Kagome laughed a little at that. “I thought of the same things...” she trailed off for a moment, before continuing. “But I can't do that. We need to find the shards – and it's my job, not Kikyou's. Besides... Miroku doesn't have much longer with his hand, you know?”

“Yeah, but they would all understand, Kagome. You need to stay here to stay safe from him! I won't let him have you, and he can't come here!”

“Oh? And who told you that, Inuyasha?” came a voice neither had ever expected to hear on this side of time. Shocked beyond speechless, both Inuyasha and Kagome stared as the big daiyoukai landed gently in front of them. He'd been in the tree the whole time.

With a chuckle at their flabbergasted expressions, he cocked a mocking brow at his son. “Do you think that I would let anything keep me from my chosen female – even time? I do not want to harm you, my son, but I will not let you interfere, either. You can do nothing to stop what is already inevitable.”

Kagome groaned as her mind finally took in the fact of his presence on her side of the well. And all she could think in that moment, was that she was glad that the shrine was closed for the day – so that no one would see what was standing in plain sight.

Covering her face with a hand, she growled, beginning to get irate at the blustering voice of her hanyou friend as he started cursing loudly. “Dammit, Inuyasha! Would you just pipe down!” She threw her hands in the air, then pointed at the two, and said, “Listen here, both of you. I'm going to go grab my bag, and then we are going back... neither of you belong here, got that?” When neither said a word, she nodded, and turned on her heel to go in the house.

“Damn temperamental wench,” Inuyasha muttered. Inside, however, he was fuming. He'd had no idea that the older male could get through the well, but now there was nowhere that Kagome could go that she would be safe from him, and Inuyasha was ready to completely blow his top and start killing anything that got in his way.

Something had to give, he thought darkly... and soon.

Or else.

-wWw-

Inuyasha went through the well first – begrudgingly, followed by Mattaki holding Kagome. That was not part of Kagome's plan, however, the daiyoukai simply grabbed her up and leaped into the well without giving her the chance to say anything, leaving her to cling to him - unwillingly.

By the time the two of them arrived back on the other side of the well, and jumped out, Inuyasha was already standing, sword drawn and leveled, cursing up a storm – at his brother.

“Oi! What the hell?! Like we ain't got enough to deal with, with one bastard here, now we got another? What the fuck do you want, Sesshoumaru?” he ranted, his composure shot to pieces.

Sesshoumaru did not answer, his eyes instead fixed to his father and Kagome as Mattaki set her down, only stepping back once she was steady on her feet. Slowly, he stalked forward to stand before Kagome, completely ignoring the growling hanyou, and simply looked at her consideringly for several moments as his father stared at him narrow-eyed...

And then he tore apart the world as they all knew it as he looked at his father and said, “I challenge your claim to the miko,” as calmly as if he were commenting on the weather.

Kagome stared at him, aghast, as Inuyasha dropped the Tessaiga in shock and fell backwards on his ass – but Mattaki simply tilted his head consideringly and cocked a brow at his icy son.

“You know that I will not go easy on you, Sesshoumaru. You know what the price for challenging is – is revenge really worth it?” Mattaki asked.

“Revenge?” Sesshoumaru murmured, as he let himself remember what his father was speaking of. “It is not simply revenge, father – the miko is, after all, a worthy mate for anyone. Do you say that one could not want her for herself, and no other reason?”

“Twist not my words for your own purposes, Sesshoumaru – it will not work on me. Very well – then perhaps we should take this to an-” Kagome interrupted him, her shocked silence finally falling by the wayside.

“No! This isn't happening! I will not allow anyone to fight over me as though I were a piece of bloody land!” She turned to look at Sesshoumaru. “You hate humans, why are you doing this?” she whispered, her eyes confused as she waved Inuyasha away. “Stay out of this, Inuyasha.” Her gaze never left the stoic daiyoukai's as she warned her hanyou friend.

Friend? Only... friend? she thought hazily, the realization that she truly felt that way only making distant waves in her consciousness, as most of it was focused on Sesshoumaru.

It wasn't Sesshoumaru that answered her query, however, it was Mattaki. “Sesshoumaru does not hate humans. He has a youkai's normal disdain for most of them, but there are some... aren't there, Sesshoumaru?” he asked shrewdly, not fazed in the least by his son's narrow, deadly glare. “Yes... there are some, that you have been inordinately fond of.”

“I have challenged you, father – what is your answer?”

Mattaki shook his silver head, his topknot swaying rhythmically behind him. “No, I do not think so, Sesshoumaru. It is easy to see that they do not know the true reasons behind your 'hatred' of humans-” he glanced at Inuyasha, “-and your hatred of Inuyasha. I think I would be better served telling them the story than fighting you.”

Sesshoumaru wasted no time in drawing Tokijin, then, and leveling it at his father. “Your words do not matter, father,” he said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. “It is only your actions that speak, and so far, they are without honor.”

Kagome and Inuyasha watched, horror-struck, as Mattaki's golden gaze bled slightly red as he allowed just a hint of his beast out, and turning calmly, leaving his back to Sesshoumaru, reached down and picked the Tessaiga up from the ground, before turning back to his eldest son.

“Very well, Sesshoumaru – but know this – I will not spare you. You have interfered between my female and I, and this will not be forgiven.” With that, he beckoned Inuyasha and Kagome to follow him, and led the way from the well clearing, heading for another, slightly larger meadow a little ways away. The two followed him, still so shocked that neither could even speak; they were trailed by an icily calm Sesshoumaru, Tokijin still carried in his hand.

Kagome was almost panicking. What is all this? This – it can't be happening – I must be dreaming or something... right? Her breathing was becoming ragged as she worried, unable to understand any of what was going on. None of it made any damn sense.

What could Mattaki have meant about vengeance? And Sesshoumaru – not hating humans? Did we fall into a different dimension when we came through the well?

Inuyasha was just as flabbergasted, though he was even more curious about what the two had been talking about. The truth about why his bastard of a brother hated him? You mean, he actually has a reason other than I'm a fuckin' half-breed? Keh, never woulda guessed! I figured he hated me just because he could!

Still, it was easy to see that they were missing something – something that Sesshoumaru didn't want them to know. And that made him damned curious about what that particular something was, because it had to be massive, if his brother actually cared that others might find out.

He cast a quick glance at Kagome, worried when he saw the shocked, upset look on her face, and his own expression softened. She was far too good and caring for this kind of thing – the way of youkai was too harsh for one such as her. “Kagome?” he said softly. When she looked up at him, her eyes glazed, he shook his head. “Don't do anything crazy out there. I know you don't want them to fight, but what Sesshoumaru did – it's serious. This fight is inevitable – as little as I know about youkai matters, even I know that.”

“I don't care! This is stupid – do either of them really think that I'm going to respond to something so barbaric? Like I'm just going to throw myself at the winner of the battle and cry 'take me? No way in hell! I won't accept either of them!” she raved, anger taking the place of the fear.

“That is the way that it works, miko,” came Sesshoumaru's emotionless voice, and Kagome snapped her head around to stare hotly at him.

“I'm not youkai, as you've so often pointed out, Sesshoumaru,” she said dangerously. “I'll purify the first one to try to enforce any so-called claim over me, so you both may as well give this up and leave me alone.”

Mattaki watched and listened to it all, not really wanting to fight his son, but not having much choice, as he was not willing to give up his claim. But what he couldn't figure out for sure, was if his son was doing all this as revenge for the past, because he really wanted the miko for himself, or a strange combination of both.

With an inward sigh, he twisted the Tessaiga out to his side, and it transformed into its true form in a scintillating blast of light that surprised everyone – it hadn't ever been quite that bright before. But none of them were given a chance to remark on it, because Sesshoumaru was already moving.

With a tortured scream of metal on metal, Tokijin met Tessaiga, and both blades flared with light as the power in them fought just as much as their wielders were.

“What an evil blade, Sesshoumaru – it quite suits you,” Mattaki remarked dryly.

The younger dai did not respond, simply pushing away from his father and slashing out with his whip, just missing as Mattaki disappeared, and then reappeared behind him, slashing out with his own blue whip. He missed as well, Sesshoumaru flicking his back out in time to entangle his father's.

Before the two standing on the sidelines could even blink, both combatants were once again standing on opposite sides of the field, eyeing each other.

“Why are you so determined to have Kagome for yourself, Sesshoumaru? With the past that lies between us, you would truly have me believe that it is only because you care for her?” Mattaki asked skeptically.

“I would have you believe nothing, father. It matters not what my reasons are.”

“Ah, but it does, Sesshoumaru – at least, to Kagome it will. For myself, you are correct, it does not matter. You have challenged me, and that is all that concerns me. But Kagome has the right to know what it is you are truly fighting for, do you not think?”

Without answering, the acid-green whip belonging to Sesshoumaru once more arced out, followed on swift feet by its master as he crossed blades with his father again, both dai's moving elegantly into a complicated pattern of blows that were so fast they almost couldn't be seen.

The mistake was slight - so slight that Kagome never even saw it, and Inuyasha barely did - but suddenly, first blood had been drawn... and Sesshoumaru landed on the ground near Kagome and Inuyasha, still on his feet, but blood dripping sluggishly from a small wound on his arm. He flicked it aside, ignoring any discomfort.

“Tell me, father – why the miko? You have only just come back – and already, you are like a wolf, sniffing where you are not wanted.”

“You give yourself away, Sesshoumaru. It is vengeance for the past that has brought you here to challenge me. Do you think this will change what happened in the past? You know very well that I did not know of your interest at that time – by the time I found out, it was too late. And you never challenged me then – if you had, things might have been different.” The large dai shook his head. “You would harm Kagome simply because you are angry at me? You mistake things greatly if you think I will back away from this challenge. You will never have her.”

Sesshoumaru stared at his father with icy disdain. “And do you mean to insinuate that you would have backed down from me then if I had challenged?”

Mattaki met his gaze with nothing but truth written within. “Yes, had you challenged, had you told me of your interest – I would have. But this time, I will not.”

Sesshoumaru stared at him for a minute, and then attacked again. “It does not matter, not any longer. The past no longer has any validity!” Tokijin screamed for blood as he traded blows with his father once again, and this time, Tessaiga answered, also thirsting for blood. Mattaki was beginning to lose his equanimity – claims against females were serious, and could very easily result in the death of one of the participants.

It would not be he, Mattaki, that would pass on if Sesshoumaru refused to back down.

Growling, the older daiyoukai pulsed his aura, gathering in his energies and then letting them fly, blades of youki whirling towards Sesshoumaru as the younger inu leaped away gracefully, flinging out his own youki at the same time. Second blood – he'd gained on Mattaki.

“You are not as invincible as you think you are, father.”

“Do not be fooled so, Sesshoumaru,” he growled. “I have not unleashed a quarter of my power against you – but if this continues, I will. Stand down,” he snapped. “I do not wish to kill my own son, but you need to let go of the past, and live in the present, or you will forfeit your future!”

At that, Sesshoumaru's formidable control shattered like glass, shocking all those on the field as his eyes bled red. “And why will you not stand down for me now, since you claim that you would have then? What is so different this time?” he snarled, rage clear in his voice.

“Because Kagome is mine. If you had told me that you were in love with Izayoi, I would have let you have her. But you did not, and I did not know you had any feelings for her. That is your own fault, pup – you were not honest with me. If you had been, then perhaps she would still be alive – and Inuyasha would have been your son instead of mine.”

The silence that descended on the field then was complete, shock holding both Inuyasha and Kagome immobile.

-wWw-

A/N: Shocked? Yes, I know, another cliffie. This story seems to lend itself well to those...

Amber