InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Wicked ❯ No Man is an Island ( Chapter 13 )

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

Chapter 13: No Man is an Island

Mattaki had never wanted to kill as badly as he did the moment he ripped into the meadow and saw his own pup's hands on his female – and then he went further and kissed her. It was immediately obvious that she was stunned, but then she tried to push Inuyasha away... the boy did not take the hint, though, and he was lucky as hell that he was so close to Kagome when his father reached him – or he would be dead already.

As it was, while the hit was substantial, his pup was strong, half-human or not, and he climbed back to his feet after a few moments, eyes flickering red as he growled at his father, too angry to back down from the challenge from the older, more powerful male.

“Impudent whelp!” Mattaki snapped out, voice guttural and barely recognizable. “How dare you touch what isn't yours to touch!?”

Inuyasha snarled in return, his eyes bleeding even more crimson into the whites, despite Tessaiga's presence at his side. “Don't tell me you haven't touched her, old man – and she isn't yours, either!” He laughed, then, knowingly, cracking the knuckles of one hand as he stared at his father. “And she never will be. You watch and see.”

Hackles rising with fury at the tone of the boy's voice, the daiyoukai wasted no further time in streaking across the clearing and landing a punch to Inuyasha's jaw that sent him flying; his body took out a wide swathe of trees, and Kagome screamed, horrified at what was happening right before her eyes.

Without a thought to her own safety, she ran out to stand between the two, fearful, angry eyes practically glowing with power as she raised her aura to try to soothe the heated youki of the combatants.

“Both of you! Stop this right now!” The moment both red-eyed males turned their faces to glare at her, she flared her power higher, making her eyes light from within, shocking the two. “I won't put up with this kind of thing from either of you – if it doesn't stop, I'll go back home and seal the well, and then there'll be nothing to fight about!”

She didn't mean it, she would never abandon her duty here in the past, but she was so angry that she wasn't thinking about what she was saying, just wanting the whole thing to stop. Both males eyes shifted back more towards the gold, though Mattaki snarled again when he heard her words, abandoning the fight to loom over her threateningly, instead.

“Do not think to leave this place, miko, I will merely follow you if you try it. You are strong, true, but your power does not compare to mine, and you would not be able to seal me out of the well,” he said, his voice dangerously low.

Her eyes, almost an electric blue by this point from the glow of her soul light from within, shifted as she noticed Inuyasha pacing towards them. She turned and glowered at him, ignoring Mattaki and his promise for the moment.

“And you, Inuyasha! What the hell were you thinking kissing me like that? Maybe if you had done that a few weeks ago my response would have been different – but now? What did I just get through telling you? I said to leave things alone! But you wouldn't listen, you baka, and now look at you! Do you have a death wish or something?!” She couldn't help but worry – he was quite bloody, and it was obvious that he had injured his ribs as well. He would be hurting later.

Jagged purple marks still writhing high on his cheekbones, making him look heartbreakingly like his father, Inuyasha actually barked at her, demanding submission, and just like that, Mattaki's youkai blood began to slip its leash again.

Inuyasha was too angry to notice. “Shut up, wench, and back off! I ain't lettin' this fucker get his hands on you!”

At that, Mattaki laughed darkly. “It is a little too late for that, boy – my hands have already been on her. But that is not your business-” he bared his fangs at Kagome's embarrassed squeak, and Inuyasha's deepening growls, “-your business is the miko that is even now on her way here with the rest of your friends! Stay away from my female, pup, or you will suffer my wrath!”

Before Inuyasha could respond, Miroku and Kikyou burst into the clearing, and Kagome found herself thrust behind a protective inuyoukai Lord that did not take his eyes off his injured son, fangs still bared threateningly at him, even as the two moved towards them slowly, nervously eyeing the combatants, and the obviously upset young miko.

With one look, Kikyou took in Inuyasha's state, and his father's, and figured out what the fight had been about. Storming up to the hanyou, she reached up and slapped him across the face, shocking most of those in the meadow.

“I can just guess what you were doing, Inuyasha – didn't we all talk about this earlier? If Kagome wanted your help, she'd ask for it!” Inuyasha's ears snapped flat to his head in chagrin even as his crests faded and the last of the red drained from his eyes, and he growled low in this throat, irritated at being yelled at in front of everyone.

“Don't you growl at me, Inu, I'm not impressed. Kagome is perfectly capable of taking care of herself, and you will leave this situation alone unless she asks you for help, do you understand?”

Kagome, meanwhile, was slowly drawing her power back down, even as amusement at Kikyou taking the hanyou to task for his behavior made her want to laugh. She glanced around – it looked as though Miroku found it amusing as well... though Mattaki, and Inuyasha himself didn't.

Mattaki was still too angry to find anything amusing. He was going to have to establish his dominance on the whelp in combat – and soon. Eyeing the boy, his gaze landed on the hilt of Tessaiga, and he decided that when the time came, he would generate his own sword from his youki, since that was the pup's weapon of choice, he would need a worthy blade to meet his own former fang in battle.

He didn't once take his eyes off his bull-headed pup, watching as the older miko practically dragged the recalcitrant boy out of the meadow and back towards the camp and the taijiya, who had stayed behind with Shippo and Kirara. As soon as the two were gone, the monk bowed to the inu Lord, and with a wink at Kagome, he too, turned and swiftly disappeared into the trees, heading back to camp.

Closing his eyes, he shuddered all over as he began to once again pull in all his wildly fluctuating energy, and re-establish his usually formidable control. It took a few minutes, but he finally calmed, and re-opened his eyes to find Kagome watching him almost warily.

With a deep exhale, he let go the last of his tension, and Kagome relaxed as she felt him fully regain himself.

“Mind telling me what all that dominant dog mess was?” she asked tartly.

“Exactly what you called it, miko. It was about dominance. If Inuyasha had been any other, he would already be dead for challenging me as he did. I don't care how old I get, I will never submit to my own son – either of them.”

She sighed, and shook her head, looking away, she closed her eyes and thought about the whole thing. She had to admit, something like what he had burst in on would have made any male angry – even human ones. Anyone would attack to defend their girl, especially from the unwanted advances of a rival male. It just rankled that they were fighting over her... the whole thing was so reminiscent of Inuyasha and Koga's fights that it was disturbing – except that this one had been much more serious... and potentially deadly.

“I understand why you reacted the way you did, Mattaki, really, but... I just hate that you and your son are fighting like that – and over me. Dominance issues aside,” she rolled her eyes, “the cause of contention between you two is me, and everyone knows it. Things just aren't the same where I'm from... at least, not most of the time. There's always guys that act like neanderthals around, I guess, but most women from my time don't put up with that. It's hard for me to ignore that behavior, and the only reason I even try to understand is because you guys aren't human.”

“Ne-ander-tals?” he asked, a rather confused expression settling on his face; Kagome couldn't help it, she started laughing.

“Oh!” she paused, as more giggles left her breathless. After a few moments, she managed to get it under control, and continued. “Neanderthals. They were very early humanoid creatures, lived in caves and the like. Another, casual name people tend to call them is 'cavemen'. Women use that moniker to describe a male who acts with a primitive mindset – thinks he can just grab the female he wants, and drag her off to his cave to be 'his'.”

Mattaki wasn't pleased to hear her words; what she described with such laughing disdain was pretty much the way most inuyoukai reacted to their females. True, his actions weren't quite so primitive, but still... “So females in your time look on this behavior with no favor?” he asked, just to be sure.

She shook her head. “Most don't. You have to understand – in my time, women don't need men to survive. We can take care of ourselves, so a guy that runs around acting like that is liable to get tossed out on his butt.”

Although he showed no outward reaction, he was not best pleased; this way of seeing things on the part of his chosen would definitely complicate things. She did say she was trying to overlook his behavior, as he was not human. It showed that she understood that things were different, but still... “How, then, in your time, do males show females their interest? If they are not needed to provide, then why would a woman even want to be bothered with a mate?”

With a soft sigh, she reached up and ran a finger along the crest on his cheek, knowing that he would not disdain her touch. “Just because I don't need a man to survive, doesn't mean that I don't want one just to share my life with. Wouldn't you rather I accept you because I love you, than because I don't think I could find food or shelter without you?”

He had never really looked at it that way, and though he could admit that she had an interesting point, he knew that he would never be able to look at it in quite the same way – his inu instincts would never let him move away from his own nature that much. Yes, he wanted her heart to be his – but he also wanted her to depend on him for protection, for survival. Oh, not that he wanted a helpless, clingy female; someone like that would quickly drive him crazy, but there was a big difference between being helpless, and being so strong that you didn't need your males protection at all.

“I understand your point, Kagome – but the truth is, you are not in your era, and though you are a strong onna, you still need my protection in this era. It is not something to be ashamed of.”

At that, it was Kagome's turn to be surprised; he was right. In this era, she did need protection. Brow furrowing, she glanced at him. “I guess I've gotta think about that – I suppose you could say I'm not really comfortable with having to depend on someone else all the time – though I'm probably better at it than most girls from my time would be, since I've been here for so long already, and learned to deal with all the dominance issues that go on here.”

“Then perhaps we should return to camp, Kagome – it seems we both have things to think about. Though... I think that I should give you one more thing to ponder on...” pulling her to him, he bent his head and kissed her. He needed to get the scent of his son off her mouth, and from within it, before it sent him back into a rage, and he really needed to get his scent on her. And then, of course, there was just the fact that he needed to taste her, and reacquaint himself with her sweet taste.

She was even sweeter than before, if that was even possible.

Kagome was caught completely off-guard; she hadn't been prepared for him to kiss her, but she couldn't do anything but melt when he did. His kiss was so totally different than what Inuyasha had tried to force on her that it wasn't even in the same realm.

This kiss was heated, fierce, hungry; even in all his experience, Mattaki had never felt the like with anyone but her. She tasted of milk and honey, sweet, addicting, offset with a spark of power that claimed him and his beast with a finality that he had no intention of fighting. He was just as much hers, as she was his.

She was just as drawn in as he was, and only the fact that she was on the verge of passing out from oxygen loss pulled her back – she laid her head against his shoulder as she tried desperately to regain her equilibrium. Her eyes closed blissfully and she went a bit limp in his embrace as a deep rumble vibrated against her chest from his, and she didn't even argue when he reached down and swept her into his arms, before turning and heading back towards the camp, satisfied – she was literally covered in his scent, and the whelp would not be able to do a damn thing about it.

He felt a smug sense of satisfaction at that – as well as for the fact that he would have her taste in his mouth, and her scent in his nose, for the rest of the night.

Yes, he was as marked as she was, just in a different way.

-wWw-

Sesshoumaru leaped lightly down from the tree he had been hidden in, and headed back to his little pack, an expression of deep thought on his face.

It was only made more apparent every time he watched them that his father had only spoken the plain truth when it came to his intentions towards the little miko – his youkai blood would not have placed any but a potential mate over one of his own pups.

His fool of a half-brother was, indeed, most lucky that he was still alive – their father was no one to challenge lightly. And especially as Inuyasha would never hold the sheer power that their father did.

But there was something about his brother's gloating that had his teeth on edge... the boy had done something that he seemed to think would break the claim his father had over the miko. But, as he, Sesshoumaru, knew, there was nothing save defeat by a more powerful male that could break an already placed claim on a female – except her own dismissal of the suit.

It was plain that the young priestess had not done so; in fact, she had already told his foolish sibling that she was accepting of his father's suit.

So what could the idiot find to gloat about?

Suddenly a bit impatient, he flashed into his orb form, and finished the journey that way, dropping out of his orb a mile or so away from Jaken and Rin, he chose to walk the rest of the way, slowly.

With barely a flicker, he pulsed his aura strongly, calling for the one vassal of his father's that would actually be useful: Myoga.

It was time for the flea to be re-introduced to his master...

And perhaps find the answers to a few of the questions that were perplexing him – like what the half-wit was up to.

-wWw-

Inuyasha was sullen by the time they reached the camp, pulling away from Kikyou with an angry huff, he stomped over to a likely tree and pushed off the ground, hopping from branch to branch, he hid himself from the people below high up in the tree.

As angry as he was, though, he couldn't help but still feel that gloating feeling deep inside; powerful male or not, his father was about to get his comeuppance when that stupid claim of his was removed from Kagome entirely.

Most people, on seeing Inuyasha's behavior, would think him petty and mean-spirited, his spirit overborne by jealousy – but they would only be partly right. Yes, he was jealous – murderously, in fact – but he was completely convinced that he was doing the right thing. He still believed that Kagome's behavior was a direct result of this claim thing, and not because she wanted his father of her own free will. In his eyes, this mess might as well be a spell, and he was determined to free her from its effects.

He couldn't just sit back and let someone take advantage of her like that – he found it dishonorable.

His true problem wasn't that he was a bastard – just that he was being stubborn... and blind. He couldn't believe that this was truly what she wanted of her own will, no matter the evidence otherwise – his only true crime in this situation was an abysmal lack of sense – or sheer, blind stupidity, to put it bluntly. Not only for taking that potion in the first place and feeding it to his friend, but for not actually putting aside his jealousy and insecurity and paying attention to his father and his best friend, to see if she really was operating with her mind intact and under her own willpower.

And that was why nothing anyone said would get through to him – because he refused to see the truth that was right before him. He clung to his determination that he was saving Kagome from very dishonorable intentions with everything within him, and it was going to take something of cataclysmic proportions to get him to understand the reality.

Unfortunately, his actions with the tea were bound to bring just that kind of situation out.

One could only hope that the consequences didn't outweigh the gain that would come with understanding on Inuyasha's part.

In the meantime, this mess was slowly dividing the group from the inside out, causing Inuyasha to pull away from his companions – which only could be good for Naraku. This situation was doing what the spider hanyou had not been able to do in all the times he'd tried – it was destroying the Inutachi... and that was not a good thing.

None of what was going on could be dealt with by Inuyasha alone, no matter what he thought.

After all, as the saying goes...

No man is an island.