InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Yume ❯ Chapter 12 ( Chapter 15 )

Disclaimer: *rolls eyes* Do you really think it's possible? *snorts* I'd be lucky to own one of Jaken's toenail clippings. Ewwww.

As always, thank you Jaredono, for betaing. And for being a great shrink for Sess!

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Previously:

Raising his gaze to her face, golden eyes intense with a jumble of strange sentiments, Sesshoumaru took in her bright smile and open countenance with wonder. Then, like a shaft of blinding light in the dark loneliness of his soul, realization and acceptance burst forth, scattering the shadows of solitude and isolation.

`She loves me,' he thought with awe. `She loves me.'

The phrase fell like rain on the parched ground of his heart. The seed that had been planted there by a vision both sensual and horrific broke open, extending tender shoots into the light for the first time.

`She loves me,' he repeated again, but knew that was not the entire truth.

As the towering taiyoukai let the petite miko tug him after her toward their goal, just visible through the thinning trees, he finally admitted the verity of his emotions in their entirety.

`I love her.'

Yume

Chapter 12

A squat, weathered structure came into view, perched in the center of a serene clearing like a toad on a lotus pad. Kagome dropped Sesshoumaru's hand and rushed toward it, excitement pouring off her in waves. A brilliant smile lit her features with a glowing radiance that completely confounded the demon lord.

`What the devil does this…thing…have to do with the final Shikon shard?' He thought to himself in utter confusion.

Slowly trailing after Kagome's excitedly chattering form, he let his sharp gaze travel over the square framework, taking in every detail, trying to put the pieces of what he knew of this miko and the jewel into a cohesive whole. Nothing came readily to mind, though.

Kagome swung around to face him, hands clasped behind her back as if barely restraining herself from grabbing onto something. Her dark eyes sparkled in the sunlight, all traces of her anxiety in the woods a moment ago forgotten.

"Well," she chirped, bouncing on her toes in enthusiasm, "here we are!"

One pale, slender brow arched superciliously, clearly conveying Sesshoumaru's inner thoughts questioning Kagome's sanity.

Seeing his expression, she laughed in delight and said, "I know it doesn't look like much, but it's home."

Surprise could not accurately describe the taiyoukai's utter shock at her statement.

"You live in a hole in the ground?" he paused, then clarified, "A wet hole in the ground?"

Another peal of laughter tumbled from the young woman's lips and Sesshoumaru found himself clenching his fists in an effort to keep himself from ravaging her here before the squirrels.

"No, silly. It's a dry well. This is the Bone-Eater's Well." She turned to face the forest to her right. Above the dense green foliage stood the towering form of a massive tree. Sesshoumaru recognized it instantly, though he had only visited it once to confirm rumors.

"That's the Goshinboku---the God Tree Inuyasha was pinned to for fifty years," Kagome said in hushed tones. "Both will stand unchanged and watch this era pass into an age of machines and medical miracles."

The mix of reverence, sadness and affection that permeated her words tore at the demon lord's calm. At that moment, she seemed to radiate some mysterious inner knowledge; she so closely resembled her dream self that the sky seemed to darken and glimmer with stars. Sesshoumaru sucked in a breath, half expecting the familiar sequence of the night to begin.

The illusion was broken when the hot resentment and burning rage he always felt at the mere mention of his foolish younger sibling came rushing to the surface, obscuring his fanciful thoughts. A new dimension was added, though, by the acid taste of jealousy he felt. Not his usual covetousness of the Tetsusaiga, but envy that the half breed earned the privilege of Kagome's love before himself.

`Perhaps I should tell her how I feel,' he reasoned to himself, but the long-used barriers of pride and remembered hurt held him back as firmly as any shackles. There would be time enough for that later.

`Besides,' he thought with a tiny flicker of incongruous hope, `perhaps by that point this foolishness will have passed.'

Somewhere deep within his mind came a small snicker at his attempt at self-delusion. He growled. Kagome heard the animalistic noise and turned widened eyes to her companion.

"I'm sorry," she gasped, thinking her mention of the tree that had so much to do with Inuyasha had offended Sesshoumaru, "I shouldn't have mentioned that."

A mutinous expression settled on her mobile features immediately after her apology, though, and she said sternly, "But you two are going to have to work your problems out sooner or later." She muttered the last irritably, "Preferably before someone gets killed."

Sesshoumaru had moved to stand before her at the lip of the dry well and tried to hide his amusement at the fetching picture she made. She was poised before him, glaring up into his golden eyes with all of the ferocity of a wet kitten, shaking her delicate little finger under his nose in chastisement.

"Indeed," was all he would say on the subject, further irritating the tiny miko with his vague answer that was neither acceptance nor denial of her sage family advice.

She sighed in temporary defeat, but determined to herself that her new mission would be the resolution of this sibling rivalry gone mad. After her mission to complete the Shikon no Tama, of course, which brought her squarely back to the well and why she had brought them here.

Perching her hip on the rough, weather-beaten wood, she swung one foot lazily while peering over the edge into the darkness within. A wistful smile tilted her lips before she glanced at Sesshoumaru out of the corner of her eye. She indicated the interior of the Bone-Eater's Well with her chin.

"This is the way home for me, you know." At the taiyoukai's skeptical look, she continued before he could say anything derisive about her `obviously delusional mind'.

"It really is," she insisted.

"Do you remember yesterday when we were talking about time?" When Sesshoumaru nodded his head, the miko continued, "Well, this is where all of my freaky and unnatural experience with time comes from. You see, I was born five hundred years in the future." At the Western Lord's continued look of cynicism, Kagome laughed lightly.

"Yes, that's exactly what I thought. `That's impossible'," she said in a fair imitation of the youkai prince's austere mode of speech, swinging both legs to drape over the interior side of the well opening. Sesshoumaru took an involuntary step forward, alarmed at her reckless position on the lip of the well.

"Until one day, this happened…" and she slipped easily from her perch, as if through ease of long practice.

Sesshoumaru made an inarticulate sound of alarm, reaching out to catch her before she fell to her death, but his fingers slipped over her skin and he grasped nothing but warm air. Sudden fear for her safety clenched his heart and adrenaline shot through his veins.

"Kagome…!" he shouted in horror, leaning over the edge with one foot on the lip, poised to leap into the depths after her.

Instead of finding the reckless wench lying in a broken heap at the bottom of the hollow though, he watched, awestruck, as a blue light washed up around her form. It flared brilliantly, and when it subsided, Kagome was no where to be seen.

Sesshoumaru's heartbeat picked up pace and he extended his senses to try to pick up any trace of her whereabouts. Surely this was some sort of trick? But the taiyoukai could feel the magic in the well, and Kagome's alluring fragrance permeated the stale air inside. She had been down this hole often.

Could there be any truth to her claims? Could she be from the future? It would certainly explain the incongruities of her dress and manner.

As the wind shifted, Sesshoumaru realized the irritating odor of his half brother was approaching from the forest at a fast clip. A low growl worked its way up his throat. He did not want to be interrupted now, but perhaps he could turn this situation to his advantage.

`Perhaps I can rid myself of a constant irritant.'

Just as he swung around to face the trees he and Kagome had exited the forest from minutes ago, the hanyou burst into the clearing in an explosion of rent foliage and guttural battle cries.

"Sesshoumaru! Bastard!" he bellowed, "What the hell have you done to Kagome?!" Then talk was forestalled as Inuyasha, not waiting for an answer, drew Tetsusaiga from its sheath and swung it down in a vicious arc.

The Taiyoukai of the West supposed it would have been a much more impressive display if the Fang had transformed into its true and powerful form, but it stubbornly retained its disguise as a rusted strip of steel.

"Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru greeted blandly, smoothly blocking each hack and slash aimed at him with Toukijin, "Your pet human is not with me, as you can plainly see."

This observation only served to further enrage the half demon, and a deep snarl tore from Inuyasha's throat. In an instant, he had ducked under Toukijin's phenomenal reach, causing his elder brother to jump back in surprise at the new speed, so rarely displayed.

`Yes, he's only like this when it comes to Kagome,' Sesshoumaru realized, brows lowering in possessive rage at the thought.

Before Sesshoumaru could push himself clear of his sibling, though, Inuyasha had caught a nose full of scent---Kagome's scent.

`On Sesshoumaru…as if he had…' With a feral scream, Inuyasha drove his fist into Sesshoumaru's midsection, and the force of the punishing blow crumbled the brittle metal armor.

The demon lord doubled over, more from the impact than pain, but managed to bring his sword arm up in time to block the downward slash of Inuyasha's claws. Pain bloomed across his senses just as bright crimson did across his sleeve. Inuyasha had managed to draw first blood.

`When did the halfwit abandon the Fang?' Sesshoumaru wondered through the haze of battle rage, spotting the sword lying forgotten in the tall grass. `And why is he so blasted fast?'

A new scent reached the youkai prince and he swung Toukijin in a violent arc to break away from such uncomfortably close combat. The two adversaries faced off from each other at a distance of fifteen feet or so. He was not wary of his younger sibling and held every confidence that he could easily defeat the rash, but the taiyoukai had never faced in pitched battle the form his younger brother was now embracing. Inuyasha was losing control of his taiyoukai blood; he was transforming into a full youkai.

`What the hell happened to the seal Tetsusaiga is supposed to place on the bastard's blood?' Sesshoumaru thought fleetingly, his mind working quickly to conjure probabilities and formulate tactics.

With a resounding crash, the half-breed's companions burst through the tree line and stumbled to a halt, shocked at the scene before them. Sesshoumaru winced inwardly.

`Yes, we must look quite the picture,' he thought with an inward grimace. He could just imagine how they looked to the humans and child.

Sesshoumaru stood tall and proud as usual, his white tresses lifted by the wind, seemingly untouched by his surroundings. But his armor was scattered at his feet in cracked pieces and scarlet stained the pristine silk of his haori. As if the surprise of finding Sesshoumaru at an obvious disadvantage in battle wasn't enough for the onlookers, the sight of Inuyasha's raggedly-striped face and bared fangs was.

The hanyou was hunched, head bowed slightly as a growl of animal rage vibrated the heavy air of the clearing. His crimson gaze was locked onto his enemy and his fangs glistened in the sunlight.

Sesshoumaru had no doubt his sibling was blinded by his rising blood lust, but could not think of a way to incapacitate the out-of-control youkai without killing him. Actually, he couldn't think of why he would want to go through the added effort of avoiding mortal bloodshed, except an animated face with liquid eyes and a gentle smile rose in his mind. With an inner sigh, he surrendered to mercy.

`I want this finished before Kagome returns.'

Over Inuyasha's shoulder, Sesshoumaru locked gazes with the monk, who reached inside his robes and withdrew several slips of paper.

`Spells?' He wondered, before realization came to him. `Ah, sealing scrolls. The monk is obviously prepared for this occurrence. Now, if Kagome just stays away for a short time…' With a small nod to indicate understanding, the youkai lord moved to distract Inuyasha from Miroku's stealthy movements.

Calling out to his brother, he taunted, "What is the matter, Inuyasha? Are you angrier that I have taken the miko, or that she came with me willingly?"

Inuyasha's growl ratcheted up, the untamed sound promising violence if Sesshoumaru did not cease his goading. Miroku was trying to quietly approach Inuyasha from behind, but the hanyou's ears twitched backward with every footfall made, so the houshi could not get within striking distance.

"Sesshoumaru, I will never let you touch Kagome again," the incensed half-demon snarled, remembering how he had smelled Kagome's sweet scent on his brother's clothing. Inuyasha's maddened mind rapidly filled in the blanks with his own worst fears.

Vivid mental images of the tiny female trying to stave off his ruthless brother's attacks flashed across his mind, driving him that much closer to the brink of control. He knew he was losing his grip on rationality, but he welcomed the feeling. The very hint of suspicion that his bastard brother had forced himself on Kagome---in any way---made him want to tear the pompous jackass limb from limb.

`And if this is the only way to do it,' he thought viciously, `then so be it.'

Sesshoumaru laughed harshly, the sound falling flatly in the humid air.

"I have not even begun to use the wench," he said, baring his fangs at his brother while slowly circling to his left.

He was pleased when Inuyasha swung in the opposite direction, giving the monk a better angle of attack. He noticed the taijiya had un-slung her weapon, as well, and was poised to assist if the need arose. But first, a little more entertaining diversion was in order.

"Have you figured out what I want her for, hanyou?" he asked lightly, placing the barest hint of salacious suggestion into his tone. "I realize thinking is not exactly your forte, and there are so very many tasks Kagome is uniquely suited for, even without her power."

"Bastard…" Inuyasha ground out roughly, watching his brother keenly for any opening in his defenses. His eyes flashed crimson and his lips pulled away from his teeth in a fierce snarl. "What the hell are you planning---"

His words cut off when a light of realization burned in his golden eyes. Sesshoumaru openly smirked, displaying his surprised pleasure that his idiot brother was still able to think in this state.

"Ah. I see you've thought of something. Would you care to share it with me?" the taiyoukai leaned in slightly in a conspiratorial manner. "Maybe you can give me a few ideas, as you seem to be the voice of experience when it comes to using the bitch." He deliberately used the most offensive language he could.

Sesshoumaru's eyes shifted briefly to the monk. He was almost in position, but still needed just a bit more time.

Pinning a triumphant sneer on his handsome face, he expounded, "I noticed Kagome's powers are expanding, changing; she's becoming much more powerful." He paused, "Powerful enough to give me control of the Tetsusaiga, especially as you seem to have become unable to use it as anything more than a toothpick."

Sesshoumaru studied the hilt of his sword briefly, affecting a nonchalance to give him time to evaluate the clumsy monk's progress again. The Western Lord was so focused on the amusement provided by the silent strategy to seal Inuyasha that he failed to register the small sounds from the well indicating Kagome's return.

"Are you aware she has been dreaming of me?" the Western Lord dropped his voice into a sensual octave. "She told me all about them, in great detail," he modified the truth, seeing no reason to tell Inuyasha the embarrassing reality of his experiences during dream time. He raised his gaze to increase the impact of his next taunt---and to judge how much damage it inflicted.

"How she gives me the Tetsusaiga," he smirked at the fuming hanyou, whose rage was barely in check. "how I kiss her, how she begs me to make love to her, how I feel inside her body…," he finished triumphantly.

Sesshoumaru did not look again to see where the houshi was; this conversation had become far too personal to let small details like strategy interfere. The feeling of satisfaction he was getting from shoving Kagome's attraction to him---not to the half-breed bastard---down his brother's throat was far too sweet to be obscured by outsiders.

Sesshoumaru could feel the possessive instincts of the alpha male rise to the fore, and he paced forward, eyes locked onto those if his rival, relentlessly pushing every button he could think of to goad Inuyasha into making a reckless move against him. His blood was demanding battle as violently as his sibling's was, and nothing less than Inuyasha's death or surrender was going to stop him from claiming victory. The prize was too precious to tolerate any threat to his claim. Kagome was his.

"Even though she's nothing but a worthless human, she blushes very prettily when aroused…or don't you know about that? Haven't you ever inspired such lust in her sweet body that her eyes glaze and her scent---"

A horrified gasp from behind him froze the rest of the jeering words in his suddenly dry throat, but it was too late to recall them. The falsehoods meant to bait Inuyasha into defeat instead circled around to rob their perpetuator of his treasure.

"Sesshoumaru," choked out a small, hurt voice, "How could you? I thought....?"

The demon prince turned to gaze over his shoulder at Kagome. Obviously she had returned during his little family heart-to-heart and overheard the elaborate lies he had spun.

`They were not lies when you started on this journey,' mocked a small voice.

`Not in the beginning, no,' he agreed, but defended with, `but now I have come to love her…'

`Yes, but Kagome believes your intentions are completely self-serving. She will never trust a declaration from you now.'

Sesshoumaru's shoulders sagged slightly. It was true, she would never put her faith in anything he may say, and he could not blame her. From the start he had set out to use her, had viewed her as nothing more than a tool to finally gain what he considered rightfully his. But somewhere along the path to power, he had been diverted by Fate and blindsided by something he swore never to fall victim to. He had fallen in love with Kagome.

He mentally shook himself, tearing his eyes away from Kagome's wounded look with great effort. Sesshoumaru could see the desperate plea in her eyes, begging him to explain his harshness and ease away the pain it inflicted on her heart.

`The way I feel does not change what must be done,' he asserted to himself firmly. `I will simply force her to believe me after I have what I need. The faster I get rid of all obstacles, the faster I can settle matters between us. And to that end, I must play the cruel bastard.'

Within an eye blink, Sesshoumaru was behind Kagome, one arm wrapped possessively around her waist while the other hand cupped her delicate chin. He turned her face to the hanyou, now about ready to explode with fury at the youkai's familiar handling of the girl.

"Get. Your. Hands. Off. Her," Inuyasha snarled, enunciating each word carefully, imbuing the syllables with enough violent promise to make a lesser being quake in utter terror.

Sesshoumaru simply smirked and stroked the fingers of his hand across the trembling miko's abdomen. He knew he was courting purification, but was counting on Kagome's professed love to stay her hand.

`Ah, but there's a fine line between love and hate,' taunted his conscience, `Let's hope she doesn't cross it.'

"Sesshoumaru…?" Kagome whispered in confusion, trying to twist around to face him. The demon lord ignored the woman in his arms, closing his heart off to the ache her pain caused him. His arm tightened across her body in warning and he willed her to remain silent. For the sake of his goals, this had to play out.

When Inuyasha's snarl rose in pitch, Sesshoumaru allowed a full smile play coldly across his lips.

"I really must thank you, Inuyasha," he said mockingly, "for if it weren't for your foolishness against Naraku, Kagome would not be indebted to me." His eyes narrowed and he proclaimed, "She would not belong to me."

He watched with satisfaction as every muscle in the hanyou's body seemed to knot with tension, and the sound of grinding teeth carried clearly on the breeze. The tether on the half demon's control was about to snap.

Then it did, and in a sudden burst of motion, Inuyasha rushed forward, claws outstretched, reaching for Sesshoumaru's throat. Kagome screamed in fear. The youkai prince tossed her roughly away from him, surprised at Inuyasha's careless disregard for the miko.

As Sesshoumaru staved off a series of vicious blows, though, he looked deep into his brother's scarlet gaze and realized all rationality finally disappeared. The transformation from enraged hanyou to rabid youkai was complete. Tetsusaiga's seal was shattered; Inuyasha was no longer in control of his own mind.

Forgoing weapons for the satisfaction of claws and fists, the two brothers fought a fierce battle for dominance. The passing of restraint coincided with the loss of prudence, and Sesshoumaru quickly gained the upper hand. Ducking away from an overextended slash, he used Inuyasha's forward momentum against him, twisting his body around and kicking the overbalanced hanyou's feet out from under him in one flowing motion.

Inuyasha tried to catch himself on his hands, but landed on his stomach. Sesshoumaru was on him in an instant, one knee grinding the hanyou's back. His arms were trapped under his chest, claws scrabbling the ground while Sesshoumaru wrenched his head back at a painful angle by fisted a hand in his hair. All the pinned demon could do was snarl like the trapped animal he was.

The taiyoukai's free hand hovered over Inuyasha's exposed throat, claws glistening sharply in the rapidly dying light of the sun. A bank of thick, black clouds was rolling ominously over the horizon, seemingly called by the violence of the blood lust pouring off the siblings.

`Now is my chance,' Sesshoumaru thought in triumph, instincts screaming for the logical conclusion to this clash. `These years of disgrace can be avenged right now. It would be so easy.'

"Now, Inuyasha," he hissed viciously in his brother's ear, so close his words were inaudible to all but the thrashing beast beneath him, "I will have everything that is rightfully mine. My honor restored. Tetsusaiga at my side." He paused before listing that which he desired most and knew would drive Inuyasha over the edge, "And Kagome, as well."

Quiet sobbing broke though his blood-hazed thoughts, and he blinked the red wash away from his eyes to find the miko stumbling to his side. Tears were sliding down her pale cheeks in crystal rivulets, washing away the last of his rage.

"Please, please," she sobbed brokenly as she approached, "don't kill him."

Sesshoumaru felt all of the fight drain out of him at the terrorized look in her eyes. He did not want to see her view him that way; like he was a wild animal that needed placating, or a monster requiring a sacrifice to appease its lust for blood. Something broke inside of him at the realization that, in that moment of conquest, that is exactly what he had become.

As the taiyoukai's muscles relaxed, so did his crushing grip on Inuyasha. In his feral state of mind, the hanyou sensed the vulnerability in his foe and wasted no time in taking advantage. With a roar, he lunged out from underneath Sesshoumaru, claws already reaching out to rend the delicate flesh of the one his completely maddened mind considered to be the greatest weakness of his enemy.

Kagome was frozen in place as utter surprise took over, halting all signals her screaming mind was sending to her muscles. It all took place so quickly, yet time seemed to slow down and gain a surreal quality. The stunned miko watched her best friend's face, twisted so much by blood lust and insanity as to be unrecognizable, as his hands reached out for her throat.

She could hear Miroku, Sango and Shippou yelling at Inuyasha to stop, but the sound that came to her clearest wasn't Sesshoumaru's exclamation of horror, or even Inuyasha's violent snarl, but the unmistakable noise of cloth flapping as someone dashed up to her. A strong arm hooked around her waist, yanking her out of the path of destruction Inuyasha's claws cleaved, the sharp natural weapons rending a burning path down the length of her arm instead of across her throat.

Kagome's head snapped to the side with the force of inertia, but she managed to capture a jostled impression of Sesshoumaru swinging his fist into Inuyasha's face. The hit stunned him long enough for Miroku to finally get close enough to place his sealing ofuda on the frenzied half-demon. Before seeing if Inuyasha was contained by the holy spells, the Lord of the West had spun toward Kagome, his face a contorted mask of frenzy. Frantic concern shone clearly in his amber eyes, and it was this that stayed with her like the afterimage of the sun on the insides of you eyelids, as she was pulled away.

"Sesshoumaru!" she gasped, reaching out for him, but she was too late. The smooth silk of her love's sleeve slipped through her fingers.

Even as the miko's brain finally functioned enough to begin wondering who had effected her timely rescue, a low, smooth chuckle in her ear caused her blood to freeze in place.

"Now, Kagome, you will show me exactly what you were doing in here, and what it has to do with the Shikon no Tama."

Kagome's stomach lurched as her feet left the ground; her captor had leapt up into the air. She opened her mouth to scream as the full reality of the situation hit her, barely registering Sesshoumaru locking his long, strong fingers around her wrist as the trio plummeted together into the dark opening below.

Blue light surrounded her, illuminating the bizarre face of the demon who had made off with her like the filthy thief he was. It was a horrific mixture of grotesque baboon and cruelly beautiful male, with crimson eyes glowing at her in an unbridled lust for power.

"Noooo!" she shrieked her denial, but knew it would not wake her from her worst nightmare come to life.

Naraku had leapt into the well with her, and Kagome didn't know if the power of the Shikon would take them back to her time…or to the place she suspected the final shard was hidden.

A/N: Wow! I'm actually alone on set right now. That's just because everyone is busy relaxing after that harrowing take. Oh. And Kagome is `consoling' Inuyasha in her trailer. He was pretty upset about how things have seemed to deteriorate for him. He doesn't appreciate how this one took a lot out of me, just because I'm still not comfortable with battles. It's so easy to imagine all of that wonderful, exciting action taking place, but so difficult to get the sequence right, the description vs. dialogue in proportion…

*shrugs* But it's done, and Sess is off my back for a while now, happy at last to have beaten the shit out of `the worthless hanyou'. *grimaces* Of course, now Inuyasha is taking a page from his big brother's book and following me around like a feather on a chicken's ass. Hey! All he demanded was a confrontation with Sesshoumaru. He didn't specify that he had to be the victor. And, please don't flame me about making Inuyasha do the whole Kujo bit. There was a purpose. (Now, if I can just figure out what it is…)

Also, the little display where Sess stands behind Kagome and baits Inuyasha with their `intimate relationship'? I was so inspired by Beanclam's fanart! She gave me permission to post it here at MM, so if you want to see it, too (and I highly recommend this, as the art is obviously professional-quality-and hot!), go to my profile and click `FanArt'. Or, see it at Sesshoumaru: The Killing Perfection website. (Which, by the way, now has upgraded it's fanfic section so authors can upload their own stories.)

Here's the URL for Beanclam's fanart at TKP:

http://tea.rakuen.nu/sesshoumaru/fanart/beanclam_02.jpg

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