Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

A Heat to Overcome	By : Sparrowhawk Category: InuYasha > Yaoi - Male/Male > InuYasha/Sessh?maru > InuYasha/Sessh?maru Views: 31291 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 8
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or the associated characters, nor do I make any profit from this fanfic. All other characters not associated with the original manga or anime, however, are mine.

Chapter List
- 13
- 14
- 15
As promised, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!!
Warnings: Profanity? ... I think that's it.

Chapter Fourteen
A New Place; A New Life

Inuyasha grunted in pain when something heavy landed on his stomach, shifting his healing ribs out of place. Unthinkingly, he reacted, lashing out at his attacker with bared claws. Before he could strike, an implacable hand caught his wrist. He snarled, terror rampaging through his body. His demon blood clawed its way to the surface, desperate to protect him.
“Inuyasha!” Sesshomaru barked in the hanyou almost turned demon’s ear. “Be calm.”
“S-Sesshomaru?” Inuyasha whispered hoarsely, the crimson of his demon retreating as he recognized his elder brother’s voice and his face looming just inches from his own. Then he looked down at the weight on his stomach and his eyes widened in horror for what he’d almost done. For right there, curled up and trembling, was Shippo.
“It is all right, Inuyasha,” Sesshomaru assured him, brushing back some of the hair that had fallen into his face. “It is all right. Your kit merely wanted to see you. He’s been worried.”
Breathing shakily, Inuyasha nodded and reached out his hands for the terrified kid. “Y-Yeah. I get it. C’mere squirt.” Kami-sama, he had to get ahold of himself!
Still a little afraid, Shippo glanced up at Sesshomaru who gestured toward Inuyasha with a flick of his head. When the kit still hesitated, he reached down and nudged him on the back.
Tears welled in the kitsune’s big green eyes as he literally threw himself into Inuyasha’s arms and started babbling between sobs. “Y-Y-You’re back! Hic. I m-missed you … so … so much! Really … hic … really missed you! I was so worried! And you were … hic … you wouldn’t wake up and … and … you kept screaming … and it hurt! It hurt that you were gone! Hic. I kept … thinking that you might … that you might not come back! Hic. Like my mom and dad! A-Are you all right now?”
“Yeah, kid. I’m fine now. I was hurt pretty bad, but I’ll be okay. Sessh’s watchin’ out for me.” Amazingly, that seemed to satisfy the kid. He sniffled, nodded, and then sat up.
“Mm,” he agreed, wiping away his tears with the backs of his hands. “Lord Sesshomaru was really worried about you, too. Weren’t you, Lord Sesshomaru?” He looked up at the daiyoukai admiringly.
Inuyasha’s jaw dropped. What the hell happened between the two while he was gone?
Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow, but didn’t deny it. Instead, he replied simply, “Indeed.”
“Have you two been traveling together?” Inuyasha wondered, eyebrows drawn down in confusion for the odd exchange between the two youkai.
“The kit came with Miroku and this Sesshomaru ahead of your women to help ascertain your location.”
“Miroku’s here?” Inuyasha cried, both excited to see his friend and scared to witness what the monk’s reaction might be to him now that he had been … tainted even further. Despite his wandering hand, he was still a holy man.
“He has been working with Sasaki, my advisor, to learn new magics and to better use his own holy powers. Do you wish to see him?” Sesshomaru asked, very much aware of the fear that soured his sibling’s scent.
Hugging the kit to his chest once more, he shook his head. “Not yet. I … don’t think I can face anyone else yet. Just … well, can Shippo stay?”
Sesshomaru stared at the pair for a moment. With the way his little brother was holding onto the fox kit he wasn’t sure he’d be able to separate them even had he wanted to do so. “I would not separate you from your ward, ototo. The kit can stay. In the meantime …” He moved toward the door, but stopped when he felt a tug on his hitoe’s sleeve. A frown touched the corners of his mouth when he turned and saw Inuyasha’s hand wrapped tightly around the cloth. “Inuyasha?”
“Don’t.”
“Inuyasha,” Sesshomaru sighed, placing his hand reassuringly over that of his sibling. He paused, amending what he had been about to say when he felt how his little brother’s hand shook. “I will send for Taree to bring my work here.”
Realizing how foolish he must look to his older sibling, Inuyasha quickly let go. “Y-You don’t need to do that. Not like I’m gonna up and die or nothin.’ I’m just … gettin’ hungry, that’s all.”
Undeterred, Sesshomaru went to the door and placed his hand on the knob, looking back over his shoulder before opening it. “Then I will also inquire after some food for you and your kit.”
“I’m telling you I’m fine! You don’t hafta stay—”
“I am not staying for your sake, little brother,” the daiyoukai smoothly lied, cutting him off. “I am doing it for mine. You are still healing, and it will put my mind at ease if you are within my range of sight.” He opened the door and bellowed for the guards to fetch a servant. It was a few moments before a serving girl turned up. Then he relayed his instructions for Taree, dismissed the girl, and shut the door again.
“You’re a fricken asshole,” Inuyasha muttered, secretly glad his older brother had decided to stay.
“As you say, little brother,” Sesshomaru agreed carelessly, gliding back to the bed and settling down in the chair that had been set by the bed for the purpose of watching over his sibling. “Word has been sent that your females are on their way along with the wolf prince, Kouga, and his two buffoons. They should arrive by late this evening.”
“Kouga’s coming here?” Inuyasha asked, anxiety speeding up his heart rate again. Why was he so afraid of everything? He hadn’t been like this before. He wasn’t like this!
“He will not be able to see or speak to you until you are ready to allow it, little one. In fact, he will be barred such privileges indefinitely if you but say the word.”
Inuyasha frowned, distracted from his inward struggles by the daiyoukai’s assurance. “You can do that?”
“I am the Lord of the castle, am I not?”
“Y-Yeah, but …” He cleared his throat, swallowed, and continued, golden eyes fixed on the top of Shippo’s head. “You don’t hafta go that far for that wretch. He’s annoying, that’s all. Let ‘im in. I guess I’ll … go see ‘em when I’m able to get up outta bed.”
Sesshomaru nodded agreeably. “That will do very well, little brother.”
They lapsed into an awkward silence, Inuyasha petting the top of Shippo’s head. The kit had fallen asleep during his short talk with Sesshomaru. Poor squirt. He probably stayed up all night wondering if he was going to be okay. It was obvious he trusted Sesshomaru—though why that was so, Inuyasha couldn’t fathom—but his trust in the powerful daiyoukai wouldn’t stop the worry.
“Your kit missed you a great deal,” Sesshomaru suddenly remarked.
“Un,” Inuyasha grunted.
“He would have come with me when I searched for you, but I felt it would be too dangerous.”
Again Inuyasha acknowledged the remark with a grunt.
“And if I said he worried so much he wouldn’t eat nor drink anything this past week, would you answer the same?” Sesshomaru questioned, miffed by his ototo’s continued reticence.
Instead of getting angry, though, as the Inuyasha before the incident with Michio would have, he merely shrugged, still staring pensively down at his kit’s head. Sesshomaru let out an exasperated sigh. If the boy wanted to be difficult, that was his choice.
“Sessh,” Inuyasha said after a few more moments of silence.
Outwardly stoic, Sesshomaru turned to look at his brother who had his head tilted adorably to the side, ears perked forward, shy and vulnerable eyes meeting his gaze bravely.
“Why did you save me?”
For a moment, Sesshomaru only stared at him. He had expected this question at some point, and had been mildly surprised when it hadn’t come during the time he had been relating the details of the search and subsequent rescue.
Mistaking his brother’s blank stare for confusion, Inuyasha continued softly, “I mean, you have your memories back now. I know you hate me, so why did you save me?”
“I made a promise,” the daiyoukai finally said in his usual dispassionate voice. “I am honor bound to protect you and yours. Furthermore, I have taken you as my submissive. That kind of responsibility is more binding than any blood ties.”
“Responsibility …” Inuyasha muttered, brow furrowed, eyes swimming with confusion and a small glimmer of hope. “That’s the only reason?”
That look. Sesshomaru knew that look. He’d seen it before, back in their den. He was waiting for a betrayal. He was waiting for rejection, for the confirmation that what he had thought and feared of his older brother was true. You’ll be disappointed, brother, the daiyoukai thought with a smirk.
“It is the most binding reason. Beyond that, I have not bore hatred for you for many days now. I hated you in the beginning, yes, and I hated that my Lord Father would give you the Tessaiga whose power you were not worthy to wield and whose possession should have been passed on to the eldest of his sons. That hatred, however, left my being after my memories were lost and I witnessed how exceptionally strong you have grown and how Tessaiga has accepted you as its master. Indeed, I did hate you, but I hate you no more. Yet even in my hatred I would not have wished such a fate as Michio has thrust upon you and would have thrust upon you if I had been unsuccessful in your retrieval.”
“Oh,” Inuyasha responded lamely, not sure exactly what his aniki meant by that.
Seeing the slight disappointment and utter bewilderment in his sibling’s ever readable eyes, Sesshomaru decided a simpler explanation was in order. “In other words, ototo, I saved you because I wanted to save you. Nothing more and nothing less.”
“Oh. Thanks … I guess.”
The response sounded so bland, but Sesshomaru could see how relieved and even—perhaps—happy his little brother was with his explanation. “Think nothing of it, little one. I was at fault in the first place for being incapable of protecting you.” Leaning toward the bed, he reached out and touched Inuyasha’s cheek, ignoring the flinch his touch provoked. “It would seem Tamae’s remedy is working. Your fever has gone down.”
“Y-Yeah …” Inuyasha agreed, moving his brother’s hand away from his face uncomfortably.
“I will not hurt you, Inuyasha,” Sesshomaru reassured him, grasping his ototo’s hand briefly before letting go and placing his hand back down in his lap.
“I know,” the hanyou replied softly, worrying his lower lip between his fangs. “It’s just … ever since—I just don’t like being touched.”
“I understand. I do understand why you would feel that way, little one, but I won’t stop touching you.”
“Wha—?!” His eyes grew wide and fearful with the implication in those words.
“I won’t stop touching you until you get used to it. Until you no longer fear my touch. Until you welcome it, I will continue to touch your face, your fingers, your hands, your arms, your shoulders, your legs, your feet, your ears, anywhere and everywhere you allow me to touch. I vow to you, ototo, on my Lord Father’s grave, on our father’s grave, I will not touch you in order to hurt you ever again.”
“But … But you won’t …?”
“I will not touch you in an intimate manner until you are ready for it,” Sesshomaru confirmed.
“You mean when my heat comes back,” Inuyasha corrected, gaze downcast once more.
“When your heat returns you will be ready, whether or not your feelings are. Now that your heat is suppressed, when you cease taking the potion Tamae gave you, it will return tenfold. You will not be able to help yourself. In the time before that happens, though, permit me to introduce you to the palace staff and those you will soon have responsibility for as the secondary ruler of the western domain.”
Inuyasha frowned, unsure if he had heard his brother correctly. “S-Secondary … ruler? What does that mean?”
“It means, little brother, that you will have every power and responsibility I do. Your voice will carry the same weight mine does. And should it happen that I go to my death before you, you will inherit the title of Western Lord and all its duties. The only one with the power to overrule your decisions is me as your elder brother and our Lord Father’s firstborn heir.”
“Okay, but what does that mean? What duties or … whatever, am I gonna have?”
“For the time being, your duties will be to learn. You will learn about protocol, etiquette, laws regarding the land and its peoples, you will learn of the land and its peoples, you will learn warfare and strategy, how to command armies and lead selected missions. There is much you will be taught.”
Inuyasha scowled, some of his old self creeping back into his voice. “What if I don’t wanna learn all that crap?”
“Then you will also not be learning proper swordsmanship and other forms of fighting,” Sesshomaru replied, unperturbed.
Inuyasha stared at him in shock and surprise before his eyes lit up, ears eagerly swiveling toward the elder inu, quivering with excitement. “You’re gonna teach me to fight?” He couldn’t deny he’d always admired the bastard’s fighting style and skill.
“I am going to teach you different ways to fight,” Sesshomaru corrected, smiling a little at his ototo’s enthusiasm. “You already know how to fight. You’ve proven it time and again. Now all you need do is build on what you already know, improve your technique a little, and you will soon become someone who may be able to equal this Sesshomaru in a one on one battle.”
Inuyasha was about to retort, but just then a polite knock came on the door.
“My Lords,” a voice Sesshomaru recognized as Taree’s called through the thick wood. “May I come in?”
The daiyoukai glanced at his little brother, gauging his reaction to the newcomer. He seemed a little nervous, but that was to be expected. At least the terror that had plagued him the other day was gone.
“Enter,” he commanded. As Taree walked into the room, however, he noticed Inuyasha shrink back against the headboard and pull the blankets closer around him and the little kitsune. It didn’t look like he was conscious of the action. All his attention was on the wind demoness as she set a tray of food on the table near the door and then proceeded to the desk with a large parcel she carried tucked under her arm.
“These are the documents that need to be looked over and signed, my Lord. And Lord Inuyasha’s and Lord Shippo’s breakfasts, of course,” she said with a bright smile in the hanyou’s direction. “I do hope you enjoy it. Our cook is one of the best in the land. The best, if I am not mistaken.”
“Indeed,” Sesshomaru muttered absently as he went and retrieved the tray. “Marise descended from a long line of excellent chefs, though I do believe he has surpassed even his prodigy of a mother.” With an encouraging look, the daiyoukai set the tray on his younger brother’s lap.
“Porridge?” Inuyasha asked, eyeing the steaming bowl in disgust. “I’m injured and sick, Sessh, not dead. I want real food.”
“If you were dead, ototo, you would not be eating anything at all,” the demon lord rejoined with a long suffering expression. “Nor would you be complaining. Eat. Your body has been starved for nearly a week and it is hindering your ability to heal. Solid food will only make you sick and further slow your recovery.”
“Keh, my stomach’s not that delicate.” So saying, he screwed up his face and began to spoon the hot mixture into his mouth. After a few rushed mouthfuls, he stopped, frowning as the taste finally managed to make its way from his tongue to his brain. “This is … good.”
“I did say he was the best cook in the land, did I not?” Taree laughed, her wind swirling around the room delightedly as the young lord tucked into his food with renewed vigor.
“Taree, you are making a mess,” Sesshomaru drawled, watching impassively as a stack of papers on his desk went flying onto the floor followed soon after by a jar of quills, a near empty inkwell, and a small stack of scrolls.
“Oh!” the far too excitable demoness exclaimed. “My apologies, Lord!”
The daiyoukai waved her away, long accustomed to her high strung nature. “Return to your duties, Taree. I will attend to the rest.”
She bowed politely, taking no offense at his curt dismissal. “Understood, my Lord. I will take my leave. Lord Inuyasha, please do enjoy your meal.”
Inuyasha looked up when she was gone, ears laid back in anxiety. “‘Lord’ Inuyasha? Does that mean everyone already knows?”
“No. The only ones who currently have knowledge of your new place at my side is myself and a select, trusted few. They simply call you ‘Lord’ because that is what you are, being a son of the great Inu no Taisho and my younger brother. Myoga calls you that, does he not?”
“Y-Yeah … I guess I just never really noticed.”
Sesshomaru looked away, something far too close to guilt for comfort darkening his powerful aura. “That is because I did not give you the chance to notice. I was content to keep you hidden from the world, hiding our Lord Father’s shame as if that could erase the deed, and I was content to keep you from realizing that you had a position in my kingdom.” He turned to Inuyasha. “I owe you an apology, little brother. Many apologies, as a matter of fact.”
“Sessh, don’t,” Inuyasha muttered, head lowered. “You don’t need to apologize to me.”
“Yes, I do. I blamed you for something that was not the fault of you or your mother. There is much I have to atone for.”
“No, you don’t! Why are you saying this to me?! Why are you being so nice? Why when you’ve only hated and scorned me till now do you treat me so gently only after what M-M-Michio did to me? Why is it only now?! I don’t need your pity!”
“It is not pity, little one.”
“Then what the fuck is it?”
“It is simply my desire to treat you gently. I cannot guarantee that the situation would be the same were you not taken from me by the slave traders, but I can tell you that things between us would have changed. I could not treat you the same after holding you as I did in our den. I could not treat you so cruelly after knowing how it felt to hold your trust, how it felt to be wanted by you, and how it felt to know that I am the only one to whom you would give up your alpha pride and submit.”
Startled by his aniki’s straight forward answer and somewhat ashamed of his outburst, Inuyasha couldn’t meet the daiyoukai’s eyes when he turned to look at him.
“Have you ever known me to show pity to anyone, ototo? I am not the pitying kind.”
“Must be cause you’re such a heartless bastard,” Inuyasha muttered, though with none of the previous antagonism.
“And you have an incorrigibly foul mouth.”
Grinning, Inuyasha returned his brother’s amused gaze. “It’s part of my charm.”
“I am surprised you even know what that term means,” Sesshomaru rejoined, his mouth upturned at the corners. He suddenly turned serious. “You will have to learn to curb it, though. As charming as I find it that you can be so free with your words, such language in court will not sit well with the other rulers or the local dignitaries. Offending someone of lower rank to yourself within our domain would be a small issue, true, but if you were to offend a diplomat from one of the other countries it could very well start a war.”
“Over a little bad language?” Inuyasha asked incredulously. “You’re joking, right?”
“I’m afraid not. As one of the Lords of the west, you are expected to act in a manner befitting a son of our Lord Father.”
“Sessh, you don’t actually expect me to go to one of these … meeting things, do you?”
“I most certainly do. The other Lords and Ladies already have a low enough opinion of half breeds, if I were to attend a meeting without you by my side they would not take you seriously. You would have no real authority. To them, you would be nothing more than a sex toy, a whore, just as they thought of the Lady Izayoi. That was one of the mistakes our Lord Father made when he brought your mother into his home.”
“But … she was a princess! How could they just assume—”
“Because she was human. It mattered little that she was a princess. You know how most demons think, for you are also half demon. The strong are respected; the weak are either shunned, killed, or enslaved. None, including myself, could believe that the great Inu no Taisho could have fallen for a human woman. When our Lord Father neglected to bring her to any official meetings as his mate, the belief that she was only a toy to entertain him was confirmed. In attempting to protect her from the ridicule of the other ruling Lords and Ladies, he had forever disgraced her. I do not intend to make the same mistake.”
“W-Wait, Sessh … what do you mean … by that? Me ‘n kaasan are different. I’m only your half brother. I’m not in the same position as she was. Why should you care if they treat me like your bitch?”
“Would you rather I let them treat you that way?” Sesshomaru asked with a raised eyebrow, already knowing the answer.
“Well … no, but—”
“Yours and your mother’s positions are not different. She was human, you are hanyou. Both are held in low esteem within demon nobility. The reason I care about how they see you is because that opinion will taint our pups. Whispers will follow them wherever they go—the sons and daughters of a whore. Do you want that for your pups, Inuyasha?”
“Of course not. It’s just … you want me to have your pups?” Damn, that sounds weird, Inuyasha thought, grimacing to himself. It’s gonna take a while to get used to being able to even have pups. “Don’t you have a … fiancée or lover or something?”
“No, I do not. Are you telling me you do not wish to bear my offspring?”
“It’s not that, Sessh. It’s not that I don’t want to … or that I want to. It’s just … hell, I’m still trying to wrap my head around the idea that I can even get pregnant! Don’t ask me things like that! And why don’t you have someone else? Aren’t you the ‘great Lord Sesshomaru, son of Inu no Taisho,’ high and mighty Lord of the West? Don’t tell me you don’t get any play.”
“If you are implying that I am lacking in candidates, little brother, you are mistaken. There are many who seek my attention and many more who would kill their own mother and father if they were to have a miniscule chance at becoming the next Lady of the West.”
“Keh,” Inuyasha grunted, spooning more of the porridge into his mouth. “Figured that’s how it’d be. Yer not exactly ugly.”
Sesshomaru’s eyebrows shot up in surprise at that—almost—compliment. “That is to say I am, at least somewhat, attractive to you, is it not, little brother?”
Inuyasha felt his cheeks heat. “Yeah, yeah, go preen in front of a mirror, fuckin’ narcissist.”
“I’ll take that as a yes, then,” the daiyoukai murmured, receiving a sharp glare from his sibling in return. “The reason I do not have a fiancée or lover, Inuyasha, is because I have not found one worthy to fill that position. They want what they do not deserve. You, on the other hand, are already a Lord of the West. You are also fiercely loyal to those who treasure you. I desire that in one who would become the bearer of my children.”
“I still don’t know if I even want to have your kids.”
Nodding his understanding, Sesshomaru stood and walked over to his desk, bending to retrieve the items that had been sent flying by Taree’s demonic wind. The action gave him a moment to think and regain control over his youki. He knew the hanyou didn’t intend any offense when he’d said that, but his youki took it to mean Inuyasha didn’t want to have his pups at all. As if he would run to another over him.
Once he was again calm, the demon lord sat down, looking solemnly to where his brother still lay, waiting for some kind of reply. “Think about it, ototo. It would be well with you if you were to decide before you cease taking Tamae’s remedy for your heat. When we rut, there is no guarantee that you will not end up pregnant whether or not you continue taking the birth control potion.”
“I … I guess you’re right,” Inuyasha muttered, not at all comforted by the idea that he only had ten days to decide if he was okay with being pregnant. Not just pregnant, but with his brother’s pups.
Do I even have a choice in this? he wondered. His heat was going to come back. He had no say in that. And when it did … could he stand for anyone else to touch him to relieve his heat? He didn’t think so. The thought of Sesshomaru touching him that way made him apprehensive. But the thought of someone else touching him intimately made him shudder in revulsion and fear. Even if it was someone he knew—Miroku or Sango or even Kagome—he didn’t think he’d be able to do it. Besides, he was a submissive. His heat would make him want someone to take him from behind. Besides Sesshomaru, only Miroku was capable of that. The monk was his best friend, though. Regardless of whether or not he could stand to have the hoshi touch him, to have Miroku touch him that way would be beyond weird. Another option, which he didn’t really consider an option, was Kouga. The wolf demon was coming along with the women. He knew he wouldn’t be able to stand having the ookami act the part of alpha. Their rivalry had gone on for too long. To have Kouga gloat over him like some bitch ….
He shook those thoughts away. It would have to be Sesshomaru.
A yawn cracked his jaws, so he set the empty porridge bowl back on the tray and curled up on his side, arms protectively around Shippo. His eyes drifted shut, but snapped open again when he felt movement nearby. A clawed hand touched his forehead, ruffled his bangs. He flinched, his whole body as tense as a taut bowstring.
“Rest, little one,” Sesshomaru purred, taking the tray from the bed beside his sibling and setting it over on the bedside table. He wanted to kiss him, but instead contented himself with petting the hanyou’s white mane. “Let not nightmares trouble your slumber, for I will be here when you wake.” With one swift stroke to one of those adorable puppy dog ears, Sesshomaru retreated back to his chair at the desk and set to work.
Inuyasha let his breath out heavily, sadness squeezing his heart for how his body automatically reacted as if to fight or flee when the daiyoukai touched him. Why couldn’t he just accept Sesshomaru’s touch? What was it that made him so afraid even now after the demon lord had saved him? All the grief his brother had put him through the last two hundred years and he hadn’t stopped trusting him. Yet now, after a single bad experience of which his sibling wasn’t even involved, why did his trust in his aniki break so easily?
His mind and heart troubled, Inuyasha slowly slipped off to sleep.

***Ӂ***

“Damn that Suzu!” Bishamon growled, striding furiously through the castle and trying to ignore the stares his very obvious “problem” received. His tail flicked agitatedly from side to side as he stopped in front of the peacock demon’s door. “Suzu!” he bellowed, pounding on the plain wood with his fist. “Suzu, get your ass out here!”
“One moment, kitten,” Suzu purred from what seemed to be just the other side of the door.
The tiger youkai growled again, shuddering in spite of himself as that velvet voice ushered into his ears like the erotic whispers of a lover. He hated the effect Suzu’s voice had on him, rousing him as though he hadn’t heard it since the day he had been hired as a general by Lord Sesshomaru.
“Kitten,” he repeated derisively under his breath. Bird was driving him insane! Getting him so riled up in front of Lord Sesshomaru and the other generals, coaxing and teasing him in front of the entire palace during breakfast that morning, and his latest stunt! There was no end to it!
When the door began to open he shouldered his way in without waiting for permission and stood with his arms crossed facing the object of his annoyance who had stepped back to lean casually on a decorative table against the wall clad in only a towel. Water drops glimmered against his porcelain skin, made all the more beautiful for the lack of decoration, and glinted like jewels in his feathers and emerald hair. Bishamon stared, momentarily lost for words.
Suzu raised his eyebrows, resting his hands behind him on the table, legs slightly apart, and very much aware of how he looked in that position. “Can I help you, kitten? I’m afraid you caught me in the middle of a bath.”
Bishamon coughed and looked away. Staring too long was dangerous. “I need to talk to you.”
The bird demon smiled demurely, brown eyes unabashedly lingering over the other general’s crotch. “I’ve gathered that much. Are you here to join me in the bath?”
“Don’t be ridiculous—” Bishamon snapped, swiveling to face the other youkai, but cutting off abruptly when he saw where exactly Suzu’s gaze had wandered. He felt his heat throb in his veins, all of his blood rushing downward and leaving him feeling like a total idiot with a tongue as thick and clumsy as an elephant seal. “I-I’m … not here … to-to-to do that.”
“Oh?” Suzu inquired, feigning disappointment. “Is that so? If you’re not here to bathe with me and … perhaps … take care of your heat at the same time, then what did you come for?”
“U-Um … I need to talk to you about … about—”
Suzu laughed, pushing himself away from the table and prompting sweetly, “About?”
“… about … this afternoon. The … the thing … you did.”
“Thing?” Suzu repeated, swaying sensually across the room toward the flustered tiger youkai. “You’ll have to be more specific than that, kitten.”
“Y-You put … catnip … in my drink.”
“Aaah, you can’t be mad about that little prank, can you?” the bird demon murmured, eyes twinkling mischievously.
Bishamon snarled upon seeing how funny the peacock found his predicament. “You know I’m in heat, Suzu. Without a partner to relieve it! Damn it, Suzu, this isn’t some joke. I’m seriously hurting here!” he shouted, gesturing angrily toward his straining dick.
“My, my,” Suzu snickered, still clearly enjoying himself. “That is a big problem, isn’t it?”
“Suzu, I’m warning you,” Bishamon rumbled, taking a threatening step toward him, his demon blood surfacing in his voice and in the crimson of his eyes.
“Relax, kitten,” Suzu soothed the enraged youkai almost carelessly. He produced a small vial of liquid from the drawer in the table behind him. “This will take care of the effects left by the catnip and help to mellow out the symptoms of your heat.”
Bishamon frowned as Suzu placed the vial in his hand. “But … why?”
Smiling, the smaller demon stood up on his toes and, placing his mouth at the wild cat’s ear, whispered, “Because I didn’t do it.”
The tiger general stiffened when he felt Suzu's tongue delve into his pointed ear and quickly stepped back out of reach, holding his hand out to keep the flirtatious bird youkai at bay and prevent himself from pouncing on the ignorant wretch. “No, I mean why do you have a remedy like this?”
“Oh, that.” Making a dismissive gesture with his hand, Suzu glided around the corner further into his chambers. “Since I have experience in these matters, Tamae agreed to let me take in the little kitten Lord Inuyasha rescued from Michio when he escaped. He had concentrated amounts of catnip in his system. I have given him the remedy several times with large amounts of liquid to clean it out of his bloodstream, but unfortunately, the aftereffects remain.”
“Aftereffects?” Bishamon asked curiously, following the bird youkai through the sitting room and into his bedchamber.
“Some who have been raped react with fear and shame. It is a natural reaction to such a traumatic event, sometimes so severe they will not allow themselves to be touched by anyone but their closest friends or family, if at all. Others, like the kitten here,” Suzu continued, sweeping his arm toward the boy sleeping curled up in his bed, “develop an addiction to sex. It is not as common as the other, but still happens. Usually because the one it happened to was very young when the abuse and rape first started. He most likely did not understand what the slavers were doing to him, and so, didn’t know how to react to it and, instead of fearing intimacy and sex, learned to crave it.”
“What do you mean you have ‘experience’ in these matters?” Bishamon wondered.
Suzu’s eyes hardened, becoming icy, mirroring the Lord of the West’s trademark glare so perfectly that Bishamon took a hasty step back. “There are some topics people do not wish to divulge to others. That, kitten, applies to your question now.”
The general nodded, wishing he was anywhere but where he was now standing under the suddenly terrifying dark brown eyes of the petite demon he had thought to be quite harmless. Those eyes, warm as they had been moments before, were the eyes of a cold blooded killer.
“So then,” Suzu said brightly, startling the tiger youkai with the abrupt change in his tone and the atmosphere in general. “I have a favor to ask you.”
“S-Sure?”
“Would you come over to play with the little kitten?” When the tiger youkai only stared at him, Suzu sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Look, he’s been a slave for a long time—decades. He’s been isolated from his kind, from all cat demon kind. He needs some kind of interaction with a youkai who is, if not exactly like him, at least similar to him. Besides, he’ll feel more comfortable around someone who looks, smells, feels, and acts like kin.”
“What if … he wants to …?” Bishamon asked awkwardly, looking down at the small boy who couldn’t have been more than fifty years old, which meant he’d probably spent most of his young life as a slave. He couldn’t imagine what the cub suffered through at the hands of that sadistic maniac, Michio, and his band of slave traders. He was a child, for God’s sake!
“If he wants to have sex with you, then do it.” Seeing that the tiger youkai was about to protest, Suzu plowed on. “I’m not saying to just fuck him, kitten, I’m saying be gentle with him. Have sex with him. Make love to him. Show him what it is supposed to be like. It might not be the most ethical way of dealing with a rape victim, but if he wants it, needs it, then the only advice I can give you is to let him have it. It’s self destructive to any addict if you completely cut them off from what they crave right from the start. If you’re not comfortable with that then I’ll find someone else to take care of him, but you’re one of the few I feel I can truly trust to treat him right.”
Bishamon’s eyebrows drew together in confusion. “Suzu …” he said, somewhat apprehensive of the bird youkai’s reaction, “… how do you know all this?”
In a rare show of vulnerability, Suzu wrapped his arms tightly about his middle. Loneliness and desolation poured out of his eyes, barely glimpsed by the tiger demon before they were hidden away by the deep shadows of the bird youkai’s hair. “Because … he has choices that I never did.”
“Suzu, I—”
Suzu brushed aside what he was about to say. “It was a long time ago. Don’t let it bother you. As for the boy … will you come spend time with him, kitten?”
Not knowing what to say, Bishamon nodded. He had never thought he'd see the peacock demon so sad, with not a trace of the usual frivolous teasing in his expression.
“Good.” Suzu grinned dazzlingly over at the other general. “I knew I could count on you. Now turn your back so I can get dressed. Slutty as I am, I still prefer privacy within my home.” Bishamon was about to object to his casual naming of himself as a slut—he had never seen the flirtatious youkai do more than hint and tease—but Suzu continued on, riding over the top of him. “I’ll be going out for a while.” The tiger youkai politely shut his mouth and turned his back. Knowing the other general to be of an honorable nature, Suzu let the towel drop to the floor and slipped into his clothes. “Need to visit Lord Sesshomaru and Lord Inuyasha so that I can assess which type of bodyguards would do best for our Lord’s younger brother. Be back in an hour or so. Stay here while I’m gone and watch over him for me, will you?”
“If that’s what you desirrrre,” Bishamon purred in an attempt to seem that he was back to his usual self.
“Thank you.” Suzu headed for the door, but stopped before turning the corner. “Oh, and don’t forget to take that remedy for the catnip. It’s a pretty powerful aphrodisiac to cat demons, so I’ve heard, and I would assume it works like other drugs of its kind that will build up and begin to hurt more the longer it's in your system.”
“Suzu?” Bishamon called before the bird youkai could get farther than a step around the corner.
“Yes?”
“If you didn’t put catnip in my drink … then who did?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to that question, kitten. Perhaps it is one of the cat demons attempting to get your attention. If so, I would imagine she … or he will probably show her or himself soon enough and offer to … relieve you.”
“Hm,” Bishamon grunted. It wasn’t unheard of for other demons to come after a high ranking general like himself this way. He just hadn’t really expected it since he had shown absolutely no interest in becoming mated to another, and with Lord Sesshomaru still single for the time being, it was unlikely he, as a mere military general and not of noble background, would be noticed at all.
“Well then, kitten, I’m off.” Watching the distracted general slyly, Suzu slipped silently to his side and kissed his cheek before darting back to the door.
“Suzu!!” Bishamon yowled, chasing after the laughing bird youkai as his heat flared more strongly than even the catnip could cause on its own. He swung himself around the corner of the open door, but Suzu was already gone. He was glad there was only one peacock youkai in Lord Sesshomaru’s employ, especially if all the males were as potent as the small general. “Crazy birrrd.”
Shaking his head, he shut the door and walked back into Suzu’s room only to find the little kitten ….
Little kitten? That peacock was seriously fucking with him.
Only to find the young cat demon was awake, and staring at him with eyes the color of the sky at midafternoon. A snow leopard youkai, Bishamon realized with some surprise. He had only heard rumor of them. They were extremely rare and only found in isolated mountain ranges covered with ice and snow where very few demons ventured on the mainland. It was no wonder he was taken by the slavers. They were always on the look out for rare, young demons like this one. Bishamon had investigated into more than one ring of slave traders for Lord Sesshomaru, and he knew there were many—demons and humans—who would want to buy something as rare and beautiful as a snow leopard child.
“Who are you?” the neko child asked timidly. “Where did Suzu-sama go?”
“Suzu had to meet with Lorrrrd Sesshomaru and Lorrrd Inuyasha. He asked me to stay with you until he got back.”
“Oh.”
Oh, Bishamon thought, eyeing the smaller cat demon. What am I supposed to do with something like that?
The tiger demon cleared his throat, drawing the neko’s attention from the bedspread under his delicate hands. “My name is Bishamon. I’m a tiger demon and a general in Lord Sesshomaru’s army, like Suzu.”
“I’m Fuyuki. I am … I was a slave. Inuyasha-san rescued me from Michio. Now … Now I don’t really know what I am.”
“You’re a guest,” Bishamon firmly answered, sitting in the chair Suzu had probably used to watch over the boy. “A free demon. You can be whatever you want to be.”
Fuyuki wriggled into a sitting position, watching the tiger demon watch him. Besides his mother, father, and sisters, he had never seen another cat demon. Especially not a tiger demon. It was too cold where he lived for other types of cat demons to feel comfortable. He took in the yellow eyes, the dark pupils, the three sapphire blue stripes on each cheek, the ruddy orange hair streaked through with distinct stripes of black, the powerful and lithe body, and the beautiful sleek striped tail—very much like his own—that slapped contentedly against the floor.
“Can I …”
Bishamon looked up from examining the pattern of black spots on the boy’s white arms and shoulders. He really was beautiful. “Can you what?”
“Can I be … your friend?”
The tiger demon shrugged. “If you want to. Actually, I was thinking it would be nice to spend time with another cat demon. Therrrre aren’t many around herrre since Lorrrd Sesshomaru and Lorrrrd Inuyasha arrre dog demons. Our rrraces don’t usually get along verrrry well.”
“Do you think so? Inuyasha-san was really nice to me. He protected me when Michio-s—when Michio came after us. I wonder … if he would have still protected me if he knew that I thought about leaving him behind so I could escape ….” Fuyuki looked over at the tiger demon, expecting to see some kind of negative reaction. Instead Bishamon smiled.
“You’re asking the wrrrrong demon. The one who’d know best what Lorrrd Inuyasha would do is his olderrrr brother, Lorrrd Sesshomaru.”
“I … guess you’re right.”
“He is a little harrrd to approach, though, isn’t he?” Bishamon asked with a chuckle for how the boy’s face paled. “Don’t worrrrry. Dog demons are verrry protective of those they decide to take in, and Lorrrrrd Sesshomaru is more honorrrable than most people would think. You’rrre in good hands.”
Fuyuki smiled, a barely there, timid smile that made the tiger youkai’s heart skip a beat. “You’re a good person, Bishamon-sama.”
“Just Bishamon will do. We’re friends, aren’t we?”
An adorable blush of genuine happiness spread across the smaller cat demon’s cheeks. “Hai. Arigatou, Bi-Bishamon.”
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A/N: Don't think there are any terms that need defined, but there was a new name in there. Marise means infinite or endless. So, there you go! You get a bit more of a glimpse at the relationship between Bishamon and Suzu, lol, and some more Sessh and Inuyasha time. Yay! I love having them back together again. If you liked it, saw something that could be improved, just (plain wanted to tell me how awesome I am? kidding!) want to say hi then please leave a review! Thank you to everyone who's read and/or reviewed and who soon will! You guys totally make my day (; (;
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A Heat to Overcome