Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

The Emperor and his Champion	By : Lady_of_the_Squirrels Category: InuYasha AU/AR > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 944 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha nor do I profit from any characters or plots within Rumiko Takahashi's wonderful work. I make no profit from this work.

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
                He could feel thickness all around him, his limbs felt heavy and tongue thick in his mouth. Something burned his nose and lungs but his body wouldn’t respond to him. Laughter danced around him, familiar and terrifying, filling the pit of his stomach with bile and dread. He wanted to open his eyes but they remained tightly closed, as if being held down. ‘kukukukukuku.’
                He felt his body seizing, miasma, he was pretty sure it was miasma. Convulsions wracked him, he could hear himself choking, vomiting. Then the buzzing came, like bugs all around him. Pinpricks came over every inch of flesh, stinging and making his body ache and break out with blisters where he was injected. Something hit his face, a sharp pain in his cheek. Another slap and his eyes finally snapped open.
                Helaku stared at Sesshomaru, eyes wild, “Sesshomaru.”
                His voice was a breath of relief, confusion setting in as Sess looked over his own body. Helaku rubbed his chest, hesitant to relax back down with him, “What happened?”
                “You were having a nightmare or something,” Helaku decided to settle back down. Sesshomaru held him, stroking his hair as he rested his head on his shoulder. Sesshomaru’s eyes darted around the room, examining every corner for movement. The room was untouched, everything in its place yet it still felt off.
                “Was anyone in here?” His voice barely came out, hold on his lover almost untrusting. Helaku sat up looking at him. He felt terror grip his heart as he laid his eyes on Helaku, his face contorted into something he didn’t recognize in the darkness for a moment. He got up quickly, holding his head in his hands as he looked at the bed. His legs quivered, Helaku worried on the bed.
                “No one was in here, you’re acting crazy. Are you okay? Do you feel sick?” Helaku reached for him but he only moved away, hands running through his hair. He retreated to the ensuite bathroom, closing the door behind him as calmly as possible.
                Flicking the light on he examined himself in the mirror. Everything was right minus his vision swimming. It all felt wrong, horribly, horribly wrong. He touched the counter, scratching his nails into it to ensure it was real. He began touching everything, trying to break the illusion he was sure it must be. Nothing broke the bubble of uncertainty. Helaku’s knock made him jump out of his skin.
                “Sesshomaru?” He watched, swearing he saw darkness puddling under the bottom crack of the door. He looked to the window, heart pounding, he needed to get out. He threw the window open as quiet but quick as possible. He crawled out onto the balcony, gracefully jumping down, landing in the foliage around the beach house.
                Running, he couldn’t make out where he was headed but he was getting away. He could hear it still, the laughing. ‘You know it’s me, you know I’m here.’
                He ended up in a clearing, looking around like a panicked animal. Then he saw him, baboon pelt and all, red eyes gleaming. He growled, skin bristling as every nerve in his body went on alert, “Naraku.”
                No answer, just the laughing. Louder and louder in his ears, it was driving him to madness. He could feel his eyes bleeding red, fingers clawing at his ears trying to get the noise to stop. What power he could possibly possess to cause this kind of mental torture he could not even fathom. Then he saw his brother.
                He determined he couldn’t possibly be awake, he had to still be dreaming. InuYasha was at home, he would’ve had to cross an ocean to get here. He heard snarls and tried to find the new threat only to see it was himself making the noise. His lips were curled back, teeth snapping as InuYasha came closer. Why wasn’t he affected? Was he working with him?
                InuYasha reached for him, he could only fear his touch. He recoiled, about to take off through the jungle foliage again. His hand grabbed his wrist, he roared as if scorched and then his arm was gone. He was back in that battle so long ago, he could hear the human wench. He needed to flee, this wasn’t who he was anymore.
                Then Helaku was there, fear in his eyes. No, this wasn’t right. His head swam, this was his lover and yet he could feel the way his legs shook as they locked eyes. His whole body trembled and he stepped away from him. Helaku the warrior, shaking in his boots as he imagined devouring him in his power. He tried to beg for him to spear him on his sword through their bond, end it.
                Helaku’s face changed, fierce and unforgiving. He’d seen his face this way in battle, his sword was raised. His body betrayed his mind, gearing up to retaliate as Helaku rushed him. He matched him blow for blow, he knew his mate had this power he just didn’t demonstrate it often. That’s why he’d acknowledged his feelings in the first place.
                Years before he paid attention to the way Helaku eyed him, he remembered watching the way his body moved. He watched the way he fought with a gentle strength, never too much but enough to get the job done. Now he was here, fighting at full strength and his couldn’t make his body stop trying to tear him limb from limb. He was one arm down and still winning, blood ran down Helaku. Fuck, what was he doing, he needed to calm down.
                The laughing returned, this is exactly what he wanted. Trigger the reaction, make him hurt the people he cared about. What was he doing in the real world? Was this the real world? It couldn’t be, the wench was there screaming at his little brother. Only in the real world would he think of InuYasha as his little brother, right?
                Pain overtook him, in his distraction Helaku had lodged his sword deep in him. He reared back, strangled noises escaping his throat. Thank the heavens, someone had stopped him. He met his eyes, angry and cold. Helaku fell to his own knees. Their bond, their mark, in hurting him he’d hurt himself. No, this wasn’t right. No, no, no, no. He scrambled for him, metal dragging in the dirt, pushing further into him with each move, “Foxx!”
                Helaku’s gaze was unrelenting and strong. He didn’t make a noise as his heart thrummed erratically, gaze glossing over with death as Sesshomaru’s own strength began to fade. Not now, not when he was a breath away from him. Not when he couldn’t tell him Naraku was working him like a puppet of chaos. Not like this.
                His breath began to leave him, darkness clouding his vision until he’d lost enough blood he sunk into his temporary death. The feeling didn’t end like usual, he could feel the spirit world. He could feel hands and teeth and claws shredding his soul. Everyone he’d hurt, and then Helaku again. Gaze so broken it shattered him. He’d made him kill his love and died in doing so. He tried to get to him, screaming to him in silent gasps as he was pulled further and further. Was he dying for real finally?
                His eyes snapped open, he felt like he was having a heart attack. Helaku was across the room, staring at him from the door, “Oh thank the heavens, Sesshomaru.”
                Sesshomaru studied him a long moment, not acknowledging him. Helaku didn’t approach, he analyzed him with the apprehension of a soldier determining if the risk was worth it. What had he done in his sleep?
                His head whipped around rapidly, nothing was misplaced and everything felt familiar finally. He knew he was in his own bed, he knew this was his Helaku. He couldn’t speak, his throat extremely dry and his mind raw with emotions. His hand reached for him and Helaku finally came to him, crawling onto the bed and pressing his head under his chin in submission. Had he hurt him?
                “You were making these insane noises. I’ve never even heard them before and you were screaming,” Helaku rubbed his shoulders, “My family even came to see what was going on but we couldn’t wake you.”
                He licked his lips, it barely helping due to the dryness of his mouth. He wheezed violently, taking a shaky breath in, “Naraku. He was in my head.”
                Helaku was quiet, his body tensing at the threat they’d been fearing. His warrior was ready, his champion. Sesshomaru liked him silly and sweet in his arms, he’d changed little by little with the hormones that infected him with each submission to him. He knew it wasn’t going away, but he was going to shift to Commander Helaku Foxx and who knew how far Naraku would take him.
                Had he just seen his plan? His plan to make Helaku take them both down? He squeezed Helaku tight against his body, he wouldn’t let Naraku destroy them. He wouldn’t tear them apart. They were stronger than him, their love was stronger. He closed his eyes, kissing the top of Helaku’s head.
~*~*~*~
                InuYasha was tossing and turning, sleep coming painfully uneasy. When the darkness finally welcomed him, he found himself in a place he didn’t recognize. He’d never been here before, nothing was familiar as he explored the area.
                He began to be pulled towards something. The closer he got, the harder it became to breathe. He knew this feeling too well, it made him on edge to each noise and hyper aware of each step he took. Something moved to his side and he froze, trying to determine the cause of the movement. Purple swirled in the air and he raised his arm to his nose, fire rat material met his skin and his mind swirled with questions. He’d put these clothes away for good, Zander made him put them in the bottom drawer of their dresser as a keepsake.
                Another movement, a jingle. It was familiar to him and yet set him even more on edge. Miroku was there as if sprouted from the ground. His smell came to him first and then he came into view. His body swirled as if it was the air itself, “InuYasha.”
                “Miroku,” His heart was happy but his ears stuck down to his skull unsure. He came closer and then it was like everyone was there, Sango, Shippo, Kirara and then Kagome. He was glued to the spot as she came to him. Exactly as he remembered, young and gorgeous. He could sink into her gaze and as her arms went around him he couldn’t help the sob that escaped him. She kissed his tears and his arms pulled her as close as he could. He didn’t remember letting go and now she was a few feet away, anger burning in her eyes, “Sit.”
                He’d been sat for many things, often things that were no fault of his own. He’d hated it, the control she held over him. His face dug into the ground in humiliation, dirt and debri in his mouth. He tried to get up but he was stuck, he knew he’d be stuck for a few minutes, it never wore off fast enough. When had the beads been put back on his neck? Zander would never humiliate him like this.
                When he could move again, he got to his knees. The wind had been knocked out of him at the sudden impact and it felt good to be able to breathe freely without the weight of the spell holding him to the ground. He stayed there, not daring to look up in case she said the command again. If these were his real friends, they would’ve been concerned at the lack of fire in his attitude.
                He felt the sting of a hit from the monk’s staff, his eyes catching his sandaled feet near him. What was wrong with his friends? He tried to get up but Sango held him down, he struggled. He didn’t want to hurt them, they knew his strength. Why would they do this to him? They were his only family.
                “You left us,” Shippo’s voice carried to him. Sango pushed him back to the ground, he fell on his stomach with an oomph. He hadn’t left, Kagome had pinned him again. He didn’t even know why she’d pinned him, the betrayal of it hurt. He had told her how he felt, he had held her in his arms, he remembered pressing his lips to hers and then darkness.
                “I didn’t want to leave you,” the foot left his back. He tried to stand again, this time moving quicker to get to his feet before someone else could hold him down. All of them glowered at him, hate in their eyes, “Kagome made me leave you.”
                The words cut him deeper than he’d been hurt before. Facing the truth made his breath leave his lungs faster than being sat. No one batted an eye, why were they blaming him? All he’d wanted was to love, he wanted his feelings to be returned and it had earned him being stuck to the tree again. All he ever earned was being stuck to the tree.
                He ran, as fast as he could run away from their hateful gazes. He should be used to this but it hurt so bad. Right on cue he heard someone running with him, he tried to dry the tears he couldn’t remember crying as he skidded to a stop. Kouga.
                His blue eyes shone as he came to him, wrapping him in an embrace that felt off. It wasn’t right, he was squeezing him too tight. He pushed at his shoulders, shuddering as those poisoned lips sucked at his neck. No, Kouga had never been this way with him before, demanding his attention with nips and licks all along his sensitive flesh between the back of his ear and his shoulder, “No. I don’t want this, please.”
                “I visited you, talked to you. I missed you,” Kouga’s voice was off kilter somehow. It was him but it wasn’t. He pushed more violently away and Kouga’s eyes shifted from his adoring new beau to something sinister. He managed to get him off and ran, he knew Kouga was faster but he didn’t stop this time. Not even when he thought he heard Zander scream out his name. That wasn’t his kitten, he understood now.
                He arrived in a clearing, the silhouette of Naraku unmistakable. The air was palpable, the miasma so strong in this area. Sesshomaru stood on the opposite side, he was losing control. He snarled, louder and more violent by the second. His brother would be more tolerable with his hatred, he was used to the disappointment and anger on his face towards him.
                If this wasn’t his brother, he could handle it. His brother who he was willing to call his big brother now. No, this would hurt only slightly worse when he denied him. He walked calmly towards him, he needed to help even if it wasn’t him. He reached but Sesshomaru only pulled away, growling and snapping at him. This creature had no self control, this could not possibly be his Sesshomaru.
                He finally managed to grip his wrist and like magic his arm was gone. No, he wouldn’t hurt his brother like that now. Why would this world remind him he’d hurt him so badly? Sesshomaru couldn’t hear him as he tried to scream apologies to anyone and everyone. He was sorry for leaving, he was sorry for being foolish enough to love, he was sorry for running, for hurting, for denying.
                Kagome was screaming behind him, her voice shrill and cold to his ears now. Sesshomaru was going to get her, ‘InuYasha save me’. He squeezed his eyes shut, why should he help her now? Let Sesshomaru eat her. She kept screaming and then ‘sit, sit, sit, sit, sit.’ It was a chant that plowed him into the ground with strength. He could hear Kouga’s voice join hers, and then the unmistakable noise of Naraku’s laugh. Let him perish here, let Sesshomaru swallow them all whole.
                His brother was screaming out now, the pain so real in a world that was so fake. He sobbed, heart so heavy he swore it pulled him even further into the ground.
                He felt hands on his shoulders, shaking him. A voice so soft and gentle in his ears but he couldn’t make it out. His ears finally perked up, having been flattened in fear and misunderstanding until now. Zander. It wasn’t real, he tried to convince himself, he couldn’t handle Zander hurting him too. Anyone but him, don’t ruin him. Fingers stroked his hair, “--Love you. Wake up. You’re having a nightmare.”
                Then Kouga’s voice, softer and uncomfortable, “C’mon mutt. You almost slugged me in the eye. Wake up.”
                Fingers ghosted over his arms and then stroked his ears. He just needed to snap out if, he could hear them. They were real. Just wake up. Wake up.
                His chest started heaving as he hyperventilated. His friends stared down at him, surrounding him again. Fake Kouga sneered down at him, “As if I want a mutt like you. I just want your cat.”
                “Shut up,” InuYasha mumbled miserably to the ground. He wailed like he’d never wailed before. Big, crocodile tears sliding down his cheeks. It was too much, he just wanted to wake up. He could hear them calling him. He could feel fingertips on his cheeks, he must be sobbing in the real world too. The heartbreak was just as real as they were.
                His eyes opened to see his bedroom. Zander sat on his knees to one side, worrying his lip between his teeth as he stroked InuYasha’s cheek. Kouga held his hand tightly on the other side, back of it pressed to his lips. He whimpered, the only noise he could make as they both looked on with relief. So many questions on their faces but the only word he managed was, “Naraku.”
                Kouga’s blood ran cold, his face giving it all away. Zander looked nervous, knowing some of the extent of the pure evil that particular hanyou was. They piled in on his sides, both holding him tight as his body began to hiccup and shake with sobs again. He told them everything about the dream, the more he spoke the tighter they held him. It was a dream, only a dream, they loved him so very much. Even Kouga, the way his fingertips fluttered over the skin of his arm as he listened burning that into his mind to never forget.
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The Emperor and his Champion