Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

Sweet Surrender	By : inumom Category: InuYasha > Het - Male/Female > InuYasha/Kagome Views: 7748 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.

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Disclaimer: Don�t own them. Sucks, doesn�t it?

21. Surprises

I awoke alone--sort of. Although the physical presence of my new mate had gone from our futon, I could feel his presence not too far away. Getting up, I pulled a robe around myself and followed the feeling to the bathing room where my new mate was relaxing in the heated water. Amber eyes fixed on mine. �You could feel where I was, couldn�t you?�
I nodded slowly. �It was kind of strange--not at all like how I can feel the Shikon shards.� I looked at him in surprise. �How did you know?�
�The same way I knew that you were awake and on your way in here. It means that the ritual was a success, that our souls are bound together for all time. Now, even if anything should happen to one of us, we�ll be sure to be reincarnated in times and places that will ensure that we meet again.� He smirked at what must have been a stunned expression. �What, did you think that the words I used in the ceremony were empty promises? Actually,� he said, staring down into the water, �I wasn�t sure if it would work right.�
Slipping out of my robe, I sank into the water, feeling a lingering stickiness on my skin dissolving away. �What do you mean, you weren�t sure?�
He shook his head slowly. �It�s a youkai ritual. Since my mother was human, I wasn�t sure I�d have enough youki to forge the connection properly. I guess,� he said, looking up with a brilliant smile, �Your miko powers made up the difference.�
I nodded slowly but decided not to comment on the fact that he was stronger than just about any of the pure youkai we had encountered, including the one who had killed his father so long ago. �This bond of ours,� I said. �It will bind our souls to make sure that we�re reborn together, right? It also keeps us aware of the presence of the other?�
He nodded. �That�s part of it,� he said, not looking directly at me, �But there�s more. It�ll change each of us a little. We already smell different--any youkai with a nose will know that we�re mated. There�ll be other things, too. You�ll probably be less likely to get sick. Your speed, strength, and coordination might all improve a little. You should start to heal faster than you used to--that kind of thing.�
I was getting curious in spite of myself. �And what about you?�
He shrugged. �I�m not sure. There�s no record of a hanyou mating with a miko before. I might develop a resistance to miko energy, or the ability to sense Shikon shards, or any of a dozen other things. We�ll find out soon enough.� He pressed a light kiss to my lips before turning me around to sit on his lap. �I want to take a look at that mark.�
He examined the mark he had left on my shoulder with great care. �Well, it�ll definitely leave a scar that will be identifiable as a mating mark, but no human in your world will know that. It�s nearly healed already,� he continued, running his thumb lightly over the mark and looking up in surprise when I gasped and trembled at his touch.
�What did you do?!?� I asked, my voice shaky from the sudden surge of desire.
His arms pulled me even more snugly against his chest, and I could feel his smirk as he rested his chin on my shoulder. �That,� he said with something that strongly resembled smugness, �Was the mark I left on you before. It looks to me like it�s still a little sensitive.�
�You could say that,� I murmured. Pulling slightly back from my mate, I turned in his grasp, bending forward to draw my tongue lightly across the only scar on his perfect body--the thin white raised line left by his claw earlier. I was rewarded by a deep groan as he shuddered beneath my touch. I smiled against his chest, feeling the toned muscles under his skin jump and twitch. �It looks like yours is, too.�
Surprisingly, he pushed me away from him. Rising from the water, he held out a hand in my direction. �Come on,� he said. �Let�s get dressed.�
That wasn�t exactly what I had expected him to say. �Dressed?�
He nodded slowly. �We have to go and see Sesshoumaru.�
That really wasn�t what I expected. �Sesshoumaru? Why?�
He shrugged as I stood, grabbing us a couple of towels. �Even if he is an asshole, he�s still the head of the family--and the taiyoukai of this region. He keeps all of the official records--he�ll need to know that we�ve completed the ritual successfully.�
I was surprised when we returned to our chamber to find that the unseen servants had apparently been at work once again. The sheets on the futon had been changed and the blue kimono he had chosen for me the previous evening had been laid out along with another set of clothing, this one vaguely similar to my mate�s normal haori and hakama. The similarity ended with the basic design: instead of the nearly indestructible fire rat fur, this was made of a fine-textured silk in the same brilliant scarlet. Instead of the simple monochromatic coloring of his normal clothing, these garments were decorated with elaborate embroidery in metallic golden threads. The sash of the hakama was woven of red silk combined with finely-drawn threads of gold, and the whole thing was topped off by armor very much like Sesshoumaru�s, only colored scarlet and black, with gold ornamentation.
�What are those?� I asked, eyes wide. �They�re beautiful!�
My mate shook his head slowly, not looking at all pleased at the clothing, especially the soft shoes that would come up his ankles if he wore them. �This is the kind of crap Sesshoumaru wears, although I�ve never seen him wear colors like these. It almost looks like they were made for me, but that doesn�t make any sense, either--why the hell would he have formal clothes made for me? I�m not one of his ass-kissing courtiers.�
I couldn�t believe the thoughts going through my head. �Would you wear it anyway? I�d love to see you wearing those--you�d be seriously hot in something like that!�
His expression was suddenly puzzled. �What do you mean?� he demanded. �This silk is barely material at all--it won�t be that warm.�
I thought furiously, trying to figure out exactly how to explain just what I had meant. �It�s not like that,� I said. �I didn�t mean that the clothes would make you feel hot. What I meant was that you would look hot. In my world, that means that looking at you wearing those clothes would make me want you all over again.�
He thought about it for a few seconds, then reached for the offending garments. �Just maybe,� he said with the heat of this morning growing in his eyes once again, �There�s some good that can come from this after all.�
It took a little time to get dressed. I had only rarely worn anything so traditional, and found that I was unable to fasten the obi by myself. It was, as I should have anticipated, quite an experience. Although he never actually touched my skin, I could feel the heat of his hands through the thin silk of the kimono. I bit back a moan of pleasure as he tied and tucked the obi around me with a skill I hadn�t expected to see. Once he was finished, he pulled me briefly back against him so that I could feel that I wasn�t the only one rapidly approaching a state of desperation. �Later,� he whispered, his breath hot in my ear.
I was surprised to see that the person who was waiting outside to take us to the youkai lord was in fact human--I hadn�t realized that there were any humans in Sesshoumaru�s household. Not only was she human, she was no more than a child--eleven or twelve at most. After a few moments, I recognized her as the little girl I had seen traveling with Sesshoumaru on a few occasions.
She chattered endlessly on the long walk to where my youkai brother-in-law awaited. If I hadn�t been so nervous, I probably could have learned a great deal about the internal workings of the youkai�s palace. The further we traveled, the more uneasy I became. Although nowhere near as sensitive to youki as Miroku, I could feel a very strong youkai presence some distance ahead. The feeling was somehow indefinite, almost as though there was so much energy around me that I simply couldn�t determine its exact location or composition--it could have been a single enormously powerful youkai or a larger group of lesser creatures.
I decided that it didn�t really matter much--whatever it was, it wasn�t friendly.
Our guide vanished as we reached a set of massive doors. Unlike every other door I had seen in the palace, these were made of metal. They were engraved with symbols I didn�t understand. �Do we really want to do this?� I whispered to the hanyou at my side.
�No,� he said, touching the doors, �But we don�t have all that much choice, do we?� At his touch the doors swung in to reveal what could only be described as an audience chamber. I was more than a little surprised when we were met just inside the doors by Sesshoumaru�s personal servant.
Jaken preceded us down the long aisle between the crowds of youkai of various kinds. It was only when we approached the taiyoukai seated at the far end of the huge room that I realized that something much bigger than our mating was going on here. As we approached, Sesshoumaru stood and descended from the platform upon which his elaborate chair had been set. As he came closer, I realized with a profound shock that the youkai lord was smiling!
With what I would have called a faintly amused expression on anybody else, he looked at my mate. �Is all in order?�
My beautiful hanyou pulled down the neck of his haori to expose the small scar on his otherwise flawless chest. �See for yourself.�
With a brisk nod, the taiyoukai turned in my direction. Suddenly understanding exactly what was expected of me, I loosened my kimono and exposed the healed mark on my shoulder. He bent close to examine the mark in detail, inhaling the scent of my mate that had been deposited in my skin, before running a finger lightly over the mark.
I pulled away at the sudden feeling of utter revulsion that came over me at his touch. Sesshoumaru nodded slowly, then murmured, �Correctly done, brother,� before returning to his seat. As we turned to leave the room, he stood and addressed the mass of youkai assembled there.
Even though he never raised his voice, his tone resonated through the room, reaching every corner of the space. �It is over. I have fulfilled my final obligation to Chichi-ue. On the day before his death, he asked me to swear to teach my younger sibling all that he needed to know to survive in the world. It has been difficult--I have been forced to do things that I would not otherwise have done.�

He continued, still smiling. �The lessons were harsh, sometimes brutal, but necessary. I would not dishonor my father by failing to accomplish the task he set for me. Nor would I handicap my only brother by not testing him to the fullest. By pushing him to near the breaking point time and time again, I forced him to grow stronger than even he thought he could ever become.� He suddenly raised his hands over us. �Today my brother has come before us to present his new mate�and to claim his inheritance.�
I could feel the hostility of the youkai assembled there as a physical force. Even as I began to tremble form the stress of trying to block out the worst of it, I tried to hold on to Sesshoumaru�s words. �By choosing a mate with significant power in her own right, he has demonstrated the wisdom needed in a ruler. By destroying all those who have threatened his family, he has demonstrated the power required to defend a territory. By choosing life over death, he has demonstrated the compassion necessary to care for the people who will one day look to him for guidance. At this time and in this place,� he said, the words having an almost ritual sound, �I name Inuyasha heir to the title of Lord of the Western Lands, and his heirs to follow him. Obey him as you would me.�
At the sudden increase in the overt hostility from the crowd, I put my hands to my head, trying to block out the steadily increasing pressure. Then, darkness took me and I knew nothing more.
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Sweet Surrender