Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

Walks at Midnight
By : Henrietta
Category: InuYasha > General
Views: 4048 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.
Chapter List
- 1-Walks at Midnight
- 2-Whiskey
- 3-Blood
- 4-Swamp
- 5-The Girl
- 6-Bugs
- 7-Poetry
- 8-Braids
- 9-Dead Man Walking
- 10-Trouble
- 11-News
- 12-The Wind
- 13-Plans
- 14-Vengeance
- 15-Cleaning up
- 16-Souls
- 17-For Erin
- 18-Alive again
- 19-The Search
- 4
- 5
- 6
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.
By the next evening, Sesshoumaru had pushed the events of the previous night far back in his mind. They were, for all intensive purposes, forgotten and he was now in a good mood. Of course, it did not show on his calm and expressionless face, but perhaps there was a gleam of good humor in his eye only discernable to those few who knew him well, most of whom were long dead. He moved through the sparse evening crowds at the edge of the quarter just behind the French Market, his hair floating behind him like a silver cloud. Fortune was nearby, Sesshoumaru was not exactly sure where, but it was nice to know the vampire was still present. He wondered when the vampire was planning to reveal himself and moved towards more secluded areas in hopes of drawing him out. Sesshoumaru was in the mood to talk. His previous discussions with the vampire had provided a pleasant diversion and it would be agreeable to continue. Sesshoumaru wondered if perhaps Fortune was planning to stalk him again; the game seemed to amuse the vampire. Fortune might feel the need to prove his skills after his defeat in the swamp.

This time, however, the vampire was not content to lurk. He drew closer.

Sesshoumaru rounded the corner of a street and suddenly, Fortune was there. And, he was not alone. In the vampire�s arms was the limp form of a girl.

'A kill?' The girl appeared dead. But, Sesshoumaru could hear her heart beating, steady and strong. She was simply unconscious.

When Sesshoumaru made no move, Fortune began to walk forward. �I�ve brought you a peace offering, Sesshoumaru.�

�I have already forgiven you.�

Fortune looked a little perturbed at this statement. �Then why did you attack me, youkai?�

�I assumed you would fight. You hardly present a challenge. However, for lack of a more able adversary, fighting you might have provided some mild entertainment.�

Fortune continued to stare at Sesshoumaru.

�If I had meant to kill you, you would be dead, or, more so than you presently appear.�

Fortune finally grinned.

�Big words,� Fortune paused for affect, �but, so far you have found it impossible to touch me, while I have this.� Fortune let the unconscious girl slide, none too gently, to the ground beside him and retrieved a clump of silver hair.

Fortune watched, amused, as Sesshoumaru�s hand moved unconsciously to touch the ends of his torn lock of hair.

Sesshoumaru�s eyes narrowed. �I seem to remember feeling an impact when I struck you.�

�Brick wall.�

�No, no, I do not think it was. I sliced you open just under the ribs.� Sesshoumaru allowed himself a small smile. Memories of bloodshed always gave him a warm feeling inside.

Fortune winced a little, having a different reaction to the memory.

Sesshoumaru turned his attention to the girl at Fortune�s feet. �A peace offering? What do you expect me to do with her, mate her?�

�You did say that she reminded you of someone.� Fortune was smiling amicably again at the prospect of further exasperating the youkai. �I thought you might have a soft spot for the girl. You could eat her?�

Sesshoumaru glared at him, apparently not having a taste for young human girls.

�She looks dead,� Sesshoumaru observed.

�You know better.�

Sighing, Sesshoumaru bent down to inspect the girl.

�She is filthy.�

Fortune shrugged, �she made a flying leap into a ditch when I appeared next to her. She was quite fast, for a human.�

�She is injured.�

Fortune shrugged again. He wondered how long this three-word dialogue would last.

�I suppose,� Sesshoumaru began hesitantly, �we should take her to the hotel until she recovers.� Despite the fact that it revealed a weakness for humans, he did not want to see the girl left to the mercy of predators. Or at least at the mercy of other predators. �You carry her,� Sesshoumaru commanded, then turned and began walking in the direction of the hotel.

Fortune almost refused. He was not a servant. But, an inscrutable expression briefly crossed his face and he picked the girl up and followed, taking to the air before they encountered the crowds.

------------------

Near dawn�

Sesshoumaru tended the scratches on the girl�s legs and arms with a first aid kit he had purchased from the hotel. He gently bandaged her calf where there were a set of particularly nasty looking, though not serious, scratches. The girl lay across the bed of the hotel room, still dead to the world. She was young, around fourteen, and had frizzy brown hair and a still childish face. Sesshoumaru decided she must have a slight concussion from the fall. That or she�d had the wits scared out of her in meeting Fortune again. Sesshoumaru brushed her bangs out of her eyes and thought of Rin. Five hundred years had passed since she had died, but he still thought of her often. He had yet to meet another like her. She had followed him, trusted him, loved him�

�So, tell me who the girl reminds you of,� Fortune finally asked, a little surprised by the gentle behavior the youkai before him bestowed upon the girl. Fortune was splayed across the other bed, leaning against the headboard pretending to read one of Sesshoumaru�s books.

Sesshoumaru had thought this strange, since the book was written in Japanese, but had decided not to comment. �Her name was Rin,� Sesshoumaru began in his steady monotone, �she was human as well. I revived her with Tenseiga after she had been killed by wolves. At first, it was something like an experiment, though I did owe her something. But she followed me and I came to think of her as a daughter. She died, of course, as is the nature of her kind, about five hundred years ago.�

�So long,� Fortune was amazed�more at the hint of emotion in Sesshoumaru�s voice near the end than to the time elapsed. �And, yet you still feel affection for a stray human you adopted over five hundred years ago?�

�Yes, strange, isn�t it? I always wondered if this particular idiosyncrasy was inherited from my father. He mated with a human. Do you remember the half-human brother I mentioned?�

�Mmm,� Fortune sighed by way of an answer. His eyes were closed now, but, he was not bored. Hearing Sesshoumaru talk about his family and past in such a candid manner was interesting.

�My father claimed he loved this human female. He even died for her in the end.� There was not trace of bitterness in Sesshoumaru�s voice. The passage of time had proved the only cure for the bitterness he had nursed for many years before forgiving his father.

�My half-brother, InuYasha, was a result of this union. I believe I also I felt love for Rin.� Sesshoumaru admitted this aloud with relative ease now, considering it had taken several hundred years before he had even admitted it to himself. After all that time, nothing was left but Rin�s memory and a little gnawing regret. Rin, a human child had accepted him and worked her way into his own heart. In return, he had protected her, provided her with a home and a rather distant father-figure. Now, as he looked down into the face of the young girl before him, he was reminded of just how much he wished that he had told Rin what she had meant to him. However, he had been a different youkai at the time.

�I did not expect that you would make a habit of taking in stray humans, and letting them steal your heart, Sesshoumaru. There is more to you than those claws and that bland expression after all. You almost make me wish that I could spend more time around humans again without thinking, �lunch�. But, I stress the �almost�. You will have to tell me more about this brother of yours.�

�Half-brother.�

�And, what exactly did you owe to this human child?�

Sesshoumaru did not answer right away. Finally, he replied, �She tended to me when I was injured and recovering in the forest.�

�Tended to you? How so?� He could think of no manner in which a human child would be of assistance to the quickly healing youkai.

�I did not require her attentions, of course. She brought food and water, though I had no need of such.�

�So, how exactly did she assist you then?� Fortune was beginning to wonder if Sesshoumaru was a bit senile after all these years.

�She did just as I described. Haven�t you heard the English idiom, it�s the thought that counts?"

What had happened to the cold-hearted youkai Fortune hunted with each evening? �You are some piece of work, you realize that, Sesshoumaru?�

Sesshoumaru�s attention was diverted by a sudden acceleration in the girl�s heartbeat. He heard a sudden intake of air and turned toward her.

Her eyes were open and wide, flitting back and forth from Fortune to Sesshoumaru in obvious fear. �Shit,� she whispered. More quickly than the two expected, she scrambled off the bed and backed into the wall opposite the doorway.

Following the wall to the doorway, the girl never took her eyes off vampire or youkai as she grasped the handle of the door behind her and darted outside.

�Bye, bye,� Fortune perversely mimed a young girl�s voice, waving goodbye in an exaggerated gesture. �Sesshoumaru,� Fortune chided, �you�ve got to learn to smile a little. Your sour expression scared your new �daughter� off.�

�Your humor is juvenile.�

�I guess it�s just the two of us then.�

Sesshoumaru sighed. He felt a little disappointed at the girl�s swift departure. There really was no other like Rin.

�And, who is going to eat all this food,� Fortune asked in mock concern. �She really was rude to run out on us like that. After all you had done for her.�

Sesshoumaru looked over at the room service tray. He had ordered several breakfast style dishes, anticipating that the girl had not eaten well lately. She had looked awfully thin. It had been a long time since he had eaten, as a matter a fact. Sesshoumaru removed the silver trays, steam escaping from the plates of grillades, grits, and boudin sausage. He poured himself a cup of hot coffee.

�I used to love coffee,� Fortune commented, feeling a little nostalgic for his past human life after the night�s events.

�Um. The coffee is superb,� Sesshoumaru teased as he lifted the cup to his lips.

�Tomorrow night, you may accompany me,� Fortune requested as he stood to leave, �that is, if you promise not to interfere in my hunting again.�

Sesshoumaru ignored him and continued eating with no little enthusiasm. The grillades turned out to be quite tasty, much better than the rice Fortune had tried to force on him. He wondered what strange meat was in the boudin, which was good as well.

�Even though you haven�t discovered my real preference for the blood of little old ladies and innocent children��

�Bloodthirsty bastard,� Sesshoumaru muttered between bites, playing along with Fortune�s joke.

Fortune snickered. �Just a joke. I feel the need to clarify that since I am now aware of your rather soft and fuzzy side.� Fortune received his second death-glare of the evening. As he turned to leave, he wondered if he should lie and tell Sesshoumaru that grits were made from rice. �Goodnight.� Fortune hesitated a moment, watching the silver haired youkai enjoying his meal, then departed swiftly as the light of dawn was fast approaching.

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Walks at Midnight	By : Henrietta Category: InuYasha > General Views: 4048 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.

Walks at Midnight