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Kintsukuroi	By : LordYouko Category: InuYasha > Yaoi - Male/Male > InuYasha/Sessh?maru > InuYasha/Sessh?maru Views: 19864 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha and make no money from the writing of this fic.

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
A/N: A big thanks to everyone who reviewed this story! I really appreciate hearing your feedback.

Special thanks to SplendentGoddess for a detailed review as usual… SplendentGoddess, your analysis was pretty much on point, though I have a feeling I have one or two surprises in store for you ^.^ It makes me so happy to know that the story is providing so much food for thought.

Chapter 6 – To The Demon Mountain

“…if your fear becomes a wordless darkness that you avoid, perhaps even manage to forget, you open yourself to further attacks of fear because you never truly fought the opponent who defeated you.”

― Yann Martel, Life of Pi

Winter in Japan was short that year, but brutal. It seemed to Inuyasha that the Western castle was already immersed in snow before anyone quite realized that it had grown chilly. And the snow was already melting before February had properly set in.

Weak morning sunlight fell on Inuyasha’s packed trunks standing ready in the large, severe room. It was uncharacteristically bare of any luxurious furniture, and the tall columns and walls seemed to be made entirely out of some white marble with beautiful streaks of other colours.

Inuyasha watched the soldiers running drills from his window, a steaming cup of hot cocoa in his hands. Shippou had left the Western castle not long after their conversation, and Inuyasha hoped he was alright, and that he had found a warm place in the winter. He wasn’t too worried; the kid was resourceful. But it was still a harsh world out there, and he didn’t know if Shippou had had any kind of plan when he left.

Glancing occasionally at the rather large iron trunks, lined with leather, Inuyasha wondered how long their journey would be, and exactly what his Master had ordered to be packed that took up that much space. All of Inuyasha’s prize possessions, he was wearing – his sword and his fire-rat robes.

Inuyasha had never travelled with trunks before. According to him, all he required was a change of underclothes and maybe a toothbrush. But Sesshoumaru-sama had sounded very mysterious when he had told him that this was not like the trips they had been on before, and that he would need many things.

Granted, the only trips Inuyasha had been on with his Master were mostly in the middle of a war, or a place where there was a high chance of a war breaking out. There was hardly the question of carrying unnecessary things when going to battle. And when he had travelled with the slavers, he was lucky to get clothes on his back, let alone a change. But Inuyasha could not see why a visit to Hiten and Manten would require so much.

There was a loud thud and Inuyasha turned around to see three servants walking in with large, silver trunks lined with leather belts through iron hoops. The three hunched little demons, who hardly came up to Inuyasha’s waist now, were stumbling under the weight of the luggage, but trying to set it down as gently as possible; two had succeeded, one had not.

There was the sound of quiet footsteps and the servants cringed and bowed, as a white hakama and black boots came into view.

Sesshoumaru ignored the offending servant as he walked towards the window where Inuyasha was dropping to his knees. Behind him, Inuyasha saw Raia walk in with more servants, carrying more luggage. The little demon who had dropped a trunk flinched as Raia gave him a flat, level look that promised punishment later.

“That’s all of it, my Lord,” Raia said, dismissing some of the servants with a gesture. “Will there be anything else?”

“You may go,” Sesshoumaru told her, and she bowed and exited, the rest of the servants following her.

Inuyasha rose to his feet with a gesture from the demon Lord. Sesshoumaru stood close behind him, combing one clawed hand through his long, messy white hair.

“Good morning, Master,” Inuyasha breathed, breath hitching from his Master’s closeness and his scent all around him.

“Good morning,” he responded quietly, still playing with the slave’s hair, pushing it over one shoulder to expose the hanyou’s collared neck. “Did you sleep at all in the night?”

Inuyasha felt his face flame, and he looked away, avoiding his Master’s eyes. Of course he would know, he had been sleeping right next to him, in the same bed. Of course he knew Inuyasha hadn’t slept a wink in anticipation of the journey.

But maybe he’d been hoping a little that the demon Lord would have been too fast asleep to notice.

“Master Sesshoumaru!” came a squawking voice from the doorway, and Jaken hurried in followed by a large, well-muscled demon who was looking embarrassed and worried.

“Master Sesshoumaru, this idiot says that we won’t be travelling with my lord, and that my Lord will be travelling alone without an entourage.” He said the words as though they were the strangest words he’d ever uttered.

“He is correct,” Sesshoumaru told him calmly, watching Inuyasha adjust his hair back in place out of the corner of his eye.

Jaken looked horrified. “But – but, my lord! It is a long and arduous journey, fraught with perils, especially by land. My lord cannot think of going alone –”

“Listen, you little toad,” Inuyasha bristled. “Sesshoumaru-sama has undertaken harder journeys than that without needing a fucking entourage –”

“Your journey will take you through the forest,” Jaken cut him off sharply. “Do you even have any idea what that means? My master will be travelling through the most dangerous forest in this part of the world alone, without anyone to guard him-”

“I won’t be alone,” Sesshoumaru interrupted them both, amused. “Inuyasha will be with me.”

Jaken looked like he’d been hit on the head with a shoe. “I-Inuyasha gets to go with you? And I -?”

“You will be arriving at the Southern palace ahead of us with the other servants and the luggage,” Sesshoumaru said.

It wasn’t the humiliation of being treated like a servant that he minded so much, as the shit-eating grin on Inuyasha’s face.

Jaken looked rebelliously from Inuyasha’s face to the prince’s. “But- my Lord,” he said, waving his hands passionately. “Why not allow some of us to wait on you during the travels-”

Suddenly, the demon Lord met his eyes, and Jaken stopped short. “Because I have some business in the forest, and travelling with a crowd would be… inconvenient.”

When he broke his Master’s gaze, Jaken bowed low, and stood silent. Inuyasha stared at him startled, and then exchanged looks with the big servant; he seemed as clueless as to what had just happened as Inuyasha.

Sesshoumaru had alluded to someone he wanted to meet in the forest. When he asked about that, Inuyasha didn’t get an answer, and he didn’t insist. But it annoyed him that Jaken seemed to understand what he meant.

Jaken had become a solid part of the household of the Western Lord. After getting over the initial rude shock of suddenly having to adjust to the life of a servant when he’d been a ruler all his life, Jaken had become a surprising aide to Sesshoumaru. Despite his many annoying habits, the demon was a shrewd strategist and very knowledgeable in many things. While not many in the palace could stand the obnoxious little demon, Sesshoumaru did not seem to mind. In fact, he was one of the few people Sesshoumaru could tolerate when he was in one of his dark moods, and the toad demon was one of the few who braved his wrath.

Now, he was not quite a regular servant, but not a high-level advisor either, and the little demon was secretly glad for that. He missed the comforts and luxuries of his old life, but not having to pretend and hold back every single minute of every day was an unbelievable relief.

He had mostly got over his jealousy of Inuyasha, and though he would never admit it under any circumstances, he even held some affection towards the spunky, foolhardy hanyou. But the two still clashed horns whenever they were in close proximity, something that seemed to amuse their Master immensely. The loud-mouthed toad had definitely been one of the influences responsible for Inuyasha’s brash tongue, though Sesshoumaru knew that Inuyasha had picked up the swearing from the other servants; loud mouthed and obnoxious though he may be, Jaken had the upbringing of a royal, and did not look well upon swearing.

Having grown up around Kouga, Sesshoumaru was not one to mind swearing, and Inuyasha’s colourful vocabulary was definitely entertaining when the hanyou didn’t know or forgot that he was being overheard.

Inuyasha knew Jaken and Sesshoumaru had discussed the details of the meeting at length. It turned out that Jaken already knew a lot about the thunder brothers. Inuyasha found himself lost when they talked about it, not knowing more about them than when he’d met them. It was good to know that his Master had neglected to discuss the journey leading up to the meeting with the toad.

“We are all leaving together?” Inuyasha asked, looking from Jaken to his Master to the luggage.

“We will be taking the carriage as far as the border,” Sesshoumaru said, glancing briefly at the muscular servant to make sure he was making a note of this. “Then, Jaken will take the longer route and go on towards the Mountain, with the luggage and the servants, and you and I will be go straight through the forest.”

“The castle is on a mountain?” Inuyasha asked. The burly servant was nodding mechanically, and his lips were moving silently as he tried to memorize what the prince said.

“The Southern castle is on what the surrounding humans have come to call The Demon Mountain,” Jaken replied. “It is rumored that Hiten’s grandfather practiced terrible dark magic, and bound the mountain itself to his blood; it is said that his father – and now, presumably, Hiten – controls the very air on the mountain. It has served as a mighty deterrent to war-hungry kings; they don’t dare try and take the castle by force, lest Hiten brings it crashing down, killing everyone on the mountain.”

“It remains to be seen how much truth there is in the rumours,” Sesshoumaru said.

“It is true, Milord!” Jaken exclaimed. “The ancient Gods took away the prosperity of the land as a price for the old demon’s impudence in practicing forbidden magic, and forever cursed the mountain.”

“That’d explain the crazy duo,” Inuyasha muttered under his breath.

“As long as Hiten and Manten rule from atop that mountain,” Jaken continued as if he hadn’t heard, “the land of the South will never know joy or fulfilment.”

“We will see,” Sesshoumaru replied, turning away from the toad.

A small scuffle ensued behind his back as Jaken tried to step ahead of Inuyasha in following the demon Lord, and Inuyasha caught hold of him and began to stretch him like a toy. The scandalized big servant tried to stop them before they made Lord Sesshoumaru angry, and it only ended when Jaken quietly hit the opposite wall, cross-eyed.

“Make sure you don’t lose our stuff, Jaken,” Inuyasha said, sticking his tongue out smugly at the toad demon.

“Make sure you don’t get eaten by a dragon, Inuyasha,” Jaken responded, coming to his senses to glare at the annoying hanyou.

“Dragon? There are dragons in the forest?” Inuyasha asked, alarmed, looking from Jaken to Sesshoumaru.

But the demon Lord was already walking out the door, and Inuyasha, Jaken and the servant hurried to catch up.

“Don’t worry, Inuyasha-san,” the muscular servant whispered to Inuyasha as he deliberately fell back to create some distance between themselves and the other two. “I’m sure Jaken-san was exaggerating.”

Inuyasha nodded, tensed shoulders relaxing a little. Dragons were creatures of myths and legends; they weren’t all that common. Many people doubted they even existed, but Inuyasha was sure he had seen one when he was a small kid, and though he firmly believed they were real, he had no desire to ever see the ferocious creatures again.

“Yeah, he was exaggerating,” Inuyasha murmured to himself.

Ahead of them, Sesshoumaru smirked to himself.

Outside, Lady Tsukiko and Inu no Taisho were waiting at the first gates to see Sesshoumaru off. Long hours had already been spent with their son, discussing the finer points of the upcoming meeting in grueling detail, so there wasn’t much left to be said.

“Sesshoumaru, this is your first time representing the Western Lands at this convention,” Inu no Taisho said.

“My first time alone,” Sesshoumaru assented, remembering all those times the Lord or Lady of the West had taken him along as a minor. These meetings were not easily forgettable; for a prince who had grown up in a far more just and civilized household than was common throughout the world, the way other demons lived their lives was stamped into his mind even as he returned home and proceeded to be tutored in the customs of the world.

“Remember, diplomacy will untangle a thousand problems where a sword may only solve one,” Inu no Taisho said. Sesshoumaru remained silent, remembering more than one heads that had rolled at one of these conventions.

“Although, I doubt Kouga knows the meaning of the word diplomacy,” Inu no Taisho muttered under his breath.

“Come now, the boys are all grown up,” Lady Tsukiko said, amused. “I expect the wolf will fill his father’s shoes capably, just as we expect Sesshoumaru here won’t bring the mountain down.”

Inu no Taisho glanced up into Sesshoumaru’s eyes, alarmed. “That is not a suggestion.”

“But don’t let your guard down,” Tsukiko reminded him, even as Sesshoumaru blinked at his father innocently. “The strongest demons in the world will be at this place and help will be oceans away if things go foul, so make sure you don’t put yourself in a position where you need it.”

Standing behind him with his head respectfully bowed and eyes trained on the ground, Inuyasha’s puppy ears swiveled interestedly. A convention? The strongest demons in the world? All he had heard about this was that they would be going to Hiten and Manten’s castle.

He let his eyes wander towards their vehicles.

Three carts stood ready next to Sesshoumaru’s carriage. One was piled high with luggage, and a young demon boy sat beside it with a staff, ready to hold on to it in case it looked like it might fall. By the little horns atop his head, Inuyasha guessed he was something like a goat demon, not yet fully into adolescence, but still well-muscled.

The other two carts were filled with servants. Inuyasha marveled at the number of servants that were going. Most of them were young, but more intelligent-looking than Inuyasha knew a lot of the castle servants were. A few of them he was slightly acquainted with, a lot of them he had never seen at all. They sat erect and alert in the cart, not chattering like Inuyasha knew most servants were wont to do when left together by themselves. A few of the servants were demons of Raia’s age or older; again, sitting with quiet dignity. There were no human servants among the lot.

Soon, the carts were loaded and Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha were settled into the carriage. Two of the strongest of demon horses were tethered to each of the vehicles. Skilled drivers took their place at the helm of the vehicles, and they were off.

The borders of the Western kingdom towards the South lay a moon’s cycle away by vehicle. Every few days, they stopped for a night at an inn to get freshened up and to rest the horses. Their visit caused a small commotion at each place as innkeepers scurried to provide lodging for such a large party along with the prince of the land. Each time, the servants filed out of the cart with impeccable discipline, and quietly retired to the quarters that were allotted to them for the night. Inuyasha heard almost no sound out of anyone except Jaken, whom the servants seemed to have unconsciously accepted as their superior, and they sometimes let him boss them around.

It was Inuyasha’s first time seeing this far into the kingdom of the West, and the it surprised him how different people were in all the various parts where they had stopped.

Most of the innkeepers glanced at him with ill-concealed disgust, but Sesshoumaru’s insignia on the collar around his neck kept them from voicing their feelings on a hanyou entering their establishment. In a few places, Inuyasha found hanyou working as servants in the inn; they went about their work unobtrusively, and they didn’t seem to be being mistreated.

In some of the more inaccessible parts that the driver took them through to try and shorten their journey, some people didn’t seem to even know who Sesshoumaru-sama was, and the demon prince didn’t sometimes let them know until the very moment when they were ready to depart. Jaken and Inuyasha both didn’t understand the point of this, but they kept silent after the first time Jaken indignantly opened his mouth to declare just what guests the privileged innkeeper had the good fortune of entertaining, and the demon prince knocked him out cold before he could get a word out.

The last place they stopped at was three days away from the edges of the forest. It was a quiet little town in the middle of nowhere - one of the places where the innkeeper and his family did not seem to know that they were entertaining royalty. Sesshoumaru’s clothing and imperious demeanor demanded deference, but no one at the quaint little inn seemed to have any idea whose kingdom they were a part of, much less being aware of the fact that the prince of the land was now staying in their establishment.

Late at night, after dinner was had and most of the respectable clients of the inn had retired, and Inuyasha had been given permission to explore the place as he chose, Inuyasha found himself eavesdropping on a conversation between the barman at the inn and one of the shadier guests.

“-planning to go into the forest,” the barkeeper was whispering to the guest, a cleaning rag and a glass in his hand. “Dunno if they’re that brave or that stupid.”

“The latter for sure,” the man sniggered, taking a sloppy sip of his drink. “Don’t they know that not many that go into that forest come back out?”

“And if they do, they’re never the same. We told them,” the barman sighed irritably.

“Pity about the butcher’s daughter, innit?” the guest shook his head, taking another large sip of his drink. “The prettiest lass as far as the eye can see, and gone completely loco to boot.”

“Poor lass hasn’t spoken a word yet, has she?” the barman asked, still polishing that one glass compulsively.

“Not one anyone can make any sense out of,” the guest grumbled. “But you can’t really blame her. Braver men than her have lost their tongue and their senses out in that devil forest. Someone should really do something about it.”

The barman shrugged. “It isn’t anyone’s problem.”

Inuyasha didn’t hear the rest of the conversation as he felt Jaken approaching from behind. Before the toad could give away that he’d been listening, Inuyasha hastily retreated into the lobby.

“So, the forest is across the Western border? It falls in Hiten and Manten’s territory?” Inuyasha asked Jaken once they were outside and out of earshot of the gossipy barman.

“The forest IS the border,” Jaken answered, folding his arms into his sleeves, looking up at the rising crescent moon which, even now, looked more foreboding than when they had left the Western lands. “No ruler has claimed the forest as it houses most sinister creatures and spirits that obey the rule of no man or God. Neither the Lord Inu no Taisho, not Hiten holds any power over the land, and it is just as well. The vast, untraversable area provides a good buffer and prevents border dispute.”

Inuyasha had, a long time ago, stopped asking how and why Jaken knew things. The toad demon had vast - and to Inuyasha, unnecessary – information about the world that did not seem to easily fall under a category or fulfill a requirement.

“Great,” Inuyasha muttered to himself. The forests he’d travelled through with the slavers hadn’t been nearly that dangerous, but they still weren’t nice places, and to be honest, he wasn’t looking forward to going through this one.

But he wouldn’t think about that. Whatever had happened, had happened a long time ago, in a different lifetime, before his Master claimed him. It didn’t make sense to dwell on it.

“I wonder if Sesshoumaru-sama knows how dangerous it is,” Jaken said.

Inuyasha glared down at the toad demon. “I’m sure Master knows what he’s doing.”

Jaken didn’t seem to notice the glower; he smiled serenely up at the moon. “Maybe that’s why he’s taking you along – so that he doesn’t have to worry about demons eating any of his important staff.”

There was a quiet thud in the night as Inuyasha boinked him on the head.

Three days and nights later, it was just past dawn when they reached the edge of the forest, and it was time to part ways with the servants.

The horses had got more and more agitated as they approached the forest, and by the time the demon Lord and his slave had disembarked, the drivers had to exert considerable efforts to keep the horses from bolting.

Jaken jumped down from the cart and slowly approached the forest. It was fascinating to be in the presence of something that was almost a legend to him during his studies. He longed to step onto the accursed land himself and experience what so many blubbering, terror-struck travelers had tried to describe, although he was glad he wouldn’t actually be trying to go through the forest to the other side.

Shaking himself out of his reverie, Jaken whirled around. “Don’t stand there looking like a fool, get Master Sesshoumaru’s things,” Jaken squawked at the same muscular servant from the morning, gesturing towards the cart where the demon Lord’s silver luggage was piled.

The servant glanced fearfully at the demon prince and bowed to Jaken in apology. “B-but Master Sesshoumaru’s commands are to take the luggage straight to the Southern palace.”

Jaken turned to stare incredulously at the demon Lord. Sesshoumaru blinked back at him languidly.

Jaken swallowed, wondering how to frame his remarks so as not get his head chopped off immediately. “My Lord, a forest – especially this forest – is harsh. At least allow Inuyasha to carry some things for you...tents for sleeping and the like, if nothing else.”

Inuyasha remained silent, but he secretly agreed with the toad. He hadn’t dared speak about it to his Master, but he hadn’t ever known the demon Lord to journey on foot before. Everywhere they had travelled, they had either gone in a vehicle, or Sesshoumaru-sama had travelled as a ball of energy. Inuyasha didn’t want the prince to go through the small embarrassments that foot travel through uncivilized terrains entailed.

“I believe we will make do,” Sesshoumaru replied with that look in his eyes that said that he was amused by a joke that no one else was seeing.

Jaken bowed, and stayed silent.

“It looks normal,” Inuyasha murmured, looking up at the serene trees swaying gently. Sunlight fell serenely on the clearing where they had stopped. The morning was filled with the cheerful sounds of birds chirping. A heavy sense of apprehension was settling over Inuyasha. Now that he could smell the forest air through the trees, his memories were suddenly much more real. What did it matter, really, whether the forest was cursed or not? He felt like the little kid who had crossed forests while the slavers held his leash, tugging and pulling him to their amusement. He remembered how many times he had narrowly escaped becoming some animal or demon’s food.

“Jaken has been telling you tales, it seems,” Sesshoumaru said in that smooth baritone that Jaken had by now learned to fear. The toad demon flinched and did not meet the demon prince’s eyes, knowing he was treading on very thin ice now. He would have blamed the hanyou if he hadn’t known of the demon Lord’s uncanny ability to glean volumes from seemingly typical statements.

“Forgive me,” he bowed low on the leaf-strewn ground, tensing against the inevitable blow to his head.

When some ants scurried by his feet, and the blow still didn’t come, he risked glancing up to see Sesshoumaru-sama’s attention elsewhere. Jaken got to his feet with a sigh and a crunch of leaves, knowing his punishment was only postponed for a later date.

The clearing past which the forest began hadn’t been easy to get to. They had to take some winding roads that were barely wide enough for a carriage to go through. Ahead of the clearing was the forest, and on the other side was another narrow winding road that led around it to the Southern kingdom.

The carts and the now empty carriage were pointed towards that road, and when Sesshoumaru gestured for the drivers to be on their way, they took their seats at the front of the carts and grabbed the reins.

Jaken scrambled back into the servants’ cart before the powerful horses took off without him.

“Be careful, Master,” the toad demon called as the cart pulled away. Behind Sesshoumaru’s back, Inuyasha made a rude gesture at Jaken, knowing the toad wouldn’t be able to reciprocate in front of their Master. The livid toad jumping up and down in the cart was the last they saw of their retinue.

It was harder to step into the forest than Inuyasha had expected.

He hadn’t thought about his travels with slavers in years. Nothing in his new life had stirred those memories, and in Lord Sesshoumaru’s company, he had had no occasion to travel by foot.

Inuyasha thought that if he could steel himself to take that first step, his fear would gradually fall away.

So he did. He took the first step, and the second, and the fifth, and the feeling of fear only grew. He had never travelled through this particular forest before; the tree trunks and leaves before his eyes were not the ones from his memories. And yet, when he blinked, the green faded into the other greens he had passed through as a young child. Every swaying tree branch, every shadow cast on the forest ground reminded him of travelling at the end of the slavers’ leash, stumbling blindly over roots on bare feet, the slavers’ laughter when he cried out from the fear of things crawling under his feet and red eyes in the darkness.

And this was no ordinary forest either. They had gone no more than a few yards, when Inuyasha felt the atmosphere shift.

The sound of birds chirping was abruptly muffled, as if coming from far away, and the air grew unexpectedly stifling, though they weren’t deep into the forest at all, and they could still see the sky between the tops of the trees.

The sun was at once, too strong, and there wasn’t enough light at all. It was difficult to see, and the suddenly loud sound of insects scurrying under the leaves made Inuyasha jump.

Sesshoumaru walked on slowly as though he hadn’t noticed, and Inuyasha hurried behind him, looking around in alarm.

It wasn’t just his fear; something was certainly different – wrong.

The demon lord had noticed the change in Inuyasha’s scent. The hanyou’s heart was racing and fear rolled off him in waves, in a way that had nothing to do with their actual surroundings. It was an old fear, formed of badly-healed scars and memories, the demon Lord knew. The thought of what his pet had been through before he found him was still enough to make his anger rise. The stench of his fear had grown every second that they walked. And yet, he had said nothing; no sound of protest had passed his dutiful slave’s lips.

Inuyasha felt the flare in his Master’s youki and a feeling of mortification joined the fear. His Master was angry. Sesshoumaru-sama had given him a chance to join him on this solitary journey and here he was, being frightened of nothing and jumping at shadows.

But he didn’t know what to do. If it were up to him, he would have switched the dratted fear off, and done his duty, which was to lighten the burden of the journey from his Master’s shoulders as much as he was able, instead of adding to it like this by making him angry.

He hung his head, and let his bangs cover his eyes. “Master, forgive me-”

Something burst violently through the thicket.

It was a demon. It wasn’t quite an insect demon; it had a dark magenta and purple body, and a mouth in the centre of what was probably its face. One single eye blinked sideways above the mouth. It moved on tiny legs, but its speed was deceptive for its size. It roared, and the sound that came out chilled Inuyasha to the bone. It was just a lower level demon, but it wasn’t like any demon that Inuyasha had ever seen. The sound that it made shouldn’t have come out of that body.

Inuyasha froze where he stood, mouth open in a silent scream.

Sesshoumaru looked at the odd demon and then at his slave and frowned thunderously. This would simply not do.

“Inuyasha,” he said sharply, and the commanding tone snapped Inuyasha out of shock. The hanyou turned terrified, desperate eyes towards him. The demon Lord returned his gaze calmly.

“Look at it,” he commanded.

Inuyasha’s eyes widened with desperation, silently pleading with the demon Lord to change his mind. But there wasn’t time for a lengthy discussion, and the demon Lord’s unwavering gaze told him he would obey.

Inuyasha slowly turned his head back to face the thing, and stared at it, hypnotized.

It was standing at one end of the clearing, as frozen as Inuyasha had been. It had meant to attack whatever new creature in the forest that was giving of waves of fear, but there was another demon present, a youki it hadn’t sensed, and it was waiting to take stock of whether the other one was a threat. So far, his youki felt low enough, but it also sensed no fear, and instinctively, it knew that both of those could not be true.

“Where is its weak point?” Sesshoumaru asked Inuyasha dispassionately.

Inuyasha stared dumbfounded from the thing to his Master. Everything had taken on a surreal feeling. Time seemed to have slowed. Fear overwhelmed his senses, and though he had heard the question, he could not respond, because his brain told him what was going to happen – it was the same thing that had always happened. He was going to get attacked, and almost killed, and the slavers were going to watch him suffer and laugh-

“Inuyasha!” Sesshoumaru snapped, standing motionless. “Draw your sword and fight!”

As though in a dream, Inuyasha slowly unsheathed his sword. The blade glinted dully in the sunlight, and the creature charged him, deciding that the other one wasn’t a threat, and that it was time to kill this one before he became one.

Then the thing was close, too close and Inuyasha struck out blindly, his arm using the sword in an attack he had practiced so many times, that it was beyond conscious thought now.

When Inuyasha opened his eyes again, the creature was splayed open on the forest floor. Magenta liquid gurgled from the gaping wound through its eye, instead of blood.

Inuyasha shuddered, and felt his knees give away where he stood. His sword dropped from numb fingers.

He did not know he was wracked with sobs until his Master’s arms were around him, hooked under his knees, picking him up and cradling him close in his lap on the forest floor. Inuyasha buried his face in Sesshoumaru’s chest and cried, releasing all the memories, all the many feelings he had had when he was in this position before that he hadn’t been allowed to feel. The demon prince held the slave tightly to himself, stroking puppy ears till they twitched nervously under his fingers as usual. It was a nightfall by the time Inuyasha’s tears had stopped, and without realizing it, the hanyou fell into a fitful slumber in his Master’s arms.

“Congratulations, Inuyasha,” Sesshoumaru said softly to the sleeping boy. “You have completed your first kill.”

The demon Lord released his leashed youki, allowing it to flare around them both, warning off any creatures that might decide to investigate the newcomers under the cover of the night.
The cursed forest was still and silent as the hanyou slept through the night, curled up in his Master’s lap, under the watchful eyes of the Taiyoukai.

A/N: Please review and let me know what you think ^.^
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Kintsukuroi