Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

Edge of Paradise	By : QueenoftheDream Category: InuYasha > Het - Male/Female > Sessh?maru/Kagome > Sessh?maru/Kagome Views: 5324 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, nor the characters from it. I made no money in writing this fiction.

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
- 10
That afternoon found Kagome pulling Rin from out of a tree, disentangling her from a blackberry bramble, and chasing her across a shallow stream on the other side of the thicket, all while keeping a watch on the thin strips of meat hanging to dry over the small fire in the middle of their campsite and washing her practically destroyed clothing. Sesshomaru, of course, was nowhere to be found, as he had left shortly after skinning the mangled deer he had fetched earlier in the morning.
She was turning the half-cooked jerky when Rin ran out from behind a large oak tree to crouch beside the miko. Kagome eyed the child warily, wondering if the child would have her running all the way into the mountains just visible in the west this time. The child surprised her when, instead of running away in a fit of giggles, she smiled up at her with enthusiastic eyes.
"Can I pick some blackberries, Kagome-miko-sama?"
Casting her eyes down to Rin's purple-stained feet, she stifled a chuckle. "I don't know, Rin-chan. After you went tearing through the bush, are there any berries left that aren't stuck to your feet?"
Taking the mild reply as a confirmation, the child took off through the low brush with a laugh.
Kagome turned back to check on the dehydrating meat before returning to her tree to rest her back upon the trunk. A cooling breeze sifted through the trees to play in the loose wisps of her hair. She closed her eyes, grateful for the welcome change in the weather.
The the next thing she knew, her eyelids were groggily flying open from her cat nap to the sound of thundering footsteps rapidly approaching. As she sat up, Rin came crashing through the trees as if she was being chased by a legion of demons… which was a distinct possibility. Kagome's hand flew to her bow and arrows as Rin skidded to a halt before her and dropped a handful of berries upon the ground.
"Kagome-sama! Come see! Come see what I've found!" She grabbed the priestess's sleeve and started enthusiastically pulling toward the trees. Once Kagome realized that Rin's voice conveyed joy rather than panic, her muscles relaxed and sagged in relief, and she allowed herself to be dragged into the trees.
They crossed the stream across which Kagome had chased Rin earlier, and trudged up the steep grassy hill on the other side.
"Where are we going, Rin? It had better not be too far. We don't want to be missing when Sesshomaru-sama returns. That is, if he…"
Her voice trailed off when they reached the apex of the hill. On the bottom of the other side lay a valley entirely covered with wild irises that grew in such thick abundance that it looked like a small purple sea that rippled in waves with the slight breeze.
Rin thundered down the hill and into the field, twirling in circles among the dense flowers, causing them to ripple and dance around her calves. She stooped occasionally to pick a flower or two and soon had amassed a large bouquet.
Kagome sat upon a tree stump on the brow of the hill, reveling in the spray of sweet fragrance that washed across her face with the wind that blew across the small valley from the west. It was approximately two hours until sunset by Kagome's calculation, so they had a little while before they had to be back at the encampment.
As an hour passed, Kagome sat idly upon the grass, watching the sun's slow descent toward the horizon and the ever-changing shadows it cast. Look away for but a moment, and it has shifted ever so slightly. In that moment, Kagome thought that she had gotten a grip, however small, upon what Sesshomaru must be feeling.
Sesshomaru…
Kagome abruptly stood up, having realized that she let more time pass than she had planned, and called Rin, who came scampering up, a huge bunch of sweet-smelling flowers in hand. Before she could say anything, however, Rin handed the entire bundle to her, saving but one flower for herself. A warm smile stretched across Kagome's face.
"Thank you, Rin-chan. I trust you had fun today?"
Rin smiled and nodded her head, but was interrupted by a wide yawn that she tried, but failed to stifle. Kagome chuckled warmly and took the child's hand in her own, guiding her down the slope toward their camp.
"I'm glad you had a good day. Why don't we head back and get supper started. We wouldn't want Sesshomaru-sama to return and call us lazy for not at least having a meal prepared, would we?"
Rin sleepily laughed as she was led back to the encampment. When they arrived, Kagome found to her delight that the strips of meat hanging over the fire had successfully dried, and she rolled most of them in a mat, which she tucked into her furoshiki.
Dinner was uneventfully prepared and eaten with a small dessert course of the few blackberries Rin was able to scrounge up earlier in the afternoon. Soon after eating, Rin was sleepily sitting in front of the fire with her single purple iris as Kagome combed the girl's dark hair. They were engaging in relatively one-sided small talk when a bright light flashed across the sky and dropped into their campsite on the other side of the fire.
The blinding pale green light quickly faded, and in its place stood Sesshomaru. However instead of the bloody and battered-looking demon Kagome came to recognize, there stood a demon dressed in a new kimono with the same red noble crest, armor shining across his waist and torso with a long yellow and blue sash tied elegantly at his waist in the mainland fashion. An odd fluffy… thing… rested upon his shoulder, and she intended to question him about it at a later time. The spiked pauldrons adorning his broad shoulders gave him the imposing air of a commander.
Her eyes came to rest upon two swords hanging formidably against his hip. Rin unexpectedly jumped up and shuffled toward the overly imposing demon, who looked down at her with tense restraint. Kagome could feel her heartbeat skyrocket in unease as the small child stood on the very tips of her toes, careful of the deadly spikes adorning his armor, to tuck her sole purple iris into the space between Sesshomaru's chest and his breastplate with a small smile. She then dashed over to the same soft-needled pine where she'd fallen asleep the night before and laid down, curling into a comfortable position and closing her eyes, almost instantly settling into slumber. He did nothing to acknowledge the girl's actions but looked at her impassively.
"Sesshomaru-sama…?" Kagome questioned, slightly perturbed by the demon's stony silence. He noiselessly sat upon the ground, straight-backed and closed off as a clam's shell. Eyeing the large bouquet of irises that lay upon the ground, she fished in her mind for something to say to break the ice that had formed between the two of them. He mechanically reached forward and laid another log upon the fire. She had an idea.
"Ne, Sesshomaru-sama?"
No response.
"Are there any demons around here?" She casually looked down, tracing her finger along the petals of an iris.
"…no." Short and curt. Something was bothering him.
"Are you sure, Sesshomaru-sama?" Every time she used his name, he seemed to flinch, though it was almost undetectable.
"They have been disposed of." Read between the lines.
"…oh."
Sesshomaru rose neatly and began walking away, into the trees that were highlighted orange and red by the setting sun. Deciding it would be safe to leave Rin for a little while, Kagome got to her feet to follow. He made no move to stop her or invite her.
She made to zoom up and walk in front of the male in an attempt to guide him. She turned around to look at him. He regarded her breech of protocol with a look of cool irritation. With a huff, she nodded in the direction of the small stream behind their camp. He followed, and when they reached the creek, he adroitly leapt over it, leaving Kagome to plod noisily across on her own.
Taking it in stride, she marched past him and up the shadowy embankment, fully expecting him to follow suit. She sat upon the crest of the hill, and he mirrored her actions, though at a distance deemed suitable by him.
The vermillion disc of the sun was balancing upon the horizon, and it looked as if it would roll to either side before the edge just barely sank below the sky line. In the valley below, the petals of the irises, darkened to a deep indigo by the shadows, were highlighted with tiny crests of magenta where the light dared to touch. The two sat in silence; Sesshomaru with an air of barely contained aggravation and Kagome with quiet and patient curiosity.
Finally, Kagome turned to the demon after deciding which question to ask first, but when she saw him bathed in the crimson light of the setting sun, she hesitated. He was staring emotionlessly into the field of irises in the valley below. With the red splashes of light cast upon his armored form, he truly looked the part of a killer, and his indifference to the beauty of the valley awoke a curious sadness in Kagome.
She thought that her experiment with the scenic vista had failed when they continued to sit in silence, and she was tempted to return to the camp until Sesshomaru spoke without looking at her.
"The view is noteworthy." Success.
"Ne, Sesshomaru-sama? Where did you get all of," she gestured to his ensemble, "this?"
"Heian-kyo."
"Heian-kyo," she questioned unbelievingly. That was far too great a distance for one man to have gone in a full day, let alone half a day.
"Heian-kyo," he confirmed. "My castle lies outside of the city." Short. Nondescript. Not very helpful. She was about to press further when he continued.
"Or, rather, what is left of my castle."
Kagome was unsure of what to say for a moment until it hit her. He hadn't known that his reign had crumbled as everyone else knew. As far as everyone else was concerned, he had been out of power for fifty years, had been consigned to the dusty scrolls in the libraries of scholars and historians. For him, he had found his life and his trappings dashed to pieces in a matter of days. She wanted to reach out to him, set a hand upon his shoulder, but refrained for fear of losing the hand. He continued evenly, still staring at the waving irises below.
"My station demands that I commit seppuku to end my shame and dishonor, but it seems I cannot even do that."
There it was. "I had been meaning to ask you about that," Kagome softly stated, attempting to prompt him to further speak of his predicament.
Almost undetectably, he sighed. "I can be cut. I can bleed… but I cannot die."
Kagome's eyes widened. "B-but-"
Sesshomaru stood and pulled a large imposing sword out of its sheath at his side, pulled up his left sleeve, and drew the blade across his forearm. Blood poured from the deep wound, but he gave no indication of pain or even mild discomfort. Kagome shot to her feet, mouth agape and hands fluttering, but he cut her off sharply.
"Miko. Cease your useless fussing. Watch."
She forced herself to stay in place and watched in horrified fascination as his flesh melded back together, leaving but a faint pink line that faded to invisibility. She raised her surprised face to look into Sesshomaru's and saw that he was gazing back at the tree line from whence they came. She understood. They both turned to walk back toward the camp, and Kagome made a mental note to always refer to him with his "proper" title, although it technically was no longer so.
"Don't worry, Sesshomaru-sama. We'll figure it all out," Kagome attempted to reassure him. She cast her eyes up to his face and saw that he was glaring at her with narrowed eyes, rage barely contained within his gaze. She was knocked out of her reverie when she plodded into the stream clumsily, almost falling on her face.
She was perplexed at his harsh reaction. Was it because she insisted upon keeping Rin around? Or maybe he was angry because it was her fault that he was relegated to such a cursed unending existence? Kagome figured that it was the latter, and it weighed heavily upon her heart and seemed to slow her steps, causing her to fall far behind the demon.
What she did not know, however, was that the cause for his resentment was neither of those issues. Sesshomaru was so angered with himself, so wrapped up in his own shame, that he had inadvertently projected those feelings of discontent upon the small woman. He was so ashamed at his dishonor, at his desire to tote around the trappings of his previous life, that he was surprised and angry that she did not share in those feelings of revulsion. He wondered at the priestess's seemingly endless capacity for kindness.
***Heian-kyo: the capital of Japan in olden times. It is now called Kyoto. From what I've gathered, the entire city was called Kyoto, but the administrative part of the city was its own little enclave of sorts called "Heian-kyo." Please correct me if I'm mistaken.
** I remember reading somewhere that the iris in the Japanese language of flowers (which is of course different from the other ones, such as the Victorian European version and so on) represents loyalty or something along those lines. I found it befitting for both Rin and Kagome, but in different aspects.
Also, someone asked a question regarding Rin's age. In this story, I have Kagome at 18 and Rin at 8 or 9, so she's still pretty little. Sorry for any confusion!
- 8
- 9
- 10
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Edge of Paradise