InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Torrent ❯ Altered ( Chapter 31 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

~~Chapter 31~~
~Altered~
 
Sesshoumaru stared out the window at the setting sun. What was it about the miko that made him look at things differently? He hadn't watched a sunset in a very long time. He hadn't looked at the stars in ages, either. He couldn't remember doing any of those things, and perhaps it was because he had forgotten that they were there.
 
“I'm ready to eat, my lord!” Rin announced as she bounced into the room. Turning away from the window, he stared at the girl as though seeing her for the first time, as well. Vibrant and happy, Rin grinned impishly and twirled around in the middle of the floor. “Thank you for the kimono! This one is my favorite!”
 
He didn't smile though his eyes brightened as he watched the girl dance around, showing off her new sky blue kimono. “Rin, tell me. Know you where the miko is?”
 
Rin stopped twirling and shook her head slowly. “No, my lord. The last time I saw her was in the garden this afternoon.”
 
He digested that. Surely the miko wouldn't have left the grounds. But where was she?
 
After seeing that Rin had settled down with her meal, Sesshoumaru slowly turned and headed outside.
 
 
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Cradled against him, comforted in the arms that soothed her, she sighed happily, content to let the moment be what it was. `I love you,' he murmured into her hair. She smiled.
 
`InuYasha . . . .'
 
`Quiet, wench. You talk too much.'
 
Gentle hands under her arms, pulling her up, letting go of her only to capture her, to drag her down against his lips. `Where are you, Kagome?'
 
`I'm here . . . right here . . . .'
 
Claws dragging up her skin, igniting her flesh as the gentle whisper of a breeze blew her higher. `Hold onto me, InuYasha . . . . Don't let me fall . . . .'
 
`Shut up and kiss me.'
 
`Yes . . . .'
 
 
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The evening was brisk though not cold. The chill in the air was a pleasant thing after the warmth of the day. Something in the air---the scent of her, the miko . . . . He lifted his chin, breathing deep. `She is in the garden,' he realized. Had she been out there all day?
 
The sounds of the night spoke to him. What was it about her that awoke him? Parts of him that had been forgotten for so long seemed to come alive in him once more . . . . Had she done this? Was this the reason that InuYasha loved her?
 
He let her scent guide him, a curious mix of perfume that was wholly the miko's. Something wild and yet contained, her fragrance ebbed and flowed with the beat of her heart. The underlying scent of woman, of human, of miko authority . . . she held them all inside her, harnessed within the confines of her soul.
 
The woman-child slept under the lone magnolia tree. He blinked in surprise as he stared at her. Helpless yet powerful, tranquil yet vibrant, innocent yet knowing . . . Sesshoumaru stared. `This is what he desires, that pathetic brother of mine. This miko is a rare thing . . . . Does InuYasha know this?'
 
She moaned softly in her sleep, snapping him out of his reverie. He couldn't leave her to sleep under the tree. Kneeling beside her, he spared another moment to stare at her, a curious frown contorting his eyebrows. She sighed softly, a vague half smile in the darkness.
 
He reached for her, careful not to jostle her. Drawing her into his arm to carry her inside, he paused to gaze at her a little longer. Why he took such care, he didn't know. Something about her spoke to him, called to him, demanded his respect. “Come, Miko. You cannot sleep out here.”
 
 
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`Wake up, Kagome . . . I'm waiting for you . . . .'
 
`Let me sleep, InuYasha . . . just a little longer . . . .'
 
`You'd rather sleep than be with me? Stubborn wench . . . .'
 
Swirling scarlet, silvery hair, molten eyes that raked over her. `My mate,' he whispered to her in the mist. `Come to me . . . I'll let you catch me.'
 
`You'll let me catch you? You don't think I can?'
 
The warmth of his arm, of his body . . . he dragged her closer and closer to him. `Come, Miko. You cannot sleep here . . . .'
 
She laughed. `How can I sleep when you won't leave me alone?' she countered. `And when did you start calling me `Miko'?'
 
InuYasha smiled as the breeze rippled through his hair. `Kiss me, Kagome . . . you know you want to.'
 
`I want to,' she agreed, reaching out for him. “I want you.”
 
The touch of lips against hers. A gasp of surprise, of shock. Silky strands of hair under her fingertips as the blanket of heat rushed over.
 
`I can't think, InuYasha . . . . I can't breathe when you're near . . . . Just kiss me, that's all . . . .'
 
A chill shuddered through her as he dragged his lips away. Kagome opened her eyes slowly. Her head felt fuzzy, almost clouded. Her body felt as though it was cast out of lead. She saw the eyes in the darkness, glinting shadows and golden flecks suspended just above hers. The eyes she loved even through the fogginess in her vision. His breath brushed against her lips. She wanted to kiss him again. “Why did you stop?” she whispered.
 
“Why do you wish me to continue?”
 
She frowned at his strange tone of voice as her heavy eyelids closed again. Something odd in InuYasha's voice, something that didn't seem right . . . . Deeper, smoother, vaguely familiar . . . . She turned to him, her questions fleeing from her faster than she could grab at them. `Don't think . . . just feel . . . .' It seemed like a good plan. “Kiss me,” she murmured into the night.
 
His groan was her answer as his lips fell again. Harder, more demanding, he drew her closer against him. Dangerous yet contained, desire flowed over her, eddying around her, pooling against her, rushing like the waves crashing ashore. His kiss deepened, his fangs grazing her flesh setting off delicious tremors of sensation. Arching against him, her hands rose to cradle his face. His skin was strangely cool to her touch.
 
The tip of his tongue traced the contours of her lips. She let her mouth fall open, and he took his time. A low growl escaped him as he tasted her, slowly, gently, with a deliberate thoroughness that made her want to scream. Kagome let her had fall back. “You do that on purpose . . . please . . . InuYasha.”
 
“Inu---?”
 
He pulled away from her, his body tensing against her words.
 
Something wasn't right, she realized, her mind still oddly disjoined. Why did she feel so strange? “InuYasha?” she repeated as she forced her eyes open.
 
In the shadows of moonlight filtering through the boughs of the tree, Kagome watched as InuYasha seemed to fade from her vision. The silvery hair remained, the eyes didn't change in color. The face that she knew so well shifted slightly. She shook her head, confusion fast overtaking the blurred state of her brain as streaks appeared, and the familiar blue crest on his forehead. “Sesshoumaru?” she gasped, her stomach lurching precariously. “No . . . .”
 
Eyes intense, probing, he stared at her. “You thought I was my brother?”
 
She pushed herself out of his grasp, stumbled as she tried to stand. The fuzziness in her mind weakened her. She tried to shake it off. “I need to go,” she whispered, smashing the back of her hand against her lips, forcing away the edges of nausea that turned her stomach. “I . . . .”
 
“You mean to leave now?” he asked as he slowly stood.
 
She held out her hand as though trying to warn him off. Sesshoumaru didn't come closer. “I can't . . . I---” She swallowed a sob. “Oh, God . . . .”
 
“Miko . . . .” he grabbed her arm as she tried to dart past him. She swayed on her feet but her eyes were clear. Her body flashed with the power of her aura, and he flinched as her flesh seared his hand. He didn't let go. “You're in no condition to travel alone. Surely you must know this.”
 
“Take your hand off me,” she whispered. The air around her crackled, sparked.
 
Sesshoumaru let his hand drop. In her eyes, in her gaze, in the stubborn set of her features, he knew. There would be no reasoning with her. Dangerous or not, she meant to go alone. Either he could try to protect her or she would find a way to leave on her own. He sighed. “Take the dragon if you've a mind to leave then. Tell him where you wish to go, and he will see you there safely.”
 
Tears welled in her eyes but stubbornly refused to fall. Sesshoumaru watched, helpless, as she stumbled away.
 
The taste of her lingered on his lips, the feel of her body pressed against him was excruciating. That fire, that passion . . . he finally understood. That was what bound InuYasha to the miko.
 
And yet it made no sense. `She thought I was InuYasha. Why would she think it was so?'
 
Sinking down under the magnolia tree, Sesshoumaru tried to figure it out. She wasn't faint enough in mind to have not known who he was when she first kissed him. He knew this to be true. What surprised him most, though, wasn't the kiss. It was the torrent of emotion that the miko had released in him. He couldn't remember having ever felt quite as alive as he had when he'd kissed her.
 
“Father,” he murmured as his head fell back against the tree. Staring into the skies, watching the stars that shined so high above . . . in the distance he could hear the dragon taking flight. He smiled indistinctly, the expression lost in the dark. The memory of the miko's face bathed in moonlight, cast in shadows, flashed through his head as he closed his eyes for a moment. “Now I understand.”
 
He opened his eyes and let his chin drop to his chest. The hint of an outline in the dark drew his stare. He narrowed his eyes, slowly reaching out his hand. On the ground where the miko had slept lay the flower.
 
Sesshoumaru lifted the nefarious bloom to his nose, inhaling the aroma he loved. The bushes were something that stayed protected from humans. He'd told Rin more times than he could recall that she wasn't ever to smell them. `The delusion flower,' he told himself with a sigh. `The miko was under its effects.'
 
The deceptive beauties could drug, even kill, a human foolish enough to succumb to its guile. He should have warned the miko. In all honesty, he had forgotten that the plants flourished here, in this part of the garden. The flower must have caused her to have visions, and those visions were of InuYasha.
 
`As it should be,' he thought as he stood. `Dream of the one who mated you, little miko.' He gazed at his home and slowly turned away to walk off into the night, to walk off the lingering effects of the miko's kiss.
 
 
 
 
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A/N:
 
Delusionflower: absolutely 100 percent fictional flower bush. The blooms cause hallucinations, excessive tiredness, and, if used too heavily, can cause death. HAHAHA. Ok, but seriously, I used this because I love flowers, in general, and I wanted one that sort of reminded Kagome in looks and in colors of InuYasha.
 
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RadioNmyHead (MMorg & FFnet):
Oh... Sounds like Kagome has Dorothy syndrome... sleeping in the poppies? LOL. Can't wait to see where this leads her... into more trouble I'll wager.
 
Hmm, Dorothy Syndrome… lol! Actually, `tis something like that. Sesshoumaru calls it a `delusion' flower, meaning that it causes humans to have hallucinations, and/or `the sleepies'. Trouble seems to gravitate toward Kagome, though, doesn't it?
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Blanket disclaimer for this fanfic (will apply to this and all other chapters in Torrent): I do not claim any rights to InuYasha or the characters associated with the anime/manga. Those rights belong to Rumiko Takahashi, et al. I do offer my thanks to her for creating such vivid characters for me to terrorize.
 
~Sue~