InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Frantic ❯ Frantic Two ( Chapter 2 )

Frantic Two

 

 

 

Two days ago, everything seemed normal, except for his splitting headache. Other than that, everything was normal. Nothing exciting, as usual, happened nor was it expected to happen. Sesshoumaru closed his eyes to rest them, trying to will the throbbing behind his eyes to stop. Not far, Rin played cheerfully in the stream, splashing an annoyed Jaken who was growing grumpier by the minute. He heard her contagious giggles heighten in pitch, adding more to his pain.

 

Was this all there was to his dreadful existence?, he wondered.

 

Sesshoumaru released an inward sigh. Opening his eyes, he realized the pain was still there. The sunlight reflecting off the water's surface did little to improve his condition. Lately, he had been speculating on whether or not his existence had served any purpose, which he found troubling to wonder about in the first place. But he had.

 

Seven days prior to this one, Sesshoumaru received a message by way of carrier. It was an invitation from his sister's household. Basically, the content of that message ordered him to attend the lunar festival at her estate. He wished she had asked him instead. Gin, his eldest sister, mentioned how his presence was imperative—as he skimmed over the letter—to how it would shame the family and their father's house if he did not grace them with his much needed appearance…etcetera, etcetera, and…etcetera.

 

For days, he contemplated on whether to comply with her wishes; in all honesty, he preferred suffering Jaken's constant whining before catering to any of Gin's whims. He did not wish to go. He did not feel sociable or the need to be socializing with family and friends. As far as he was concerned, they did not exist. His thoughts on that wavered to awkward. Ever since his father's death, they stopped existing.

 

How his late father dealt with these formalities was far beyond his comprehension.

 

In truth, what he wanted to do was avoid the questions, especially the personal ones. In that instant, two multi-colored butterflies fluttered above him performing their ritualistic mating dance. He looked at them and studied the way they fluttered together, then around each other in a helix. That, especially, was the question he wanted to avoid the most. Personally, it was none of their damned business.

 

He mused as his brows came together in an annoyed scowl.

 

Simply, it was none of their damned business.

 

From his self designated spot under a maple tree, he watched Rin as she chased Jaken in childish play. Trying to escape the half crazed girl, the toad ducked under Ah-Un's belly, ending up at the other side to then hop upon the dragon's back to evade the toothy, squeamish seven year old. In turn, Ah-Un became annoyed with Jaken's presumption of using it as a platform. Without warning, it shifted its body towards a more comfortable position, knocking poor Jaken to the ground. Rin clapped gleefully in laughter. Jaken ended up being miffed and could have sworn the lizard joined Rin in her mirth. Despite the comical melodrama before him, Sesshoumaru was in too dark of a mood to inwardly appreciate the theatrics. Suddenly, he rose from his spot and decided to go for a short walk to clear up his head—and, hopefully, improve his demeanor.

 

Emotional Attachment was never his strong suite. Ever since he was a child, it was an ordeal for him since he was the one who ended up getting hurt. He did not know what Gin pretended with inviting him to the celebration. Although, attending the festivities meant that SHE would be there. That brought back painful memories. She could have been the one; he wanted her to be the one. Due to circumstance, however, they parted ways.

 

As he remembered, it happened at the last lunar festival he attended.

 

How dared she?, he thought, a deep guttural growl escaped his throat. He contemplated his thoughts even more as he traveled downstream, moving farther away from his entourage.

 

He would give Gin a piece of his mind once he had her face to face. She meant well but her intrusion was proving more than bothersome. Her meddlesome nature was unwelcome in any circumstance.

 

The pain…a sudden pang caught his head. He stopped abruptly to cradle his head. Between thumb and middle digit, he massaged his temples. As he did this, his eyes were squeezed shut to lesson the stabbing pain to his head.

 

Damn!, he swore within.

 

He arduously massaged both sides of his head with his fingers, grinding his teeth together as the aching refused to depart.

 

This cannot be happening, he thought. Dammit, this cannot be happening!

 

He was not weak.

He was NOT weak!

He was not going to allow himself to bow down to weakness. Sesshoumaru continued to rub, squeezing his eyes tighter to prevent tears from escaping their prison. He was not weak, he told himself.

 

He breathed in, and then breathed out. Breathed in, then breathed out. He repeated this again, and again. Slowly, the pain dissipated. He breathed in…breathed out. He kept up with his breathing exercises.

 

Clear mind, he thought, clear mind. Relax…just relax.

Suddenly, it was gone…just like that.

 

Sesshoumaru exhaled relief and decided to sit on a nearby rock. He continued to massage his temples, then guiding his fingers to the middle of his forehead he lead them to the very top of his head, trying to soothe away the pain, lastly (sliding at) ending up at the very back. Here he opened his hand, clamping the back of his neck. Immediately, he felt his hair damp with sweat.

 

The pain was worse than the last one he had the night before.

 

Gin made it imperative his attendance. He much rather skip it. Unconsciously, he massaged his neck to release more tension in his muscles. Obviously, she had ulterior motives, which he did not appreciate.

 

How dared she question his pride and honor—his honor, most of all? At this moment, just for the sake of relieving built up tension, he would pick a fight with InuYasha and his cohorts than to come at Gin's beck and call.

 

Perhaps, a fight was not such a bad idea after all.

 

A good sparring match with his hanyou brother would do him a world of good. Sesshoumaru removed his hand to admire his sharp claws. That would be in good order, he thought with a bit of a dangerous twinkle in his eyes. He flexed and opened his hand and realized to his delight that InuYasha was not too far from where he was. Perhaps, he was going to get his match and if all met his satisfaction, he might even comply with his sister's penchant to invite the half ling to the gathering; if and always the halfling was still breathing. At least, to his credit, he could tell Gin of his attempt to extend said invitation so she could simply leave him the hell alone. With that in mind, he finally decided that he would go out of his way to “extend” the courtesy.

 

 

Finding the village was not hard; he remembered its location from the very first time he encountered InuYasha after the fifty years the halfling was disgracefully pinned to the holy tree. Inwardly, Sesshoumaru sighed, thinking on how pathetic his brother, who was unfortunately also a member of the InuYoukai tribe, had succumb to the influences of a human priestess. Back then, he had been searching for Tetsusaiga and was close to retrieving it if it were not for that meddling girl getting in the way.

 

That girl-- he sneered predatorily-- how she irked him so! And it was not only her meddling that infused rage in him: it was her voice, the sickening smell of her hair, her girlish smile, the way she dressed, the way she defied him by addressing him like they were equals, the way she dared talk back to him feigning respect that was, in reality, treating him with familiarity. Everything about her irked him, especially the way she smelled. It was quite hard to describe her scent. There was a hint of something familiar that was overpowered by something strange. He growled at the thought and wanted nothing better than to chase it from his head.

Sesshoumaru wanted to scream.

 

Why did his brother showed a certain liking to this girl again? How could he like her if she was annoying? Sesshoumaru then quickly realized that so was his brother. Perhaps, it was her infuriating attributes that kept InuYasha's in check.

 

Bounding from tree to tree, he sniffed the air to pinpoint the whelp's location. To this point, InuYasha's scent was weak as was his aura. Sesshoumaru decided to stop near the shrine; putting his nose again to the air he did pick up two very familiar scents. From his perch, he noticed very little activity at the shrine despite his nose telling him different. He bounded further for a closer look, following the scents. Finally, landing in a tree overlooking the courtyard. It did not take long to see the monk sweeping the yard of fallen leaves.

 

Perhaps, he should ask him where InuYasha could be found? Sesshoumaru mulled over as he looked around searching for the source of the other scent. To his annoyance, it belonged to the kitsune, another one of InuYasha's pesky friends. Where was he?

 

There! Not far from where the monk labored, the red-haired fox child played with his toys, unaware that the InuYoukai was nearby watching them. By the manner they went about, their guard was completely down; if Sesshoumaru wanted he could attack them right now without them knowing what hit them. He would tear the monk the shreds and stomp the child to ribbons. No! He abruptly shook his head.

 

That would be risky. In the past, he had paid dearly for underestimating the monk.

 

He noticed they were alone. To his surprise, he could not sense the priestess nor the other woman, the taijiya. And to add insult to injury, neither did he sense InuYasha. Disappointed, he determined that there was no point on sticking around if InuYasha was not there to indulge his fancy. Of course, he could start a fight with the monk but he doubted the monk had the endurance or resistance to survive the fight. Anyway, it was beneath him to lower his standards. Sesshoumaru was a warrior not a bandit.

 

It was time to head back to camp but when he was about to, the kitsune broke the silence between him and the monk.

 

“Hey, Miroku!” called the kit.

 

The monk stopped working, wiping the sweat from his brow and answered, “Yes, Shippou, what is it?”

 

“When is Kagome coming back? She promised she'd be back with treats.”

 

The monk hesitated for a moment and then replied, “In the evening, I suppose. You know how important her tests are to her so do not be miffed if she arrives later than that.”

 

“Oh,” muttered the fox demon, looking down upon the top in his tiny hands, and then, “When's InuYasha coming?”

 

Sesshoumaru's ears perked.

 

“Tomorrow,” answered the monk.

 

To that, Sesshoumaru arched one delicate eyebrow.

 

Tomorrow?

 

“Oh,” Sesshoumaru noticed the disappointment in the fox-child's voice.

 

Slightly dragging the broom behind him, the monk walked towards the child with a smile in his eyes and humor in his voice, “My, my, Shippou,” he said, sitting next to the kitsune, “and I thought you would be greatly relieved with InuYasha gone.”

 

“And Sango and Kirara won't be back the day after tomorrow,” Shippou sighed exasperation and mumbled, “Everyone has something to do,” he reflected.

 

“I have a good idea.”

 

“Is it any good?” the child asked, still looking down on his toy.

 

“We could wait over by the well, if you like?” Miroku suggested, hoping to put Shippou at ease.

 

“What's the use, Kagome won't be here until nightfall.”

 

“True, true, but at least it would help untangle the anxiety in our stomachs.” Shippou eyed him. “But, then again, I guess you are right,” with that said, the monk stood up and decided to continue with his chores. The kit, on the other hand, collected his toys and scampered off.

 

“So, InuYasha does not return until tomorrow,” Sesshoumaru mused as he stayed hidden in his perch among the foliage of the trees. “Hmmm? Arrive from where?”

 

For an instant, he thought he would reveal himself and ask the monk himself the whereabouts of his brother—the monk was not too far from his sights. But when he thought about it, he determined to shake the idea abruptly from his brain, refraining himself from asking the holy man.

 

The monk, he thought, did not look like much of a threat to him but the knowledge of him possessing that cursed vortex in the palm of his hand made Sesshoumaru cautious enough not to approach him. Perhaps, he surmised, it would be better to ask the girl, instead. If he had heard right, which he did, she was expected to arrive later in the evening. The monk said something about waiting by the well.

 

He scanned the area to see if he could see one.

 

He would have to search for it, which should not prove difficult for his superior senses. Suddenly, the prospect of asking InuYasha's wench made him feel quite uneasy. He would never admit that.

 

Expectantly, the well had seen better days; Sesshoumaru quirked an eyebrow upon concluding that it was not much to look at. Another relic. Since the day they first met, the day he sought out InuYasha concerning the whereabouts of Tetsusaiga, the priestess irked him. She continued irking him even afterwards.

 

InuYasha's other companions were bothersome but not as much as the miko. Even the other one, the taijiya, was far more tolerable than his brother's wench. She knew proper respect and kept her distance. She never spoke to him out of turn and kept a civil tongue in her head; she was strong and well skilled for a demon-slaying human—she knew when to back down when the proper authority was present. What was her name again?

 

He decided that it did not matter.

 

He would wait here until the miko decided to grace him with her presence. He would demand she reveal the brat's location. And if she proved obstinate—which he was hoping she would—he would slash the life out of her. To that, he thought, Sesshoumaru looked forward to.

 

The corners of his mouth curved slightly heavenward.

 

The monk mentioned that she would arrive sometime in the evening. Much to his annoyance, he would have to wait. Without hesitation, Sesshoumaru quickly chose a tree to sit under in wait of the girl. It was shady enough to protect him from the heat; it had the most leaves.

 

He went over and relaxed under it, making sure to get comfortable enough to endure his wait and not too comfortable so that he could detect her arrival. The well was directly in sight. He glared at it. There was something definitely odd about it. If she was supposed to pass this point, he discerned that she came from the opposite direction. Although, he knew of no nearby village that housed miko with her kind of attire-- her very indecent attire.

 

That was a mystery he would have to unravel at a later time.

 

On that thought, Sesshoumaru lay back against the trunk and closed his gold-colored eyes. The light was bothering him again—more than before. Perhaps, this was due to his lack of sleep. But when did he ever sleep? Sesshoumaru massaged his right temple in a clockwise direction to chase away the semblance of a slight throb.

 

Lately, nightmares had plagued his rest, forcing him to wake up in cold sweat. Thinking back on it, he could not remember what they were about. However, they did leave a feeling of foreboding. He remembered his breathing exercises…inhale and exhale…inhale and…He slowly expelled air from his lungs in attitude of meditation. Clipping the bridge of his nose, he clamped his eyes shut trying to reduce the irritation done to them. For the first time in a long time, he felt anxious.

 

Something was wrong.

 

 

It was close to nightfall when Sesshoumaru finally stirred from his nap to see the girl standing at the edge of the well hoisting up that ugly, yellow carrying pack to her back. It was pregnant with, what he discerned, a plethora of supplies. There was food in its content with other things that smelled strangely of flowers. He observed her as she fixed her strange green and white temple robes.

 

Definitely, he thought, it was very indecent.

He knew of places where she would have been stoned to death for exposing her flesh like that. He shook his head; he was not going to get sidetracked from the business at hand. It was time to interrogate her. Reluctantly, he rose from his position and sauntered towards her in the dark.