InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Quadrangle ❯ Belonging ( Chapter 7 )

A/N: Thanks for all of the feedback. I read and love each and every review! And now that I've clawed my way out of the purgatory of unpaid overtime (thanks to Dilbert for naming that limbo land where my time is silently devoured), here's the next installment…

 

Disclaimer: Inuyasha et al belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

 

Chapter 7 - Belonging

 

A deathly quiet gripped the familiar field; even the wind was momentarily hushed. Kagome's heart constricted, `Not again…'

 

She hardly had time to take a breath before tentacles twisted around her ankles and up her calves. She screamed, kicking a leg as she tried to notch an arrow to her bow, but they pulled her off balance. The bow flew out of her hands and into the brown grasses that kowtowed in the rising wind, hissing and whispering their condolences. She hit the ground as the tentacles jerked her forward, the air knocked out of her by the force of the impact. The back of her head hit a rock and the world lurched sickeningly for a moment, the cloudless blue sky turning in on itself then belching a great torrent of inky, starless black.

 

Kagome could only watch in horror, her limbs immobilized by countless tentacles that twined around her, heavy, putrid air filling her mouth and lungs to that point that breathing was painful and screaming was impossible. Craning her neck, she searched for her friends but not even Inuyasha's red and silver form could be seen. She was alone.

 

The tentacles slithered around her legs, arms, waist, shredding her school uniform as they sought purchase on her skin and dragged her toward the hulking monstrosity rising out of the grass; it's spiny legs were extensions of the unnatural night that had fallen over the meadow. She struggled to inhale, choking and coughing on noxious fumes until her throat was raw and gray fog crept into the edges of her vision. Twin points of light appeared and bored into her, growing larger as she was pulled toward them, that laugh cutting into her, lacerating her as surely as if it had been a knife.

 

“What's the matter, miko?” the rich voice taunted as the eyes drew closer. She could feel the heat of them on her bare skin, their path traced by the tentacles on her flesh. An enormous spider's leg fell out of the sky, stopping just short of impaling her heart and resting against her left breast. Coarse hairs grazed against her skin as it pushed away the remains of her blouse, leaving her in nothing but her bra from the waist up. She moaned and turned her head to the side, refusing to let her opponent see the fear in her eyes.

 

“Where is it?” an edge of annoyance crushed the soft velvet of the voice as the leg pawed at her chest.

 

“Look at me!” he hissed, and another leg slammed into the ground next to her face, forcing her to turn her head. She clenched her eyes shut; she may not be able to move the rest of her body but hell if she were going to do as it said!

 

The creature shrieked, reminiscent of a teakettle at boiling point, and her eyes popped open as two yellow suns and a curtain of silver hair obscured her field of vision.

 

She gasped awake, still struggling against the bonds on her wrists, kicking violently with legs that were suddenly free.

 

“Subdue her legs!” a new voice spoke above her, melodic and commanding but lacking the viciousness of her dream. A soft weight settled on her feet, hugging them instead of binding them, and she quieted, opening her eyes to pre-dawn dimness in the hut in which she'd been sleeping.

 

“I'm okay now,” she panted, exhausted despite her long sleep. How could she get any rest when she was fighting demons waking and sleeping? `At least he came to rescue me this time,' she thought as she smiled into the golden eyes above her. His aura pulsed against hers, imparting a calm on her hammering heart, his hands relaxing their hold on her wrists, almost cradling them as if they were reluctant to release her. Small paws rubbed her shins though the kimono, warm and reassuring.

 

Sleep stole over her quickly as she luxuriated in being wanted and cared for. Dimly, she wondered where the feeling had been for so long before peaceful slumber claimed her.

 

Sesshomaru watched the girl sleep from his seat against the wall, a pastime he was finding more engrossing than he'd ever believed possible. Thankfully, her nightmare had only woken her kit; the rest of the humans had remained ignorant of her internal struggle and even the brief tussle when she had awoken. He could still see the smile she had given him, befuddled with sleep but stunning, all the more so because it had been just for him. What would he do to see that smile again? The question worried and intrigued him at the same time.

 

He did not like these dreams she had; they scared her like nothing else. Even now, over an hour after she'd fallen asleep again, the scent of her fear hung thick in the air. He thought it odd that a mere dream could frighten her more than he had when they faced off the first time. For a human, she'd put up a fierce battle against whatever was lurking in her unconscious mind and him in those first few moments of waking. She was regaining her strength and spirit.

 

He stared at her for another hour, his hanyou ears catching the faint sounds of nocturnal animals retiring and humans stirring in their sleep, preparing to rouse with the coming sun. The scent of dew ready to form wafted through the hut's entrance, sweet and subtle.

 

His mind was made up. It was time to go.

 

With a gentle nudge of his foot, Rin blinked awake, yawning hugely and stumbling to her feet but not questioning him. She, in turn, jostled Shippo awake, placing a finger against her lips to signal the need for silence. He nodded, wide-eyed but uncomplaining. He had suspected something like this and was glad that they weren't going to leave him behind. As if he would've allowed himself to be left. Gesturing to Kagome's backpack, he signed to Rin that they should take it with them and between the two of them, got the deceptively heavy bag out the door.

 

Sesshomaru gathered the sleeping miko into his arms and slipped out of the hut without a whisper, immediately launching into the air so as not to give the humans any clue to his direction. Ah-Un rose into the air behind him with the pups on his back, both holding tightly to a yellow bag.

 

XxxxxxxxxX

 

Kagome watched the hanyou snuffling delicately, his nostrils flared wide with an agitated expression puckering the skin between his eyebrows.

 

“You know,” she started helpfully, “Inuyasha just gets down on the ground and sniffs the dirt.”

 

Sesshomaru ignored her, continuing to scent the air as he took several steps in one direction, backtracked, then repeated the process in another. She sighed heavily from her seat on the boulder, drawing up her knees and wrapping her arms around them, working up the courage to ask the stoic dog-demon the question that had been plaguing her since she'd woken in his arms, flying through the air.

 

The only real reason she'd waited this long was because Shippo was with her and didn't seem the least concerned; happy, in fact. She'd figured the rest of her friends were somewhere behind them. However, they hadn't made an appearance for the rest of the day and she was beginning to get worried.

 

“Um, Sesshomaru-sama,” she began again, but the demon made no indication that he'd heard her. “Where are Sango and Miroku?”

 

“They were a hindrance. We left them in the village.”

 

“A hindrance to what?” He gave her a bored glance before returning to the task at hand. Kagome harrumphed and glared off into the trees. He was as impossible as his brother. “Then why bring me? I'm weak and useless compared to Kikyou. You should go get her instead.”

 

`Is that what she really believes?' he wondered. It was her arrow that destroyed Naraku, not Kikyou's, her strength that his brother had used to gain power and learn Tetsusaiga's attacks, her spirit around which her pack rallied. “You are not weak, for a human, and this Sesshomaru does not waste time on useless things.”

 

“Take me back to my friends, please, Sesshomaru-sama.”

 

“No.”

 

“But why not?”

 

He was not comfortable with the question, so he chose not to answer it. He'd indulged her enough, anyway.

 

Kagome, however, wasn't done. “What are you going to do with me?” Her desperation mounted as the silence stretched out. She had no bows or arrows, she was still too weak to travel on her own, what could she do? Telltale moisture pricked the back of her eyes and she hugged herself tighter, silently scolding herself not to cry.

 

There were the tears again, but this time, he was the cause, but he couldn't (or wouldn't) answer that question, not out loud. “That is none of your concern.”

 

“What? It very much concerns me!”

 

“I will not hurt you.”

 

Her scowl deepened, her lower lip protruding in the most fascinating manner. He no longer smelled salt water but he could tell that she didn't believe him and that bothered him. He abandoned his task and walked in front of her, staring down impassively. “I promise that I will not hurt you.”

 

“Yeah, I've had enough of inuyoukai promises.”

 

Her words stung him, the caustic tone of her voice so out of place with her cheery smile and gentle eyes. “Do not mistake me for my brother.”

 

She looked up at him, surprised; she'd hurt him. Her expression softened as she stared into his eyes, feeling almost trapped, immobile and breathless in the pale amber of his gaze. `Is this how insects feel when they land, unsuspecting, into tree sap? Will someone find me centuries later, a petrified Kagome encased in his eyes?'

 

“I think I need to lie down,” she said huskily, rubbing her arms as if chilled and looking back down at the ground.

 

He nodded curtly, resuming his search for the scent trail that eluded him but finding himself unable to concentrate. More than once, he felt the miko's eyes on him, her gaze a physical entity, though each time he glanced at her, she appeared to be sleeping, her head propped on her arms. Finally, he gave up and glided back over to the being that invaded his thoughts. She was, indeed, asleep and breathing deeply

 

XxxxxxxxX

 

Inuyasha lounged against the wall of the shrine, his eyes resting on the miko meditating before a low alter, the chain on which hung the Jewel of Four Souls twined through her clasped fingers. She had been meditating for two days now, which made four since he'd left his group, they who'd become his family. Strange how he much missed Miroku's lecherous hand, Shippo's whining, and he really missed being sat. It was masochistic, perhaps, but he'd give just about anything to hear Kagome's voice, strident in anger, subduing the stuffing out of him, if only because it meant that she was near.

 

He didn't understand how could have what he wanted most, Kikyou and the jewel, and yet feel so hollow. The emptiness was consuming him, like blind maggots in a corpse, devouring the guts until they writhed under the skin, giving the dead a false semblance of life until the skin ruptured, spilling forth the hurt, betrayal, sorrow. He thought he'd become numb to this feeling; he'd lived with it so long. It wasn't until he'd met Kagome that he'd felt accepted, at peace, like he had a home. He was lonely and Kikyou could not fill the void, wouldn't even try.

 

Kikyou's soft voice murmured in prayer, rising and falling in a steady rhythm that lulled the mind; rendering the words themselves meaningless. He loved this woman but no longer wanted or needed her. He looked at her and saw Kagome, smelled her and was repulsed by the earth and clay that made up her body. Each rebellion by his body and mind made him guiltier, for he had promised to protect her, follow her into Hell, if that's what the fates determined. And yet, he had promised Kagome, too, but left her.

 

The others had better protect her and keep his brother's hands off of her until he could return. He had made a mistake by leaving. He only hoped that he could fix it.

 

XxxxxxxxX

 

What was in the bag that she carried everywhere? Sesshomaru was suddenly overwhelmed with curiosity as he recalled the strange food that she fed the group, the odd material they were packaged in, her vast knowledge of healing, and the bizarre and indecent way she dressed. What kind of secrets did this brightly colored bag hold? After casting a quick glance to the two sleeping females curled against Ah-Un, he leaned over, dragging it to him by one of its long straps and fiddled with the clasp. When it didn't open immediately, he simply tore the flimsy piece of material to which it was attached.

 

“Uh… Sesshomaru-sama,” Shippo watched him with wary, concerned eyes from his cocoon in Kagome's arms. “I don't think Kagome would like you going through her stuff. The last time Inuyasha tried it, he got sat into next year.”

 

Sesshomaru ignored him and pulled out the first item his hand hit: a hardbound book. The cover was painted with a picture of a human body without its skin, showing the muscles, bones, and connective tissue beneath. Idly, he flipped through it, irritated that the characters were so outlandishly written that he could barely decipher them and he only understood about half the words. The paintings were grotesque, showing detailing of the human body in intimacy that he had never wanted to know. Was she studying torture methodologies? Couldn't be; she'd referenced this book when she'd been treating his back. He tossed it aside in disgust. She could explain that later.

 

The next couple of items he recognized as food containers, though slightly different that what she had given him the night he'd turned human.

 

“Ninja food,” Shippo piped up helpfully, having scooted out of his den and was now sitting not too far away, watching Sesshomaru with avid interest. He knew candy would come out of there sooner or later, and if it was Sesshomaru who took it out, then he wouldn't be to blame if he ate it, right?

 

“Hn.” He reached back in and pulled out two smooth bottles that immediately filled the air with their chemical perfume. `She takes these with her when she bathes,' he noted to himself. The scent was much too strong in these bottles, but on her, the gentle aroma of flowers and herbs was acceptable, though he would have preferred that she use the actual flowers. He made another mental note to discuss it with her.

 

Shippo was at his side the moment he brought a slick bag out of the depths, hopping from one foot to the other. Sesshomaru gave him a bored stare but handed him the bag, recognizing the `lollipops' that Rin and Shippo so loved. Gingerly, Shippo took the sack and dug out two of the prized treats.

 

“One for Rin when she wakes up,” Shippo explained as he tucked the second into his vest and zestfully tore into the first.

 

Sesshomaru nodded. The next item he extracted had him baffled. A small, soft blue box made of rigid paper: no pictures and the bright yellow name painted across the front held no meaning. He tore off the top and upended it, surprised when several paper-wrapped tubes fell into the ground, followed by a folded sheet of paper.

 

“Oooh, what's this?” Shippo held up one of the tubes and examined it by moonlight. He'd seen the box before, briefly, but never what was inside. She always kept this one hidden at the bottom of her bag and since it didn't smell like candy, he hadn't really cared.

 

Sliding a claw through the flimsy paper, Sesshomaru revealed two tubes of that marvelous stiff paper, one tube slightly larger than the other and positioned end-on-end. A small string came the top of the smaller tube and he tugged on it, not surprised when it came apart. Now he holding a wad of cotton with one of the tubes spinning slowly on the string, trapped by the cotton. He could see no purpose for such a strange object, and yet she had several of them.

 

Shippo had unfolded the piece of paper and was now examining it, the lollipop stick hanging loosely from his mouth. Sesshomaru snatched it away and held it up to the wan moonlight. Most of the text was much too small to bother reading. It was the picture that arrested his attention. He turned it over a couple of times to be sure he had it right-side-up, despite the fact the words should indicate it. What was he looking at? It couldn't be…

 

Kagome's strangled shriek startled him, but not as much as when she tore the paper out of his hands and gathered the white tubes back into the box, her face beet red and her eyes snapping with outrage.

 

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow, amused by her gumption and the rise of color in her face. She stood and stared down at him, clutching the box to her chest and almost panting with indignation. Opening her mouth several times, then closing it, his lack of reaction only seemed to infuriate her more.

 

“How dare you paw through my stuff?!”

 

“How dare I?” he said slowly. “What is this `stuff'?” he dangled the piece of cotton on the rope and had to hide a smirk as she squeaked, her flush deepening, though he hardly believed it was possible. She snatched it away and he let her, enjoying her acute embarrassment.

 

“It's…it's personal!”

 

So, his guess had been right, despite the crudeness of diagram. It was intolerable that she would use such things; at least she had the decency to be embarrassed by them. “You are not to use those and will dispose of them immediately.”

 

“Sesshomaru…” she ground out.

 

He recognized that tone and the lack of honorific had not gone unnoticed. His amusement rapidly faded. “Do not say it,” he warned.

 

“Osuwari!”

 

He hit the ground hard, despite his already close proximity to it. Digging his claws into the soft earth, he growled through a mouthful of dirt, “Bitch, you will do as you're told.”

 

Kagome gasped in outrage, her hands shaking as she fought against the urge to throw to box at the arrogant demon at her feet. How she wanted to lash out, but pelting him with tampons would not be very satisfying in the long run. “Osuwari! Who do you think you are, telling me what to do?”

 

Shippo edged away. As much as he wanted to help his adopted mother, she belonged to Sesshomaru and they had to work this out. Oh, he wouldn't let the dog demon hurt her, but his interference right now would not help anyone.

 

Sesshomaru pulled against the spell that held him to the ground, jerking upright when it finally released him and looming over the furious miko. “You belong to me.”

 

“I do not belong to you or anyone else! Osu-“

 

He clapped a hand over her mouth, pulling her roughly against him so that she couldn't get away and say the word again. She struggled briefly, dropping the small box in the process. At the sight of its contents scattered in the dirt, she sagged against him in defeat. She couldn't remember a time when she'd been more humiliated, at least, not in the recent past. Inuyasha seeing her naked had always been embarrassing, sure, but she'd also gotten a little thrill out of it, especially when his eyes would lock onto her breasts and his face would shoot up in flame. But this was different; she felt dirty, for some illogical reason. Hell, she wasn't even comfortable buying them at the drug store, always trying to hide them with other items she didn't necessarily need and picking the female cashier, even if her line was the longest and slowest!

 

`Get a grip, Kagome, you're almost twenty! You're acting like a child!' But it was Sesshomaru who had been pillaging her knapsack, Sesshomaru who had tossed around her tampons. Now he was telling her she couldn't use them, which meant he'd figured out what they were used for, and saying that she belonged to him! She whined softly in the back of her throat, distraught by the weirdness of it all.

 

Loosening his grip, Sesshomaru rumbled his approval of her perceived submission. Apparently, he would have to explain to her their situation. He shouldn't care whether or not she used the vile little plugs, but he did, so she would not. She had to understand that she was his and that while courage and defiance could be entertaining, outright disobedience was unacceptable.

 

“No more of that,” he warned quietly. She sighed against his hand, her warm breath tickling his palm, and then nodded. She stepped away from him when he released her, her back straight and her hands fisted at her sides, her eyes glittering with countless osuwaris though she bit them back and refused to look at him.

 

“I'm not a piece of property,” she muttered. She hated being treated like an object. First Kouga, with his `my woman' crap, and without even asking her! And Inuyasha, though he didn't come out and say it, was possessive of her and jealous of attention that she showed other men. Now Sesshomaru? What did she do that prompted demons to try to own her? She really wanted to know so that she could stop doing it!

 

“I did not say that you were.”

 

Kagome blinked rapidly, confusion knitting her eyebrows. “You just said-“

 

“Perhaps the word has a different connotation in the human language than it does for youkai,” he allowed, irritated that his half-brother had not bothered to explain youkai relationships. Then again, he might not understand them enough to voice them. Possessiveness and protectiveness were instinctual; the meaning behind the actions was not. He almost sighed; he was not used to being questioned and didn't particularly like it, but the at the first hint of salt that tickled his nose, he decided that he would make an exception, this once.

 

“I suppose you could say… you are a part of my pack; your care is my responsibility; no other male can touch you. I am alpha and you will submit. These make it so until they are gone.” He brushed his claws over his bite marks on her neck, pleased that she didn't flinch or jerk away.

 

“Oh,” she couldn't think of anything else to say. Put that way, it didn't sound quite so bad, and hadn't he just said it was temporary? A twinge of disappointed tightened in her chest and she pushed it away impatiently. She didn't want to belong to Sesshomaru indefinitely, what was she thinking? She loved Inuyasha! Though it was nice to not be constantly insulted or harassed and she felt safe with him, more comfortable than she had in a long time.

 

Was this what Inuyasha had tried to do when he'd almost bitten her? But why had he stopped? `Because he doesn't want you, silly girl. He wants Kikyou, remember?' she chided herself. `Right, he wants Kikyou. He's probably bitten her all over, by now. Wait a minute…'

 

“Why did you-“

 

“This Sesshomaru has answered enough questions for tonight. Suffice it to say that it was necessary.”

 

“But-“

 

Kami, but she was an impudent little thing. “Woman, this Sesshomaru does not repeat himself.”

 

“Osuwari,” she shot back, but Sesshomaru, determined not to be sat, had his hand back over her mouth just as she finished saying it. To Kagome's credit, she hadn't expected him to try to prevent her. After all, she'd been using that spell for four years and it had become an ingrained habit when she was angry. So, when they both hit the ground, cheek-to-cheek, his weight crushing the breath from her, she was more than surprised.

 

“Get off,” she wheezed, trying to wiggle away, but he was heavy and the rosary had him held fast. He growled, vibrating her body with its intensity and making her squirm harder. “Can't breath!”

 

Sesshomaru growled louder, sliding his arms to her sides, trapping them so that she couldn't move quite so much. He wanted to remind her that she had done this and that he couldn't move until the spell released him, but he was incapable of speech. Each wriggle was pushing him closer to the edge of where coherent thought ended and instinct began. He had to admit that, of all the sittings she had doled out, this one was almost fun.

 

Kagome flushed as he moved above her, pressing against things he had no business touching. As his growls escalated and her movements were restricted, she fought harder against him and against herself. His proximity was too intoxicating, sending darting shards of fire through her blood. When she felt his knees straddle her hips, she said the first thing that came to mind, “Osuwari!”

 

His face hit her chest, a big improvement from the hard ground, but not easy on his already frayed control. The air rushed out of her lungs, leaving her dazed and momentarily stunned. He took the opportunity to capture her wrists and pin them to the ground before she could start writhing again. His movement seemed to wake her and she immediately started flailing her legs. Muscles taut and straining against the subduing spell, he heaved himself up her body and did what any male would do to his fractious female; he sunk his teeth into her neck, reinforcing the scent-mark and his dominance.

 

She went limp, whining in the back of her throat at the feel of his lips on her skin, his hard muscles bunching and flexing through his clothes. With each passing second her body ached more, centering at her core. She didn't understand it, she didn't want it to stop, but she felt as if she were teetering on a high precipice. On the ledge was loss and betrayal but over the edge…the unknown. It scared her.

 

As her struggles ceased, his blood receded, leaving him in control. Satisfied that his point had been taken, Sesshomaru pulled his teeth from her neck and pushed himself up with his hands, staring down at her impassively. At least he now had a weapon against the hated subduing spell; simply get close enough to bring her down with him. It was interesting for him and despite the fit she'd thrown, he could tell from her scent that she'd liked it, too. “I said, no more of that.”

 

Blushing, Kagome nodded, looking anywhere but his eyes and was distressed to realize that, more often than not, she ended up staring at his lips. She blushed harder, half-heartedly trying to extricate her wrists from his grasp.

 

Barely containing a smirk, he followed the path of her eyes, watched as color suffused her face, listened as her heart tap-danced in her chest. She was a bewitching creature, her innocence a web that ensnared him as surely as chains, as insidiously as spider's silk. `Like your father and brother, you are falling under a mortal's spell,' his inner voice warned. `No. I will not walk their paths and perish at the hands of human female.'

 

Blood beaded at his bite mark and he shook himself, lowering his head to seal the small wounds. Her face turned toward his as if drawn on a thread; the tips of their lips touching before either knew what had happened. Frozen in the chastest of kisses, eyes locked in mutual surprise, they lay still for a long moment. With the gentlest pressure, Sesshomaru sealed the kiss and then released her lips, tilting her chin to the side so that he could tend to her neck. Just once, his tongue rasped over her throat and her eyes fluttered closed, then it and his warm, heavy weight were gone. No longer held to the ground, she scrambled to her feet and shoved the rest of her belongings in her book bag, her attention fixed on the ground. Retreating to her bedroll next to Ah-Un and Rin, she curled up with her back to the tai-youkai on the other side of the campsite.

 

`Did he just kiss me?' Kagome brushed her lips with her fingertips, the gossamer caress of his lips still lingering despite the brevity. `No, you twit, you kissed him.' She gasped, squeezing her eyes shut against the truth. `I didn't mean to! What kind of a girl am I? One little rejection and I kiss anything that moves?'

 

`It wasn't just one rejection, though, was it? It was the final slap in the face after years of emotional blows. Maybe-' Kagome shut out the nagging little voice with a frustrated grunt and huddled deeper in her sleeping bag, careful not to wake Rin curled up next to her. She didn't want to rationalize her guilt; by kissing Sesshomaru, she was no better than Inuyasha.

 

Sesshomaru's ears twitched as the woman almost growled and tossed in her bedroll. `You kissed the human.'

 

`As is my right,' Sesshomaru reminded his conscience irritably.

 

Shippo appeared by his side, solemnly sucking on his candy and eyeing the mound of sleeping bag. An emerald eye slid toward him, appraising and worldly. “She likes star-gazing,” he said under his breath.

 

“This Sesshomaru does not care.”

 

Shrugging, Shippo crunched the last of his lollipop, tossed away the stick and wandered over to Kagome, crawling into the bag with her. Rin sighed in her sleep and snuggled in closer, smiling contentedly as Kagome adjusted to her small form. Even Ah-Un looked cozy, his heads propped on his paws and his tail forming a protective circle around the group.

 

Suddenly feeling left out, Sesshomaru huffed at his own frivolity. `To think that this Sesshomaru would be envious of the sleeping arrangements of lesser beings!' But they did look comfortable…nevermind. He glared over his shoulder into the dark forest.