InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Silver-Haired Beauty ❯ "I think dad's mad..." ( Chapter 6 )

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Miroku and Sango laughed heartily as Shippo danced in a perfect imitation of the wolf prince Kouga dressed like Inuyasha. The monk and exterminator had dropped by the cottage to check on their friends, only to find the hanyou out on patrol and the girl back in her world for 'finals'. Shippo had invited them in though, and proved himself to be a most capable little host.

The mood inside the cottage was light and festive, until Inuyasha burst through the door with the battered body of Kuroi in his arms and death gleaming coldly in his eyes.

"Inuyasha! What happened?" Leaping to their feet, they quickly appraised the girl's appearance. Her hair was a mess, her face was dirty and a dark bruise could be seen on her jaw. In addition to that, her clothes were shredded and bloodied across her arms and legs. Kuroi's lower extremities were no better since they were also scratched up and red as blood oozed from dozens of shallow cuts criss-crossing up and down them.

Holding a hand to her mouth, Sango stared in disbelief. "What happened to her?" Moving out of the way as the hanyou strode through towards the bedroom, she and Miroku followed when they received no answer. They both hit a solid obstacle when Inuyasha stopped suddenly.

"Get the first aid kit from the kitchen. It's on the shelf by the window." His voice was thick and brooked no argument. Nodding to Sango go in the room, Miroku went to fetch the kit.

Entering the room with the tense and silent hanyou, Sango wished she was the one who had gone for the kit. The taijiya watched without a word as her friend proceeded to disrobe the limp woman and check over her cuts and bruises. Sango could only marvel at the way his hands moved, 'He's so gentle! I've never seen him like that unless Kagome's hurt.'

When he called her name, she jumped at the sound. "Yes Inuyasha?" To the side of the bed, he was clenching and unclenching his hand next to Kuroi's swollen thigh before managing to choke out his request.

"Can you...could you look? Please. I can't smell it, but…" he stopped and tried again, "I don't think...I don't know if I can handle that." He averted his eyes from the girl and waited, breathing in sharp ragged bursts.

Comprehension dawned swift and painful as Sango moved quickly to complete the task. A quick peek revealed a lack of bruising or blood. "He didn't...that is, she wasn't." From the way Inuyasha's breath caught in a small keening cry, she knew he'd been afraid Kuroi that had been raped.

"Thank you Sango." Squeezing her hand once, he moved to drape a blanket across the prone chest and hips.

Miroku came in and quickly averted his gaze at Kuroi's state of undress, but held out the kit. "Here Inuyasha. Is there anything else you need?"

"Warm water."

Once again, the words were short and thick. Sango moved closer to him as Miroku left to fulfill the latest task. From what she could see, the wounds looked worse than they actually were. The ones on the jaw and the deep laceration on her hand seemed to be the only serious injuries.

"She doesn't appear to be too badly hurt Inuyasha. If I'm right, Kuroi should be awake in the morning and fine in a few days." Opening the kit, Sango took out some of the bandages and antiseptics to use on the girl. A clawed hand on her wrist stopped her.

"Please watch over her Sango. When she wakes up, tell her it'll be alright." Laying the back of his hand gently against Kuroi's unblemished cheek, Inuyasha rose and headed for the door.

In the middle of daubing a cut, Sango could only call after him, "Wait! Where are you going?" the reply came back cold and deadly.

"To kill my brother."

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The tea had really helped. Felling relaxed and calm, Yamatsu laid back down and closed his eyes. Maybe now he could get some sleep.

An explosion rocked the mansion, followed by the panicked screams of servant and shouts of guards running around in the confusion.

Maybe not.

As he hastily pulled on his armor and grabbed a sword, he growled, "I am getting too old for this shit!"

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"SESSHOMARU!!!" Punching his way past the guards blocking the gate, Inuyasha used the Kaze no Kizu to blow the barricade apart. Stalking over the debris and bodies as he went into the empty courtyard, he threw back his head and howled. "SESSHOMARU!!!"

"What do you want little brother? It is late and we were trying to sleep." Floating down from the rooftop, Sesshomaru regarded his brother with open disdain.

"Sleep?!" crackling with unbridled rage, Inuyasha flew at his brother, "How the fuck can you sleep after what you did?!" Swinging the Tetsuaiga, he tried to cut the other man in half. His brother dodged the wild blow easily.

"My, my little brother. You are still swinging that sword around as though it were a stick. I would have thought you'd have learned how to wield it properly by now." An effortless backhand sent Inuyasha crashing into the nearest wall. Sesshomaru sneered, "It is worthless in your hands half-breed."

"As if you'd know how to treat something precious?!" Pulling himself from the rubble, Inuyasha roared and charged again. "You can't even keep your filthy hands to yourself! KAZE NO KIZU!"

The blades of cutting light ripped up the ground as they went, shattering the front of the house before dispersing. Sesshomaru evaded them again. "As much as I enjoy pummeling you into the ground little brother, what exactly are you talking about?"

Braced for his next swing, Inuyasha snarled, "As if you don't know!?! I found her after you got through with her! You're always spouting off about how superior you are to everyone around you." Leaping straight up above his brother's position, he let the Kaze no Kizu fly as he yelled, "But even the great Sesshomaru is nothing but a beater of defenseless women!"

Stunned immobile by the accusation, Sesshomaru got hit by the edge of a wave of energy. It lifted him up and knocked him straight through the roof and two solid stone walls. He managed to pull himself up just as his father rounded the corner. Yamatsu took a look at his son.

"What the hell hit you?"

"Inuyasha."

"Shit."

"SESSHOMARU!!" The howl sounded from overhead as Inuyasha leapt in, blade ready to rend and tear. Before Sesshomaru could move, Yamatsu placed himself between his eldest child and the rapidly descending blade.

Inuyasha couldn't stop his descent and he was too close to move the blade aside, although he tried. Tetsuaiga came down directly on top of his father's head. Then it slid through his body like fog.

"What?"

Both brothers stared uncomprehendingly at what just happened. Yamatsu snorted in disgust and snatched the sword from his youngest son's numb hands. "It's made out of my tooth, so of course it wouldn't hurt me." Stepping aside, he tapped the flat of the blade against his palm and regarded both his battered children and the extensive destruction of his house. "However, I can and will definitely hurt you."

When Inuyasha opened his mouth, he cut him off with a deep savage snarl, "Both of you come with me now!"

The two young men were shocked speechless as their father grabbed them by the scruff of the neck like a pair of naughty puppies and dragged them away.

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Warm hands were gently washing her arm, soothing away the dull aches. They moved away and something cold stung her. "Ouch!" Pulling her arm against her chest, Kuroi opened her eyes and instantly regretted it. 'Damned dirt's still in them.' Rubbing at the tears forming, she stopped when she felt something wrapped snugly around her hand. Ignoring the burning, she snapped her eyes open. The first thing she saw was Sango.

"Sango? Why are you at the mansion?" Kuroi's voice was understandably hoarse from crying, screaming and the dust she'd swallowed. The young woman in the coral kimono frowned at the question and looked over her shoulder. A handsome face appeared and Miroku smiled benevolently down at the bandaged girl. "Hello Kuroi? Do you remember what happened to you?"

He 'oomphed' as a sharp elbow caught him in the ribs. "Don't ask her that! She probably doesn't want to think about it right now. I wouldn't." Sango helped Kuroi sit up a bit and gave her a cup. After a few long swallows of the cool water, Kuroi looked around her. 'I'm not in the mansion. Where am I?' She asked the last question aloud.

A little body hopped into her lap, gaining her full attention. Shippo, with tears in his enormous eyes hugged her neck wailing, "You're okay! We saw you when Inuyasha brought you here and you looked so bad!! I knew Sesshomaru was a big meanie!!" As Kuroi wrapped her arms around him, she turned to the two silent figures and demanded, "What is going on?"

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"Do you know what I was doing a few moments ago? I was closing my eyes to go to sleep." Entering his study, Yamatsu flung both of his children to opposite sides of the room with a curt 'Sit!' and resealed the barrier around the door. His voice didn't lose its edge of forced cheer as he turned to face them, "Do you know what I'll be doing tomorrow?"

The bright mirthless smile he gave them begged them to guess. When no response was forthcoming, he clasped his hands behind his back and slid enraged eyes between the two before yelling, "I'll be burying my only children and trying to rebuild my house!!"

"He started it!" Jumping to his feet, Inuyasha flexed his claws and prepared to launch himself at his brother's throat. A blow to the back of his head dropped him like a sack of flour.

"I said sit down damn it!!"

"So, you finally show who you feel is worthy after all father." With a smug little laugh, Sesshomaru rose to his feet and prepared to leave. The roundhouse caught him in the stomach and knocked him to the floor beside his brother.

Yamatsu snarled down at him with gleaming amber eyes, "I didn't say you could leave boy, and right now neither of you is worthy of a sack of shit in my book."

Pacing back and forth, Yamatsu struggled to get his instincts under control. The father in him told him to calm down and talk to them like Shinaki had advised, but the youkai in his soul screamed for him to take the heads of the two bastards who had dared to damage what belonged to him.

'Shit, I would kill for a drink right now. Something a lot stronger than tea, definitely.' The thought was welcome as a slight pain flared behind one eye.

"Inuyasha, what in the hell possessed you to come storming in here screaming for your brother like a madman?"

'That's good Yamatsu. Breathe and ask questions rationally. Do not tear their throats out. Remember, they haven't given you grandchildren yet. Kill them after someone gets pregnant.' That thought lifted his mood quite nicely.

His youngest snarled and backed towards a corner. "I came here to pay that bastard back for what he did to Kuroi!"

Sesshomaru and Yamatsu both stared at him blankly. Despite the few fading scratches from their 'argument', the sneer came back to mar the perfect beauty. "She did that to herself little brother. I had no hand in it."

"The fuck she did! I saw her!!" Inuyasha fisted his hand hard enough to draw blood. "She was filthy and covered with blood and claw marks." Glaring at his father, he hissed, "How can you stand there and defend someone who would beat a woman?"

Thoughts of carnage warred with images of potential descendants as the older lord courted slowly to ten. Both of the conflicting musing ground to a halt as Yamatsu tried to sort the accusation out. "Wait. What are you talking about? Kuroi was a little upset, but no touched her."

Steel sang in the air as a blade was drawn. Cold as reflected sunlight, Sesshomaru's eyes blazed. "How dare you sit there and accuse me of something so base as that!? I will have your head you miserable little cur!" Fluidly ducking his father's outstretched arm, Sesshomaru swept his sword upwards in a motion meant to cleave and utterly disembowel an opponent. It would have worked, except for the hand that appeared around his ankle. It yanked his feet from beneath him and slammed him back towards a corner.

Yamatsu took the other sword as well, 'hw threw it forcefully out into the hall past the barrier that shimmered to let it through and resealed after it passed. Releasing his son, he rubbed a throbbing pain in his head as he paced across the room like a caged beast. "Look you two. Let's try something that might be a bit radical for you both. It's called talking."

"Inuyasha." facing the young man still scowling from his defensive crouch in the corner, Yamatsu asked quickly, "Did Kuroi actually say that Sesshomaru had hit her?"

The growling cut off, replaced by an embarrassed flush. "She didn't have to! She smelled like him and there were claw marks all over her body. Not to mention a lump the size of a goose egg on her jaw that she couldn't have given herself!" Memories of the state of his friend made him start growling again. His brother growled right back. Yamatsu barked and silenced both of them.

Muscled fingers rubbed the older youkai's temple in an effort to remove some of the pain. "Sesshomaru. Did you go near Kuroi after she left dinner?" That spot was really starting to hurt.

Elegantly taking a seat on the floor, Sesshomaru rolled his eyes. "I was taking a bath to wash the wine his beloved Kuroi dumped on me out of my hair. When I heard the explosion, I came back to see what had happened. Surprise! In the middle of chaos, Inuyasha reigns supreme. I never touched Kuroi and I definitely had no interest in going near that psycho again." Rolling his eyes at his brother, he sneered, "I see she wasted no time wandering off to bare her body in your pathetic arms though."

"Why you condescending son of a bitch! I ought to..."

"STOP IT RIGHT NOW!!!" Both brothers froze as their youki senses told them to get very still, very fast.

Squatting in front of the door with his head resting in both hands, Yamatsu said in a low, steady voice. "I am tired, and my head is killing me. I do not want to hear another word out of either one of you unless I ask for it. If you so much as peep, I will tear you apart where you stand and not regret it." Blue and crimson orbs regarded them both as his head came up. "Do I make myself clear?"

They nodded slowly, not daring to speak even if only to respond to the question. Coiling down to the ground, Yamatsu closed his eyes and rubbed uselessly at that spot again. "Inuyasha, smell your brother."

About to refuse the absurd order, Inuyasha reconsidered when the bright demonic gaze fell on him, begging for the first hint of disobedience. 'Shit, the old fart really has slipped over the edge.' Cautiously scooting sideways crablike, so that his dad remained fully in his line of sight, Inuyasha leaned over and sniffed the air around Sesshomaru. Water, soap, faint twinge of wine, but no Kuroi.

He started to say something, but fevered eyes were still watching him with unholy anticipation. His mouth closed with a snap. 'Why the hell did he stop at the West? Shit, if he's like that on the field, dad could have gotten the east, south and north too!' Pulling away slowly, the hanyou scuttled back to his corner.

Yamatsu growled in faint satisfaction. "Sesshomaru. Tell your brother what happened tonight at dinner." Glowing eyes seared the stripling Lord. "Make it quick. Your voices are irritating right now."

Following his brother's example, Sesshomaru slid imperceptibly into a corner as well. When he spoke, his voice betrayed none of the mounting fear he was beginning to feel, "We sat down to eat and Kuroi came in dressed like a hime. She asked if I wanted more wine, then poured it on my head." A snarl encouraged him to speed up the tale. "She screamed, flung food, called me names and left." There was a definite sense of relief coursing through his veins when the snarl died down. Relief and renewed respect. 'Come and hail him enemy and friend alike. He is the Demon Lord of the West!'

In his haste to get dressed, Yamatsu had failed to tie back his hair and it fell in unruly moonlit strands before his face and shoulders, lending him an even more looming air of savagery. He pushed it back with one hand while rolling his head around on his shoulders in an effort to relieve the tension.

Yamatsu rose and pinned his sons down with the force of his glare alone. "The first platter Kuroi threw got deflected back and hit her in the jaw. Hence the bruise. Sesshomaru picked out the kimonos she came dressed in. Hence his scent on her. After she left in a fit of tears, I went to find her but she wasn't on the grounds anymore. I assumed she went home. I guess I was wrong."

Walking languidly over to stand before Inuyasha, he reached down and drew his son up to eye level. "Look boy, you got that temper honestly, so I won't fault you for it. But if you ever come through here like that again, Sesshomaru will be an ONLY child!" he unclenched the hand fisted in the red haori, turning away while the boy landed on his feet and backed up.

Going to the other corner in that same predatory stride, Yamatsu shot out a hand and caught Sesshomaru before he could dash away. "As for you. If you presume in the height of your insufferable arrogance to casually burn Kuroi's things again, you won't get to enjoy the solitude because you'll be joining him!!" He then flung his son aside dismissively and turned away.

Still rubbing his head, Yamatsu took a deep breath and went to the door. A pass of his arm dropped the barrier and he stood aside to allow them to leave.

"Get out of my sight, now. Inuyasha, go home. Sesshomaru, go to your room." As both of them warily exited, he followed close behind, resealing the magical field as he left. Yamatsu clapped a hand on each of their shoulders, and hissed with an air for finality, "I will be awake for the rest of the night. If you two so much as bark at each other within my entire domain between now and dawn, I won't rest until you both are dead." He walked past them calling out a grim, "Good night."

Both brothers watched him leave with a chill in the depths of their hearts.

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Shinaki was admiring the moonbows cast by the waterfalls when she heard a pained whine behind her. Turning, she waited calmly until the large dog came and laid down near her. The blue youkai reached out her hand and stroked the glossy fur on it's head, soothing the painful sounds away.

"I tried to warn you Yama."

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Kagome pulled herself up over the lip of the well with a large smile on her face. Reaching down, she tried to tug her heavy pack up too. She almost brought it to the top, but the bag started sliding at the last moment. A dark soft muzzle shot down and snagged the bag easily, lifting it out and setting it on the ground.

"Kirara?"

The fire cat mewed in welcome. Kagome wondered idly where Inuyasha was. 'He was supposed to meet me here. Oh yeah, he patrols tonight. Maybe he ran into something and is taking care of it?'

"I hope he's okay." Still curious, but not too worried, she climbed on Kirara's broad back and told the cat to take her home.

"Guess what Kirara? I'm out of school for vacation, and after this semester, I graduate for good! Now I won't have to go back so often. Yea!"

"Meow!"

She hugged the neck beneath her affectionately, "Thanks Kirara. I hope the gang is as excited as you are." The lemon and onyx youkai landed outside the cottage and waited until her friend dismounted before turning into her smaller self. Both went inside, one to curl up on a cushion, the other went to the kitchen. Kagome was pleasantly surprised to find Sango there washing dishes.

"Sango? Why are you here?"

Giving a small cry, Sango dropped the dish she'd been washing. It fell back in the water, but she felt for it just to be sure it wasn't broken because Kagome had brought the set back from her time. The girl from the future said it was a cheap collection, but to the taijiya it was exquisitely lovely and she would hate to break any.

"Ah! Kagome, I didn't hear you come in." Drying her hand on a rag, she stepped forward and gave her friend a hug in greeting. "It's so good to have you back."

"Thanks Sango! But where's Inuyasha?" Before the young woman could answer, a crash sounded from the other room.

Leaving to investigate the source, both girls entered the room and beheld the sight at the same time. Miroku was sprawled on the floor sporting a sizable lump, Shippo was by the bed scolding him about his 'wandering hands', and Inuyasha was cradling the bandaged and obviously undressed body of the sleeping Kuroi in his lap while growling possessively at the other two.

All of them looked up when the door opened. Sango slid backwards as a flare of magic shattered the wood in Kagome's grip.

"Somebody had better start talking."

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"I don't mind sleeping in a tree. I like sleeping in a tree. What I don't like is being put out of my own fucking house!" grumbling as he made himself comfortable, Inuyasha cast scathing looks in the direction of the cottage. "She should just trust me and not get so pissed all the time."