InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Silver-Haired Beauty ❯ The Truth About Myself, by Kagome ( Chapter 16 )

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Week Two

Day Seven: Morning

It is strange how one night can change the way you view things. Opening his eyes, Sesshomaru frowned faintly while trying to understand why he felt so…good.

True to his word, after appraising his father of current events, he had called for Midori and ordered her to lay out extra bedding beside her mistress. Once she'd prepared the place and left, to his chagrin, he found himself at a loss. It wasn't that the task was too difficult for him, it was that he did not quite know where to begin.

'Clothing would be the first logical step.' Having found the first footstep on his journey, Sesshomaru had discarded his armor and put it neatly away. The next step was his formal attire. He hesitated about removing the hakama and decided to leave it on.

'We wouldn't want to get too personal Kuroi, now would we?' the joke caught him off guard. 'Did I just make a humorous remark to an unconscious girl? I must be more tired than I thought.' Except that he wasn't tired and he knew it. If anything, he was slightly excited.

Laying down, he propped his head on his hand to look down other in comfort. Kuroi slept on, her features relaxed in sleep and lending her the air of sublime innocence found only in angels.

'If she's innocent, then I'm a dancing idiot.' The silence and darkness lulled him quickly to sleep.

Some time later, he opened his eyes to see Kuroi smiling across from him in the hot spring. 'Dreaming, I have to be dreaming.'

"Of course you are silly. How else could we have gotten here?" Musical laughter accompanied the gentle teasing lilt to her voice. "I'm glad you came though."

"As if I have control of a dream." Why was he arguing with a figment of his mind? Deciding to ignore her, he turned to leave.

"Sessy, I'm not a figment. I called you here to thank you for saving me." Water rippled higher, indicating that she was moving closer. Her hand on his shoulder confirmed it. Turning around, Sesshomaru looked at her, "What do you mean?"

I might not be dreaming. There's no way I'd let her call me 'Sessy' in my dreams.'

"What I mean is that I know calling Inuyasha wasn't easy." She laughed at his incredulous expression. "I've seen the way you two look at each other Sessy, and I think you would have rather cut off your arms than call your brother for help." Reaching out, she wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him warmly. "Thank you Sessy."

He didn't respond, but he accepted the embrace in stony silence, still trying to come to terms with his situation. 'She's grateful, okay. Now if she'd stop with the Sessy thing I'd be ecstatic.'

"Sessy bothers you that much?" Although her tone was mild, he froze. Was she reading his thoughts?

"Yes I can kind of read your energy right now." Pulling back, but still draping her arms over his shoulders, Kuroi's eyes were wide and clear. "You're in my astral field and your aura wavered whenever I called you Sessy." She dipped her head and rested her hands on his forearms, smiling shyly, "I guessed you were annoyed by it."

"I was, and still am by everything you've done." There was a hard edge to his words as he grabbed her shoulders, "Why didn't you tell about your 'episodes' before you almost died you little idiot?!"

She ducked her head to avoid his gaze. "I thought I could handle it." Wiggling out of his grip, she sank deeper into the water. Sesshomaru noticed that the once clear sky was slowly becoming overcast.

'Inuyasha said he experienced difficulty while in her field, perhaps this is a manifestation of her emotional state?' Ignoring that for the moment, he examined her face. Kuroi still wouldn't look at him, so he softened his tone. "You should have told me Kuroi. I might have been able to help, and it was something I needed to know."

"Why?" Her eyes flashed smoky blue as she snapped, "It isn't like you were all that interested in anything about my life before now. You haven't exactly gone out of your way to try and learn anything at all about me." Huffing, she crossed her arms, "You just kept trying to change me."

"You like sparing, you're better with your right than your left for sword fighting and your favorite song is 'Monkey in the middle of the room'." spouting off the little idioms he'd noticed from the week spent watching her, he moved closer to her. " Your favorite snacks are spring rolls and sweet buns. For some reason you prefer to travel over the roof as opposed to the hallways and you are the most infuriating woman I have ever met." Jaw agape, she was unprepared when he drew her close and kissed her.

This time, Sesshomaru took his time exploring every part of her mouth with his tongue. Kuroi shivered at the delicious sensation of his teeth nipping softly along her lips. Large hands slid slowly around her waist, lifting her against him. Dimly aware of a hard surface against her back, she moaned as she felt him pressing insistently against her lower stomach and hips.

She braced her hands against his chest to pull away a fraction. "Why now?" Not daunted in the least, he dipped his head down and paid special attention to the delicate skin of her neck and shoulders. The intricate play of his mouth and tongue was wreaking havoc with her thoughts.

'Kuroi, do you really want an answer right now? Girl, let the man work!' Smacking the little voice that seemed so reasonable at the moment, Kuroi cupped his face and forced his head up. "Sesshomaru, why are you doing this?"

"Because I want to little flower. Why did you not tell me about your fears?" His hands slid up to cup her face so she couldn't look away.

"I thought, I wanted to try and do it on my own." Her eyes filled with determination that lent steel to her voice. "You're always talking about how pathetic humans are and how much trouble we cause. How much more pathetic is a wife who can't put on a nice kimono and stand beside you?" She gave a tremulous smile when he swore softly, "Yeah. If you need a battle field leveled, call for me. You need a date for dinner, look elsewhere!" Pulling away, she wiped at her face and sat down.

Sesshomaru just watched her as she withdrew from him. 'She is so much stronger than she knows. She tried to face something that she knew terrified her and could possibly kill her, simply because I asked.' It touched him more than he wanted to admit.

"Will you…would you be alright knowing that I will be by your side through the next formal gathering?" His tone was soothing and she gave him a genuine smile. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"Then can you tell me something?" Wading over to her, he took her hands in his. He could feel her pulse racing beneath her skin from the small contact and crowed inside. 'Inuyasha doesn't cause your heart to quicken but I do? Interesting.' Leaning close, he paused a fraction from her mouth and asked, "What is that?"

She blinked. "What?"

He pointed to her shoulder. "That."

Kuroi looked down and blushed hotly. "Um, I'm not really sure. One time I got poisoned by a snake youkai and when I thought I was dying, Inu kinda hopped into my aura and did that."

'That' was a clearly visible bite mark on her shoulder. She fingered it lightly. "I asked him why he did it and he said he didn't know. I just forgot about it since it's not visible in the physical world."

Sesshomaru touched the mark gingerly. He didn't expect his brother to know what it was. Inuyasha barely bothered to learn table manners let alone intricate inu youkai rituals.

'The placement is wrong for a mate or he would have bitten the nape of her neck. Too far from the breast to be even a temporary mating mark. Pack mate?' Sesshomaru gave a slight sigh as relief caught him by surprise. 'The bastard really does consider her only a part of his pack.' He watched the way the girl reverently touched the shimmering mark. 'But what does she consider him to be to her?'

"It's just a sign of friendship. Don't worry about it."

Startled by his suddenly relaxed manner, Kuroi tilted her head. "Seriously?"

Without a word as he sat down and pulled her into his lap, his face didn't betray his earlier thoughts. "Seriously."

Since they were not in the real world, he let himself do something he'd wanted to do for a long time. Sesshomaru tucked his fiancee under his chin, wrapped his arms around her and said lightly, "Go to sleep little flower. You need the rest and you can get to know my aura as you do."

Completely unbalanced by his sudden shift in attitude, she didn't say anything. Lifting her head a bit, she tipped her face the other way. "Um Sessy...Sesshomaru. Do you want to do that too?" He could feel the heat of her blush through the water. A yellow eye cracked open. "Do what?"

"Bite me?" Innocently asked, it was still phrased poorly. Sarcasm dripped from his reply. "Not like that I don't."

Worried that she might have offended him, she asked quickly, "Then what way do you want to bite me?" He looked at her seriously. 'Is she kidding?!'

"Inu youkai mate for life, even a temporary mating can last up to twenty years." He touched her shoulder. "Inuyasha marked you as a member of his pack." the finger trailed to the dip over one breast beside the hollow of her arm, "This is for temporary mates." He paused and lifted his hand to cup the nape of her neck, "This is for life mates. There are other places that mean other things, but those are the few that deal with mating."

Beet red, Kuroi mumbled, "Oh. Does it work in reverse? Can I bite you and it mean something?"

He marveled that he didn't flush to match her coloring. "Yes, female inu youkai mark their mates as well, in slightly different ways. Wait a minute, why the hell are we talking about this?! You're supposed to be resting and getting familiar with me, not asking me about mating!"

At the outburst, he briefly wondered why that sounded like it came out wrong.

An ebon brow rose at his tone. "I asked about bites, you went into mating on your lonesome." When he didn't respond, she continued. "Besides, I asked because I noticed how much easier it was for me to sense Inu after he did it. I thought it might help the familiarization along." Tucking herself back under his chin, she said softly, "It was just a thought."

'Damned good one. How the hell did I wander off into mating?' Sesshomaru reviewed the conversation. 'Okay, that's how. At least she seems genuinely interested. Oh well, I may as well start.'

"Kuroi, hold on tight."

"Why?"

"Just do it." When her arms were secured around his waist, he released all holds on his aura and let it flood into her. Her nails dug into his flesh so he eased back some. Lolling drunkenly, her head rolled back so she could regard him through heavy eyes. "Whoa, you are a big boy." There was a definite innuendo in that statement, but he pushed it aside. "Your turn Kuroi." Her eyes lit up teasingly, "Okay, but you asked for it."

"What...wow." Like her scent, the aura he'd felt before had been held in check. 'Just as I thought. She's a lot stronger than she let's on.' A small patch of aura was still shut off from him, but he made no move to touch it. 'No repeats of the miko's incident.'

Still floating in each other's essence, he shifted to get more comfortable and was surprised when he realized that the spring had disappeared, replaced by a bed and covers. Kuroi blushed, "Hey, I can't sleep in a hot spring, no matter how good it feels." She lifted the edge of the sheets, "Besides, we're dressed."

For some reason, Sesshomaru didn't want to admit to his disappointment on that revelation and instead opted to just lay down so he could hold her against him. "No more questions Kuroi. Just go to sleep."

Snuggling down she sighed, "Okay Sesshomaru."

~

Now it was morning and she was still pressed up against him, sleeping peacefully. 'Little flower, you are becoming more intriguing every day.' Covering her up, he reluctantly left and went to his room.