Evolution of a Taiyoukai

By Danyealle

(FanFiction/MF/angst)

Chapter 2

Supper that night had been a quiet affair.  Inuyasha had tried to start conversation but it hadn’t worked.  He had gotten one and two word answers so he had finally given up with a heavy sigh.

After eating and clean up Kagome had retired to her sleeping bag and pulled out her school books.  With a sigh she opened the math book and tried to study.  As she suspected it wasn’t happening.  Staring at a page of equations that looked like a break dancing chicken who’s feet had been dipped in ink had strutted across the page and what was there made about as much sense as those chicken scratchings would.  Sighing deeply, she laid her head on the book and shut her eyes.

Her first thought was that she was glad she was going home because she seriously needed a break!  It was decided a few days ago they all needed some down time so they were headed to Edo but it was going to take several days to get there.  Sighing again, she wished she were already there, curled up in her nice, soft bed.

Unable to stop herself her mind hopped to the topic of Inuyasha.  Yes, she had pretty much known that he had been with Kikyo but it was one thing to suspect and another to know.  It seemed to hurt a lot more when you’re confronted with the confirmation.  She knew she should be used to it by now, it had happened enough times, but every time it still hurt.

As she felt herself once more start to journey down that familiar path and her mood turned south she was pulled back by Inuyasha’s voce.

“Yo Kagome!  You wanna talk about this?”  He asked softly as he crouched down by her sleeping bag.

Looking at him, she said, “No, not now Inuyasha.”

Knowing that look well even the thick headed hanyou backed away.  Though it was his nature to argue with her that look told him nothing good would come of it and the end result would be him eating enough dirt that it would take days to get it all out of his teeth. So he left her alone and moved away to wait until she was in a better mood.

Turning over, facing away from everyone, she listened as he sniped at Sesshomaru then went off to do who knows what.  When all was once more quiet her mind locked on Sesshomaru and what had happened earlier.

Alright, she was officially one confused miko!  Yes, she adored Inuyasha.  No, adored wasn’t the right word: she loved him and had almost since the beginning.  Being honest with herself, she would admit that really her hanyou was the only ‘man’ she had ever had any feelings for but, ever so slowly, the ‘Kikyo issue’ was changing what she felt for him.  There was no doubt in her mind Inuyasha loved her but it seemed that he was of the mindset that he could have both her and Kikyo.  Now, she could put up with a lot of things with him, and had done so, but she wasn’t about to stay involved in a ménage à trios with a hanyou and a dead woman.  That was her line in the sand; she was firm as stone on that.  But she had never actually told him that.  Though she realized she had every right in the world to know what his relationship was with Kikyo and what place she held in his life she had never had that talk with him because she was afraid of what she would hear.  Even with all of that she never found her eyes wandering or an attraction to anyone else.  But what had happened earlier had thrown that into complete and total chaos.

That kiss had stolen her breath and set her body on fire in a way Inuyasha never had in the whole time they were together.  She hadn’t thought a kiss could elicit such a reaction from her.  Inuyasha’s never had.  Yes, they felt wonderful but never had her body responded in that way.  Was there a reason for that?  Yes, she was sure that Sesshomaru was far more ‘practiced’ in that area than Inuyasha but was there a reason beyond that?  She wasn’t sure but her gut told her there was without giving her a hint as to why.

OK, if she went by the supposition that there was a reason, what was that going to mean concerning things with Inuyasha?  Already there was a twinge of guilt over that kiss.  Somehow, because she didn’t protest or try to break it off, part of her felt as thought she had betrayed and cheated on him.  But she wasn’t feeling as bad as she normally would have.  That was surprising to her.  What did it mean though?  The only thing she could come up with she didn’t like: that there was a serious problem between her and Inuyasha.  That was not something she wanted to ponder!

Mentally, she slammed the door on that topic and move to another:  Sesshomaru himself.  Once again she gave a mental sigh.  No, she didn’t know him all that well but she knew him well enough to know he had an agenda of some kind but she wouldn’t even try to guess what it was.  As she well knew he never did anything without an ulterior motive or reason so she couldn’t figure out what in the blue blazes she would have to do with anything he could want.  The only thing that came to mind, tetsusaiga, she dismissed outright.

Giving herself a mental slap, she shook her head.  Lifting her head off the book she tried to force herself to once more study.  Though she was pretty sure it wouldn’t do her much good she set to it. 

~~~~~@~~~~~

As the camp quieted down for the night, Sesshomaru found himself fighting the urge to move over close to the little priestess to protect her and ensure her safety.  His logical side knew that was a very bad idea and would raise questions and suspicious among the pack, especially with Inuyasha.  But his instinctive side wasn’t quiet about what it perceived as a need.  In the end he was able to win out but compromised and honed in on her to keep an eye out for any danger that may present its’ self.

Though he had appeared to be not paying attention or that he was asleep he had paid attention to what had gone on around him, especially with Inuyasha.  As he had seen from him before, the whelp did what could only be termed as pout, acting like an unrepentant child that felt he had been wronged and that he was being picked on, when he had slithered over to the miko to talk to her and was rebuffed.  It had given him a good internal snorting laugh, now that was funny!  After that rebuff the boy had found a tree to perch in and had pouted until everyone had gone to bed and then he had fallen asleep.

When the camp was silent except for the sounds of the sleepers and the normal night noises, he had opened his eyes and gazed over at the little onna.  She had fallen asleep on her stomach with her head on one of her open books, the pen and paper she had been using still by her side.  Without thinking, he silently slid over to her and gently extracted the book from under her head and slid her pillow in its place.  After covering her up she muttered a slurry ‘thanks’ but didn’t wake.  Setting the books aside so she wouldn’t roll over on them in her sleep, he stroked her head a couple times then quietly moved back over to where he had been.  After settling down and getting comfortable he scanned for danger.  When, as expected, he found none he shut his eyes.  Though his actions puzzled him he didn’t contemplate them too long.  Instead he concentrated on the light smell of her he had picked up when he had touched her.  Soothed by it, he allowed himself to slide into a light sleep.

~~~~~@~~~~~

Like what seemed to happen all too often when she wanted to go home the pack was delayed and not able to move much the following day.  A torrential downpour had stared shortly after they began to move in the morning, making them hole up in a small cave most of the day, waiting out the storm.  It wasn’t until a couple hours before dusk when they were able to finally move again.  Even then it was slow going because of the mud and they weren’t able to cover much ground.  As dusk began to settle in they had a hard time finding a campsite that wasn’t a gooey mess.  Finally, the found a place that was dry but not after they all looked as thought they had taken a mud bath. 

All day long Inuyasha had made a point to pay special attention to Kagome, to make up for the incident the day before and attempt to get back on her good side.  For the most part, as usual, it didn’t work and left the rest of group rolling their eyes.  After supper he grabbed her and took her a ways away for some alone time.

Unfortunately, he had been through this same scenario, the Kikyo bit, with her before so the hanyou knew how to go about working with it to weasel back into her good graces.  After finding a secluded, dry place they settled on the ground together.  Pulling her into his lap he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.  He was well aware how much she loved it when he held and cuddled on her so he planned to give it to her in abundance. 

Sighing, Kagome shut her eyes and let him go on.  She knew what he was doing; this was his way of trying to get her to stop being mad at him without really talking about the situation or doing anything to fix whatever it was, kinda’ the ‘Yasha version of forgive and forget.  Quite frankly, tonight it wasn’t working and was leaving her cold.  She was tired of being used, humiliated and taken advantage of.  This had happened far too often for a bout of sex to fix things again.

As his hands began to roam to more intimate places, she pushed them away and pulled back.  “Don’t Inuyasha; I’m not in the mood tonight.”  She told him quietly.

 Having heard this before from her, he nuzzled her neck.  “You will be, don’t worry.”  He said confidently, using his most sultry tone.

Struggling a bit, she pulled away more.  “No!  I don’t want to. Let’s just call it a night.”  He was right, usually she would wave the white flag and give in to him, enjoying it but tonight she really didn’t want to go down that road.

“Trust me, you’ll love it.”  He purred as he slipped his hand under her shirt to cup one of her breasts.

“Stop it Inuyasha!”  She told him firmly, trying to push him away.  Somewhere inside of her panic began to build as she realized he wasn’t listening to a word she was saying.  “I am NOT in the mood!”

Clutching her tightly to his chest, he shifted around and laid her on the ground with him perched over her.  “Trust me, you’re gonna love this!  Just relax and let ‘Yasha make you feel good.”  He purred as his hands began to roam more.

That bud of panic bloomed and was joined by a touch of fear.  She was now sure no matter what she said he wasn’t going to stop.  “NO!  Stop Inuyasha!”  She almost shouted, panic beginning to show in her voice as she started to wiggle around, trying to push him off.

“Shush, relax.”  He told her distractedly as he nibbled on her shoulder while undoing the buttons on her jeans.

“Please STOP!”  She shouted desperately, wiggling and squirming around to get loose, fully panicked and more than a little scared.

~~~~~@~~~~~

Back at camp Sesshomaru was getting more and more agitated each time he heard Kagome’s voice.  Though he wasn’t sure what was going on he took a deductive guess and didn’t like what came from it.  He was about to go see what was going on when her shout rang through the trees loud and clear, fear and panic evident in it.  It was loud enough that both humans heard it clearly.  Instantly, they were on their feet.  Sango grabbed her weapon and was about to take off the direction it came from when he stopped her.  “Stay here, I’ll handle it.”  He growled then disappeared into the trees, nothing but a white and silver blur. 

Within seconds he reached the clearing the couple was in.  Seeing Inuyasha on top of the miko and sensing her fear he didn’t stop to ask questions.  Grabbing the boy by the collar of his fire rat, he yanked him off her and tossed him aside, hearing him impact with a tree.  After a glance to make sure she was uninjured, he turned to watch the half-breed trying to pry himself off the ground.  “Are you injured Kagome?”  He asked her in what he hoped was a calming tone. 

Tugging her clothes back into place and making sure everything was covered she replied, “I’m fine.”  Though she tried to sound calm her voice had a slight tremor to it.  Standing on shaking legs, she could feel tears burning her eyes.  She was positive Inuyasha wouldn’t have stopped if Sesshomaru hadn’t shown up.

“Go back to camp.  I’ll handle things from here.”  He told her calmly, trying not to upset her any more than she was while he glanced over his shoulder at her to assure himself that she was physically uninjured.

“Alright.”  She said quietly then disappeared into the trees.

Waiting until he was positive she was out of ear shot he then turned his attention fully back on the whelp.  “You have disgraced yourself more than I ever thought possible Inuyasha.  I never thought that you would sink so low.”  He snarled, eyes flashing dangerously, a cold fury in them.  Flexing his claws, he waited for the boy to rise. 

Spitting out a mouth full of blood, Inuyasha crouched on all fours and glared at his half-brother.  “What the fuck is wrong with you?  Do I interrupt you when you’re getting a piece of ass?”

“A piece off ass?  Is that what you call this debacle?”  Sesshomaru sneered.

“Yeah.  What would you call it?”  The hanyou shot back.

“Rape.”  The taiyoukai growled.

“I would NEVER do that to Kagome!”  Inuyasha shouted, rising to his feet.

“She told you no and to stop, did she not?”

“Yeah but she just needed persuading is all.”   Inuyasha growled, cracking his knuckles.

“Persuading?  It’s called RAPE Inuyasha!  I and both ningens in camp could hear her telling you to quit and the fear in her voice!”  The taiyoukai growled, stepping closer to the boy.

“It is not!”

“Yes, it is Inuyasha.  When a female says no you stop.  It is that simple.”  Beyond furious, he stepped closer to the hanyou.  Every instinct he had was telling him to kill the boy but he restrained it.  “From now on I suggest you remember that half-breed.”  Baring his fangs, he bit out in short, clipped tones, “And I’m going to pound that point into that thick skull of yours!”

“Bring it on fucker!”  Inuyasha shouted, launching himself at the taiyoukai.

~~~~~@~~~~~

Kagome didn’t start to calm down until she stepped into camp.  Immediately, Sango was there and wrapped her arms around her, “Are you OK?”

Nodding, Kagome clung to her, “I’m fine now, I think.”

“Was it Inuyasha?”  Miroku asked quietly.

Feeling tears sting her eyes again all the miko could do was nod.  Pulling away from Sango, she looked around for her pack.  When she spotted it she grabbed it then turned back to the slayer, “Would you come with me while I take a bath please?”

“Of course.”  Sango replied.

~~~~~@~~~~~

A little over a half an hour later Sesshomaru, very much alone, stepped back into camp and glanced around.

Looking at him, Miroku asked, “Inuyasha?”

“The whelp will be joining us when he can once again move.”  The taiyoukai replied grimly.

Saying nothing, the monk nodded then resumed staring into the fire, a blank expression on his face.

“Where are the slayer and miko?”  The demon lord inquired after another glance around.

“Kagome wished to take a bath and asked Sango to accompany her.”

Nodding, Sesshomaru left without a word and headed towards the spring.

When he got there he stayed a ways away, not wanting to disturb them if they were bathing.  After ascertaining that they were dressed and preparing too return to camp he stepped into the clearing.  Looking at the slayer, he said, “Go back to camp.  I’ll bring Kagome in a few minutes.”

Understanding that he wanted to speak to her alone, Sango nodded then grabbed the mikos’ pack then exited the clearing.

Waiting until he was sure the slayer was out of ear shot, he looked down at the priestess.  “Are you OK Kagome?”  He asked in a voice softer than normal.

Looking up at him, she nodded.  “Yeah, I’m ok.  You stopped it before…”  She stopped and shuddered then went on, changing the train of the conversation, “Thanks Sesshomaru.”  Despite not wanting it to happen, she felt her eyes burn once more.

Sensing the onrush of water, he stepped closer and put an arm around her chest, his bicep resting against the side of her head.  Putting his hand on the back of her head, he gently rubbed the area where her skull and spine met but said nothing. 

Unable to stop the, the tears came.  Not making any sound, they streamed down her face from her closed eyes.

Holding her, he soothed, “You’re safe now, everything will be fine.”

“I was so scared! That’s the first time Inuyasha has ever really scared me.”  She hitched out.

“That’s understandable.”  He said quietly.  “I assure you, he won’t be doing it again either.”

Glancing up at him, she asked, “You didn’t…”

“No, but I taught him a lesson about how to treat females and the meaning of the word no.”  He said grimly.  Yes, he had wanted to kill the whelp but didn’t.  Knowing Kagome she would have blamed herself even though she was the victim.

Nodding, she relaxed against him.

Knowing she was in for a rough night, he asked, “Would you like me to stay next to you while you sleep tonight?”  That was the only thing he could come up with to comfort her.

Though it was an odd offer, the idea of him close made her feel safe and protect.  “Please.  That would make me feel better.”

“Consider it done.”  He told her gently.  “Do you have the ingredients for a sleeping draught?”

“Yes, they’re in my pack.”

“I’ll have the slayer make you one so you can rest.”  He explained.  Giving her a squeeze, he released her then put a hand between her shoulders and said, “We should return if you feel up to it.

Swiping away her tears, she nodded.

~~~~~@~~~~~

When they returned to camp he received another reminder why the whelps pack was so effective and good at what they did. Sango had already brewed up the sleeping draught for the miko and had it waiting for her as well as having laid out her bedding. 

There wasn’t much small talk after the miko swallowed the drink but what there was had been soothing and meant to comfort.  Within a half an hours time, the miko was asleep.

As he had told her, Sesshomaru settled himself down by her head.  Though it raised the eyebrows of the rest of the group, they said nothing. 

~~~~~@~~~~~

Groaning, Inuyasha pushed himself up into a sitting position and leaned back against a tree.  Fuck he hurt everywhere!  He was sure that even his hair was bruised at this point.  Shutting his eyes, he leaned his head back against the trees’ trunk.  Honestly, he was sure that he would rather have Lord Fuckhead try to kill him, it hurt a lot less.  Bar none, that was the worst beating he had ever taken.  It had just been meant to hurt him, not kill him, and had done that, in spades.

Spitting out some more blood, he groaned.  As he dealt with the red haze of pain and waited for his body to heal its’ self Kagome’s image floated to mind.  Immediately he felt his gut tighten slightly.  Thinking back, he wondered if his assholeness was right, if what he had done could be considered rape.  Replaying the scene over and over in his head he grew more uncomfortable.  He could now detect the fear and panic in her voice and how she had struggled to get away.  Horrified, his balls tried to crawl back up inside his body.  He had missed it, all of it.  She really hadn’t wanted to and had made it clear yet he had missed it.

Dropping his head into his hands he groaned loudly.  Kami, he was a dumb fuck and a half!  How could he have done that?  He was so intent on trying to make things up to her and get her over being mad at him that he had ignored everything else, only to make things all the worse.

In this age he was well aware that rape was prevalent among humans.  As he well knew it was a brutal, heinous crime that led to most victims’ committing suicide because of the shame.  He also knew that it was seen differently in Kagome’s time, that the victim was just that, a victim, all the blame was laid on the shoulders of the being that committed the crime, though there were still many who saw it the old way.  In youkai society rape did exist but it was frowned on and the victim wasn’t blamed.  Usually the perpetrator was killed, most times very painfully at that.  Part of the reason hanyous’ were so looked down on is they were seen as part human and tended to not have the ‘morals’ and control youkai did.  Tonight he had proven that adage correct unfortunately.

Groaning, he wondered if he would ever be able to make this up to Kagome.  Sure as shit he had blown some of her trust in him.  Add to that the problems that were already there because of Kikyo and he was digging himself into a hole that was becoming increasingly hard to crawl out of. 

Sighing, he wanted to beat his head against the tree he was leaning against.  Pushing aside the self-abuse he tried, desperately, to come up with a way to start to heal the damage he had done.

It took several hours for his body to heal enough for him to finally be able to make his way back to camp.  As he expected, when he slipped into camp he got the usual frosty reception he was graced with when he had done something to Kagome.  Though, he would admit, it was frostier than it usually was.  Looking around, he found the miko sleeping soundly with his baka half-brother sitting by her head, glaring daggers at him.  That look, one that promised round two of the earlier beating, was enough to dissuade him from trying to wake her.  His body wasn’t done healing yet so a second dance wasn’t a good idea.

With a heavy, resigned sigh he found a tree away from everyone then hopped up into it and settled in for the night.

~~~~~@~~~~~

Sesshomaru dozed until he heard everyone bedding down for the night.  For about an hour after that he stayed awake to make sure there wouldn’t be any problems then once more allowed himself to succumb to the realm of sleep.

In the early morning hours he was jarred back to the waking world abruptly.  Slightly disoriented, he wasn’t sure what had returned him to the land of the waking, but quickly scanned for danger.  Finding none he tried to figure out what had roused him.  When he couldn’t figure it out he shut his eyes and was about to allow himself to slide back into a doze when a frightened noise from Kagome drew his attention.  Looking down at her, he could see the strain on her face and that she was starting to squirm around.  Feeling fear starting to roll off her he put his hand on her head and tried to sooth her with his touch.  Somewhere in her sleep-fogged mind she must have sensed who he was and his intent because she gave a soft sigh then once more settled back down into the deeper recesses of sleep. 

Even after she had calmed down he didn’t move his had.  He was fairly sure that there were more nightmares to come.  Sitting there, he felt a bit helpless.  He wanted to be able to comfort her better and do something to prevent her suffering but there really wasn’t anything he could do but help when she needed it.

Looking over at the tree the whelp was sleeping in, it took every ounce of his self control to not yank him out of it and beat him to death in the slowest, most painful way he could.  It wasn’t bad enough that he had ventured down the road of one of the most despised crimes in upper youkai society but the victim had been Kagome.  It was enough to make his blood boil.  It was a lucky thing for the whelp that he had the self control he did, had he been most others the boy would have been dead by now. 

On the heels of that came the thought that the time had come for him to do something to get her away from the boy before something worse happened to her.  But that in its’ self presented a problem.  If he didn’t handle the situation in just the right way then she could end up just as mad at him as she was the boy and want nothing more to do with him.  Add to that the emotional pain she was going to have to endure.  Seeing that was going to tear him apart even though he knew that it was for the best.  All he wanted to do was protect her from pain but he knew no way to get her away from the boy without causing some kind of hurt.  Best he could hope for was to minimize it the best he could.

Now, to the more complex part of the equation:  how to go about it.  That he wasn’t sure of.  Nothing he had or knew was enough to self-destruct what the two had.  So he was going to have to be alert for something to present its’ self.

Sighing, he also wondered how the little priestess would view what he was going to do.  Yes, to an extent, it was manipulation but he wasn’t going to create the situation.  Plus he wasn’t doing it for the purpose of his own enjoyment but because he cared for her and about her.  He could only hope that she would be able to see it that way when the time finally came.