…From the Ashes the Phoenix Rises
By Danyealle
(FanFiction/Angst)
Chapter 3
He walked by her side to the well house. When they reached it he held the door open for her so she could enter before him. When they were at the top of the steps he bid her to sit down with him. Once seated he looked at her, “I wish to apologize for what the half-breed said and did to you. It was a vile, despicable act that was the lowest of the low.” He said softly.
“Thanks you.” She told him, voice quiet. “But it had nothing to do with you.”
“No, it didn’t, not directly anyway. But the half-breed is related and when he does something vile like that it reflects on me as well. I may have done many things over my lifetime that could be perceived as unpleasant or evil but I would never sink to that level nor would I condone someone doing so.” He stated simply.
“Thank you.” She said. She had known that without him telling her but it was nice to hear him say it. Not wanting to stay on that uncomfortable topic, she changed the subject. “Could you get a list of supplies they need please? That way I can make sure we get everything that is needed.”
Nodding he replied, standing up, “I will see to it. I’m only going to be gone a couple hours at the most then I’ll return.”
Standing, she brushed off the seat of her jeans. “Alright Sesshomaru. Just come into the house when you get back. Someone will be there.”
Nodding, he gave her one last look before descending the stairs and leaping into the well.
~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~
Once he reappeared in his time and leaped out of the well he fought the urge to let out a howl of anger and go on a spree of destruction. He wasn’t just angry at what the idiot half-breed had done to the little priestess; he and his beast were enraged! There was no reason in the world the boy had to be that cruel to her. It was inexcusable!
Forcing himself to calm down, he began the trip to Edo. Though his outer visage was placid as ever his aura told otherwise. Though he tried to reign it in he couldn’t totally hide it. By the time he reached the village it was still cracking and sizzling around him. At this point in time the villagers were used to his presence and him turning up among them fairly frequently so they no longer feared his presence but his inflamed aura made them back away and give him a wide birth as he passed. Even the shard hunting group cringed a bit as he approached. As they well knew, Sesshomaru pissed was not a good thing.
Stopping at the old mikos’ hut where everyone was gathered, he looked around for Inuyasha. Not seeing him, he asked, voice filled with more rancor than usual. “Where is the half-breed?”
“He left shortly after you did. We haven’t seen him since.” Kouga told him, shrugging.
“Hn...” he replied, feeling a muscle in his jaw tick. He wasn’t sure if he was angrier that he wasn’t there or that he wasn’t there to take his temper out on.
“Were you able to see Kagome?” Sango asked quietly. All of them, except Inuyasha, knew the taiyoukai had planned to try to get through the well to see their friend.
Lifting his head a bit, there was a twinkle in his eye and the trademark smirk on his face telling them all that the mighty taiyoukai of the Western Lands had succeeded in his mission. Immediately, he was bombarded with a barrage of questions.
Seating himself on a bench, he let the group run out of steam before he spoke. “Yes, I got through the well and was able to convince her and her mother to let her return. There are conditions on it however. I’ll explain most of them tomorrow when I return with her. The reason I returned was to tell you to be ready to leave in the morning. Also, the miko asked for a list of supplies that are needed. There is one other thing as well; it’s of the utmost importance that the half-breed not know she’s returning.”
“What happened? Why didn’t she come back?” Miroku asked quietly.
Once again they could feel the pure fury in the demon lords’ aura. Though his voice was calm and smooth as it always was there was no doubt he was enraged. “I’ll wait until tomorrow to explain all that. But I will impart that we were all lied to by the half-breed.”
“Yeah, we all figured that.” Shippo said, scuffing one foot absently in the dirt.
After bidding them to get the list ready he had Kouga follow him out of the village so they could talk in private. When they returned the ookami was angrier than any of them had ever seen him. Even the times he was enraged at Naraku didn’t compare to this. The sky blue eyes that he was known for were twisted with veins of blood red that was ebbing and flowing like the tide. His fangs were elongated and deadly looking. Hair that was normally pulled back and neat was loosely flowing around, crackling with his enflamed aura. After muttering something about being back soon he took off on a run out of the village.
Everyone looked at Sesshomaru for an explanation but he shook his head and said nothing. After gathering the supply list he reminded everyone to say nothing to Inuyasha and to be ready in the morning then left.
~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~
Head slung low, with his eyes on the ground, Inuyasha sighed deeply as he slipped into the clearing where the bone-eaters well was. Instantly, his half-brothers scent assaulted his nose. Ignoring it, he plopped down by the well and leaned back against the weathered boards. At this point everyone had tried to get through the well to go see Kagome and had failed so it didn’t surprise him that his baka half-brother had given it a shot as well. Of course he would fail like the rest had so he wasn’t really worried about it.
Kagome…
Even thinking her name brought on a wave of nausea caused by guilt. Oh yes, he felt like shit! As Kagome had expected he had known she was there when he had spewed all that crap, and crap is exactly what it was because he hadn’t meant a word of it. Kikyo had a way of befuddling him totally and causing his brain to cease anything resembling normal, well normal for him, functions. He had started feeling waves of guilt when he smelled her tears and heard her run off. Honestly, he hadn’t meant a word of the shit he had spewed and had wanted to run after her, throw himself at her feet and beg for forgiveness. But he hadn’t. Instead he had foolishly, once again, chosen to believe that piece of walking pottery when she told him that once Kagome was gone they would be together all the time. Of course, as it had happened in the past, she had lied. Not long after Kagome had left so had Kikyo, professing to have something she had to do. Since then he had seen her a grand total of twice; once about a month after the incident, he had a sneaking suspicion that it had only been to ensure that he hadn’t gone to see Kagome, and today, again he was sure it was for that reason. So much for being together all the time. Why he was so surprised that she had lied was beyond his understanding. With all the things she had done since her return to this realm the fact that she lied should come as no surprise.
Though he wasn’t one of the sharpest knives in the drawer, he would freely admit that, he had figured out what she was up to; she was torturing him and making sure he was going through hell on earth before she decided to take him to the real thing. Sad part was he would probably let her continue to do the first then be moron enough to do the second as well. Well, no one had ever accused him of having brains. As for Kagome, he had a sneaking suspicion that what she was attempting was for Kagome to either kill herself or die at someone else’s hands, after she suffered plenty first of course. The intent was probably so that Kikyo could once again have her whole soul back.
Once again, the thought of the little mikos’ name brought on an almost crushing wave of guilt, making his ears droop. What he had done was probably crueler than the trick Naraku had pulled on him and Kikyo all those years ago. He had done many rotten things in his life but this had to be the worst of them, bar none. It was also the one that consumed him with guilt. Most of the others he could justify in one way or another but not this one. Kagome had done nothing ever to warrant that cruelty.
In hindsight, he knew he should have gone after her right away. After all, the worst she would have done was sit him several meters in the ground, yell and cry. But he had felt so rotten that he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He would go in a couple days he had promised himself. That deadline had come and gone as well with him unable to face and what he had done. He had then set deadline after deadline yet couldn’t force himself to face her and his own cruelty. Then the rest of his pack and begun to ask why she hadn’t returned yet. The lie that they had another argument had come easily enough because he had been too ashamed to tell the truth. After all, when Kagome came back it was very doubtful that she would ever mention what really happened and considering the arguments they had in the past it was very believable. As he expected, they had bought it.
As the weeks began to crawl by they began to bug him to go see her, to work it out and bring her back. They needed her. Again, the lie was easy, he had and she didn’t want to come back. They had, of course, believed it. As he expected he had been on the receiving end of the usual accusatory blasts of ‘what did you do this time’. Like normal, he had shrugged them off. But that cruel inner voice he had, it tended to be the loudest when it came to something moronic he had done to Kagome, went on and on about how right they were. They were right, on more than one front too. Not only was it his fault she left and had yet to return, they were also right about needing her, they did need her,-desperately.
Things had gone to shit in a hurry after she left. As usual he wasn’t worth a fuck when she wasn’t around. His attacks didn’t seem to have the same strength or effectiveness. He was off his game, no doubt about it. Then came the real kicker, tetsusaiga wouldn’t transform for him. No matter what he had done his fathers’ fang stayed nothing more than a rusty, beat up old katana that was about as much help as a toothpick. They were in trouble, no doubt about it. At that point they couldn’t detect shards or look for Naraku. Though Miroku and Sango were strong fighters they were no match for some of the jewel enhanced demons they took on. Those kinds of demons usually took all of them plus Kagome. Forget even thinking about taking on Naraku or any of his incarnations, they would end up being slaughtered if they tried. Plus there was no way that they wanted the spider to know just how weakened they were. He didn’t want to think what that sadistic son of a bitch would do with that information.
About a month after Kagomes’ vanishing act something came along that was both Kami-sent and his worst nightmare rolled into one. Kouga. About the time they were realizing that they were well and truly fucked that mangy excuse for a wolf demon put in an appearance. As usual he wanted to know where ‘his woman’ was. Sango and Miroku had spouted the song and dance he had given them. While he had listened to the line of b.s. the ookami had stared at him. Unlike his human companions who he could run a line on and they would be none the wiser youkai could sense deceit and guilt. Kouga had sensed it, big time. Though Kouga acted like he bought the bridge he had known better. Knowing the pack wasn’t at full strength the ookami had announced that he and his ‘men’ would be joining them until ‘his woman’ returned. At the time he had a sneaking suspicion that wasn’t the real reason for his magnanimous gesture but he let it slide. Hell, he knew they needed the help. The flea-bitten wolf could prove to be useful to them.
A few days later he had found out the real reason behind the offer. He had been sitting a ways away from their camp, trying to wrack his brains to come up with something he could use to approach Kagome when Kouga had shown up. He had asked very politely a couple times to hear the real reason for her departure. Knowing what kind of hell would be unleashed if the truth came out he had stuck to his fabricated version. When the wolf demon had realized he wasn’t going to get the truth being nice he had unleashed one hell of a beating on him. Over the years he had taken beatings of all kinds but the one the enraged ookami had given him rivaled some of Sesshomarus’. It became readily apparent that Kouga had been holding back during their ‘fights’ in the past. After that at least once a week he became the ookamis’ private punching bag. Kouga had vowed to continue the beatings until he got the truth and he had made good on that vow. By that point he had been pretty sure that the wolf demon would do everything short of killing him if what really happened had come out. Well, he wasn’t entirely sure the ookami wouldn’t pass into the realm of hanyou-cide if he found out so he had kept his trap shut.
If dealing with an enraged ookami on the war path wasn’t bad enough the fates decided he needed a bit more punishment. Enter the Ice Lord himself. Sesshomaru had shown up looking for Kagome. Rin had run out of a couple things Kagome usually brought for her and he had come to request some more the next time she went home. Like Kouga he had been given the now familiar refrain when he asked where she was. Also, as it had been with Kouga, the look on the Western Lords face told him he didn’t buy a word of it. He had breathed a sigh of relief when the Ice Lord had left. But the fates weren’t done with him yet, oh no, they had decided he hadn’t suffered enough. A couple days after that they had run into both Kanna and Kagura. Without tetsusaiga and Kagome they were sitting ducks. Then, low and behold, Sesshomaru had appeared. Neither of the females were eager to tangle with the taiyoukai so they had put up enough of a fight for it to look good for Naraku then beat a hasty retreat.
Afterwards the Ice Prick announced that since the only thing he seemed to be leading his pack to was a bloody, nasty death sot he would be joining them. Though he had grumbled and growled it did no good, his pack seemed to agree with the taiyoukais’ assessment and had accepted him. Since then his life had become one long, living hell.
Sighing, he shut his eyes. Finally he had decided it was time to go talk to Kagome. Though he had hurt her, badly, he was sure that she would forgive him again like she had in the past, it might just take a bit more time and talking on his end than it had the other times was all. Once the unbeatable duo was back together his pack would once again be in top form.
Stiffening his backbone, he decided that the next morning would be the day. He would force himself to go through the well and see her. Then he would take whatever she could throw at him. After that he wouldn’t leave until she would be coming with.
Plan in place, he headed back to Edo to what he hoped would be his last night of hell on earth.