Blood Beauty

*~ Disclaimer ~* I do not own any of the characters, plots, or locations from Inuyasha. Some company holds all rights to Inuyasha and this story is only created for pleasure, not profit.

A/N: *pokes head out from around the corner* I am SO sorry that this took so long… and it didn’t come out exactly the way I wanted it to either. ^_^’ I was mostly cramming for finals and then I just got a job for winter break… and it felt like I didn’t have any time at all for this! I swear, I’ll try to be more regular in updating and all of that. In the meantime, please enjoy what I do have out and I’ll try to get more out soon.


Sesshomaru was bored. There were no intruders in his domain and there were no skirmishes among the ones who lived there. He had stopped briefly at his castle to check on his ward and make sure that Jaken was not abusing her in some panic over Sesshomaru’s unknown whereabouts. The child was just as happy and affectionate as ever, and Sesshomaru had to wonder what kept the girl so cheerful all the time. Dismissing it, he left orders to keep the castle running smoothly and reminded the toad to take care of Rin or else he would suffer various monstrosities. Having sufficiently terrified his staff and retainer, Sesshomaru turned and flew back towards Kaede’s hut.

As he flew back, Sesshomaru pondered the strange barrier that Kagome had formed. Having first thought that her miko powers were simply responding to threat, he had disproved that with Tokijin. The only other noticeable change about her was the scent of her blood. The sweet smell that had first attracted him to the area must have something to do with it, something that would make her different from other humans. Even coming to this conclusion, Sesshomaru was unnerved. The woman still felt human in her presence, with additional miko energy, so it did not make sense that her blood would suggest that she was …more than she seemed. There had not been any presence of demon or youkai blood in her, so unless it was a very weak strain of youkai blood, she was something that he had not encountered before.

Sesshomaru did not take very kindly to the unknown.

However, this did serve to pique his interest in the miko. He would have to remain with them as long as it took to understand what was happening with the woman and then perhaps decide if he could use it to his advantage. It certainly did the job of irritating the half-breed. Sesshomaru was amused every time the irate hanyou got angry and foolish, he still had much to learn about controlling his actions. Until then, Inuyasha would be a disgrace to the Taisho family.

Sesshomaru looked ahead and found that he was approaching the human village. He landed gracefully and moved towards the front of the old woman’s hut, but he made no move to go inside. He wanted some more answers to this riddle and if he had to deal with the human stench, he would at least do it in the open air. Waiting, Sesshomaru knew that it would not take long for those inside to meet him.

With a loud growl, Inuyasha burst out from the hut, “Why won’t you just go away?!”

The demon lord calmly looked at him, “That is not your concern.” The hanyou growled low and drew out Tetsusaiga. Sesshomaru was contemplating whether he should simply fight the half-breed and get it over with when he saw the miko step out from the hut with the houshi, the taijiya, and the kitsune.

The miko drew up near the Taiyouki and bent her head gracefully, “Ohayo, Sesshomaru-sama.” Looking over the woman carefully, he noted that she no longer favored one side at all and her blood scent had faded, even from only a few hours ago. Satisfied, Sesshomaru inclined his head slightly towards the miko, earning raised eyebrows from the monk and a hesitant allowance from the demon exterminator.

Inuyasha turned towards Kagome and bristled in his anger, “What do you mean, ‘Ohayo, Sesshomaru-sama’? It’s not as though he’s welcome here, Kagome!”

The woman’s eyes narrowed in annoyance and she threw her hands up in the air, “Oh yes, let’s just attack every person that simply shows up in front of the house! Yes, let’s try to kill someone who just helped us out! Baka! He hasn’t even done anything yet!”

“Well how do you know he’s not planning something now?” Inuyasha countered stubbornly. “The only thing he is interested in is the Tetsusaiga!”

The miko looked about ready to explode, the demon lord noted absently. Her face had turned a strong shade of pink from her anger and even her hair seemed to agree, loose and wild about her as it was. The Taiyouki could see that her aura was tinged with the familiar fuchsia that he knew her powers reflected. It was a fascinating and graceful sight, to see this seemingly weak woman argue with a hanyou wielding the Tetsusaiga. All of the yelling was giving him a headache, however, and he decided to interrupt, “You are wrong once again, half-breed.” Five sets of eyes turned to him, in a mixture of surprise, doubt, and fury.

The miko seemed to take a deep breath and calmed down enough to soften the glare from her brilliant orbs. “See, Inuyasha? He’s not here to do any harm now,” the woman went so far as to give Sesshomaru a small smile. The hanyou huffed and kept a strong grip on his inherited treasure. The miko hesitated slightly and directed herself towards the demon lord once more. Sesshomaru grudgingly admitted to himself that her composure with him was remarkable. Surprisingly, he did not feel inclined to correct her behavior as of yet and have her submit. He simply waited for her to speak again. Looking at him directly, Kagome allowed the kindness and curiosity to transfer through her expressive features, “Have you come to find out more about the barrier?”

The Taiyouki gave the woman a leveled look and nodded regally. This brought a large smile on her face and the demon lord watched as a ripple of childish excitement seemed to move through her. Blinking carefully, Sesshomaru had to wonder if there was some relation between the miko and his young charge, as they had the exact same cheery expression. He refocused his attention as the miko began to almost babble in her enthusiasm.

“I’ve been trying to find out more of what I can do since you left, Sesshomaru-sama,” Kagome spoke quickly. “After a few practice tries, I can recreate the barrier a little bit and neither Inuyasha or Miroku can get through it. Sango and Kaede can, however, and so can Shippo, but it’s harder on Sango and Kaede.” The miko’s muscles were tense, as though she wanted to jump around but restrained herself. “I’ve never been able to control so much of my power before,” the woman admitted with a grin, “but the more I try to recreate it, the easier the barrier appears.”

Sesshomaru carefully considered the information. If the miko was learning how to control her abilities, she could be of more use in the future. Even if kidnapping the woman as ransom didn’t have any effect in retrieving the Tetsusaiga, perhaps he could use her abilities in his household. She would make an adequate governess for Rin. He would have to be careful that he didn’t allow her an opportunity to purify him, especially if her powers grew with practice. For now, however… “Show me,” Sesshomaru demanded quietly.

At this, the woman gave him a short glare, but her excitement overrode her irritation and she closed her eyes to concentrate. After a couple of moments, the air around her flashed fuchsia and her storm-blue eyes opened to look at Sesshomaru with pride and joy. Sesshomaru had to acknowledge that, for such a short amount of time, the barrier was impressive. He calmly stepped forward, intending to touch the barrier and see how strong the energy was, but as soon as he came into contact with it, it immediately dispersed. Kagome’s eyes widened in shock and a shout from Inuyasha could be heard.

There was a moment where Sesshomaru and Kagome merely looked at each other, Kagome seemingly unaware of how close they were to each other and Sesshomaru merely intrigued at the effect that his presence seemed to have on her abilities. Then Inuyasha was between them and the demon lord jumped back lightly from the point of the blade directed towards him.

Inuyasha growled low, “I don’t know what you’re playing at, Sesshomaru, but so long as you’re around, you’re not going anywhere near Kagome.”

“Inuyasha,” Kagome protested, still in the same place and looking rather dazed, as though she was speaking more from habit than an actual awareness of the actions around her.

“No, Kagome,” Inuyasha looked back at her with an expression of anger and worry. “As long as he is able to move by your barrier, I’m going to stay between you two. He’s dangerous.”

“Without a doubt, half-breed,” Sesshomaru commented blandly. The circumstances were in his favor. As long as the woman could not hold against his advances, any capture should be simple. Now that he knew her powers did not extend to himself, even with practice, she would be easy to control.

Inuyasha whipped his head back toward the demon lord and crouched in a battle stance. “You stay away from her, Sesshomaru,” he threatened.

The Taiyouki leveled the hanyou with a cold look. “This Sesshomaru does not take orders from a half-breed, you cannot stop me.” Looking past the furious hanyou, Sesshomaru could see the miko, now at full attention, shaking. Shaking with anger, perhaps. Sesshomaru could smell her scent spiking with intensity, the lavender aroma wafting teasingly through the air. He could smell her blood, lingering on her body, even as she healed, but now it mixed with her natural odor becoming something new and rather enticing.

Having had her eyes cast down for the moment, the woman suddenly lifted her head up and let out a hearty laugh. Startled, everyone present looked at the miko who was currently dissolving into hysterics. The kitsune cub, cautiously moved over to her and gently tugged on her kimono.

“Okaa-san? Daijoubu?” the little fox asked, eyes worried for his adopted parent who had apparently gone a little crazy.

“Oh, Shippo,” Kagome chuckled, wiping tears from her eyes. She leaned down and scooped up the cub into her arms, the pup eagerly clutching her neck. “Shippo-chan, it’s fine. I just thought it was funny,” the amused glint had not left her eyes and a grin was plastered on her face. The taijiya moved to put her hand on the miko’s shoulder.

“You thought what was funny, Kagome?” the demon exterminator inquired, puzzled as to what would put the miko in such an amused state.

The woman turned towards her friend and absently pointed over towards Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, “Those two. They’re just acting ridiculous.”

“But they always act this way, Kagome,” the houshi spoke, curious to see where Kagome was going with this.

“Exactly,” the miko smiled, somewhat subdued with the questioning. She stroked the kit’s fur, soothingly, as she tried to find the words to explain what was so humorous. “It’s exactly like the tough cowboys in those western movies…” she trailed off, grinning a little, “I mean, they’re brothers and they always have these fights over each others toys. It’s silly.”

The demon lord watched her carefully, the fury at this human laughing at him inciting his demon blood. He carefully controlled himself, still knowing that his eyes were beginning to tint red, and heard the woman whisper to herself, chuckling, “Classic gunslinger moment.” The Taiyouki didn’t know what the human meant by that, but he would not stand by and be ridiculed by this… this woman.

Quickly, the Taiyouki moved around a distracted hanyou and shoved the miko up against the side of the old woman’s hut. The others gave out startled gasps and moved towards the demon lord, but could not attack without putting the miko at risk. Sesshomaru’s clawed hand wrapped around the woman’s neck and pricked at her skin, just a hairs breadth away from drawing blood. The kitsune cub was pressed between them, captured in the miko’s arms, pressed in by the demon lord’s chest. He tried to wriggle free and glared up at the Taiyouki in fear and defiance, hissing his anger at the threat and his own helplessness.

Sesshomaru’s golden eyes were narrowed, slight sparks of anger giving way through the depths of his orbs. Kagome’s eyes were wide and deep in a blue calm, in perfect contrast with the demon lord. His silver hair moved across her shoulders from the speed of their sudden movement, mingling with her own raven locks. The mix of dark and light would have been beautiful without the threat of bloodshed imminent over the pair. Using his strong stance and superior height, Sesshomaru moved so as to make the human below him submit. Speaking low in his throat, the Taiyouki locked gazes with the miko, "You will show respect to this Sesshomaru, human.”

Taking a shallow breath, the woman met the demon lord’s gaze with strength and defiance, “I have done nothing to disrespect you, Sesshomaru-sama. I was merely laughing at the situation.”

His senses were screaming at him to back away from the woman who was still recovering from her ordeal. His very blood ached with restrained action against harming this miko and his muscles were taut as his tail wrapped around them, holding this fierce, yet fragile, woman below him. The demon lord’s mind, however, was incensed at her inability to submit to his power and he growled low, so deep that the two could only feel the vibrations from it.

With depths of ice, Sesshomaru spoke, “Do not presume that you can take this Sesshomaru lightly. These claws could kill you in an instant if you dare provoke them.” His sharp nails dug into the miko’s skin, just above the breaking point. Something passed through the woman’s eyes for just moments and it drove the Taiyouki’s blood to a pounding ferocity that he had not encountered before. Partly confused and angered, the demon lord froze as the woman’s face twitch in an indescribable, knowing emotion.

“If you choose to kill me, I will do nothing to stop you,” Honesty and a slight tremor filled Kagome’s sweet voice, as it was saturated with her own acceptance of the youkai’s actions. Befuddled and rather surprised at her words, Sesshomaru fought to keep his calm, knowing the demon lurked just beneath his skin. Closing his eyes for a moment, he fought the intensity in his blood, and his face turned unconsciously to sniff the lavender fragrance of her body. Snarling, Sesshomaru shoved himself away from the miko, dodging the Tetsusaiga that swooped down on his position as soon as he was separated from Kagome. He watched as the miko fell to her knees with the kitsune cub cradled in her arms. The kit was anxiously pawing at her shoulders and trying to gain his adopted mother’s attention. Her eyes lingered on Sesshomaru and a mixture of gratitude, hope, and… something that resembled something that shadowed the demon lord’s mind. Something that haunted his dreams.

Feeling his blood still simmering, Sesshomaru wrenched himself away from the group and quickly moved away from the old woman’s hut. Wrought with confusion, he knew he could not spill the miko’s blood today, and even his own body would not obey his mind’s intentions. He retreated to the spring where he had washed the miko of her wounds and sat down to sort out his thoughts and regain control.

Perhaps he would have to reconsider having the woman in his home if it caused actions such as this.

***

DarkMystic: Sorry I did not write you to know of updates, but your e-mail address doesn’t show up in the review section and I don’t see you under the author directory. But thank you very much for the review and if you still want to receive e-mails for updates, just send me an e-mail or let me know by review, okay? Thanks again.

Legessa: *blushes* Wow, just wow. I don’t think this fic really deserves praise, but thank you so very much. When I was having trouble with writing the fic, that helped me keep going.

Raven Swiftwing: Thank you for your review. I’m glad you like my story so far. I’m not very sure when I’ll have Kouga enter the storyline, but I can promise that it will happen. Perhaps not for another couple of chapters, but I’ll get there eventually.