The way you love me

“Do you want me to tell you something really subversive? Love is everything it’s cracked up to be. That’s why people are so cynical about it. It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more” - Erica Jong


There can be only one……..

'Stupid insipid bitch. Did Lady Aiko really think that I was going to let her win and mate with my Maru-Chan?' I shook my head; my beast sounded an awful lot like my mate. I knew Aiko wasn’t crazy about the whole ‘owing me from this morning' thing but I didn’t give a flying fuck. Honestly, I knew Maru-Chan probably had a bunny fan club but I didn’t know they’d be psychotic and murderous. Did I have a sign around my neck ‘Test me, I’m weak’? In typical Kagome fashion, I wanted to rant and rave. A small tantrum might have even been appropriate, you know? A quick mental smack from my beast stopped me! ‘Hello! Mind on the business at hand Taisho!' Aiko didn’t look like the type to show mercy of all things. I could bet she didn’t fight fair either.

‘Itoshi, she is allowed to change forms in this duel. Her base form is that of a dog demon with some wolf mixed in. This makes her much harder to pin down.’ Pin down? Did he really think I was going to be merciful? And super cool--the whole talking mind to mind thing! Of course, I had to give him the ‘duh’ look, which earned me the raised eyebrow! Wait a minute... did he say pin down? What did he think I would do? Be nice during a fight? Great, even your mate thinks you’re as soft as a marshmallow. Even being a newbie, I knew if I showed mercy this bitch would be the first of many knocking on our door.

I now believed in the saying "Make your enemies fear you". My beast wasn’t conflicted about such convictions; she knew it was survival of the fittest. And while, yes, usually the fear thing fell to the other members of the gang, I now had the power and the know-how to instill fear in others on my own. (Quick note to self: this just might be why absolute power corrupts absolutely!) Fear more than respect would stay the hand of an enemy. The great thing about fear is that a little goes a long way towards discouraging idiotic tendencies, such as challenging another for the rights to a mate. However, as Lady of the West, whatever compassion my human heart still held could not be publicly displayed. It was apparent that I was still struggling with the duality of my nature: still being human in some respects and now demon in other respects.

I wondered what weapons I had at my disposal. Just thinking of this caused my claws to leak out poison. It kind of smelled like Maru’s but it was pink in color. Sugoi! I wondered if I had a whip like my mate. A snap and a crash later showed me my whip worked just fine. Damn. I hope Maru wasn’t mad about the tree. I wasn’t allowed to theorize or test anything else as an invisible bell rang and my enemy rushed me! Yep, real sporting of her, I was definitely not going to feel guilty when I purified her ass! Part of me knew to be wary of her so I was on the look out for foul play. I was dimly aware that some of the soldiers from the castle had arrived and loosely placed themselves in a wide circle around the area. I wondered if they were the peanut gallery or witnesses to ensure the fight remained honorable. Who knows, maybe they were hoping some clothing went flying!

I pulled back from a swipe of her claws to my face. I chuckled inside. It seems, whether demon or human, in a cat fight there is always one who goes for the face. Then I sobered up. Hey! She was using poison! She desired scarring me for life! I did mention foul play, didn’t I? Our beast wasn’t happy at that, in fact, she begged to be let out to play. I cautiously ceded some of my control to her. It was like being part of an interactive video. I felt myself rush her, at the last second feigning to the left. I felt our claws rake across Aiko's face. I had to say it was WAY satisfying to feel her blood on our claws. And as an added taunt, I held up our claws and licked the blood off of them. Part of me knew I should be way disturbed at this, after all, this was blood not ice-cream. But I wasn't. Although we only caught her on the jaw, I could see my purifying poison start to work. I could see her skin begining to discolor. First to a pinkish red and then it turned a dark purple. Even way cooler than that was the way my poison began to spread through her veins spreading away from her wound. It caused her veins to turn purple and they began to be visible under her skin, like a tiny road map made of blood. It was like watching a large watercolor of purple lines come to life. I could see my poison spread thru her veins with each beat of her heart.

Apparently she was very vain about her face. Oh goody! Aiko got a wicked and very pained look on her face and rushed me. Just as she neared me she jumped over my head and released some gas. My vision was the most affected of my senses. And guess what? You can’t fight what you can’t see. I immediately threw a small shield around myself and started to heal my eyes. We were mad as hell, my beast and I. If she kept pushing my beast was going to force her way out and play. Did I mention my beast's idea of play had lots of blood involved? Not to say that during my healing Aiko just sat there. No. She kept pounding on the shield hoping to break it. The second I could see well enough, I dropped my barrier and the fight was on again. I’m not going to make it sound that while we fought she just defended, oh no, she got in some good solid rakes and one deep stab with her claws to my body. Although her poison did not affect me, I found out that my blood acted like an acid on her skin. Now there was a gift that keeps on giving!

By the way it was the stab to my chest that did it. That fucker really hurt! She had been trying for my heart but I dodged so she got my ribs instead. I don’t know what was worse, hearing the crunch as my ribs broke or feeling the vibration in my body as her hand touched things that were not meant to see the light of day. Either way it brought about unintended results. My beast rushed to the forefront and seized control. I could feel myself loosing my human form. Contrary to popular belief, the first time you change is not an easy or painless process. I was confused at the way my already supersensitive senses expanded. It was disorienting the way my vision changed and downright painful as my body reshaped itself to a form that was foreign to me. As overwhelming as all this was, it only took seconds. I know, not fair. Right?

Where I had stood moments before there was now a huge black Inu. I threw my head back and bayed. Anger, frustration, and, yes, hate could be heard in that bay. I looked at Aiko’s new form, since I wasn’t the only one to transform. Impressive, but still not enough to win the fight for Maru. She was fighting for a position; I was fighting for my love! I growled low and deep in warning letting her know that to continue was to seek her death. It didn’t get more basic than this. One of us was not leaving the Western Lands after this. There could be only one love and mate to the Taiyoukai, the killing perfection. And for your information that was me!

Apparently she didn’t care. She rushed me and I dodged. The speed in this form was phenomenal! She turned around and rushed me again. At this point I wanted the fight to end (as you know I’m not the fighting kind of girl) so I flipped over her and used my claws to make long slashes in her fur. Pity too. In her form she had silvery black fur and looked gorgeous. Too bad the inside didn’t match the outside. Aiko writhed in pain. More of my poison had entered her system. When she began to stagger around the clearing, I jumped on her back. I looked up into Maru’s eyes before I lowered my head and bit down on the back of her neck instantly killing her. To be merciful I killed her before she could slowly purify, I knew my poison was not fast acting like my mates so it would have taken her a while to be completely purified. But hey, I didn’t say that out loud, after all, my actions spoke louder than words! I then let my Miko poison out of my claws to finish purifying her remains.

Maru barked at me to change back. Too bad as a dog I couldn’t blow a raspberry! I’d just killed to keep him as my mate and he barks at me! Arrogant bastard should be humble I fought for him. Demand I submit would he? If he wanted me, then he damned well better catch me! I turned, looked back at him, and barked before bounding off deeper into the forest. I trusted my nose to know Maru’s boundaries. I heard a loud growl, one long howl, and I knew the chase was on! I wasn’t scared. As a matter of fact I was excited. My beast was still in control and she wanted some alone time to renew our bond with our mate. Just goes to show you what she knew, horny beast! I ran towards the waterfall on the Western Land. Hey, I wanted to get caught but I didn’t want to act like a slut-puppy either!

I arrived at the edge of the waterfall and looked around. Damn! No place to hide this huge-ass body of mine! A cave below the falls was narrow enough that I would require my human shape to navigate it. Still, if I wanted a chance at hiding I had to be much shorter than 10 yards tall. I found myself shrinking in size but retaining my shape. I was now the size of a large mastiff. This new ability of mine was Wicked Fucking Cool! It rocked! I heard a mental snort and woofing as my beast laughed at me. I stuck my tongue out at her. She just laughed harder. Ignoring her, I crawled into a high area of grass hoping that the muck and scent of the water would make it difficult to find me. Add to that the bonus of the rushing falls and I did not have to worry about my panting. Now I just had to wait as silently as possible for my mate to come and find me.

I knew the minute he reached the area. The very ground trembled with his steps. I could hear the sound of his nose taking in great drafts of air, trying to find my scent. It was too cute! However, I did not laugh. Instead, I continued to pant very lightly. Closer and closer he came, as the ground yielded its secrets on my position. When he was less than a yard from me I jumped up, barked at him, and took off into the water. Now that was a quite a sensation, playing and frolicking in the water! I could tell my mate was amused. It may have been old hat for him, but it was new and wondrous to me!

And as for him having his way with me? I was easy, but not that easy. The demon had to work for his piece of ass. There’s nothing wrong with that, right? My beast let me know this was an important part of Inu bonding. Apparently, role play was just as active in this era as in mine. Oh I wondered if we could play room service next! Or maybe rescue the maiden?! I wondered how he felt about S&M play…… 'Okay Taisho, you really went off the deep end on that one. Geez, one freaking day and I am out hentai-ing Miroku. The monk would be proud!' {LOL I just had to throw Phoenix Wolf’s story here!} Just as I was I getting ready to frolic some more I caught a scent that I really wasn’t in the mood for.

And just like that my inner beast went from playful to homicidal again. I wonder if they can prescribe happy pills for an Inu-youkai. So with hackles rising, I went to follow the scent trail…………..

I should have stayed with Maru-Chan!

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INU~LOVER