Saturday, March 5, 2005

   Honor Thy Brother...
Kagome brushed the back of her hand over her lips, wiping off the sluggish trails of blood as she slid to a halt on the opposite side of the grove from the powerful youkai. She watched him with an almost gleeful expression, flexing her claws as her ears pricked forward to catch the slight acceleration in his breathing. Sesshoumaru wasn't having an easy time with this fight either.

She had never expected Sesshoumaru to be quite this strong, but... she looked back at him, grinning at the startled look on his face as he touched the four long gashes across his stomach. She couldn't hide the delighted giggle as she rotated her shoulders, pulling yet more of his seemingly inexhaustible energy into herself to cover the strength she'd lost with her own wounds. It was exhilarating to feel this powerful, and her previous emotional turmoil had dimmed in favor of this almost euphoric rush.

Of course, Sesshoumaru wasn't just strong, he was ridiculously fast, and as much as she was delighting in that, she was having a little bit of trouble adjusting to his youkai abilities. In response, she was relying more and more on her newfound talent for letting herself get lost in the instincts of her "opponent." After all, who knew how to fight against Sesshoumaru better than the youkai lord himself?

But... it was more than a little disturbing, the roiling emotions and skills he kept carefully tucked beneath the stoic, cold exterior, but giving into those -in addition to the power rush, was making pushing aside her own confusion almost sickeningly easy. And that gave her all the more reason to follow the subconscious directions he was ignoring to hold onto his control.

Sesshoumaru turned back to face her, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the new slice he'd made along her cheek, joining the other, mostly superficial wounds he'd struck. He didn't necessarily want the girl to die just yet, but the more they fought, the more he was being forced to begin his assault seriously. It was either that, or fall himself beneath her own strangely successful advances.

The little youkai had shown the most reaction when he'd brought his fist into her stomach, but where he had expected his hand to go through her; it had simply knocked her backwards into the trees. Kagome had barely been fazed, shaking it off with irritating ease and attacking him again. He was just as confused as he was curious that this little girl was so resistant to his attacks. And when the hell had she gotten as fast as him? It was impossible she could so swiftly attain what had taken him centuries to master!

"You cut me," there was just the slightest hint of his surprise coloring his voice as he felt the warmth of his own blood against his palm. Something was seriously wrong with the aura around this girl, and it was just getting worse the longer they fought...

The youkai energy was crackling in wild arcs, slowly overwhelming the original feel of her spirit. It was just like that time he'd faced Inuyasha; that time his half-brother had changed into that thing that felt nothing but the thrill of battle. Could it be that this human could lose control of the stronger youkai blood the same way?

He dismissed that almost as soon as he thought it. This was different... He had no idea how he knew, but on an instinctual level, it was there.

Kagome's wounds should have at the very least hampered her speed, but each time he connected, she would shake her head and the youkai aura would flare stronger. How was she ignoring the damage to her body like that?

Kagome's eyes had darkened, the flesh around her eyes graying as her head lilted ever so slightly to one side and she gave him a slight smile, "You're strong..."

One brow arched and he inhaled deeply, trying to discern why she seemed to be so oddly unbalanced, even disconnected from their duel. He frowned in irritation when he caught the faint spike in her scent beneath the tangled aura, this one purely physical and most unwelcome. No wonder his brother's mate was acting so aggressive, "You're nearing your cycle."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Kagome shrugged nonchalantly, turning her attention down to her bloody claws. Lifting her hand to casually lick at the blood, she gave him a sideways look, "Are you done already? Here I thought a great youkai like Sesshoumaru would be more of a challenge than this."

Sesshoumaru let out a faint growl, his blood bristling at such blatant disrespect even as he used his icy control to tamp it down. How could his little brother let her out of his sight if she was so close? Purposefully, he turned his gaze away from her, "Fighting now will only push you into heat, little girl. You would lose what miserable control you have over yourself, and I am not as impulsive as the fool you mated."

A sudden, violent growl warned the older youkai that he'd just said the wrong thing in front of the volatile girl a split second before she had leapt at him again. Sesshoumaru dodged to the side as Kagome's fist came down on the ground he'd been occupying, shattering the soil under the force of impact. Her head whipped around, eyes narrowing on him as she rolled to her feet, "How dare you?! Just because you're Sesshoumaru doesn't mean I'll let you get away with insulting Inuyasha anymore than I let your little follower, you sonofabitch!"

Sesshoumaru frowned in annoyance when a very distinctive scent caught his attention, distracting him from the girl as his gaze went to the woods off to his left. Kagome took full advantage of his inattention, throwing all of her strength behind her shoulder as she slammed it into the taller youkai's stomach to send them both crashing to the ground.

Inuyasha came barreling through the last line of trees, skidding to a shocked halt as his eyes found the tangled pair wrestling on the path. He stood for a moment in wide-eyed disbelief, blinking and shaking his head in an effort to clear the bizarre image from his mind.

Kagome was astride Sesshoumaru, the latter on his back and snarling up at her with more emotion than Inuyasha had ever seen openly displayed. Of course, Kagome wasn't much better, her eyes glowing with rage and her clawed hands locked with his as they fought for leverage. The most startling sight, however, was their hands... Both Kagome and Sesshoumaru's claws were leaking with his trademark poison, neither appearing the least bit effected by the dripping, noxious liquid melt the ground beneath them and hissing as it ate away spots of their clothing.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted, ripping the Tetsusaiga from its sheath and trying to figure out the fastest way to get his mate away from his brother.

Her head snapped up, and Sesshoumaru used the distraction to throw her violently away from him. Rising to his feet in a single fluid motion, he frowned and cast a disdainful look to the growling hanyou. Inuyasha was gripping his sword almost convulsively, casting his mate concerned glances while trying to focus on the one he considered to be the real threat. It obviously had not occurred to his half brother that Kagome could possibly be a willing participant of a fight with a youkai like Sesshoumaru.

The youkai lord would have laughed had his attention not been centered on his recovering opponent. Kagome's youki had wavered when Inuyasha appeared, giving him the opening to over-power her, the hanyou's reaching for her with a level of control that amazed him. The enraged girl's eyes flickered blue for the briefest moment before she scowled and tensed; forcing Inuyasha's youki away from her as he again felt that rippling drain on his soul.

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed as he studied the bloody girl more closely, a suspicion forming in the back of his mind with the massive fluctuation in youki all around them. A low growl started against his will as he made the connection, his eyes glowing with a surprised sort of admiration. When he felt his energy drain, Kagome would take a deep breath and straighten, her exhaustion fading and the waning of her strength vanishing as though she hadn't fought at all.

Inuyasha's bitch was somehow fortifying herself with his strength.

It was a powerful, dangerous skill for a youkai to have, let alone a youkai as undisciplined and uncontrollable as this one. His stance changed slightly, menace humming in the air around him, 'At least I know how she is mimicking my poison.'

Sesshoumaru's gaze was drawn again to his brother, searching for understanding in the hanyou's eyes. Could his brother be stupid enough to let her leave his side when she lacked training for her ability, much less when her aggression was heightened by the moon's cycle?

If he allowed himself, he would have smirked at the helpless anger flitting across Inuyasha's face. He knew... but Kagome herself was fighting his dominance? He arched one brow and looked back at Kagome, recalling her claim that Inuyasha couldn't accept her as a youkai. Perhaps his brother wasn't teaching her to control herself in favor of trying to return her to a human? He had been right after all; Inuyasha was jealous that his once human mate had become what he had always dreamed of being.

This was simply a moment that he could not less pass by, "You have no place in a fight between youkai, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha's gaze snapped from Kagome to Sesshoumaru instantly, his eyes flashing scarlet with rage at the bored disapproval in his voice as well as the insinuation that HE was the one who didn't belong, "This is between me and my fucking mate, Sesshoumaru! Get the hell out of here!"

Kagome frowned at Inuyasha, her muscles tensing and relaxing nervously as she debated in her mind whether to run from both brothers or stay and finish her fight with Sesshoumaru. Honestly, she didn't want the fight to stop... Fighting with the powerful youkai was making her feel as though she was finally getting some recognition for her new skills, and she still had to prove to him that she was strong enough. But at the same time, Inuyasha was pushing at her, trying to force down the barriers she was using to keep him out of her head and that was taking more of her focus than she wanted to spare.

Frustrated, she snarled out at Inuyasha, "Goddammit, Inuyasha, this is my challenge!"

Inuyasha stumbled back in surprise at the vehemence in her voice, his brows lowering in a scowl when he could practically feel the amusement in his brother, "Not a chance in hell, Kagome! You don't even know what a challenge is!"

Kagome blinked, momentarily distracted as she admitted to herself that he was right. How had she known to say that? Shaking her head in irritation at the return of her confusion, she retreated more into her instincts and bared her teeth at him, "I'm not weak. I don't need your help, hanyou."

Sesshoumaru let a smirk grace his lips, flexing his clawed hand as his body tensed to continue, "You heard your mate, hanyou. This is a youkai challenge, and unlike you, your mate seems to know how to honor that."

Inuyasha let out an enraged shout as his brother blurred forward and clashed with Kagome, and yet... rather than fall under the assault, Kagome ducked the first slash of his deadly claws. Swearing blackly when the two of them locked together, spinning in an effort to force the other to lose ground, he slammed the Tetsusaiga back into its sheath. The two were too close for him to use the sword without accidentally catching Kagome in the process.

'Dammit, couldn't that bitch have run into ANYONE but him?!' his hands curled into fists as he tensed and waited for a chance to get in between them. Kagome was blocking him out on purpose, but he had seen the hurt she was trying to mask with anger. And it would take a complete moron not to see that she was deep in the control of his youkai blood, once again looking and feeling like she didn't have a drop of human blood in her body.

Inuyasha blinked, feeling an unwelcome flash of pride when Kagome smashed the back of her hand across Sesshoumaru's face and knocked him to one side. Was this what the voice had meant? It was a tangible thing this time, watching Kagome as he felt her aura block his and pull on his brother. The youki weakened in the exact same degree that Kagome's rose, and her eyes glazed under the force of her instincts.

'It's like he's fighting against himself,' he snarled instinctively when Sesshoumaru caught her by the throat and flung her through a particularly large tree. 'A short, female him,' he corrected grimly, amending that Sesshoumaru still had a hefty advantage of height and reach, and biting back his desire to rush in and take his brother apart for hurting her. If he interrupted now, she might run before he had a chance to stop her.

Kagome let out a shriek of outrage as she reared back to her feet, hissing as she shook off the slight haziness and clashed with him again. Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed grimly when the undertone of enticement under her scent grew incrementally stronger, and he broke contact to leap across the clearing.

This just wouldn't do.

He was enjoying the fight immensely, delighting in the ability to actually let go and still find his skills challenged. It was even more fun than fighting with Inuyasha, but unfortunately, she was too close to fertility. The blood smell was obviously teasing her instincts if the scent was even starting to affect him. But couldn't just back out of the fight... Sesshoumaru flicked the blood from his claws and focused inward, prepared to end their attack in one sharp action.

"Wait, no-!" Inuyasha yelled when he felt Sesshoumaru's power shift, his eyes going wide and bleeding scarlet as his lips pulled back on his fangs in a violent snarl. Kagome was absorbing and he was going to try changing forms?!

Kagome's spine arched, her eyes going wide when the wild excess of energy arrowed through her. Sesshoumaru was putting out power in waves, each one caught and absorbed as quickly as it came off him. She stumbled backwards, clutching both hands over her heart as the muscles in her legs gave out, dropping her unceremoniously to her knees.

Something inside her was on fire, clawing at her heart and pulling bone and tendon with so much force she felt like she'd be ripped apart any second. 'Why isn't this attack absorbing?!' Kagome's mind raced frantically, blood seeping from her lips as she set her jaw against the urge to scream. Was she not pulling hard enough?

Kirara cleared the trees in time to see Inuyasha slam full force against Sesshoumaru's back, Kagome's head thrown back as she finally screamed, the sound shattering the stillness of the night and echoing off the distant mountains before it was thrown back at them with enough force that even the humans cringed.

Sesshoumaru was startled enough that his attempt to transform died instantly, but with the retreat of the change, he staggered and fell to one knee. His eyes went wide in alarm at the weakness that swept through him, snarling at himself in disgust as he forced his protesting body to rise. How could he have possibly lost so much energy with a simple attempt at transforming to his full form? He should have felt stronger after that, not drained and groggy. Snarling, he swung about in a search for something to vent his frustrations on, hoping to restore the lost power before Kagome attacked again.

Inuyasha happened to be the closest target, finding himself the recipient for the weakened youkai's anger when an elbow rammed into his stomach with enough force to send him to the ground gasping for air.

Sesshoumaru was reaching down to grab the hanyou by the back of the neck when a wave of heat suddenly rolled down his spine, his instincts bristling a deeply rooted warning through his awareness. Startled, he looked up to see Kagome pushing herself to her feet with effort, almost as if sometime in the past few moments her body had grown too heavy for her to lift easily. This time she was moving…. his eyes narrowed in speculation, like she was intoxicated somehow?

Kagome stared down at her claws, blinking as she stumbled slightly before catching her balance and looking up to flash him a cruel smile. Even the slight, nagging pains she'd been feeling a moment ago had vanished, leaving behind the most amazing heat and strength that continued to spill over her aura and pulsate in the air around her. It was too much... this amount of youki rushing through her, but it felt too good to let him have it back so soon.

She blinked when her vision seemed to swim for a moment, lifting a hand to her head when her body gave a heavy pulse. She took a deep breath, pressing a hand against her stomach when the muscles twitched and spasmed uncomfortably, 'Dammit, I don’t feel the others, why this? How hard did he hit me?' She tried to shake off the bizarre fluttering, forcing her mind to pull the anger back to the forefront of her emotions as she growled at the agitated youkai.

Inuyasha's eyes went wide and his attention snapped to Kagome in disbelief when a very unmistakable scent curled around her, "Oh hell..."

"Control your bitch, or I'll do it for you!" Sesshoumaru barked at him in irritation as he watched Kagome slide down into a taut crouch. He’d been afraid of this. The signs had been there, but he hadn’t been expecting them and it was his own error that he even began the fight in the first place. Without control, her instincts would be going wild with the smell of blood and adrenaline, picking up on the agitation in both himself and Inuyasha. They really would force her into an early heat if he let this continue.

Inuyasha took a step back in confusion, blinking as his mind processed Sesshoumaru's sharp order so soon after identifying the enticement curling into Kagome's scent, "What the-?"

"We're not done yet, onii-sama," Kagome growled deep in her throat, determinedly steadying herself against the dizzying rush and flicking a quick glare to Inuyasha. She could already feel it... Inuyasha was reaching for her with his aura again, trying much harder this time as he attempted to soothe the anger she had been blocking from him. She huffed in annoyance at having to waste more of Sesshoumaru’s borrowed power just to dispel that calming sensation.

Inuyasha felt Kagome close herself off, turning his attention to take in the way she was weaving unsteadily, her eyes glassy and unfocused, "Dammit! Kagome, you have to calm down!"

"Not on your life," her eyes narrowed sharply as she swung her gaze from the brothers over to where Kirara had deposited Sango and Miroku, both looking tense and ready to aid if they could. Would they agree with Inuyasha? Did they think she should give this up too? "I'm going to prove it to you that I'm good enough to be a youkai! I'm good enough to be your mate," her voice lowered to a pained hiss and she launched herself at Sesshoumaru again.

Despite his weakened state, Sesshoumaru managed to dodge a little more easily than he had before. Kagome had almost slipped at that last moment, the force of her swinging claws almost sending her toppling over onto Inuyasha even as it ripped up the ground in front of her with ground-shaking pressure. She barely managed to right herself and dart away from him to focus on Sesshoumaru’s bland face.

Inuyasha was gaping at her in disbelief, catching hold of her the farthest thing from his mind at the moment. She had NEVER been that strong, not even when he’d lost control and transformed himself, but she had even less control over it. She was fighting sloppy…. His brows suddenly snapped together when he replayed her words in his mind, realizing just why she was being so stubborn about not obeying him.

"What the fuck have you been saying to her?!" Inuyasha roared at his half brother, his eyes sparking with anger at the insinuation behind Kagome's words.

Sesshoumaru just barely tamped down the urge to scowl at the hanyou, annoyed with himself for letting his physical weakening bring his emotions to the surface, “I am not the one who cannot accept that there is youkai blood in her. I, Sesshoumaru, am protecting the strength of father’s bloodlines.”

“I never rejected her blood,” Inuyasha clenched his fists at the censure in the youkai’s voice.

Dodging Kagome yet again, he rushed at Inuyasha, catching his throat the same way he had hers before and lifting him off the ground, “Then why was she running away from you?”

Inuyasha grabbed his wrist, digging his claws into the skin and trying to force the chokehold loose. As much as he hated to admit it to Sesshoumaru, something in his tone demanded an explanation and he grudgingly responded, “She can’t control the blood yet. If she’s confused, she runs.”

The two were rather abruptly ripped apart when Kagome fisted one hand in Inuyasha’s haori, yanking him backwards as she knocked Sesshoumaru’s wrist away with the heel of her foot. She released him almost as fast as she caught him, throwing him back towards Sango and Miroku carelessly.

“Leave Inuyasha alone, Sesshoumaru,” she scowled meaningfully and glanced behind her to make sure the three of them weren’t hurt. “And you!” she pointed a clawed hand back at the scowling hanyou. “Don’t even try getting close to me until I’m done with this!”

Sesshoumaru arched one brow curiously at that and he tilted his head to regard the pair of them. Kagome had been taking great care to stay out of his brother’s reach, and he’d have to be a weakling not to feel the way their youki were clashing together; Inuyasha’s trying to wrap around his mate while hers pushed him away. What kind of bond has the hanyou used to tie the transformed human to him? Not even he knew magic strong enough for that kind of spell.

“Fuck that, Kagome, you aren’t using your head!” Inuyasha snarled back at her, jumping to his feet and looking for all the world like he was getting ready to pounce.

To his growing amusement, Kagome leapt up into the trees, putting Sesshoumaru between herself and Inuyasha, baring her teeth at him before her gaze dropped back to the older youkai, “Not until I’m finished.”

Sesshoumaru was ready when she jumped at him again, instinctive defending and attacking while his attention focused behind him on Inuyasha and his human companions. Now he was even more curious than before, and it seemed like the best way to gather the information he wanted was to focus on the murmuring voices obviously trying to avoid Kagome’s attention.

“Inuyasha, is there a way we could distract her while she’s so focused on fighting Sesshoumaru?” Miroku studied the two youkai moving together almost like a dance. Kagome's eyes had gone glassy again, her face determined as she dodged and attacked, but Sesshoumaru almost seemed distracted. They were occassionally hitting each other, but the blows were obviously superficial. "You can push the excess energy out like you did with Kouga and Naraku, ne?"

"Aa," Inuyasha nodded, his eyes following her tensely.

Sango shook her head, "Inuyasha... when she's close to you and she loses her control it seems like... like she doesn't want you to push out the youkai energy she's absorbing."

"I know that," he growled angrily. "When she's not pushing me out of her head, I can feel her. She likes having the extra strength, and she knows it goes away when she's balancing with me."

"Maybe if we force her this way she won't notice?" Sango's hand tensed on the handle of her weapon and she eyed the best possible path for a shot.

Inuyasha shook his head, grabbing her wrist to stop her, "She'll run."

"Why don't you subdue her?" Miroku whacked the hanyou lightly with the staff for overlooking such an obvious solution.

"While she's fighting Sesshoumaru?!" Inuyasha rounded on him, yanking the staff out of his startled grip and snarling angrily. "Are you fucking insane? He'd slice her in half!"

Sesshoumaru caught Kagome's wrist, yanking her forward and pinning her up against his chest. Balancing, absorbing, and subduing... Their words suggested that if Inuyasha could catch hold of Kagome, she'd lose her ability to draw away his energy. He could understand why she would fight against that, but he wanted to see the other side of the spell.

Kagome was snarling, pulling violently against his hold while he vaguely heard Inuyasha scream with outrage behind him. As much as he hated to be the one to help Inuyasha, the hanyou's mate was a full youkai, and only another youkai was strong enough for this fight. Especially when that female was fluctuating with such an enticing scent.

Inuyasha needed his mate distracted, did he?

Sesshoumaru let the briefest of smirks cross his lips as he turned, grabbing Kagome's chin and forcing her face up. His gaze slid sideways to Inuyasha as he dipped his head and pressed his mouth hard to hers.


Comments (2)