Chapter 70

Unwanted rescue



Sesshomaru watched the sun, that was fairly high on the sky since it were few hours from the dawn already. The woman was still sleeping soundly in his embrace, the demon was listening to her regular breathing. He gazed at her and gently tucked the stray strand of her brown hair behind the ear, so that he could see her face. She looked so peaceful when asleep, it was a pity, that she could not stay this way when awake. The woman sighed and stirred, gripping his haori with her small palm. Sesshomaru was glad, that she was still oblivious of his sinful weakness towards her and he decided, it would be the best to keep it that way. Maybe he inherited this flaw from his father, but he would not follow his footsteps. Not ever.

"Sesshomaru…" the woman said quietly. The demon looked at her again, but heard, that her breathing did not change. Was she dreaming about him? She stirred again. "You idiot."

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes and glared at the sleeping woman. He had the general idea now, what was she dreaming about.

Then, the demon picked up a familiar scent, coming from beyond the barrier, to be exact the scents of a group – three humans, two demons and one irritating hanyou. Sesshomaru cursed inwardly as he looked at the woman in his embrace.

"Wake up." He said, shaking her slightly. She moaned, but showed no sign of waking up. She snuggled closer to him instead. The demon had to wake her immediately, before Inuyasha gets here and sees him in such a humiliating position. Feeling guilty, he squeezed the woman's injured arm.

 "Ouch!" Mai opened her eyes immediately, feeling a sharp pain in her arm. She lifted her head.

"Get up." Sesshomaru told her coldly and pushed her away from him, standing up. He put his armor on and without a word yanked Mai up.

"What's wrong with you?" the girl hissed to the demon. Yesterday he was actually being kind for once and today he was back to being an asshole. Damn, he has mood swings like a pregnant woman.

"We will be freed soon." The youkai explained. Mai's eyes brightened. That was fast – she thought, that she would spend at least a week in the damn cave.

"Is it Jaken?" she asked. Sesshomaru made an annoyed face.

"Unfortunately no." he replied with the irritation in his voice.

After a while Mai saw, what was the source of his annoyance. Kagome, Inuyasha and their friends appeared. Soon the group came closer to the sealed entrance to the cave.

"Mai, are you okay?" Kagome exclaimed, running towards her friend. Mai also came closer, but the both girls almost immediately jumped back, struck by the power of the invisible barrier.

"What's that?" the black-haired girl asked, confused. Miroku carefully examined the pieces of paper glued on the rocks.

"Hmm…" he narrowed his eyes. "It looks like a seal, a powerful one at that."
"A seal?" Sango repeated. The monk nodded.

Suddenly Inuyasha burst laughing. The hanyou nearly choked himself, pointing at Sesshomaru, who was silent, but more and more irritated.

"Ha! In your face, you shitty bastard!" Inuyasha exclaimed happily. "Look who's now sealed!"

The half-demon kept mocking his brother, making faces and Sesshomaru gritted his teeth, eying Inuyasha with murderous glare. Kagome sighed.

"Does Inuyasha even realize, that we're going to free Sesshomaru in a moment?" Shippo asked, not believing, how stupid their supposed leader could be.

"He'll realize soon." Kagome replied, sending a doubtful look at the hanyou, before turning to the monk. "Miroku-sama, how about we handle that seal?"

"I wanted to say the same." Miroku agreed. He and Kagome positioned themselves on the both sides of the entrance of the cave.

"On the count of three." The monk ordered and the girl nodded with determination.
Mai watched as they counted down, curious how would the dispel such a powerful seal, that had the power to imprison Sesshomaru.

"Three!" Miroku cried and together with Kagome simultaneously ripped the pieces of paper from the stone walls.

"That's it?" Mai asked, slightly disappointed. She expected some flashes of light, shouting spells, some show. Kagome grinned to her.

"Yep, pretty much."

Mai was about to say something to her friend, but a loud noise interrupted her, as Sesshomaru darted forward to punch Inuyasha. The demon's fist landed on his brother's cheek and sent him flying into the air. Kagome sighed heavily. The hanyou almost immediately jumped back on his feet.

"I'll get you for this, Sesshomaru!" he yelled, ripping out Tessaiga. Sesshomaru smirked.

"It is you, who will say farewell to this world today." The inu-youkai replied, drawing Tokijin.

Mai and Kagome exchanged glances, communicating without words. As on the mark, Mai darted to Sesshomaru and Kagome towards his younger brother. The brown-haired girl threw herself onto the demon, firmly wrapping her arms around his waist.

"OSUWARI!" Kagome yelled and Inuyasha landed face-flat on the ground. The girl glared at him. "We don't have time for this now!"

Sesshomaru let out an irritated growl, but he couldn't do anything, as he was holding Tokijin in his only hand and didn't have a spare limb to free himself from Mai's grip.

"Woman, get off me." He hissed quietly, feeling humiliated by the whole situation. The girl looked back at him stubbornly.

"Promise, that you won't beat up Inuyasha and I will." Mai blackmailed the demon. Sesshomaru frowned, but the embarrassing moment was dragging on.

"I promise." He muttered almost inaudibly, not wanting others to know, that he gave in to the human woman's demands. Mai unwrapped her arms and took a step back, pleased with herself. She looked at Kagome, who was glaring at Inuyasha, ready to "sit" him anytime.

"You two just can't give it a rest, huh?" Mai asked.

"Feh!" snorted the hanyou, still laying on the ground.

"Hn." Sesshomaru turned his head away. Mai and Kagome rolled their eyes, seeing the behavior of the two brothers. When the demon was done pouting, he grabbed Mai by her waist and formed the cloud beneath their feet. The girl sighed heavily – she hated it, but was already getting used to this. The demon and Mai soared together to the clouds.

"Kyaaa!" Mai's scared shriek was heard.



Kagome furrowed her brows.
"I've never seen Sesshomaru listening to someone like that before." She commented. Inuyasha snorted.

"He's getting soft from old age." He said with a wide grin.

"I think, that's a good thing." Kagome said, thinking about something intensely. "Inuyasha, do you think, that it could be because of Mai?"
The hanyou snorted.

"Who knows? That girl could make everyone have a breakdown." He grinned with mischief. "That bastard must have a hard time with her around."
Shippo sighed heavily, looking at the half-demon.

"Inuyasha, I sometimes think, that you insisted on Mai going with Sesshomaru only to make his life more difficult."



Somewhere…
 
A mysterious figure approached a conflagration – that was all, what remained from once magnificent castle. The town at the feet of the stronghold was abandoned, as the inhabitants feared the wrath of a horrifying demon. The person clad in white pelt made his way through the black burnt remains, until he was standing right in the middle of it. He reached his hand out and threw a glistening piece of jewel onto the rumbles, it disappeared somewhere between burnt wood.

"Raise." The figure said quietly and the ground begun to tremble. The debris right in front of him parted and a decayed corpse emerged, the purple light shining from his chest. It opened his mouth.

"Why do you disturb my rest?" it asked. The man in the white pelt smiled gently.
"I will grant your wish." He said.

"My wish?"

"Yes." The mysterious man nodded. "I know all about your tragedy. Your soul will not move over, for you failed to protect the one, you cherished over your own life."

The corpse shifted abruptly, as though swayed with a sudden emotion.

"Amayami… my dearest…" he uttered, clutching his head in despair, wailing. "My gentle Amayami taken by a mononoke…"

The man in white pelt put his hand on the corpse's head in a calming gesture.

"He took her from you." He stated.

"Yes."

"You failed to protect her."

"Yes."

"You cannot be with her."

"Yes!" the corpse wailed, crouching at the mysterious figure's feet. He smiled gently.

"What if it is not too late?" he asked. The corpse stopped wailing.

"Not too late?" he asked hesitantly. The man in white pelt nodded.

"I can give you body and help you find Amayami. You could take her with you and spend eternity forever." He said. The corpse smiled eerily. The mysterious man continued, as he retrieved a small black stone from his robes and placed it carefully in the bony fingers. "Take this stone. When you find Amayami, drop it on the ground and it will take you to the place, where you two will be happy together."

"What do you want in return?" the corpse asked with suspicion. The man in the white pelt gave him a kind smile.

"Nothing, I just want to ease your pain. Do you want it?" he asked. The dead man hesitated.

"Do you want to be with Amayami?" the mysterious figure asked again.

"Yes!" the corpse exclaimed and a purple light flashed from his chest. Suddenly, it began to change. The flesh covered the bare bones, skin grew back and even clothing appeared. Instead of decaying corpse, a handsome young man was standing before the one in white pelt. He studied his hands with wonder and was touching his face, with a smile growing.

"You will stay this way only till sunset." His savior reminded him. "You must use the stone before then."

The revived man nodded eagerly, clutching the black stone.

"I will." He said, turning away to leave, but stopped abruptly. "I owe you so much, but I do not even know your name."

The figure in white pelt smiled.

"I am called Naraku." He answered and watched the other man leaving. When he did, Naraku chuckled maliciously.

"You will grant me quite an amusement," he said to himself. "Maeda Gorouza."