FicWad

Look over here (kiss #1)

By kira


Author's note: More Live journal kisses featuring Inutaisho & Izayoi! This time it's the start of it all...


Inutaisho put his arms around his young wife and held her close as she cried softly. "Sssh," he soothed. "It's not your fault Katakuri-chan wasn't strong enough. Baba-chan says these things happen."

"I know," she sniffed, "But it still hurts."

"I know, but there'll be other pups, you'll see. I promise you, Inuki-chan, Sessho-chan will have a sibling one day."

"Hai..." She gave into her tears and he held her tight.


Six months had passed since they had lost their daughter and Inutaisho grew restless under the mournful air that hung over the palace. He decided a trip was in order and he gathered a few of his men for a couple days' rest at his lodge. After kissing his wife good-bye, they set off.

They took a roundabout way with the intention of getting there in two days instead the usually one. On the surface it had seemed an innocent move albeit a lazy one, but the dog general welcomed the opportunity to be alone with his thoughts. Inutaisho had fallen back and it was several minutes before he had even noticed that his friend Takahara had hung back as well. They rode on in silence and after a minute or two the dog general pointed out that it looked as though there had been some low level youkai activity recently.

"Hai. I see you saw that too, but I don't they'd be stupid enough to start with us, but Hiroshi-san said with a bit of luck, the humans that had passed this will escape their notice...Are you alright, my lord?"

"I'm fine, Taka-" the rest of the dog general's words were swallowed up in the commotion ahead. "Let's go!" Inutaisho cried and they all took off down the path to see what was going on. They were close enough to Inutaisho's hunting lodge for him to be concerned about the human's trying to claim it as their own. They rode hard, barely sparing more than a passing glance at the dead and half eaten bodies that littered their way.

"Something must have been very hungry to pull this shit, ne? It may have only been humans, but still this is way to close to the lodge for comfort!" Takahara said.

"Hai!"

"Watch out!" Takahara cried and the two youkai urged their mounts around the driverless cart. The spooked horses, pulling said cart, had decided there was something not quite human about them and giving one last burst of speed, they pulled ahead, veering off into the woods.

"Halt!" Inutaisho pulling sharply on the reins had his horse dancing while he waited for his men to catch up. After giving his men orders to investigate and to put down any threats, the dog general had no trouble urging his mount to follow after Takahara. The two followed the trail of the cart as it crashed it way through the tree in an effort to further escape whatever had spooked its horses. As they rode on, they came across the bodies of an old woman and two younger girls before spotting the overturned cart. One of the horses, pulling it, still thrashed about as it tried to right itself and it was a simple matter to end its misery.

Inutaisho decided to have a look at the cart to see if its owner was still inside. Judging from the way the dead women were dressed as well as how fine the carriage and horses had looked, he figured they must have been nobles as they were too well dressed to be peasants. Peering inside, he spotted another human. "Sweet Kami-sama..." he swore softly as he crawled inside.

"Did you find something?"


"Hai! Look over here..." Inutaisho called out from inside the wreckage.

"Where?" Takahara said as he pulled away a large piece of broken wood. "What is it?"

"Here...And it's a girl."

"Is she pretty?"

"Hai, for a human..."

"Trust you to fall for a pretty face..." Takahara laughed. "Well? Can she get out? Or is she too scared of the big bad youkai to move?"

"Iie, I believe she's hurt as she's not moving...humans are such fragile things, ne?"

"Hai..."

"Well? Are you going to stand there or are you going to give me a hand?"

"Ooo, she must be really beautiful then, if you're in such a hurry, old friend." Takahara chuckled.

"Just hurry," Inutaisho laughed. He took the time it had taken for Takahara to help him, to study the girl's face. She appeared to be young, although he wasn't sure as he had never seen any humans this closely before. The girls also had a small cut on her forehead which bleed profusely as well as a few scrapes and bruises on her face, and despite all that, the dog general could see she would have been a very beautiful woman in other circumstances. The only thing that did trouble him was a small lump behind her left ear. He had seen many youkai comrades die of similar wounds on the battlefield and with humans being so fragile, he feared she wouldn't last long.

"Why don't you kiss her and see if she wakes up?" Takahara said jokingly and it was several minutes before Inutaisho shook himself from his reverie to answer.

"Nani?"

"I said, 'why don't you kiss her and see if she wakes up?' My Toukasa-chan just finished reading some scroll where a princess was awakened by a kiss form her true love." He laughed. "Hasn't your wife gone on and on about it? Iie? Shit! The way that story has gone around the women's quarters, I'm surprised there hasn't been an increase in the number of pups waiting to be born...Then again, if we men had any sense we'd run screaming for the hills the minute our women mention it." Shaking his head he went on, "Perhaps the lovely Okugata-sama hasn't read it yet," he said. "Anyway, just be prepared for it when she does. Come, let me help you."

After a bit of careful maneuvering, they had the girl cradled safely in the dog general's arms. Takahara mounted his horse, and taking the reins from his friend, he lead the dog general's horse back onto the path where they made their way onwards towards the hunting lodge.

Once they had arrived at the lodge, Inutaisho cloistered himself and the girl in his rooms. There he spent the rest of the afternoon and evening watching over the girl as she slept. He felt inexplicably drawn to her as if he had known her all his life and he wondered if they did know each other in another life time. That lead to thoughts about what she had done to come back as a human, but somehow as he looked at her, he found that did not matter in the least. What mattered was that she had managed to come back to him.

Inutaisho looked over at her again and studied her face in the soft glow of the flickering candle light. Night had fallen hours ago and the lodge was quiet except for the soft sounds of nature that lulled everyone into sleep. Reaching out, he gently stroked her cheek and she stirred. His heart lifted by the thought she might just survive the night, he gave into a sudden impulse, and leaning over, he kissed her gently on her lips. "Awaken my princess..." he murmured softly and was rewarded by her the quick fluttering of her eyelids. But it was not to be, for the girl died shortly before dawn. Then something happened that Inutaisho found hard to explain; the Tensaiga started pulsing softly at his hip, before growing ever more and more insistent. He stood up and quickly unsheathed the blade. That was when he noticed the gaki or messengers of hell crawling all over her. With a quick downward sweep, he sliced through them, leaving the girl unharmed. The silence that had flooded the room during the night was shattered minutes later by the soft beating of her heart before her eyes fluttered open.

They spent several tense agonizing moments as the dog general explained to her what had happened. He found out the girl's name was Izayoi and she was the youngest daughter of a local daimyo who had been sent off to her husband-to-be's home where she would be married several days later. When she started crying, Inutaisho gathered her in his arms and held her close as she mourned the old life she had left behind for the new unfamiliar one as one of a great youkai lord's household.

"Arigatou," Izayoi said softly, "I feel better now..." She daintily wiped her tears away. Looking up at him, she thought him to be the most beautiful creature she had ever seen, and nothing at all like the stories she had heard about youkai. His long hair was pulled up in a manner that reminded her of her eldest sister's husband's although it was as white as her cousin Yukiko-chan's and the memory of the little girl who was like a little sister to her, brought fresh tears. "Gomen nasai, you must think me a foolish human, but I can't help it. I just can't stop crying...."

"Sssh...It's natural to mourn the loss of the familiar and to be afraid in a new situation." He held her close. "But you have nothing to be afraid of here. I rule the western lands and I swear to you, I will let nothing, or no one for that matter, harm you."

"Hai...Domo arigatou...I appreciate that, but aren't you creating a lot of trouble for yourself with me? I know my people would not be as kind if our positions were reversed..."

"Izayoi-hime..."

"Hai..."


"I don't want you to worry about it anymore, understand me?"

"Hai... you are most kind, Inutaisho-dono-sama."

"Keh! I'm only doing my duty," he said before instantly regretting it as she stiffened in his arms. "If you will excuse me, I have a few things I need to tend to. I'll see to it you have someone to help look after your needs and you have but to ask and it shall be yours." He gently eased her off his lap and stood up.

"Hai....but don't go, I feel better when your around. I don't know why, but I feel as if I have always known you."

He smiled at her. "I too have had a similar feeling. Perhaps we did, and perhaps the gods are giving us a chance to enjoy a happiness long denied us."

She smiled in return. "Hai, perhaps they are..." Feeling sad, she suddenly looked away.

"Izayoi-hime, I promise you, I'll only be gone for a short while."

"Hai..."

"Come, look over here, there's something I want to show you," Inutaisho said as he held out his hand to her.

Taking it, Izayoi let him help her to stand. "What is it?" she said softly.

"It's my private garden, would you like to sit and wait for me there?"

"Hai..."

He looked at her, unsure if she was going to faint or not as she had gone as pale and a sudden fear gripped his heart that she would die on him again. "Daijoubu?" he whispered softly. "Are you alright?"

"Hai I'm fine...I was just reminded of a story I loved as a child." She smiled and the color returned a bit to her cheeks.

"Will you tell me about it?" he asked as he led her outside and into the garden.

"She had been placed under a spell by a wicked oni who had wanted to eat her. He was afraid she would escape so he made her go to sleep, figuring he'd wake her up when it was time to eat her, but a handsome prince came along and killed him. She slept for nearly a year before an old priestess suggested he try kissing her in order to wake her up. He did and she did and they lived happily ever after..."

"Sounds like an interesting story..."

"Hai... I just remembered she was in her garden when the oni took her away..."

"Oh..."

"But I can see you're not an oni..."

"So I must be a prince, ne?" he teased and she laughed.

"Hai... but if you are a prince then you must kiss the prin-" the rest of her words were swallowed up in his kiss.

"Gomen nasai, I don't know what came over me. You must forgive me, Izayoi-hime."

"I will, but only if you do that again..." she said as dark crimson blush stained her cheeks. "Now you must forgive me for being so forward..."

"Hai..." he said softly as he bent to kiss her again. "I do..." he murmured softly as his lips met hers and she knew she would be his as long as she lived.

Breaking the kiss when something caught her eye, Izayoi said softly, "Look over here." she pointed to a large butterfly that had been resting on a fat peony. "It seems Cho-san has come to give us his blessing..."

Inutaisho chuckled. "Hai..." Smiling, and pulling her close, he reveled in the moment as he knew he had just found his soul mate, despite the fact she was human. "Look over here," he said softly, attracting her attention, and capturing her lips again as she looked up at him.

Sadly he left her there, basking in the warm sunshine, one of his favorite scrolls in her hand as he left to go take care of some urgent business. Though it had seemed like he was gone for hours, he was barely gone an hour before he returned.

"Oi, Izayoi-hime; look over here!" he called out to her. "I'm back!" he said as he added his rich laughter to her own.

"I can see that, Dono-sama," she said softly and getting up, she went over to him. Once there, they picked up where they had earlier left off and Inutaisho came to a decision. He was going to make her his mate that night and his wife be damned.

A month had passed in youthful bliss and the two lovers spent the time getting to know each other well, before the dog general brought up the subject of what waited for him at home. Izayoi was understandably upset over the news, but she soon brightened at the thought of living in a huge palace. Besides, she reasoned that her human husband to be would probably have had a few concubines as well and that she would have to share him, so why should being Inutaisho's concubine be any different. She knew in her heart that she was his and his alone despite the presence of a wife; for he had told her she was his wife in all but name anyway. So what could have been a sad thing, turned into a happy one and Izayoi looked forward to her new life with all the naivety that her fifteen years gave her.

So as she rode safely ensconced in a palanquin, with Inutaisho riding along beside it, Izayoi watched the scenery go by. She was listening to a story about his young son Sesshomaru, when she spotted the break in the trees caused by her careening carriage. "Wait!" she cried out softly. "Gomen nasai, Dono-sama, I didn't mean to interrupt but I wish to ask you something."

"Hai..." He nodded and halted their progression. "Ask away."
"Look over there," she said, pointing.

"Where, by the broken tree?"

"Hai... Is that?"

"Hai..." the dog general said softly. "Come, I wish to show you something." He helped her out of the palanquin and led her through the broken trees by the side of the road. "Look over here; this is the spot where you came into my life for the better..."

"Hai...and look over here," she said softly and placing her hand on her heart, "This is where you came into my life for the better..."

"Hai..." Inutaisho murmured as he bent to kiss her again. "Now, let's go back before they miss us," he said as he moved away from her.

"Hai..." she said reluctantly as she had wanted nothing better than to remain there lost in his arms.

Taking her hand, he led her back to where the others waited. Minutes later, they were back on their way home...