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All hope for mercy was futile. Notions of salvation, a wickedly cruel gift for the damned. The menagerie of infinitely twisted strands in the weavings of fate could not conceal the conspicuous. The time had come. There was no escape. The hunt was underway, a mere sport in order to savor delectable trimmings before consumption of the inevitable...
A delighted giggle chimed with the crystal-clear ringing of a bell.
‘Shhhhh’ he purred.
‘Focus.’
Posed as an offering on an altar of decimation, the prey flamboyantly flaunted its imminent sacrifice. Collision with the chasms of catastrophe chanted the promise of sweet acclamations, glorifying the art of the apex predator. Thrill at the chase, palpable pulses of anticipation, and discovery of the addictive allure to the dances of the audacious, magnetized bifold.
‘I’m ready…’
There was no going back.
‘1’
Destiny aligned.
‘2…’
The innocent’s first taste of the forbidden.
‘3!’
“JAKEN-SAMAAAA!”
“WAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!”
The abounding wave, gushing as far as the edge of its riverbank, was rendered as mighty as a diminutive ripple in the presence of exuberantly jubilant laughter. The deserving victim of the huntress’ conquest, flailed to the water's surface, frantically flapping its puny arms, sputtering a mess of incoherent gargled curses. Well after the imp’s return to land, and disgraceful jittering about like a zapped bug flinging a barrage of wet droplets, the joy of her triumph continued to perfume the air with its intoxication.
Lounging at the base of a tree, the great Inu DaiYōkai remained a spectator to the spectacle, unable to resist basking in the flutter of her vivaciousness. Ignoring the still shrieking toad squawking his incredulity at her actions, sparkling eyes turned, finding his own across the extended distance precisely.
‘That was amazing!’
Indulging in the visceral tie that tethered him to her wonder, with a gentle pulse of affirmation, he agreed.
‘Amazing indeed.’
Her answering glee was undeniably felt. Succinctly confirming the ponderings of the impossible, the results to their experimentation left no discrepancy to its conclusions. As attention was returned to celebratory prancing, Sesshōmaru was left to his own musings as he contemplated the extraordinary evidence of yet another mystifying facet of his never-ending piquing fixation.
~Hours earlier~
Sesshōmaru continued his search for the odious Naraku, the unforgivable fiend destined to meet an exquisitely excruciating end by his own righteous hand. All traces of his repugnance had seemingly vanished after his recent failed attempt in stealing what would never be forsaken, aggravating Sesshōmaru’s impatience to no end.
The languid sighs of his vassal disrupted the rhythmic plodding of the two-headed dragon and the whimsical humming of its rider. Ever enchanted by accompanying those of the species that were a fundamental threat to her own, the small human’s subliminal melodies harmonized in tandem with the crafting of her fingers. Pride at completing that which had been meticulously and affectionately tended to throughout the course of the morning, resonated in the air. Eagerness for its gifted reception tangible as if it was outwardly articulated.
Carefully hopping down from her saddled position, one deliberately designed solely for her use, she slowly approached the recipient of all her dedications. Just as she was bracing to voice the declaration of her bestowal, the green yōkai adjoining her path stubbed one of two protruding toes on an unobserved obstruent rock. In a horrendously exaggerated fashion, the imp lamented his agony, aggressively swinging the Staff of Two Heads, all the while attempting a balancing act of screaming and cradling the affronted digit.
“Oh nooo! Jaken-sama...How could you?!”
Crumpled petals fell to the forest floor in disarray, erasing the precise arrangement of complimentary colors that had adorned a floral crown. The severity of distress due to the destruction of her intended present blasted the DaiYōkai’s senses, as they independently zoned in, centered on a sensation of unease. It was clear the decorative botanical tribute was meant for him, a fact evident long before her accusatory explanations were relayed to its unrepentant perpetrator. Her annoyance at the non empathetic berating, belittling the inadequacies of her gift’s worthiness as well as confidently claiming its inevitable rejection, could not overcome the tightening grip of sadness that invaded her.
Again, sensation surged.
The DaiYōkai could not help but notice that his attention to all the ridiculous things behind him was far more focused on than need be. Although it would have been just one more, of the nearly hundred other floral offerings made and presented, deep offense at being denied the chance to participate in the cultivating ritual irked him gravely. Disappointment magnified nonsensically. It was not as if the accidental conduct of the imbecile prevented the original intent from being accomplished. Surely, she could construct another laurel artfully expressed through her affinity to the endless blossoms. Just as surely as he would accept, as was his role in the traditional exchange.
“Oh, thank you Sesshōmaru-sama! I will make you a new one right away!”
Exactly.
Wait, what?
His confusion was verbally addressed through the mockery of her "strangeness" and that of being a "silly human talking utter nonsense" from the source of her earlier affliction. Willfully scorning the offender, her fanciful singing filled the air once again, and with it, a new sense of assuaged determination. Since all crises were reputedly averted, Sesshōmaru allowed the contentment to prevail unquestioned, actively redirecting thoughts to their primary affiliations.
Apparently, that was easier said than done. Try though he may, the great DaiYōkai could not weed out the ever-tantalizing seeds of germinating curiosity. After catching himself, for the 5th time, wandering in a direction containing no evidential provocation in adequately tracking his prey, Sesshōmaru feigned his decision to halt as graciously allowing his companions a chance at rest. When he happened upon a field overgrown with the efflorescence of a multitude of vibrantly hued flowers, he pretended the immediate rapture beaming brighter than the sun, a coincidental happenstance.
Standing guard over the rarefied nymph enthralled with the natural splendor and newly available muses to her skillful ornamentation, the great DaiYōkai gave in to the unquenchable temptation of her mystery.
What had happened earlier? It was almost as if her exclamation was in direct correlation with his inner contemplations. And if for theorization's sake, that was exactly what had inspired her prompt, how was that even possible?
Throughout the expanse of time spent in his company, the communal centuries had allowed his faithful vassal glimpses into the inner workings of his reasonings. At times empathic understanding, to that which was not verbalized. Just as he, without direct intent, had observed explanatory tells that certified his own accurate perception regarding the imp.
The notion that she, a mere human, possessed the telepathic ability to abridge the psychological barrier of the mind of a DaiYōkai, to the point of not only finding access to his thoughts but replying to them as if in natural conversation was absolutely absurd.
And yet Sesshōmaru could not stop the cannonade of memory of the numerous perplexing instances where abnormal cognizance transpired between them. Unexplainable moments of overwhelming sensations assaulting his being. The connection to something beyond himself. Times when his existence surpassed all previous ramifications of reality and aligned to the presence of an incomprehensibly singular other.
Driven by a potentially insatiable desire to plunge into the depth's inquisitiveness, the need to understand, to clarify what could only be impossible, overtook his psyche with an irrevocable hold. Leaving behind only one thing. Despite all reason, he had to know.
What power do you hold over me?
Unable to wait a moment longer, Sesshōmaru focused his already impenetrable awareness of the girl more intensely in her direction, taking it all in.
The flecks of amber glowing in streaks of wild obsidian where the rays of sunlight fell upon her hair. The fragrance of flowers interweaving with the natural subtleties of her essence, a bouquet of honey crisp sweetness like that of fresh morning dew. The radiance of her smile as she tenderly orchestrated the beauty of her imagination into a tactile representation of her ardor, as a gift, for him.
Without making a sound, allowing all that he felt from her to overtake him, Sesshōmaru reached out to her.
‘Rin.’
Immediately her gleaming eyes, entrancing smile, and incandescent spirit turned to his awaiting gaze.
“Yes Sesshōmaru-sama?”
Lost in an abyss of sensation, he floated adrift. Sensibility dimmed as he approached a blinding brilliance, the threshold to a dominion transcending his grasp of sovereignty. Just when he was about to turn back, fleeing the vast sea of the unknown, a familiarity gently brushed against the last clutch of his resistance.
'Can you hear me?’
The beaming radiance of her countenance, slowly morphed into one of amused perplexity as if his question was peculiarly comical. Staring deeply into his eyes, with a slight tilt of her head, the astounding creature answered automatically.
‘Of course, Sesshōmaru-sama! I can always hear you.’
His golden eyes widened in shock. Through the mysterious connection that esoterically bound them together, his awe pulsed to her, illuminating her original incomprehension yet natural response to his query.
‘I didn’t say anything out loud, and neither did you. But I heard you...can you hear me?’
‘Yes.’
A tiny gasp passed through her rounded lips. Having drawn her full attention to the link between them, the tie magnified exponentially, surpassing all previous surges of connection. In an instant everything else faded away, all physical ties to the Earth, everything that came before, as all perception of his surroundings disappeared until there was nothing. Nothing but hers.
As he continued to slip away, she ascended, filling the whole of his existence with her light. She was everywhere. She was everything. The wind blowing through her hair, the flowers she still held in her hands, the joy she felt every time he called her name, the devotion that branded her soul to him, the life that he snatched away from the covetous hands of Death, eternally claiming her as his own, he felt it all. He felt all of her.
Just as quickly as they were submerged, like a flash of lightning he crashed back into himself. His body, his mind, the world around him once more within his reach.
After allowing a moment to reacquaint himself with the jolting re-assimilation to the planes of this reality, his eyes sought her out. She was panting in desperation, and with an intrinsic awareness, he recognized his own ragged breathing was in perfect synchronization. Her look of frantic bewilderment pierced him through.
Without any attempt to filter the barrage of his entirety forcefully being accessible to her, without recognizing how drastically dangerous the complete disappearance of self was to them both, without thinking at all, he reached out, clinging to her presence, still with him.
‘Are you alright?’
‘Sesshōmaru-sama...Yes, I think so... Are you alright?’
The purity of her concern threatened to sweep him away in the mighty currents of her fealty. Even with the depth of its honesty manifested in his psyche, quivering through his veins, embedded in his soul, Sesshōmaru was astounded by the veracity of her affections. Despite his near millennia of superiority, majesty, conquest and power, the divinity of her grace instilled in the great DaiYōkai something he would have never imagined able to defeat him so. A fear that he was unworthy of the nobility of her deference.
Further proving the accuracy of such a distinction, sensing his encroaching spiral into self-flagellation, the entrancing sprite pulled him back from the edge by revealing more of her lustrous light.
‘Since the moment I saw you lying there in the woods, I felt something, so strong...Stronger than anything before. I could not explain it, but I knew, I just knew I had found what I was looking for. What I was meant to find...Where I was always meant to be. It was the only thing that mattered, the only thing that I needed. The only thing that I would ever want. For the first time, I understood why I was alive. There were times when that feeling would come again and I could just know you, feel you...I don’t know if any of this makes sense, but I am so thankful anyway. Sesshōmaru-sama, I am so happy with you, and all I want is to make you happy too.’
There were no words to encapsulate all that her declaration had changed within the world. For it was as if nothing was the same nor could it ever be again. Sesshōmaru was left stupefied, unable to comprehend anything at all. There was only light, only truth and only the need to never let it go.
Breaking the spell of his existence’s new genesis, a gripe from his longest, most faithful, companion towards the girl to "stop ogling at My Lord’s magnificence and get back to your silly flowers" dissipated the severity of tension between the two.
Although grateful Jaken’s interruption allowed Sesshōmaru a moment to gain his bearings free from the mystical pull of her possession over him, the consequent tang of her embarrassment turned the previously honeyed air sour.
Seeing the underlying chagrin concealed within her haughty retort, an indication of disappointment and sadness returning, Sesshōmaru welcomed in, without resistance, the now undeniably recurrent urge to reassure.
‘Jaken is a fool, pay him no heed.’
Her answering nod affirmed acknowledgement of his assertion. However, it appeared to be insufficient in achieving its intent, as her eyes remained downcast, hands no longer crafting, but merely grazing petals with her delicate fingertips. An ever-increasing shadow of self-consciousness permeated her being, so wrongly suited for one of her magnificent inner convictions. It made his skin crawl.
This will not do.
‘Shall we teach the imp a lesson then?’
The sparkle of intrigue that ignited her once again ebullient eyes was all the confirmation he needed.
Stoking the embers to the flames of his fascination, the DaiYōkai and human concocted a secret mission through their private connection alone, to get back at the one responsible for attempting to extinguish the beacon of her confidence. Guided by her innocence, the decision to organize a ‘sneak attack’ appeased the girl, slightly scandalized by the concept of engaging in behavior so mischievous. Each progressing fraction of the experiment ran smoothly as she set the scene, cued by his mental prompts, for her unassuming prey.
With each passing moment her excitement electrified their kindred energy. The sensation so riveting, Sesshōmaru just could not help himself from over dramatizing the narration of her hunt in their unified thoughts, addicted to being the source of her merriment. If the DaiYōkai was focused on anything other than her enticing rapture, he would have had to admit he was having a rather significant amount of fun.
Upon the success of their merged vengeful play, Sesshōmaru could no longer delude himself with ignorance to what he had intentionally been attempting to dismiss. The proof was explicit, the memory ingrained, the penetration of her presence irreversible.
They were connected.
Beyond reason, beyond explanation, and beyond all that he knew to be true. This was real.
Terrifyingly, it was the most real thing he had ever felt in his existence.
Still unable to competently process the amplitude of its implications, the DaiYōkai simply resigned himself to no longer fight that which had done what nothing else ever could and accepted he had been brought to submission.
Her laughter flitting in the sunshine, awarded his deference, as his eyes helplessly trailed after the mystifying creature. His soul insatiably seeking that which was incomprehensibly yet resolutely it's proprietress. Gazing at the radiance of her smile, hearing the echoes of the declaration of her heart's desire, Sesshōmaru’s being was once again overwhelmed by the mystery of sensation.
A tingling warmth, gentle in its fierceness, foreign yet soothingly welcome, revitalized that which he did not realize was lacking. If the great Inu DaiYōkai did not know any better, he would have dared to name it happiness.