𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘰𝘯 犬夜叉 ♡ ; 𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚔𝚞 𝚡 𝚘𝚌

moon rose tonic water

Deep within the castle, there was a rippling of water echoing down a long hallway. There were no voices echoing off the bouldered surroundings, just the subtle splashes of water. Upon entering the open room connected to said hallway, stood Naraku, leaned over the border of his hotsprings that was carefully centered in the middle of the room. 

The hotsprings was only accessible via a small bridge that allowed whomeever to enter to cross over, leaving a big enough platform for someone to stand around the perimeter of the hot springs without falling into the Koi-laden water below them. 

Inside the springs was Mei, her eyes shut and chest slowly rising up and down. She appeared peaceful, in a deep slumber unwilling to wake up, but it wasn't from her simply wanting to rest from the previous events that unfolded between her, Naraku, and Kagura. Naraku added a sleeping tonic to her tea, lulling her off to sleep so she could cease crying, if only for a little while. It angered him to see her so afraid, littered with guilt and shame. If she wasn't with him, he would have killed Hide with his bare hands and brought him back to life just to kill him all over again. Just the thought of his hands on Mei made him-

"Mmh..." Mei stirred in her sleep, brows furrowing together. She tossed her head to the side, whimpering with her eyes still shut. Naraku kissed her forehead, rubbing her shoulders underneath the water, trying his best to calm her down. 

"Shh.. Its okay, Mei. You're with me now," he kissed her cheek, then her neck. "You're with me now."

It took a few more seconds, but she finally stopped her movements, falling back to sleep. It worried him what she possibly could be dreaming of if she was dreaming at all. 

He pooled water in his hands, cupping it over her head to let the warm water cascade down her raven locks. He took his time to massage her scalp, her neck, then her shoulders. When he kneeled down to kiss her neck once more, he spotted what appeared to be a spot of raised flesh along the base of her neck. Why didn't he notice this sooner? 

He ran his finger over the spot, taking note that the skin was in fact rougher than the rest of her body. And remarkably warmer than the rest as well.. 

How weird.. It feels like this popped up out of nowhere but the more I touch this area.. The more drawn I feel to it... He thought. 

Naraku made a mental note of this newfound discovery. Resuming his motions, he gently clasped her jaw with his thumb and pinky, tilting her head to the side to plant another kiss on her. In another time, he imagined the two of them to be intertwined with eachother, enmeshed with one another's flesh for hours on end, but now.. She needed him. And as uncomfortable it was for him to be at sucha vulnerable service to someone, for Mei... He made room to be that person. 

Ah.... Onigumo chuckled in the echoes of Naraku's mind Its so interesting seeing such a refined and feared demon as yourself wither at the vulnerable state of this wench. A wench, who if i'm not mistaken, is with child. Naraku's jaw tightened, which made Onigumo's laughter only echo louder in his head. 

He was right. She bore the mark of a burned rose on her collar bone. The tea that he instructed her to drink was to help alleviate any feelings of nausea but also doubled as a pregnancy determinant for expectant mothers. And, as Onigumo mentioned, she was in fact pregnant. The mark shone itself clear as day on her skin, which excited him but scared him more than he wiuld have liked to admit. 

So what are you going to do, Naraku? Now that you know she's a full-fledged demon, are you still going to go through with this senseless plan of yours? How Naraku wished he could just silence this objectionable voice once and for all. He gritted his teeth, lowering his eyes down at Mei and then up to the ceiling. Truthfully, he didn't know what to do. But he was going to stick to his Plan. No matter what. 

Hmph. You really are pitiful. If I knew a demon like you would fall in love I would have offered my body to someone else. And with that, Onigumo fell silent in the burrows of Naraku's mind once again. 

"Alright, Mei." Naraku took a towel from a large basket placed next to him and lifted Mei up bridal style, holding her damp body close to his chest for warmth. 

"Let's get you back to our room.." 

As Naraku carried the sleeping Mei close to him, her body shielded by his kimono and an extra towel, he continued to place kisses at the crown of her head from time to time. She was carrying his child and this excited him to no end. 

Once dried off and changed, he laid her down in their bed. He joined her on the other side, scooting closer to her so she could rest on his chest as she slept. The tonic would wear off in a  few hours, but he would be sure that he was there when she woke up. With a sigh, he rubbed the small of her back, eyes closed in thought.

It won't be long Mei.... My pets are looking for your sword for me, and then i'll have enough shards... 

It won't be long now. 

Promise. 

-

"I'm telling you, Miroku." Inuyasha started, his hand fist-deep in a bag of potato chips that Kagome brought back from her world. "It would do everybody good if Kagome just dropped that damn sword in the river and be done with it."

"Nonsense, Inuyasha. And besides, was it not you who ran off Mei in the first place?"

"Me?! Feh." Inuyasha snorted, stuffing his mouth with whatever greasy goodness filled the insides of the bag. "It wasn't my fault she decided to be a whore to one of the most hated demons across the land!"

"Whore is such a strong word, Inuyasha."

"Well its the right term for a bitch like that." he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, shifting his eyes away in annoyance.

"Its hard for me to believe that you could hate someone you just met, let alone for at most a week."

"Yeah, well....." Inuyasha stood to his feet, peering his eyes over at Kagome and Sango who were collecting food and medicinal herbs from a nearby village.

"Some people you just have to dislike off the bat. And unfortunately, Mei was one of them."

"Well," Miroku sighed, leaning against the tree the two of them were sitting under. "Do you think if she hadn't been tied up with Naraku, you could have possibly been friends with her?"

No sense asking that now, Inuyasha thought to himself. He didn't respond to his question out loud, which made Miroku's question all the more viscous to stick onto. 

Without announcement, he jumped into the tree, avoiding all further questioning regarding Mei and Naraku. Miroku sighed, shaking his head as he fastened his hand bandage.

"I guess we'll never know that answer then." he murmured.