𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐀𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜;; 𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐮

𝟒.𝟒

"Do you mind if I see that?" Sayuri asked, holding her hand out. Without hesitation, Kagome pushed the sword into Sayuri's open palm.

"You take it! I didn't mean to pull it out..."

Sayuri nodded absentmindedly, trailing a finger over the dents in the dulled metal. "It hasn't been maintained at all, though I suppose that's to be expected, seeing as it's in a demon's corpse. You know, Kagome? It's-" Sayuri looked up to see Sesshomaru standing in front of her, and her mouth went dry.

The floor was covered in the skulls of demons and humans alike, and they crumbled under his feet. His face was impassive: his lips were drawn into an emotionless line, and his eyes neutral as they gazed down at her. Sayuri couldn't help but look him up and down once in the proximity, admiring both his height and his fine clothing.

"Give me the sword," he told her, his voice soft like an icy breeze before a storm.

"Oh, this old thing?" She smiled, spinning the hilt in her hand. "You want it? You couldn't pull it out, though, so should I give it to you?"

His eyes narrowed slightly, almost imperceptibly, and his long ears twitched. However, he didn't push the subject; instead his eyes flicked over to Kagome, who flinched and stepped behind Sayuri. "What is she?"

"A human, I believe," Sayuri replied easily as Kagome gripped her shoulders, hiding behind her. "You are a human, right?"

"Sayuri, stop joking around!" Kagome jabbed Sayuri in the soft spot between her scapula and her spine before returning her hands to her shoulders. Her grip was hard enough to bruise, though it didn't bother Sayuri enough to point it out.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha shrieked from the other side of the chamber, "Sesshomaru! Leave them alone! They have nothing to do with this!"

With a soft huff, the inu daiyokai turned around to face his younger brother. "Neither you nor I could draw the Tessaiga. Yet, she had no trouble against the barrier. You expect me to let them go?"

"Huh? Wait, what did I do?" Sayuri asked, pointing at herself.

"You," he cut his eyes towards her sharply, "are infuriating."

"I don't know why the barrier didn't affect her! I don't know why Sayuri-baba is like that either! But they're both just human girls!"

Just human girls, huh? Sayuri smiled slightly, dragging her index finger over the Tessaiga's chipped blade. She watched her flesh split and knit back together just as fast.

Suddenly, a clawed hand encircled her wrist tightly. Sayuri winced at the sudden pressure as Sesshomaru's grip shifted upwards and straightened her fingers out. His hands were warm, she noted as she passed the Tessaiga backwards to Kagome: her own skin was like ice in comparison.

"You-" he started, but was interrupted by Inuyasha's screaming.

"Sayuri-baba! Kagome, give the Tessaiga to Sesshomaru!"

The moment Sesshomaru dropped her hand like a hot coal, Kagome - who'd never let go of Sayuri's shoulder - pulled her back. "No!" she shouted, holding a wide-eyed Sayuri close to her chest while brandishing the Tessaiga in front of them. "He couldn't pull out the sword! That means he's not the rightful owner, so I won't!"

"Are you stupid? A human's got nothing to do with this! Don't butt in!"

"Did you say not to butt in?" Pushing past Sayuri, she pointed the sword at Inuyasha angrily. Only Sesshomaru stood dangerously close to the extended blade, so Kagome awkwardly retracted it.

At this, Sesshomaru chuckled mirthlessly, drawing his hand up to the hair tucked behind his ear. "Inuyasha... You seem to be very interested in humans. Why protect them? Why let them go?" Slowly, his hand ran through his alabaster locks, flicking them out in an almost mesmerizing progression.

"...Why love them?"

Sayuri tried to take a breath, but it got caught in something slimy in her chest and refused to be released. So instead, as Sesshomaru walked over to Inuyasha in slow, careful strides, she tugged Kagome behind her once more.

"I certainly did not inherit our father's feelings of compassion towards humans," he noted coolly. "It was this feeling for a mortal woman, for your mother... The weakness of the heart is what caused our father's demise." He glowered at Inuyasha once more, shouting, "Tainted blood flows through your body!"

Tainted blood...? Sayuri's blood pounded in her ears, trickled through her veins, heavy and blackened with the curse that plagued it. Though she knew he wasn't speaking to her, Sesshomaru's words nestled in her blighted heart.

"Is it this blood that tethers you to humans?"

Tethered? Hardly; it was this filthy blood that cleaved her from humanity, why she and all her ancestors isolated themselves on that mountain for centuries.

Sesshomaru scoffed. "I will never understand such appallingly crude beings."

Appalling, crude - she took a deep, shuddering breath as Sesshomaru turned around to face her and Kagome. He raised his hand, his claws glowing viridescent with his signature acid-

Kagome.

Sayuri shoved Kagome to the side right before the acid sprayed from his outstretched hand.

Sayuri had been burned alive a few times before. It wasn't enjoyable, but it had been with actual fire; it had never been this painful. First her hair, then her skin, then her very flesh and bones melted under the acid; a scream tore from her throat or someone else's, she wasn't sure which.

The green haze thinned out, though her vision had already started to fade as death dripped from her tears. The last thing she saw was his eyes, golden like the sun, horrified at the sight of her as he reached his hand out-

Once again, Sayuri died.

hello? why did no one tell me i wrote sayuri making tea with pickled flowers in the prologue TT. guys when i write something stupid you have to tell me okay, 9 times out of 10 its not on purpose