Four Seasons (Sesshomaru Fanfiction)

Winter: Chpt 18

18. In the Shadows

He had defeated enemies ten times his size, and he had cut down opponents that far outnumbered him with one blow. He had been on the brink of death once before, and had reemerged stronger than ever – stronger than his own father, even.

For him to perish at the hands of some scheming demon, and in such a state, would have been disgraceful, to say the least.

Sesshomaru reawakened just as Akiko turned away from him and rose to leave, and to his surprise, the first thing he thought, with his limbs heavy, pulse racing, and his entire body sweating, was why is she leaving. His head spun, but still he pushed himself up into a sitting position, ignoring the strange and immense fatigue that threatened to overwhelm him, fighting against the weakness of his newfound human body. At the sound of him rising, she spun around.

"Have you decided to leave?" He questioned, a strange feeling, which he blamed on the sickness, arising in his chest at the thought. As he sat up, his head spun.

How dare she offer to stay by his side and then leave?

"No," she replied, surprise in her voice.

"Or is it that you are off to kill your brother in my stead because you've deemed me incapacitated."

Even in his delirious state, he remembered clearly her challenge. He remembered the way she so defiantly told him she'd be the one to land the last strike, determination in those golden eyes of hers.

Sesshomaru didn't realize that he'd been falling forward until he felt Akiko's grasp on both his arms.

"I'm leaving so I can help you and make things right."

He looked down at her, wordless. He knew he had no logical reason to object. He knew what state he was in – he felt it. The fact that he did not even have the energy to feel angered anymore proved it. When he could focus again he noticed that the look on her face had changed.

"Why are you saddened?"

She looked away.

"This is all my fault," she muttered. "If I had just stayed away...," Her voice broke. "If I hadn't met Rin...oh god, Rin."

"Nonsense," he said. He would have none of her self-pity. "This is no one's fault but Kyou's..." 

And perhaps it was partly his own. He could not let go of the fact that had he not been careless he wouldn't have been in this situation. He turned away from her as she looked up at him surprised and made his way back over to the bed that she had made for him.

"Now, go, Akiko," he said as he slowly sat, "do what you must."

She looked at him for a moment, and then, regaining her composure, nodded and left.

***

High up in the trees of the forest, Akiko leaped from branch to branch, her mind still partly in the cottage she'd forced herself to leave behind.

Sesshomaru was no longer acting himself. She wasn't sure how to explain the strange things that he had been saying and doing, and what they implied. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been sick, if ever, so she simply assumed that it was the fever. But, a part of her wondered, what if it wasn't?

He had seemed pretty coherent when he told her to leave.

In the end, though, none of it would have mattered if Kyou succeeded in seeing to Sesshomaru's end. And she knew that if that were to happen she would have soon followed. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to live with herself if, yet again-

Akiko stopped herself. It did not matter. She knew that for what she was about to do, she needed to remain focused. She shook those thoughts from her mind. She was being silly. He had a fever – one that might take him over if she did not hurry. She sped off towards the nearest and largest human settlement.

When was the last time she'd stolen something from someone, she wondered.

She remembered eating some dried fruit once, near a tree as she'd waited for Sesshomaru to return from one of his many journeys. She'd felt a strange sense of elation when he'd returned. That memory felt like it was from so long ago.

She had lived out most of her life a thief and an enemy to many humans, but at some point, her acts of mischief had come to a decline. She didn't miss it. In fact, she hadn't even noticed when she'd stopped completely. Now, she would have been lucky if any human decided to willingly help her – especially in the East. Rather than putting that luck to the test, Akiko decided, she'd do what she did best.

***

"Why did you attack me?" Akiko questioned, a thin trail of blood trickling down the side of her head. She had tried her best not to hurt the human when she'd sensed her attack coming. The woman, however, had shown no mercy regardless.

Akiko had stopped when she'd sensed a human nearby, hoping that their presence meant she wouldn't have had to go farther. She hoped that she would have stumbled upon someone carrying some kind of medicine. But what she had found was nothing but an empty campfire and it was as soon as she turned to leave that the woman, who appeared seemingly out of nowhere, struck her with all her might. It was just a scratch, but it had been clear that the woman had intended to do more damage. She'd then pulled out a strange looking blade and that was when Akiko, pressed for time, was forced to act. 

As the woman clumsily moved around trying to land a blow, Akiko felt her annoyance growing. She didn't have time for pointless battles. She didn't have time for the crazy woman with the wild eyes trying to slay her. She struck the woman in her stomach. The blow sent her flying to the ground. Her knife flew from her hands, and Akiko stood over her, fuming. 

The woman on the ground spat out blood and looked up at Akiko with disgust. Her breaths had grown labored. But still the woman laughed.

"Maybe it is what I was ordered to do." The woman grinned. "Or maybe I was trying to defend myself against a wretched demon."

Akiko stared at her blankly. She hadn't even noticed at first that she'd instinctively pulled out her own blade. The woman began to laugh, blood spilling down the sides of her mouth. Defeated, Akiko threw her dagger. The woman laughed no more. And it was not until then that she realized what she'd done. 

Suddenly, she took a step back, regret washing over her. And then she  looked over her shoulder and all around her. 

She'd killed a human – the one thing she'd been trying to avoid. 

The woman was not innocent, but it worried her nonetheless. They were already afraid of her and now...now the minute they saw what she'd done they would see her as no better than her brother. 

For a moment, she was relieved that she was all alone - that the woman had been unaccompanied. But then she noticed the presence of someone nearby...someone watching her. Her heart raced. That presence felt unmistakably human. But then she spun around, eyes scanning the forest, when she noticed that the presence also had a strange familiarity to it...that it felt like a demon as well. Her eyes fixed on one large tree to her left. She tensed.

"What are you?" She spoke up, taking careful steps to the place where the aura was strongest. "I know you're there. There's no use hiding."

There was so response at first. And then, she heard the rustling of foliage. Akiko remembered her dagger lodged in the corpse behind her, but her eyes never left the tree before her. Suddenly, a man emerged from behind it, hands raised in surrender. She started. The auras, both human and demon, were coming from the sole dark haired man walking slowly towards her with his shaking hands in the air. She couldn't believe it at first. She wondered how it was possible. But she was given no time to consider for the man suddenly fell to his knees before her and bowed his head.

"Please, I mean you no harm. I am merely here to aid you...and to surrender..., Lady Akiko."