Somewhere To Belong: A New Hunger

"Oh there you are, big sister. I was getting so worried about you," said Rin as Suko made her way up the path.
Suko, who was startled, smiled through frightened lips at the little girl.
"Are you okay, big sister?" Rin asked, looking at her worriedly.
"Yes, I'm fine. I just went for a swim," Suko said with a managed smile. She tousled the girl's hair and entered the castle.
An alluring smell filled her nose as she walked through the castle following the scent. She stopped in a room where Jaken was preparing some kind of meal. She noticed there were four bowls sitting on the counter that were filled with some kind of soup.
"Mmmm... it smells so good," Suko said out loud. She stuck her finger into one of the bowls to get a taste, only to find her hand being smacked away by Jaken.
"Ow!" she grimaced as she massaged her stinging hand.
"Not that one! That's Lord Sesshomaru's! You take one of the others," Jaken commanded.
"Oh... sorry," Suko apologized taking two of the other bowls. "Rin! Time to eat!" she called throught the house as she set the bowls on the table.
"Coming," replied the girl, dragging (a newly arrived) Sesshomaru in by the arm. "Look who's here!" she said excitedly.
"Rin!!! Unhand Lord Sesshomaru at once!" Jaken shrieked. "How dare you put your hands on him like that, you stupid girl!" He set a bowl of stew on the table for the Youkai Lord. "Here, my Lord, sit here," Jaken pointed to the spot where he had just set the bowl, then stuck out his tongue at Suko when Sesshomaru did so.
"Oh, this is it!" thought Jaken as he excitedly watched Sesshomaru lift a spoonful of stew to his mouth.
"Lord Sesshomaru..." Rin interrupted him in mid-bite.
"Hmmm?"
"Noooo!" Jaken screamed inside his head... "Rin, just shut up and let Lord Sesshomaru eat in peace!" He yelled so loud that he brought tears to the young girl's eyes.
"I'm sorry, Master Jaken. I'm sorry, my Lord. I just wanted to say that Suko and I picked all of these beautiful flowers for you today," Rin sobbed as she gestured around the room to all of the arrays of flowers.
"You foolish little girls!" Jaken fumed, "Lord Sesshomaru doesn't want to be bothered with such stupid, girly things as flowers!"
"Jaken...enough," Sesshomaru said calmly.
"Y-yes, my Lord," Jaken answered in defeat. He didn't let it bother him too much because soon Sesshomaru would be his again. He watched with anticipation as Sesshomaru swallowed a huge bite full of his "special" stew. Then another bite, followed by another until all of his stew was finished.
"You've really out done yourself, Jaken," Sesshomaru said as he stood up and held a hand out to Suko. "Suko... come," he said as they walked out to the garden, which was bathing in the moonlight.
Jaken watched in horror. How did his plan fail? Why was Sesshomaru not tearing her to pieces? And, most importantly, who was she? He looked down at his bowl, which still had a few remnants of stew in it and gasped in terror as he gazed down upon some of the tiny glowing herbs that were once in the pouch Naraku had given him. He had given himself the wrong bowl! "Oh, no," he cried. Then Rin watched him fall over as he sank into a deep sleep.
Sesshomaru led Suko far out into the garden, untying the obi from around her waist.
"Man... he sure does have a healthy appetite," Suko thought as he nibbled at her neck with his fangs. Not that she minded. He was her teacher and she loved to learn from him. He released the kimono from her shoulders, letting it fall as he stared at her with a fierce hunger in his eyes that she alone could appease. But there was something different about his eyes this time. There seemed to be some kind of savage brutality behind his eyes as he looked at her this time. And for the first time ever, she was afraid of him.
She backed away from him little by little until she felt the sharp jagged edges of tree bark piercing the flesh of her back. Each piece of bark was like a thousand tiny claws ripping into her skin. Suko winced at the new pain. Sesshomaru lifted his hand and placed it around her throat, rubbing the flesh of her neck with his thumb.
"God, he looks so scary when his eyes are red like that," Suko thought to herself. He leaned in and sniffed at her neck, then let out a beast-like snarl before he sank his fangs into her neck, much like she'd seen vampires do in all of those old movies she used to watch. Suko gasped as her blood flowed into his mouth. She wanted to push him away, but found herself entranced with the erotic nature of this act.
Sesshomaru released her neck from his mouth and hoisted her up onto his body with her back pinned against the tree. As he did so, it caused the bark to shred at her back even more. He thrust himself into her over and over again like a wild, untamed beast. He found his mark on her neck again, and bit down hard savoring the sweet, warm blood that coated his tongue and throat. His hunger knew no boundaries... until they heard someone clapping.
Sesshomaru sniffed the air then turned his gaze upward. Naraku was sitting on a branch above them.
"Please don't stop on my account," Naraku said, playfully. "I find it rather, how should I say... erotic," he added with a grin.
"Naraku..." Sesshomaru growled in a voice Suko had never heard before.
Naraku's laughter came to a halt when he caught sight of the hateful rage in Sesshomaru's eyes. He likened it to a powerful storm that was about to erupt. Then he replied, " I'll ask you, kindly, Lord Sesshomaru, to release your grip on my mate."


Chapter 17¯The Truth Behind The Necklace



Suko fainted in Sesshomaru's arms at Naraku's accusation. Naraku leapt down from the branch that he was perched on to come face to face with the Youkai Lord.
"What new treachery is this, Naraku?" Sesshomaru inquired. The fury in his voice caused Suko to awaken abruptly.
"What?... You don't think I have the need to mate as well?" Naraku asked. "You see, it all started 50 years ago, shortly after the death of Kikyo. You left to fight the Panther Demon Tribe leaving Koharu all alone and unguarded in your castle. I knew I had to have her once I saw her. I tried to reason with her, but she refused me... all the while clutching that damn blood- stone that hung around her neck. I must say, the barrier that the little stone out up was quite powerful. I couldn't get near her. But I am Naraku... I won't be bested by a mere trinket. I had a servant remove it one night while she was sleeping. I then was able to do as I pleased with her and I injected her with my poison causing her eyes to never open again..." Naraku said with an evil grin. " I then left a replica of your blood-stone in its place. One that contained my blood. A few drops of her blood, and our bond was complete," he finished with a triumphant smile.
Suko stared at him, horrified, not wanting to believe what he was saying. Did she really belong to Naraku? It all made sense. That's why he brought her here. That's why he assaulted her in the river. And that's why the pendant glowed in warning any time any other man came near her. She remembered how it glowed when her Uncle had first put it around her neck, and when the men in the alley were approaching her, and all the times she was with Sesshomaru. Suko started crying, uncontrollably. "It can't be true," she sobbed over and over again.
Naraku made his way over to the crying girl only to be cut off by a very angry Sesshomaru.
"You took her from me once... it won't happen again," he warned as his eyes blazed red and his form started to change.
For the first time, Suko got to witness Sesshomaru's transformation into his full demon form. He was a vicious, snarling dog with the crescent moon still emblazoned on his forehead. He was dripping acid from his mouth instead of drool, and he was enormous!
Naraku laughed as he sprouted hundreds of tentacles from his body, rising up to meet the challenge of his foe.
"Do you really want to fight me, Sesshomaru? That's a battle you won't win," Naraku taunted.
The giant Sesshomaru began his run at Naraku and the two collided with brutal force.
Suko watched anxiously as Sesshomaru gnawed away every tentacle and appendage that Naraku tried to apprehend him with. He yelped a couple of times when Naraku's tentacles pierced his body. It was when the one stray tentacle impaled his body that the match turned in Naraku's favor.
"NOOO!" Suko screamed as she watched her lover fall helplessly to the ground, returning to his normal state. She ran over to his battered body that was covered in blood. She cradled his head in her lap and kissed him, gently, on his forehead. She started crying, helplessly, as she watched him gasp for breath. She tried to block out the sound of Naraku's hideous laughter that was ringing in her ears as Sesshomaru closed his eyes.
"YOU MONSTER!!!"she screamed at Naraku as the pendant around her neck shattered into a thousand pieces releasing an enormous, red light that enveloped her entire body. Suko looked at him with pure hatred in her eyes as she took Tokijin from its sheath on Sesshomaru's hip and aimed it at Naraku. The glow from her body twisted itself up the blade of Tokijin and then absorbed into the blade itself.
"Now DIE!!!" Suko said with conviction as the red aura shot out of the tip of the sword and propelled its way to Naraku. The demon could do nothing but stare at it in terror before his body melted away from the attack, leaving behind nothing but a small, wooden doll resting on a pile of ashes.
Feeling numb from heartache, Suko sank to her knees dropping Sesshomaru's sword onto the ground beside her. She crawled over to his form laying, lifelessly, on the ground. She once again took his head in her arms and brushed the hair off of his face. She rocked, slowly, as one would do to comfort a sleepy child and realized that she did this more for herself than for him. She was sobbing uncontrollably when something caught her eye... Sesshomaru's other sword, the Tenseiga, was glowing blue... almost as if it was trying to speak to her.
"You want to be drawn?" she asked it out loud. She managed an arm out from under Sesshomaru's head and pulled the sword from its sheath. She eyed it in wonder as it glowed even brighter creating a blue aura around Sesshomaru's body.
In an instant, he was pulled from her lap and then he disappeared before her very eyes. She didn't cry, though, when he disappeared. She knew he was going to be okay. She didn't know how she knew, she just knew. She felt it in her heart. She knew he would live, and when he returned, she'd welcome him with open arms. Along with their pup she was now carrying.