Snowdrop by PhoenixBlade

Eros

Thanks to Kneazles once again for having an awesome challenge and happy birthday to LoveAndFaith! Sending you awesome unicorns and rainbows and sparkly things mentally! Anyway, chapter nine here! Read on! :)

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Snowdrop

By: PhoenixBlade

Prompt: Eros

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“Has the miko placed a curse upon this Sesshoumaru?” he asked the tree youkai again, patience wearing thin. 

 Bokuseno was still silent, making Sesshoumaru become angry.  Why did he not answer?

He growled, but was cut off by the tree youkai.

“Don’t growl at me, pup.  I was merely gathering my thoughts,” he grunted at the inuyoukai prince, “Now, you say that since the miko arrived, you’ve had these...strange poundings in your chest, correct?”

Sesshoumaru looked a bit annoyed that the tree youkai was repeating what he had told him already.

Bokuseno sighed, “Yes or no, pup.”

Sesshoumaru’s eyes narrowed but nodded his head with a “hn.”

Ignoring the look he gave him, Bokuseno drifted off into his thoughts for a few more minutes before finally speaking.

“Eros,” the tree youkai said finally, though it was not quite directed towards Sesshoumaru.

Eros?  What a strange word, thought Sesshoumaru.

“What is this…Eros you speak of?” asked the pale inuyoukai.

Bokuseno was quiet again and Sesshoumaru decided to wait it out, just to see where Bokuseno would go with it.

“Your father searched for Eros,” Bokuseno suddenly spoke up, taking Sesshoumaru by surprise.

That got his attention.  His sire was a powerful youkai.  Perhaps he sought this Eros to become stronger, whatever it was… but what did it have to do with the strange pounding in his chest or when he became warm?

“And where might this…Eros be?  Was it to make this one’s sire stronger?” he asked.

The tree youkai shook his head, “Not an it, pup, but a who.”

His sire had gone looking for a being named Eros?  Why?

“Explain,” Sesshoumaru ordered the ancient youkai.

“Tch. Pups these days… No respect!” he murmured under his breath.

Sesshoumaru pretended not to hear that.

Clearing his throat, the tree youkai spoke, “The great Inutaisho had coveted power and sought to become the greatest youkai in the land and to take it over.  He had found a means to become greater and scoured the lands to find a way to keep that power with him.  By doing so, he wanted to find Eros, so that Eros could give your father what he needed to keep that power with him.  Apparently, he had found Eros, but was never the same after that.”

Was Eros so powerful that he could do much damage to his sire?

“Why did this one’s sire not simply battle and defeat Eros?” Sesshoumaru inquired.

“Because your father did not know beforehand what he was up against and battling Eros was not a fight he could win, for he tried, many times, and lost.”

He could not accept that.  His sire had indeed been powerful and for one male to defeat his sire over and over again was impossible!

He growled angrily, “This Sesshoumaru’s sire could never be so weak to lose to such a being!  Where is this Eros, so that this Sesshoumaru may exact revenge on him for this one’s sire!”

“You are not listening, pup!” the tree youkai chastised him, “your father fought against Eros but Eros did not fight him!”

What?  How could this be?  Such a thing was impossible!

“Explain yourself, Bokuseno!  This Sesshoumaru’s patience is wearing thin!” Seshoumaru snarled at the stationary youkai, “how does this Eros connect to this one’s sire and current ailment!?”

“Because just as your sire battled Eros, you are battling Eros right now as well!” the tree youkai yelled at him.

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Kagome meandered through the huge garden after getting dumped back in his quarters none too kindly and running off before she could say two words.  She was angry that he would leave her like that and not answer her questions.  Why couldn’t he confide in her?  They spent enough time together to practically tell each other their secrets, but he continued to distance himself from her, despite wanting to be closer. Although she knew she shouldn’t feel anything towards the inuyoukai because he practically took her away from her home and they were natural enemies, she was indebted to him-no, it was more than that.  He made her feel…special and she wanted to be near him more often than not, enjoying his company and even when he touched her in ways that she knew she shouldn’t be enjoying, like earlier that morning when he practically attacked her and made her question her virtue, after he deposited her in the ice cold pond to wake her up.

She was beginning to feel for him, she knew that much, very strongly actually.  She cared for him so much now that she was worried for him.  As they were in the throes of passions, she felt his warmth, which should have been impossible and he shot her down when she asked him about it again later at the festival.  True, he was a cold being and touching him made Kagome feel like she was touching ice, but for some reason, he was bearable.  She could touch him and not be too bothered by it, whereas the servants and Lady Inukimi were a different story.  She felt that if they were to touch her at all, she would freeze, literally.

Shaking her head, she sighed and enjoyed the silence of the garden as she perused the ice sculptures in the garden.  The garden was huge and there were quite a few of them littered throughout the garden, as well as the whole of the shiro.  There were just more of them here, giving her more of a chance to study them closely without the interruption of the servants or guards.

Leaning towards a sculpture that looked like a bear, she giggled as it reminded her of a bear reaching up to grab honey from high up a tree, with its mouth opened and paws extended into the air.  How life-like it looked.  Her hand rose to touch the ice, but she abruptly stopped as she suddenly felt that she wasn’t alone.

“Something funny?”

She knew that voice.  It was oozing with years of refinery and practice at sounding polite and haughty at the same time.  She turned around and bowed to Sesshoumaru’s mother, who stood by one of the entrances in all her elegant fineries.

“Ah, no, Lady Inukimi.  The ice sculpture here just amused me is all,” she told her, voice now meek and submissive. 

The lady merely sniffed and grunted as she moved towards the bear sculpture.  A dainty, but sharp claw rose to caress the bear along its mouth to its ear.  It looked too intimate to be a simple fascination with a piece of art, but Kagome said nothing.

CRACK!

She looked up in surprise to see the Lady had broken the ear off and flicked it off into the bushes.

“Junk, all of them.  Useless and boring,” she said as-a-matter-of-factly and pushed the sculpture over.

Kagome took a step forward to save the artwork, but it fell onto the hard rock ground and broke into many pieces.  She felt remorse for the sculpture oddly enough, even if it was just a piece of ice.  It was so lifelike that the artist must have put so much time and effort into such a thing.

Boldly, she turned to the Lady of the West, “My lady, the artist would be saddened to know that his work can longer be seen as value if you go around breaking it.”

Maybe she was too bold, for the lady’s eyes narrowed at her, annoyed.

“If you must know, little Kagome, it was this Inukimi who made it, just like all the rest,” she scoffed at her.

Kagome’s eyes widened at it.  The Lady of the West made these ice sculptures? How baffling it was!

“So if the one who created them, breaks them, then there should be no problem, correct?” she said, almost in a sing-song voice and left.

Kagome stared after the lady for a bit and then to the broken sculpture.  Bending down, she began to pick up the pieces into a pile with her sleeves.  She felt so sorry for the sculpture for some reason and silently grieved over it.

Yet strangely enough, when the sculpture had been pushed over, she swore she had heard it scream right as it hit the ground.

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On a random note, you have no idea how much I love the anime Gintama and PsychoPass right now! SQUEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!