Demons Eyes

Chapter 72

Everyone took a step back as Sesshomaru and Noro landed.

Noro sheathed her swords and dismounted Entei, turning Kagome and the others. "Is everyone ok," she asked.

"Are we ok," Shippo exclaimed, pointing a finger back at her, "What about you? We thought you died!"

"You did take a direct hit from Naraku's miasma," Sango added, agreeing with the fox kit's words. "I have to admit I'm curious as to how you survived."

"We all are," Miroku finished.

Noro nodded, and was about to speak, when she felt the slightest touch of a now familiar hand on the small of her back. She turned her head towards Sesshomaru. What did he want? She raised an eyebrow inquiringly. Well?

Now Noro knew the demon lord better than any of the others, Inuyasha included, so while they only saw the stony exterior, Noro was able to see much more. The woman watched carefully, observing as his eyes slid from her face, to the swords at her side, and then harden as he glared at the others in front of them. The action took less than a second, and was imperceptible to everyone else. But Noro understood, and had to suppress a chuckle at the dai yokai's pettiness.

Sesshomaru didn't want her to mention that he had anything to do with the swords of course, silly dog demon. But she didn't mind fudging the truth a little, just for him.

"My new swords have special powers," she answered Miroku, not missing a beat. "Aren't they the coolest? Totosi made them for me."

Sango nodded. "Yeah, we saw them lashed to your side before, but you left before we could get the chance to ask you about them. May I hold one?"

"Sure!" she handed the smaller blade to the demon slayer, who pulled it partially from its sheath. She studied the blade closely while Kagome, Shippo and Miroku looked on inquisitively.

"So, you like it?"

"It's amazing," the demon slayer murmured, running her hand along the flat of the blade, "I've never seen a demon sword quite like it!"

"Oh come on, it can't be that great," Inuyasha complained in the back, but Noro rolled her eyes.

"They're both pretty amazing. That one in your hands is Doku Tsuki. Turns out, it nullifies any type of poison that comes into contact with its user. That's how I was able to survive Naraku's miasma. And while wearing Hageshi Taiyo, my katana, I don't take any damage from burns, whether by fire, or boiling water."

"Really," Kagome exclaimed. "That's so useful!"

"And they work on humans," Miroku added. "That's almost unheard of."

"Yeah," Sango said thoughtfully as she returned the sword to Noro. "The demon that was used as a base must be quite powerful for that to happen. Even the Tessaiga can't do that! How did Totosi accomplish this?"

Noro shrugged. "The bones of some random demon I guess, I'm not quite sure."

"Now that doesn't sound like Totosi," Inuyasha spoke up. "That old buffoon may be crazier than anything, but he's way too passionate about his craft to use any old demon, and even if he did, they wouldn't turn out half as nice as those."

Everyone blinked, and Inuyasha scowled at their stunned expressions. "What?"

"Nothing Inuyasha," Kagome said. "It's just.."

"We never expected you to actually say something nice about Totosi, that's all," Miroku finished. The others nodded.

Noro smirked as Inuyasha's scowl grew deeper. "I didn't say anything nice about him! That old codger made me break my back for him for no reason! I just know that he's a super stickler about his work, or did you forget that he used my own fang to fix Tessaiga?"

Noro laughed. "Well, I don't know what to tell you Inuyasha," the woman answered, strapping her swords back to her side. "That's all I know. And what about you Kagome? The arrow that you shot; it was Kikyo's wasn't it? I thought that she died on Mt Hakure."

Kagome nodded. "She almost did. But I found her, and was able to purify the miasma that had infected her body." The priestesses' tone was clipped. There was clearly more to it than that, but she wasn't sharing.

Noro thought for a moment, then silently put the girl's behavior aside. Considering that it's Kikyo, whatever was bothering Kagome was something that they'd have to discuss at a later time, when there were less people (Inuyasha) around.

Thankfully, the skull near to them spoke, drawing everyone's attention.

"Woman," he said, looking right at Noro, "You carry more than swords with you. Tell me, is it some spell of Naraku's that runs through your veins?"

"What," everyone echoed in shock.

Noro flinched, subconsciously shrinking back towards Sesshomaru.

"Did Naraku curse you Noro," Kagome asked.

She shook her head, refusing to look at any of them. "No, it's a... family thing. I don't know who the caster was. I don't like to talk about it."

"My apologies," said the demon skull. "I did not intend to bring up bad memories, though you should know that it has weakened."

After they finished speaking with the demon, who Noro learned was Hosenki, they all began to fly back towards the gateway. As they traveled, Noro warned them of what she went through, and cautioned Miroku to place protective sutras on all of them, including Inuyasha, much to the half-demon's dismay.

"Inuyasha, we're not saying that you aren't stronger than Shippo," Kagome soothed, "but some things are just out of your control. Don't you remember Mayu?"

"Yeah, and I hated that too," Inuyasha replied.

As the two continued their ...discussion? Or was it an argument? Noro shook her head, and leaving the two to their talk, she flew Entei up towards Sesshomaru.

"Hey."

She studied the demon lord for a second before speaking.

"I know why you didn't want me to tell the others that my swords were made from your fang you know."

Sesshomaru jerked his head towards Noro sharply, his face almost showing a hint of surprise. Noro's lip twitched in an effort to keep from smiling.

"It's ok, I understand. The great demon lord Sesshomaru gifting... well anything, to a mortal? People would think you've lost your marbles."

Sesshomaru relaxed a little, and turned away, letting the woman believe in her theory. 'Maybe I have,' he thought as the woman slowed to wait for her friends, 'because you are wrong. But it is inconsequential. No one will know, not even you.'

Something inside him stirred at that, and dai yokai ignored it, tamping it down as he had done for months. Nothing would come of such things, he would not let it.

Unbidden, his father's face came to mind. The figure who had always seemed to be in his way. The one person that he both despised and admired. The one person that Sesshomaru could not stand to imitate, and yet must be like in order to achieve his goals. the Father who gave his life for a human woman and her bastard, half demon son. He reminded himself that death is what would happen if he followed in the steps of his father, the shame that he and his mother felt upon learning of Taisho's infidelity, and the promise that he had made to himself at the time.

He would be better than his father.

The dog demon clenched his jaw as he heard Noro's laugh in reaction to something his half brother said.

On one ever said that it would be easy.

*****

Hey everyone! Thanks for your patience!

Now that I have gotten this arc done with, I will be uploading a bit more frequently, as I already have some of it written. I like to call it the Dragons from the Past. It's a reimagining of the Panther Tribe arc, since Noro was introduced afterwards in my story.

Ciao!