Tryst: The Secret of the Cursed Jewel [Sesshomaru] [20]

By the time we made it back to camp, dawn had finally broken, signaling the perfect time to head out, but today would be different. Once again, I found myself being thrown into a new, unfamiliar situation, only this time, I did it by my own will. Daijiro was right, traveling with Sesshomaru was a hindrance to my cause, but not for the reasons he’d stated. I had to get away from Sesshomaru so I could focus on my goal: I had to break the curse. Time was running out, I could feel it. Although faint, something was eating at me, slowly, like acid. Even after a long rest, I found myself getting tired early in the day, and I had frequent fits of lightheadedness and dizziness. My symptoms only seemed to aggravate when I became stressed. Unfortunately, my feelings for Sesshomaru and his inability to return them brought me great stress, so I really had no choice.

Okay, so maybe that was just an excuse to justify my departure. To me, it sounded nobler than the real reason. Truthfully, Sesshomaru wasn’t a hindrance, but he was bringing me a lot of stress, but that wasn’t why I was leaving. I was angry, crazy jealous, and I couldn’t stand to be near him simply because it made me think of her, and I hated her. I hated her because she had him, and I didn’t. Maybe it was an immature reason—and very selfish—but it was my reason, and I was going to stand by it.

Sesshomaru was waiting at the camp as Daijiro and I prepared to leave. He didn’t say anything; he didn’t even look at me.

“Kiyoshi, are you ready?” I asked as I grabbed my bag and threw it over my shoulder. “We still have a long road ahead of us.”

Daijiro was standing there with a smug expression, as if he’d just won some sort of competition. Well, at least in his eyes, I guess he had, and I was the big prize. Although I was offended by the idea, I wasn’t in the mood to care. I was by no means a prize. I chose him simply because I knew I couldn’t do this on my own. I needed someone strong, and he knew the way to the witch.

Before we left, I turned to Sesshomaru for the last time.

“Thank you,” I said, “for all that you’ve done…Goodbye, Sesshomaru.”

There was much I still wanted to say to him, but for my own sake, I kept it short and simple. I didn’t even bother to wait for a response, maybe because I was afraid to hear one. He could’ve easily persuaded him to go back to him, but I couldn’t risk that. With my head held high, I walked away, fully embracing my new path with Daijiro.

“I’m so glad you decided to join me, Moanna,” Daijiro said with a smile as he walked proudly at my side—doing his victory strut, I suppose. “But, you see, I can’t help but wonder why you’ve suddenly changed your mind. You were always so quick to defend Sesshomaru. It was almost as if you—”

“He was weak, just like you said,” I answered, “and I’m not ready to die yet. I just wanna get rid of this necklace and go home.”

“And you will, I promise. By the way, how are you feeling? Tired? Dizzy at all?”

I shrugged. “I’m alright, I guess. Definitely been better, though.”

“I see. Well, in that case!”

Before I had a chance to react, Daijiro scooped me up into his arms and continued walking as if he hadn’t just violated my personal space. I was shocked, embarrassed, and, most of all, extremely uncomfortable.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I shouted, squirming around in his arms like a fish out of water, but this fisherman wasn’t giving up.

“You’re too weak to walk on your own.”

“The hell I am!” I roared back. “Let me down right now!”

“Oh, relax,” he said. “Whether you realize it or not, you’re slowing us down. We’ll get there faster this way.”

“But…” As I spoke, I could feel my energy slipping away. I’d exerted all my strength just trying to free myself from his grasp, and now all I could do was lie there in his arms.

“There.” He grinned. “That’s not so bad, is it?”

“I guess not,” I admitted, resting my head against his chest. “Can I ask you something? How do you know Sesshomaru?”

“Well, I don’t really know him personally. I try not to socialize with those below me, you see. Our fathers were both great demon lords who belonged to feuding dog demon families, so we’re natural enemies. Our fathers hated each other just as we hate each other. Think of it like an ancient tradition.”

I couldn’t help but notice his choice of the past tense when referring to their fathers.

“What happened to his father?” I asked.

“I heard he died because of his human lover. She made him weak, as humans tend to do.”

Demons blamed Inuyasha’s human mother for the death of his father, and the humans claimed he caused her death as well. Was Tomoharu’s sister right? Was anyone who dared to love a demon really fated to die? Did their unnatural union bring about both their demises? If so, what did that mean for me?

“Moanna, are you alright?” Daijiro suddenly asked.

I snapped out of my thoughts and nodded my head.

“Anyway,” he went on, “my father always considered him to be a disgrace to dog demons, him and his half-breed child.”

“Inuyasha.”

“Who?”

“The child’s name is Inuyasha,” I said. “He’s very strong.”

“That remains to be seen.”

“So what happened to your father?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I killed him.”

Nothing could’ve prepared me for that. He said it in such a manner that it seemed like he believed his father to be living out his years on some tropical island.

“W-What? Why?”

“I wanted to rule, and he was in my way. It was a simple matter, really. I’m sure he’s proud of me. He would’ve done the same if the roles had been reversed.”

“I see.”

When nightfall came, we set up camp and rested beside the fire. It was a comfortable, casual atmosphere with Daijiro. Nothing ever seemed to bother him; he seemed sublimely content. He spent the night sharing stories of his grand battles, repeating his favorites more than once. By count, his absolute favorite was the story of how he single-handedly conquered one of the great demon tribes, further expanding his domain. I heard that story four times.

“And the women all became my mistresses,” he went on, finishing the story. “Well, at least the beautiful ones did. The ugly ones—”

“Became your servants,” I said, hoping I would no longer have to hear the story.

“Exactly.”

“Tell me, Daijiro, do you have any human mistresses?” I asked simply out of curiosity.

“No, definitely not,” he answered, “and they don’t make very good servants either. They never seem to last long enough.”

“Meaning?”

“Their life spans are too short. I could never get quality work out of them.” He chuckled a little at his own joke. “Why do you ask? Looking for work once the curse is broken?”

I shook my head. “I was only curious.”

“Yes, humans are curious creatures, aren’t they? A little to curious, perhaps. They begin to think they’re invincible.”

“I guess.”

For the sixth time that night, I found myself looking over my shoulder, though I didn’t know why. It was quickly becoming some sort of a reflex. I never saw anything, yet I kept looking. I suppose, deep down, I hoped that one time I would see Sesshomaru standing there.

“He’s not coming, you know,” Daijiro said.

My head spun around to face him. “Huh?”

“No matter how many times you look, he’ll never be there. Trust me, Sesshomaru’s probably miles away by now. He doesn’t waste his time for anyone, especially those who’ve betrayed him. You might as well not exist to him.”

“I never existed to him,” I muttered.

“Well, that’s awfully pessimistic.”

“He’ll never love me,” I said aloud without even thinking, but I didn’t care if I was heard.

“You’re right about that,” Daijiro agreed rather bluntly. “He’s incapable of love. All demons are.” He brought his hand to his chest and said dramatically, “It’s our curse to bear.”

“That’s not true. He still loves her…Momoko.” How I hated saying her name aloud.

“Yes, I suppose he does.”

“And so do you.”

It was obvious from their interactions with each other. Sesshomaru and Daijiro were both rivals of love, Momoko’s love. I’d seen it countless times at school, boys being hostile towards each other because of some girl, and it was always the beautiful, popular girls. Needless to say, I’d never had boys fighting over me. Once again, Momoko was superior to me. She was stronger, probably smarter, and prettier. Perfection really was annoying.

“I wasn’t in love with her,” Daijiro said. “What I felt for her was lust, nothing more. Like I said, real demons don’t love. Love is for humans and pathetic demons like Sesshomaru.”

“Your arrogance won’t let you admit it. Or is it jealousy?” I smirked. “You won’t say you loved her because you know she didn't love you. That’s why you hate Sesshomaru, because she loved him and not you.”

His eyes narrowed. He could’ve killed me right then and there, and for a second, I thought he was going to. I didn’t have very many talents, but I was especially good at pushing people’s buttons. Perhaps it was a gift that needed some controlling before it got me killed.

“That was never proven. She died before she could choose.”

“What do you mean? Of course she loved Sesshomaru.”

“What I mean is Momoko was complicated, impossible to understand. It was almost as if she was two completely different people. On one hand, she was the calm, compassionate protector of her village. That was the Momoko Sesshomaru knew. But the Momoko I knew was a cold, heartless killer, worse than any demon. I watched her kill entire demon families, sparring not even innocent children. She was incredible.”

I shook my head. “That doesn’t make sense. I’ve seen Momoko’s life. I’ve felt what she felt. There was no evil inside her.”

He shrugged. “Perhaps you only saw what she wanted you to see.”

Even as I slept, Daijiro’s words hung in my head. Momoko was a heartless killer? That just wasn’t possible. Momoko was perfect, purity incarnate. There wasn’t an evil bone in her body, yet Daijiro insisted she was worse than any demon. I’d spent so long searching for a flaw, a crack in Momoko’s perfection, but this was much more than I’d expected.