A Mapped Life...: CH 22: Running Scared!

I DO NOT OWN Inuyasha or the Crew, Rumiko Takahashi does. But I do own my original characters.

A/N: Yes I the stunningPinkit am back from my extended hiatus and already have ideas floating in my head on how to get these two together in the cutest and rightist way possible…without having to reduce myself to use magical unicorns, and rainbows. Well enough with my ranting I give you chapter 22 of “A Mapped Life: Running Scared…” NO THIS IS NOT A LEMON! I DO NOT ENCOURAGE PEDOPHILIA!

(Flashback: Izayoi's arrival at the Tokugawa Estate after she left the school. Two weeks before her arranged marriage with Phong Li).

Han Tokugawa smashed his fist through the barn door, “What the hell is the meaning of this Izayoi?”

“Father it is not what it looks like, I had this barn built when you were not here, after I adopted Aori, and needed a place to keep him when we came home on summer vacations.”

“And how in the world did you hire people to do this if you are a minor?!”

“I had help from somebody father,”

“Who Izayoi! Who?!”

“I won't tell you!”

“Then I will burn the damn thing to the ground and dance in its ashes until you tell me!”

“No father! Don't do it!”

“You can't do anything to stop me little girl!”

He reached for the kerosene lamp that hung from one of the wooden pillars, and she jumped on his back pulling on his shirt flaps and neckline. He swung around trying to knock her off, she expertly smashed her knees into his midsection under his ribs to keep balance, and he cried out in pain wind-milling is arms madly and threw all his weight into one of the closest pillars falling backwards so she would bear the brunt of the damage, instantly cracking three of her ribs and fracturing a fourth, she held her side as she cried out in pain, falling flat on her back hitting her head on the dirt floor, as Han laughed at her. He grabbed the fallen lamp and sent it flying into the hay pile, instantly catching fire. He stood over his fallen daughter, grabbing her by the braid her hair was tied in, dragging her all the way inside Aori's stall.

“If you won't marry Phong Li, then you are no good to me, you little bitch! All you had to do is say yes, but you won't do it then, huh? Alright, then you will die here with the stupid animal you love so much! Good riddance Izayoi, you were always an unwanted child to me; I have no use for a daughter that won't follow my orders!”

He locked her inside Aori's stall after his last words, and made quick work of leaving the barn unnoticed by somebody else. She tried turning over on her stomach but the pain at her side was too great, Aori started kicking the door, but it wouldn't budge. The closed building soon filled up with black smoke and ash, and she was swallowing large mouthfuls of the foul mixture, the corners of her sight became fuzzy, her throat closed up, she tried coughing up the smoke, but only managed to swallow more, her heartbeat slowed and images of all the important people she loved started appearing before her eyes, `Nana, Kimmie, Mama Madeline, John… after that everything was very fuzzy, she frowned at a white light beamed behind closed eyes, she felt herself being lifted by large, strong arms, then everything went dark…

(End Flashback)

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The stallion uneasily pulled on the bit and reared pawing the air but soon adapted to Toga urging him on further and faster than Izayoi had ever pushed him. Aori was a exposition stallion, not a track horse; but that was the least important fact at the time for Toga, he held in his trembling arms an unconscious, human girl, that he had only seen twice before, and just moments ago he had found out she was his intended, chosen by no other than his demonic conscience that had no spoken up before in his whole three hundred twelve years of age. So many thoughts kept roaming wildly inside his head that he almost lost balance atop the horse when he jumped over a fallen log on the trek towards his side of the woods.

This path was the one he intended Izayoi to find in the proper time, when she would run away from her father, and at the time when he offered his assistance to the young girl, he didn't even know why he had said such a thing, living in the twenty first century, being a three century old youkai, with odd coloring, tended to bring out the more secretive side in people, err youkai, anyway, what had possessed him to give her direct instructions to his estate?

`I did Toga, I did, she looked so lost at the time she was babbling these things to a complete stranger…I just had to make you say it

“Oh it's you again, so what will we do now, I don't really know if Ren will be able to save her, does that mean that if she dies I die with her, since she is my intended?”

`Will you at least try to pay attention to her, if you did you would have known she isn't dying just unconscious, and her breathing is uneven due to smoke she must have breathed in…

“It's nice to know that this little girl is not going to die anytime soon…” He said as he stole a glimpse down at Izayoi's frail, smudged body as the outline of the east wing of the Taisho Estate crested over the hill.

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Kentaro stood outside on the balcony of his east side wing of the estate, place to where Toga asked him to re-locate after that incident seven years prior when he had taken Manami and Sesshoumaru riding for his daughters' birthday. Emi had almost broken every glass, vase and demolished a few walls with their bickering. Things had turned so ugly that Ren thought if was definitely over between those two. After the storm cleared, and he had reconciled himself with his wife, repeatedly, Toga saw himself obligated to intrude in their private time and asked them to move to the East wing, that way they would be far enough for the kids, Ren, and himself not to be able to hear them love each other.

Taro was outside pondering on his future, and on Toga. Even though his cousin had Sesshoumaru and a conglomerate of companies he had to administrate, Toga never seemed to feel like he belonged here, come to think of it, the business tycoon never stayed longer than a month at the mansion, he had seen the furtive glances Toga bestowed upon Emi and himself when they hugged and kissed on the balcony in the morning during lunch, or on the terrace during what they liked to call “family time”, and in some way that made Kentaro feel bad, could his dear cousin ever experience what it felt like to be loved?

These and many other ponderings rolled through his mind as he caught scent of human blood, fear, and Toga on the wind, he straightened himself from the leisurely pose on the veranda, and inhaled again, testing the wind, “that is definitely Toga's scent, but why fear and human blood?”

Taro ran inside calling Emi and Ren desperately while he pulled on a shirt, the colder climate not affecting him in the least in his half naked state, but since a fearful human was in play he rather play it safe and not give them bases to judge him wrong on. Ren appeared with what looked like a medical kit and Emi carried a gurney. They had also caught scent of Toga and his companion, coming closer to the mansion. They all exchanged glances and pulled on cloaks for the wind and heavy snow fall to not shadow their eyesight.

Since Ren was the one who told Toga about the young human being his intended mate, she already knew what the fear stricken; half alive human Toga appeared to be carrying with him atop the beautiful stallion was about. Ren ran straight out into the snow covered gardens that linked the estate with the woods and a rich businessman's house on the other side, jumping up into the treetops for a better view, Emi and Taro followed suit.

The animal Toga rode puffed hot air into the crisp night sky, prancing uneasily when he heard wolves howl in the distance. Toga made eye contact with the first of the wolves, shifting Izayoi's motionless body for mobility, he reached for his sword, but cursed remembering he left the mansion without it, he heard rustling atop the treetops, a bit too far off in the distance, so he realized help was a good while away. Toga pulled on the reins trying without success to calm the steed, but Aori kept pulling on the bit and half-rearing to no avail, the wolves moved slowly but surely, making a full circle around the horse, waiting for the right time to pounce on their prey.

Toga used his enhanced youkai senses to calculate how many he would have to deal with, mentally counting, “ten, no twenty in total, twenty wolves, against one unconscious human, one jumpy horse, and me, of course”, if he would have encountered the wolves on his own they would be no hassle to dispose of, but he had to seek care for Izayoi soon or she would not live to see sunrise. He decided to drop the reins in favor or maneuvering Izayoi's body in a way in which he could easily jump up into the treetops and deposit her there, but the horse had other intentions, he reared nickering all the way, pawing all the way, the wolves chose that moment to strike, Aori moved out of their reach and hammer-kicked hard and fast, by the time it was over more than half the wolves were lying dead or dying from kicks to head and vital organs inflicted by Aori's powerful legs.

Toga was in shock the horse turned out to be a hero, he patted him caringly on the neck, soon after help in form of Taro, Emi and Ren arrived. Taro looked around the impromptu battlefield, then at Toga, Toga in turn signaled toward the horse Emi was looking over, and they both laughed. Ren had him lay the girl down on the gurney, checking her vital signs; the old woman frowned clucking her tongue she turned around addressing Toga, Taro and Emi; “we need to get her inside fast, she's possibly got some broken ribs, onset of hypothermia, and the poor dear has inhaled her share of ash and smoke, Emi, go ahead and prepare a hot tub halfway full, antiseptic, bandages, and get my herb kit, I believe we will be spending the night awake my dear…”

“You two boys make yourselves useful, That horse has open gashes on his front legs, and needs to be thoroughly washed of blood and sweat, those wolves didn't hunt you down to feed, the marks behind the ruff of their ears signals use of dark magic, they were invoked, somebody is hunting the girl down, the rest went back probably for help, I don't want anything that could lead them to the estate, the talismans I have set up don't protect against this type of magic…”

“How come they don't protect against this magic mama Ren?”

“They don't protect against this magic because it has been a century since I have seen it used, I thought the Ookami Shadow Art scrolls and their users had been destroyed, apparently I was mistaken,”

“Oi! Let's do this, she is turning blue in the lips, I am going to get this girl inside where Emi is now, so Toga can take that horse to the stable hands so they can bath him and bandage his wounds, mama Ren I'll call Myouga so he can help you do the stuff with the talismans, lets go!”

“Be careful with her Taro, she is very special, even if she is human,”

“Chill Toga, I can tell you like her, she is kind of cute for a ningen…” he said grinning eerily.

With that said everybody bolted into action, Taro running steadily towards the Estate, Toga leading Aori towards the stable, and Ren walked steadily towards the tree line to start replacing the talismans.

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An hour turned into days, since Toga had gone out to rescue Izayoi, brought her back to the mansion to have Ren and Emi take care of her, exactly a week after she was brought to the Taisho Estate Izayoi awoke from a restless sleep drenched in sweat, with a shrill blood-curling screaming fit. Toga who had taken residence outside her door ran inside ready to save her from which ever danger, stepping inside the room he found her huddled in the corner of the room in the dark blue pajama Ren had donned her with, her pitch black hair a heavy curtain covering her face and shoulders, her pale skin rosy from the heat in the room.

Her face was stark white compared to her arms and legs, Toga frowned at how fragile she looked, hiding her face in her arms atop her propped up knees, “You know Ms. Tokugawa, you look a lot nicer if the hair and hands don't cover your face…”

Izayoi blinked, startled from her trance, sniffling and wiping the scorching tears from her eyes she frowned trying to make out that voice, `that voice, I've heard it before…

“Aren't you going to say anything smart Ms. Tokugawa? You always have when I say something like that, is something wrong?”

Izayoi kept her head bowed gripping her knees, she nodded.

“Would you like to tell me about it? Would you like to tell me why I rescued you from a burning barn, full of smoke, ashes and dead animals?”

`Dead animals? Is Aori dead?

Her head snapped up so fast that her shoulder muscles protested dearly, her dark violet eyes fear stricken.

“I want to know if you earned those broken ribs from falling off your horse or from something else. How did the barn catch fire?”

Her mouth opened and closed various times, resembling a fish out of water, as a single tear escaped her sad, dull eyes.

“It's ok if you don't want to talk about it right now, you are safe here, remember I told you to look for me when you were ready to run away?”

She nodded.

“Well let's just make like you looked for me on your own, and I will help you for as long as you need me, I want you to feel comfortable, the doors to my house will always be open for you Ms. Tokugawa,”

She blinked, as the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.

“Is there anything you need before I leave?”

She nodded.

“And what would that be?”

“Could I hug you please?”

He smiled opening his broad arms to her, basking in her need to feel safe, in no other than his arms. Izayoi burrowed into his chest, clutching the cashmere fabric of his sweater, as he smoothed the bangs out of her eyes, and rubbed her back reassuringly.

“Mr. Taisho, can I ask something of you?”

“Anything you want Ms. Tokugawa…”

“Can we stay like this forever?”

He smirked, and hugged her closer, “Sure princess, your wish is my command.”

The sun began to set in the horizon, and Izayoi drooped in his arms, so he insisted that she sleep some, and she insisted that he stay to stand watch over her, incase she had another bad dream.

I respect constructive critisism :-)