Author's Note: For anyone interested in reading this story, you MUST read Lost to Tomorrow or you will not understand Bound to Yesterday. Below is the Prologue. I hope you enjoy it. :)

Glossary

Ageya - A Japanese tea house run by yarite and oiran for the entertainment of male customers.

Dai-yokai - A demon who has attained great power through battle, usually noble born, but not always.

Hashi - Chopsticks.

Kiseru - A long smoking pipe.

Kokina-yokai - A noble born demon, who holds no specific power.

Koma-geta - Extremely tall wooden shoes (related to geta) worn by oiran.

Oiran - Highclass Japanese courtesans.

Shamisen - A traditional Japanese three-strings lute.

Taikomochi - A male entertainer in an Ageya. Often considered a male counterpart to a female geisha.

Tayu - The highest rank of oiran.

Yarite - Retired oiran who manage tea houses.

Yujo - A common prostitute.

Bound to Yesterday

Prologue ~ Kuzumeha the Entertainer

Yoshiwara, Edo, 1722

"You're just going to have to eat it."

Her stomach turned and her mouth went dry. Melon was disgusting. The ageya never kept any, and now she, Kuzumeha, an established, three-tailed, kitsune-tayu was expected to suffer it.

Over Mama Ashi's head she could see one of the ageya child-maids holding a plate of melon. The little kitsune, she only had one tail as of yet, was biting her lip. It was a bad habit that would have to be corrected. She looked like a rabbit, and no one was attracted to that sort of thing.

Fixing the little maid with a harsh look, she made a "tst!" sound through her teeth. This was her own bad habit. She felt a harsh slap on her wrist and grimaced. Already tall for her sex, in her koma-geta, Kuzumeha towered over the ageya mistress, but there was no intimidating Mama Ashi.

"Don't you dare do that in front of the great guest! He has chosen you. Feel lucky."

Kuzumeha did indeed feel lucky. This was the dai-yokai's third visit and she still wasn't sure whether he actually liked her. After his first evening with her, there was little confidence in the house that he would return.

The night had been marred by a mistake that neither she, nor her yarite could have predicted. Most customers enjoyed watching her smoke from her kiseru. It put them in the mood for what she offered.

But apparently inu-yokai did not enjoy the smell. While his disinterest had seemed almost palpable to Kuzumeha before she'd lit the pipe, his abrupt departure had been surprising to her and especially Mama Ashi.

Two entire seasons had passed before he'd come for the second visit. That evening had gone much better. He'd made no reference to their past mishap.

Instead he'd listened to her singing and watched her dance. Remembering that night, Kuzumeha had tried to comfort herself with the knowledge that he'd returned to her. There had to be something she was doing right.

Her toes curled as she stepped out into the long hallway. Her feet were bare, the skin of her toes white.

"Like mama's milk," she thought, and hoped he would like it.

She'd grown accustomed to maintaining the spell of human appearance for certain guests.

Mama Ashi had done her research. They knew who the great lord came from.

While the kitsune-tayu of the Rei-no-Kaoku only accepted kokina-yokai as clientele, dai-yokai, especially those descended from inu-yokai, were rare visitors. The fact that he had decided to patronize the Rei-no-Kaoku and not the Kishin-no-Chaya in Shimabara was not well known and frankly surprising.

Sliding the shoji door open, she slid out of the koma-geta and shuffled to kneel elegantly at her guest's side. He sat rigid, sipping his tea, his white mokomoko curling around him.

"Sesshomaru-sama, I am honored by your visit."

Kuzumeha did not look up as she said this. She waited for his response, and when he told her to join him, she rose to a seated position. There was a short pause, and then to her surprise, he said, "Tell me how you have been."

Shocked he would deign to ask her about herself, she gave him a well-practiced smile and answered, "You honor me, my lord, but you should already know, I have been ever so unhappy."

Sesshomaru took another sip of his tea.

"How so?" he asked.

"Well, I am only truly happy when you grace our house with your presence."

"Huh," he replied, voice flat, and took another sip of his tea.

Unfazed, Kuzumeha picked up her shamisen and made to start a song. She knew the exact song she would sing. It was the story of Fukuyemon and his fertile wife. She had just reached her favorite part—the young bride was being led through a shower of rain with the sun blessing her happiness overhead—when Sesshomaru stopped her.

He held up two fingers, white claws glowing in the candle light, mouth set in a firm line, and her shamisen gave an awkward clang. Quickly muffling the strings with her palm, she asked, "Yes, my lord?"

It was difficult keeping her smile unstrained.

He glanced at her bare feet and then said, "If I wanted someone to sing poorly, I would have gone to a human yujo."

Kuzumeha felt the air escape her lungs.

It was as if he'd just slapped her across the face. Everyone loved her singing, and he'd never objected to her voice before. She half expected him to stand up and leave, but he sat before her, staring at her in stern resignation.

With a slight tremble in her voice, she asked, "What would you like me to do for you instead, my lord?"

The dai-yokai never looked away. He tilted his head to the side, and sat tall and straight, kingly and cold to Kuzumeha's eye. The silence in the room stretched and she shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. He looked like he was making some sort of decision. Then he held his hand out to her and beckoned her near.

Edging her way closer to him, she felt suddenly dumb. A little fox trotting before the wild dog.

While alive, her mother had always warned her of such things.

"Why does your heart race, Kuzumeha? Do I frighten you?" he asked, sliding his fingers under her hair.

Gripping the back of her neck, he traced his thumb, claw sharp and hard, along the underside of her jaw. Her skin felt tingly as if it was reacting to some sudden shock. It was a little painful, but she couldn't help closing her eyes and parting her lips to sigh.

Mama Ashi had warned her of his poison.

But she was a professional - she knew to be careful.

Her eyes snapped open, and ashamed at her display, she tried to smile, "Of course not, my lord. I am in all anticipation of your pleasure."

He exhaled and tilted her head to the side, frowning. Claws pressed into her soft, powdered skin. She swallowed and he watched.

"So be it."

For a moment she felt a genuine pang of curiosity. Maybe they would simply start, and she wouldn't have to eat the melon Mama Ashi had brought for her. Maybe he'd forgotten.

She felt him draw her close. His right hand slid around to press against her lower back. He leaned in and sniffed just under her ear. Kuzumeha braced her hand against his chest.

In order to enter the teahouse, he'd been required to remove all armor and weaponry.

There was nothing between her and his steady heartbeat.

And truly, there was nothing between her and his claws.

Sword or no sword, armour or no armour, Kuzumeha knew her ambition to entertain this dai yokai was a dance with death.

His muscles were hard under his fine silks. The room had grown hot and heavy.

It was worth the risk.

She let her hand edge down to his lap, but he stopped her.

"I want you to do something for me," he said against her ear instead. His voice was low, steady, almost a whisper, like he was telling her a secret.

She felt his grip around the back of her neck tighten, his claws playing with the little hairs at the nape of her neck.

"What can your little fox do for you, Sesshomaru-sama?" She answered, trying to make her voice sound teasing.

She felt him let her go, and for a moment she was confused. She thought he would have asked her to pleasure him. Maybe inu-yokai did it differently. She already knew they seldom kissed.

She had heard, smell was their true vice.

In fact, she knew of at least one such example—a Shimabara-tayu by the name of Kuzunomai. Everyone thought she was uncommonly ugly for a she-demon in service, but somehow, she had attracted a noble born inu-yokai dana. He was from the northern-most mountains, and her cunning was already now a well-known secret among the more light mouthed of the kitsune-taikos.

Apparently she and her yarite had gone through the extraordinary effort of secretly importing spring water from her dana's home region in the North. The tayu had made it a habit to bathe in it immediately prior to each of his visits.

According to Kuzumeha's sources, he was violently in love with her. And even more scandalous, it was said that he liked the spring water so much because it reminded him of his mother.

The noble inu-yokai certainly had strange ways.

Kuzumeha shuddered and looked up at her guest's hard mouth. He was gesturing to the tray of sliced melon next to him. Her heart sank. Nodding, she swallowed and edged her way over to the wooden platter. With practiced elegance, she took a pair of hashi in hand, and reached for a slice of melon.

"No," he objected. "With your hands."

His voice was low, hushed.

She paused and with a strained smile, placed the hashi back on the tray and picked up a melon piece with her fingers. It felt sticky and alien in her grasp. She hadn't eaten anything with her hands since she was a very little fox in the woodlin brush.

Then looking to Sesshomaru for approval, she realized that he was, for the first time, giving her his full attention. He wasn't moving. She couldn't even tell if he was breathing.

Unlike before, when his mind was clearly off somewhere else, he was now completely in the room with her. She was the center of it all. It would have been overwhelming if she hadn't been such a practiced entertainer.

Glancing at the melon between her clawed fingertips, she realized that the distasteful fruit was her key. Maybe he liked she-demons who ate such fruit.

How particular.

Her eyes met his and ever so slowly she bit into the red melon.

"Just eat it," he commanded with a frown.

He then leaned back into his mokomoko and watched her from under hooded eyes as she grimaced through the five or so pieces of red melon on her platter.

Somehow, she felt dirtier eating in front of him than if he had asked her to undress. It took several long minutes to finish the tray, but finally, hands sticky and red, the task was done and she asked, "Is there anything else, my lord would ask of me?"

"Come here," he beckoned her with one clawed finger.

She obliged him and soon was lying next to him waiting for his next instruction. His mokomoko's fur was remarkably soft.

He looked at her and again she felt like he was making a decision.

Kuzumeha would not, until many a year later, fully understand why Sesshomaru, an inu-yokai, a dai-yokai, made his next request.

"I want you to kiss me."

Her heart quickened and Sesshomaru's eyes darkened. "Yes, my lord," she replied breathlessly, leaning in. She puckered her lips and pressed them gently against his. She repeated the motion several times, slowly, softly. His lips were cool, and he made no effort to reciprocate.

He simply leaned back and let her embrace him. Eyes closed.

Kuzumeha smiled.

Softly, she touched his face, and Sesshomaru made a soft sound of approval.

I've done something right, she thought, giddy.

There was now a distinct possibility that this visit would turn into something pleasurable for her.

She was kitsune. She loved kissing.

She laughed, and pressed her puckered, painted lips against the corner of his mouth, against his chin, his upper lip. She giggled and was about to lick his bottom lip, when she felt his hand clasp her chin, opening her mouth to him.

He's kissed before...the words flitted through her mind.

He pressed up against her then in a persistent kiss, tasting her lips, her tongue, and forcing a breathy gasp from her exposed throat.

She heard him inhale.

He shifted her beneath him, long white hair draping over her.

Her naked, powdered toes curled against his soft silk. She opened her eyes and saw that his were closed and his nostrils were flared. He was hard against her hip, and she wondered if it was due to her practiced kisses or that damned melon.

Its smell was heavy and distasteful between them.

He clasped the back of her neck, pressed one more kiss into her waiting mouth and let go. Kuzumeha watched with interest as he opened his eyes; he seemed reluctant. She had the distinct impression he did not want to see her below him.

As his eyes met her own, she wondered at how he could look so resigned and aroused at the same time.

They ended the visit, with him requesting she perform a dance. A kitsune-taikomochi was called in and she performed two dances for her lord. Before the third song could commence, Sesshomaru took his leave.

He did not return for several months.

In that time, Kuzumeha often pondered over his strange requests.

What about the melon entertained him so?

What of that kiss?

Why did he come to her, come for her embrace, if he did not want to look upon her when she held him?

She hoped he would come again.

The Cold Season...

Tomiko blushed as she sat behind the screen with Momo-chan, Rika-chan and Mama Ashi.

The girls were there to run for the tea and learn the high art of entertaining the customer.

Mama Ashi glowered down at them all, chewing with her old lips and her old teeth on her old pipe from however many centuries ago. She was there for no purpose at all...that Tomiko could guess.

Momo snickered into her hand as the sound of Kuzumeha's sigh and gasp came from beyond the screen. Mama Ashi's eyes widened menacingly.

Tomiko understood just how cruel the old fox could be. Momo had yet to learn.

All the girls were renamed when they arrived at the ageya. Tomiko's birth name from far off in her field under the mountain had been Kiku. Now that she was being trained in the tea house, she was in deep debt to Mama Ashi. So the old fox had renamed her Tomiko, laughing at the fortune the little beauty owed her.

Almost none of the kitsune-tayu, not even Kuzumeha herself, were fully out of debt to the yarite. The older kitsune often spoke of Mama Ashi's ability to lengthen what one owed.

Tomiko looked down at her little fingers on her lap. Her kimono was plain, unnoticeable as a maid's should be. She wondered if she would truly ever wear the fine silks she watched Kuzumeha dawn night after night.

Would she ever look so stunning?

Another gasp fluttered through the screen.

Mama Ashi nodded with approval, smiling to herself.

Kuzumeha was with the honored costumer again, and the visit seemed to be going well.

Maybe Kuzumeha was so happy whenever the dai-yokai came because he could pay off her debt. Tomiko could not fathom any other reason.

To be honest, she quite feared the noble demon who seemed to enjoy her mistress' company.

He was cold and distant. Tomiko had heard tales of his merciless lust for death. Through the lands his strength was known.

When this Lord Sesshomaru came to the Rei-no-Kaoku he was all anyone could speak of. The older maids who would never be tayu, the tayu themselves, and especially Mama Ashi spent days arguing over preparations. Tomiko had sat through countless arguments over the watermelon he requested.

She and Rika had taken to whispering dirty jokes about the watermelon to each other in the midnight shadows between their bed rolls. One of the older maids had heard their not-so-innocent musings one night and told Mama Ashi.

The old fox had beaten the girls with tree switches set ablaze by the breath of one of the taiko-mochi's. He had laughed while the little girls screamed in pain, and when Rika later asked him why he had done so, he'd explained he was happy. At the girls' shock and shouts he'd exclaimed, "Why not rejoice, when if the great dai-yokai customer had heard your little jokes, you would have been struck with whips of death, not friendly fox fire?"

His words had so chilled Tomiko, that now, as she listened to Kuzumeha's sighs and moans, and smelled the hint of watermelon and love making in the air, she could not think to laugh as Momo did.

Mama Ashi gave her an approving look. Then her eyes widened and she pinched Tomiko's nose, hard, between two knuckles. This was the old kitsune's way of getting the girl to stop biting her lip.

Tomiko licked her lips and straightened her back, eyes on the floor in obedience.

In the dark, churning light of the chamber, the four kitsune sat together then, in silence, waiting for their mistress to end her dance before the great dog.

Waiting for the performance to end.

Preview: Chapter I

Of Masks and Egos

"She...went with him."