A/N: I have fallen in love with Sesshōmaru and Kikyō as a pairing. I think he's a much better match for her than Inuyasha. These two are my power couple. Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you like it!
A blood-chilling cry rings in the forest, and Kikyō wishes that for once, she could ignore the way her heart thumps at the call of danger. Already deprived of death's cold embrace, she thinks it would be lovely to at least be able to starve her innate desire to save others. She wanted to free Inuyasha of the demon that he foolishly wished would overwhelm him, but that fantasy ended with a fatal wound, drops of her own blood staining the floor of the forest, and Kaede's tears.
She reclaims the bow that rests against a tree, and pursues the screams. Musk and dangerous designs are in the air, all emanating from a titanic bear demon. His arm goes up to the sky, and his claws catch the light of the sun. She spies a girl scooting away from him slowly, just narrowly staving off the paralysis of fear. Kikyō fixes an arrow on the demon's back, and with a precision that also wouldn't succumb to the grip of death, she hits the mark.
The demon roars, his throat rattling with agony, and the child is rendered slack-jawed at the sight of his body disintegrating into innumerable particles. He passes from this world to the next and leaves barely a memory behind.
Kikyō approaches the child, and her chest aches from the hollowness where her heart should be. Short legs and tiny feet press towards her before she makes it all the way, and the child grabs her hakama, spilling tears onto the fabric. Kikyō's hand twitches and she's unable to resist embracing the sobbing, pitiful thing.
"Everything is fine," she reassures her. "It will be alright."
The girl pulls back to look up at her with a face twisted by fear and relief, but slowly transforming into a smile.
"Thank you so much, priestess!"
Kikyō only nods. Her lips traded happiness for nothing in return ages ago.
"My name is Kikyō."
"Lady Kikyō, I'm Rin!"
Rin's smile is as sweet as honey, and Kikyō's innards burn, but the feeling is gone before it can remind her of anything she may have felt when she was alive. Leaves rustle unusually, and out of instinct, Kikyō guides Rin behind her with a firm hand.
"Rin, you foolish girl! We've searched all over for you!"
Jaken has waited to scold her so he doesn't hold back.
"Master Jaken!"
Rin runs to demons far crueler than the one who'd just sought her life, and Kikyō tramples her judgment. Much like Rin, she'd embraced a demon once.
"Lord Sesshōmaru, you came!" Rin greets the brother of Kikyō's former lover with even more saccharine fondness.
Sesshōmaru glances at the priestess before turning to leave.
"We're going."
He presses forward into the darker depths of the forest, catching Rin off guard. She bows in favor of following him.
"Thank you again, Lady Kikyō."
Sesshōmaru's nostrils are tickled by an unusual odor. There isn't a trace of the other demon he'd hoped to slay. Only the stench of grave soil and bones held together by bitterness is there. He scolds himself for failing to notice at first. Rin really was starting to become a nuisance. Even so, the mystery of the priestess's existence is of no matter so he dismisses it.
"That was a stupid, stupid thing that you did, Rin, making Lord Sesshōmaru come after you. He does not have time for your –"
"What is stupid is expecting a little girl to fend for herself. If you've received her into your care, do not burden others with having to rescue her."
Kikyō wants to merely be irritated by having to waste an arrow, but Rin's fear had stirred her. Little girls needed to be free and happy for as long as life allowed. Fear and heartache would surely come in time.
At that, Sesshōmaru turns to meet brown eyes smoldering with indignation. He only offers a look of indifference.
"We're going," he repeats.
Despite the emptiness in his words, Kikyō notices how his gait slows down so Rin can catch up.
Dog demons are so easy to command despite their fussiness, and she hates her knack for it.