Alternative title: Sesshoumaru thinks he's doing a good job hiding his soft spot for his sister-in-law. He's not.
There was a rustle of leaves, and Kagome turned around to meet the sight of a certain dog demon clothed in white.
"If it isn't the great Lord Sesshoumaru of the West," she greeted in a teasing, yet gentle tone.
Had he been a little less composed, he'd have probably rolled his eyes at her. Instead, he simply kept walking, and it wasn't until he had passed her that he spoke.
"I expected you to sense my youki sooner than that. Have you been slacking off, priestess?"
The woman wanted to pout, but the fact that he actually thought well of her powers, sort of at least, made her feel a little proud.
On top of that, did he deliberately make noise to warn her of his presence? He didn't use to do that. Before, he would just appear out of nowhere, possibly scaring her, and ignore her to continue on his way. Then again, he had been doing a lot of new things ever since Rin started living with Kaede and he had to interact with humans (namely, Kaede and Kagome) in order to see her.
"Who says I didn't?" Kagome said proudly, catching up to him and walking beside him. He didn't answer, merely glanced at her. She knew perfectly what her not moving an inch despite knowing he was coming implied; it implied she was comfortable with him. It was a strange thought even for her, she couldn't even imagine how stupid it must have sounded to him.
There was silence for a moment, then the demon talked again. "Why is my wretched brother allowing his mate to be alone in the woods?"
This time, the priestess did pout. "I'll have you know I don't need his permission to do anything," she turned her head in another direction in a gesture of indignation, "and I can take care of myself." She was a priestess after all, wasn't she? ...Okay, so she was a priestess-in-training. She was still pretty powerful!
"He doesn't know, does he." Her back stiffened slightly, answering his question for her.
She hesitated for a moment. "Besides the point." she said, avoiding his eyes. Not that she particularly minded him looking at her like she was an idiot. It gave her a nostalgic feeling, really. "He's out doing exorcisms with Miroku, anyway." she kept talking, although it wasn't really necessary, or appreciated either. "I can't just sit and wait for him all day. I have things to do too, you know?"
At that, Sesshoumaru briefly eyed the basket she was holding in a delicate grip at her waist. It was full of flowers. She read the silent question on his face, although if directly confronted, he'd probably deny any interest.
"I thought I'd pick up some of these," she explained, smiling and looking at him again, "You know, to brighten up the house a little."
She picked up a pink flower from the basket and twirled it in her hands, giggling softly. She stretched her hand forward to offer it to him, and held back a chuckle at his half scowling, half incredulous expression. Would he be offended if she said he looked a little like Inuyasha when he made that face? ...Probably.
"No? Fine then," she tried feigning offense, but she failed to contain her laughter as she tangled the flower between her black locks.
After keeping silent for another while, they finally reached the edge of the woods and of the village.
"You want me to call Rin out here?" she offered, knowing fully well that he would rather have that happen than having to walk through the village. Sure, he could just fly to Kaede's hut, but she felt like sparing him the effort.
She was a kind soul like that.
He closed his eyes. Again, if he wasn't as composed (stuck up, suggested a voice in her head that sounded an awful lot like her husband's, and she forced herself not to snicker) as he was, he might've shrugged. "Do as you please," he said, and she knew by now that it meant yes, thank you in dog demon language. Or in Sesshoumaru language. One of the two.
She held up the basket and decided to test her luck. "You sure you don't want me to braid some in your hair too? I bet she would like it." She proposed with mischief in her voice, albeit not daring to laugh.
Sesshoumaru opened his eyes and regarded her with a cold stare, but he didn't glare at her, and she considered that her own little special victory.
"You're annoying." he said, deadly serious.
"Oh shush, you love me." she replied almost instantly, smiling broadly and sounding all too confident.
It took long enough for him to reply that for a moment she thought he might not deny it. However, an emotionless "Ridiculous." was all he answered her with.
She grinned ever wider. "Keep telling yourself that," she teased again, and blissfully basked in his annoyance. She suddenly recalled a time when she had been deadly afraid of him and felt like chuckling, although the memories weren't amusing in the slightest. "Well, I'll go get Rin," she said when she noticed that now he was glaring at her. She turned around and lifted a hand to wave at him from behind. "See you later, big brother."
She felt his indignant gaze on the back of her head and she smirked to herself: he always acted bothered by the nickname, but he never even once asked her to stop using it.