Author's Note: Thank you all so much for the wonderful support I have gotten for this little fic. Knowing that so many of you want me to continue it has made me feel guilty for taking so long to update. But here it is. Hopefully it stands up to the previous chapters.
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, or any of its characters.
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Kagome stared at the line of trees beyond which Sesshoumaru had just disappeared. A bit dazed from the daiyoukai's "good-bye" kiss, her anger had been somewhat abated. That was until her ears registered Inuyasha's laughing. She looked over to the hysterical hanyou, whose eyes were now streaming with tears of mirth. Then she took in the rest of her surroundings.
Jaken lay sprawled on his back, dead to the world. Kagome wondered briefly what had happened to him as she scanned the rest of the area. Her gaze landed on Sango, Shippou, Rin, and Miroku. The monk's body twitched a little as if he were beginning to come around from his hiraikotsu-induced nap. The other three were staring at her with mixed expressions. While Rin had a goofy smile on her face, Sango and Shippou showed only surprise. Her face colored in embarrassment as she realized everything that her friends had witnessed.
That arrogant jerk had kissed her in front of her friends! A little part of her mind tried to point out that it was a good thing that Sesshoumaru had been so open about their relationship, rather than trying to hide the fact that he were destined to mate a human. At least Miroku had been unconscious and could make no perverted comments about it. But it was still embarrassing that he kissed her like that in front of everyone. A little peck on the lips or cheek would have been fine, but a mind-blowing kiss that let everyone know just how easily Sesshoumaru might be able to bend her to his will . . . forget embarrassment. Hello, rage.
Inuyasha's laughter wasn't helping her anger, either. Honestly, it wasn't that funny. She was tempted to "sit" him, but it wouldn't have the same effect. He was already rolling on the ground. The most the spell would do is pin the hanyou in one spot. That wasn't quite as satisfying as watching him plummet to the ground . . . the combined forces of gravity and the subjugation beads pulling him to the solid, unforgiving earth in a much-deserved body slam.
She balled her hands into fists and realized that she was still holding her bow. Looking at her hand, she found she was also holding the arrow she had used in her attempt to shoot Sesshoumaru. He must have slipped it into her hand before his little good-bye . . . and she was too caught up in the moment to even notice. Damn him and that talented tongue.
Having had enough of Inuyasha's laughter, Kagome stalked toward the oblivious hanyou, intending to stab him with the arrow. She wasn't going to stab him hard enough to cause injury or draw blood . . . just enough to cause a little pain and sober him up. Plus, she would feel slightly vindicated for his laughter at her expense.
Just as she was about to aim the arrow tip at the bare foot closest to her, Kagome paused. Would the necklace still have an effect, even through the indirect contact of an arrow shaft? Probably. Damn it. Today was just not her day for seeking vengeance. Deciding not to risk it, although Inuyasha would deserve another good shock, Kagome gave a frustrated growl and threw the arrow at him. It bounced off his leg ineffectually and the hanyou continued on in his own merry, little world. Grumbling to herself about arrogant daiyoukai and stupid, hormonal males in general, Kagome stormed into Kaede's hut.
Miroku was just coming around as Kagome marched past her gawking companions. Still a little woozy from his beating, Miroku regarded the door through which Kagome had just passed. What had gotten her so worked up? He looked around, observing everyone in the area.
"Did I . . . miss something?" He asked, after some effort to get his brain and mouth to cooperate with each other.
"Kagome found her one, true love." Sango replied, staring blankly at the trees.
"Oh, that's nice." Miroku nodded, his head wobbling a little from the action. A pensive look crossed his face. "Was she . . . looking for her true love?"
Shippou looked at the befuddled monk. "I guess you missed out on that part of Kaede's explanation . . . what with running for your life and all. Only Kagome's true love is able to remove that necklace."
"I see." Miroku tried to effect his wise, scholarly monk demeanor. As if the answer were so obvious and he could have told everyone the solution, had he not been distracted by a giant-boomerang-wielding woman. He failed miserably in his attempt. "So, who is her true love?"
Sniffling a little and wiping tears from his eyes, Inuyasha staggered toward his companions. "Hehe it. . . it's Sesshoumaru."
"What's Sesshoumaru?"
"Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha chuckled again, "is her one, true love."
Miroku stared at the giggling hanyou, then shook his head as if trying to clear out the cobwebs between his ears. "I think I have taken too many hits to the head. I could have sworn Inuyasha just said . . ."
"You heard right." Sango interrupted.
"Oh, okay." Miroku nodded again. After another pensive pause, he asked, "Does Sesshoumaru know about this?"
At this question, Inuyasha erupted into another bout of laughter, followed by Shippou and Rin. Sango finally tore her gaze away from the trees to look at her favorite punching bag. "Maybe I did hit you in the head too many times. Of course he knows."
"And he's okay with this?"
Sango studied the monk's face for a moment. He was being a little slow and it had her concerned. She held up three fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
Miroku stared determinedly at the slayer's hand for a few moments. He scowled, "Well, I'd be able to count them if you'd stop moving so much."
Rin giggled at the monk before answering his question. "Lord Sesshoumaru is very happy about this. He has always liked Lady Kagome."
Well, if anyone had that special intuition for reading the unreadable daiyoukai, it was his young ward. The girl must be a telepath to be able to understand him so well.
Miroku smiled at the young girl. "If you say so. Does this mean that Kagome's curse is lifted?"
"No!" Kagome shouted as she burst out of Kaede's hut. "That arrogant jerk wants me to keep wearing this," she tugged at the beads, "until he can get a new collar for me!"
Not even Sango could stop herself from laughing at her enraged friend. Kagome glared at her so-called friends. All of them laughing at her expense when the situation was anything but funny. Oh good. Inuyasha was standing up now.
"Sit!" The command was punctuated with a loud thud. What a pity Inuyasha hadn't been in a tree or standing at the edge of a cliff.
"What was that for?" Inuyasha, sobered from his impact with the ground, mumbled into the dirt.
"You know what it was for!" She shouted. "I've had enough of this. I'm going home!"
Adjusting the pack she had already slung over her shoulder, Kagome began a determined march toward the Bone Eater's Well.
"Wait!" Inuyasha shouted, trying to pull himself from the ground. His subjugation beads held him fast. "Sango, Miroku, stop her!"
Miroku stood on shaky legs and ran to catch up to the miko. "Kagome, wait!" He was about to reach out a hand to catch her elbow, but stopped at the last minute, remembering the consequences of such an action. Sango noticed his hesitancy to touch the miko, and stored the little fact away to contemplate its worth at a later time.
"Yes, Kagome. Wait. You should not leave right now."
"Why not?" The miko challenged
"Because if His Royal Pain in the Ass returns before you do, he'll throw a fit and have my ass for breakfast." Inuyasha answered, freeing himself from the ground.
"Don't be ridiculous."
"I'm not being ridiculous. Inuyoukai are very possessive of their . . . mates." Oh, he wasn't sure if he would ever get used to the idea of Kagome and Sesshoumaru, the poster boy for confirmed bachelorhood, being mated. The images it created in his mind made him want to cringe in disgust.
"That's true." Sango agreed. "And he doesn't know about the well. If he came back and there was absolutely no trace of you . . ."
"He'll just have to get over it." Kagome declared. "I'm a modern woman who will not follow orders just because my future mate gives them."
"Kagome, perhaps you should sit down for a while and think about this. You're a futuristic woman to us. Sesshoumaru is only acting out of instinct to protect you." Stated Miroku, ever the mediator and voice of wisdom . . . when he wasn't being a pervert.
"I'll have plenty of time to sit down and think at home!" She let out an exasperated breath and tried to regain control of her temper. "Besides I need to pick up more supplies . . . and more ramen, Inuyasha."
She smirked when Inuyasha's ears perked up at the mention of ramen, and could practically see the gears in his mind turning as he weighed the pros and cons of letting her leave. Not that he could stop her anyways. He couldn't touch her and she could "sit" him. Unless Sango was willing to step in and get forceful, there was no stopping her . . . and he knew that.
"Can't you wait until the asshole gets back?" He ventured, not expecting a positive answer.
"No. I'm leaving now."
"Fine! You just better be back before Sesshoumaru returns . . . and get a lot of ramen! I'm not going to get killed for nothing."
"You're not going to get killed. And if you do, Sesshoumaru can always bring you back." She threw over her shoulder as she resumed walking.
"Fat chance of that happening! He'd bring me back just to kill me again." Inuyasha shouted after her.
Shippou started to laugh at the hanyou's distress. "Inuyasha's scared of Sesshoumaru." He sang.
"Shut it, Runt, or I'll feed you to Ah-Un."
"Ah-Un wouldn't eat Shippou!" Rin objected.
"Yeah, and you'd have to catch me, first." Shippou stuck his tongue out at Inuyasha.
The hanyou made a grab for him, but the kitsune was too fast. He flicked one of Inuyasha's ears as he jumped over his head and made a beeline for the woods. Inuyasha chased after him, his trepidation over Sesshoumaru and Kagome forgotten in favor of skinning a little fox.
Miroku, Sango, and Rin stared in the direction the hanyou had gone. Then they looked in the direction Kagome had traveled. They stood in silence, expecting something else to happen.
When everything remained quiet and it seemed that the day had had its fill of weirdness, Miroku cleared his throat, "Sooo . . . is it time for dinner, yet?"
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Jaken awakened to the sound of voices and wondered why he was lying on the ground. Had he said or done something to anger his lord and been punished . . . again? It was always difficult to know what should or should not be said around Lord Sesshoumaru. His means of correcting poor behavior was to kick, step on, or throw rocks at the offender, without providing an explanation of what had sparked his ire. In the beginning, Jaken had always assumed it was because Lord Sesshoumaru felt that he did not need to explain his actions. It was up to all of the fools surrounding him to learn how to understand said actions. Lately, Jaken had begun to think that the daiyoukai just enjoyed causing him pain. But Jaken was not feeling sore, as he usually did after his lord trod on him. He didn't have any new lumps on his head, either – Lord Sesshoumaru's choice target.
Then he overheard the conversation between the idiot hanyou and his companions. A sense of horror began to build as he realized the terrible fate of his great and powerful Lord Sesshoumaru. He was to be mated to a human! A miko, at that! Oh, how could the kami be so cruel? As he mentally lamented his master's fate, the image of Lord Sesshoumaru kissing the miko flashed through his mind.
That's what had happened! After witnessing the intimate moment between his beloved Lord Sesshoumaru and the miko, he had been so overcome with shock and grief that there was little else he could do except surrender to the serene bliss that is unconsciousness.
Just thinking about it had him on the verge of passing out again, but he fought to remain conscious. What good would it do him when he had to figure out what was happening?
Had his lord lost his mind? What was he thinking? He intended to mate that loud, obnoxious girl? Why? Something had to be wrong with him. The kappa thought back over the many years that he had served Lord Sesshoumaru. The daiyoukai had always been aloof and cold to everyone. He thought nothing of killing anyone who got in his way. He hardly even glanced at females of any kind . . . a fact that might have given the kappa hope, except Sesshoumaru never paid any attention to males either.
If he could pinpoint it, Jaken would suppose that Lord Sesshoumaru had begun to act odd ever since the day he lost his arm. A traumatizing event for anyone, even if the daiyoukai showed nothing but anger over it. Jaken could understand if he acted a little off after that, but many of his actions had been outright strange and out of character. The first of which had been the addition of Rin to their little group.
Maybe the attachment to the little girl was the first sign of his downfall. From that point on he had begun to act as if he actually cared about others. Now whatever mental illness that was affecting him was leading him to take a human woman as a mate.
He heard the miko screeching and complaining about his master's methods of protecting her. Complaining! Did she not realize the great honor she was receiving that his lord would even look her way, much less care enough about her to want to keep her alive and well? Clearly she would be an ungrateful mate that would cause his master nothing but pain and frustration. Something had to be done about this and Lord Sesshoumaru was in no condition to deal with the matter. Jaken would just have to take it upon himself to save Lord Sesshoumaru from himself. He knew exactly what had to be done . . . the miko had to die.
He tuned out the others' voices as he tried to work out the best plan. He would have to work fast. There would be no opportunity for him to attack her when Lord Sesshoumaru was around, so he would have to kill her before the daiyoukai returned. With luck, he would be able to blame her death on someone else. Naraku would be an easy target. Likely, Sesshoumaru would also blame Inuyasha for not protecting his intended mate and kill the hanyou for his failure. A win-win situation . . . or was it a win-win-win?
Yes, Lord Sesshoumaru would be upset when he first learns of her death, but he would get over it soon enough. Jaken would, most likely, receive an increased number of kicks, but in the end, all would return to normal. Lord Sesshoumaru would be thankful for not being tied down at all and would go on to carve his name into the annals of history . . . with Jaken by his side the whole time. It would be wonderful.
He was brought out of his scheming when he noticed a sudden lull in the nearby conversation. The kappa looked toward the group, noticing that the miko and hanyou seemed to be in a face off. Inuyasha looked as if he were trying to make a difficult decision before finally asking the miko to delay her plans until Sesshoumaru's return. What was she planning to do? Just as he was about to start reprimanding himself for not paying attention, he saw Kagome begin walking into the woods . . . alone.
If he was going to do something, now was the time. He'd come up with explanations after the miko was gone. The others were too busy watching the hanyou and kitsune to notice when he got to his feet and rushed after the young woman. Even Kagome paid no attention to him as she wandered through the forest. He preferred to believe that this was because of his superior skills in stealth as he followed her, waiting for an opportunity to present itself.
When he saw her stop at an ancient well in the middle of a clearing, he hid behind a low shrub located as close to the well as he could get without her noticing him, and waited for her next move. She seemed to study the well for a long time, making Jaken wonder why she found it so fascinating. It was just a dry well. Then Kagome stepped up to the well, set her pack on the aged wood, and levered herself up to sit on the well's rim. His eyes bugged out of his head, more than they naturally did, in joy. This was perfect! He could scare her from her perch, and send her falling into the well's depths. With luck, she would break her neck and it would look like an accident. Explaining why she was sitting on the well's edge in the first place may not even be that difficult a task. She was a strange woman who had a habit of doing odd things.
As the miko leaned forward a little to peer into the dark well, Jaken ran out from behind the bush. Shouting and waving the Staff of Two Heads wildly to startle the young woman, Jaken sent a burst of flames from one of the gruesome heads. His intention was to scare her enough to knock her off balance. Not to burn her. It would not do to leave burn marks on her body. That would only raise suspicion. Then again . . . Jaken could always try to blame the burn marks on another demon's attack.
He heard Kagome scream in surprise. Then her voice suddenly stopped. Letting the flames die away, Jaken surveyed his handiwork. The miko was no longer on the edge of the well, but he had not heard her hit the bottom. Scrambling onto the well's rim to look for her body sprawled and broken at the bottom, he was horror-struck to see no trace of her. How was he going to explain that she had been vaporized?
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End note: I kind of feel bad for breaking poor Jaken's heart, but I hope to find a new object of his obsession. Also, I've got another chapter written and it will be posted as soon as I have it polished up a bit.
