Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.
Chapter 3- Up close
-Urgh…
A low groan escaped her lips as she shifted to ease the pain in her limbs. She instantly noticed that her legs and arms were bound by something sturdy and unpleasantly itchy (possibly rope) and her forehead felt horribly crusty every time she frowned. Most of all she felt absolutely filthy and the place she was being kept in could have seen better days.
Oh kami…just her luck to be captured by a bunch of worthless pirates right on her first trip by sea. Just looking at her ruined fine clothes made her sick. She felt alone and helpless and she just wanted to go home now.
Kagome sighed as she gazed upon her bound legs. She had to find a way to get free. She knew that there was a crowd of hungry men outside but she couldn't just sit around and wait for some miracle. She looked around and dully noted that she was in a storage room where they kept the food. There were many sacks scattered around. Some were empty but she couldn't think of anything they would be useful for. There was a small sort of window that let some light in and she could picture herself getting through with a little stretching. She took a deep breath and fidgeted a bit to see how tight her binds were and almost scoffed as they were very loose. Whoever did those knots was terribly bad at it.
She grunted and squinted her eyes as she searched the badly lit room for something. While doing so she kept twisting her hands in various angles to loosen further the rope. She could see something silvery standing out between the trash and she made an effort to drag herself towards it, in the darkest part of the room. She blindly patted the floor and winced as she prickled her palm in something. She grabbed the pointy object and lifted it as high as she could with the loose binds. Carefully, she dragged herself again closer to the window so she could see what the object was.
She frowned as it glinted in the sun's light. It looked like some kind of hairpin and a very beautiful one at that. She imagined it was quite a fortune sine it was pure silver and adorned with possibly handmade patterns. What she couldn't understand was why such a delicate piece was laying forgotten in a filthy pirate storage room.
She jumped startled when she heard heavy footsteps and the door opened loudly. She quickly hid the hairpin between one of her heavy kimonos and a tired looking man locked eyes with her. For a moment they just stood there looking at each other until the silence was broken by a loud crash outside and the man visibly winced. He sighed and spoke in very poor Japanese with an accent she had never heard before. It sounded extremely exotic as the man's looks too. He had a somewhat rugged appearance, a healthy and muscular build and shoulder length dark brown hair with deep green eyes. He looked young but clearly not to be called a boy.
-You…hungry?
Kagome blinked and as if noticing her stupidified state, her tummy answered for her with a loud growl. The man gave her a small smile and she couldn't help but notice how that smile brightened his tired expression away almost instantly. She felt a blush spreading across her cheeks as the cheery fellow nodded and left, still smiling. She blinked and noticed he had left the door slightly ajar. This was a perfect chance!
She pulled at the rope more forcefully and when the binds on her hands were gone she grabbed the sharper edge of the hairpin and cut through the ones at her legs too. She sighed in relief and rubbed her sore ankles before she stood up painfully slowly. She hid the hairpin insider her kimono's folds again and approached the door carefully. She pushed it open and it cracked loudly making her wince. She checked left and right before deciding the coast was clear and sneaked around plastered to the nearest wall. She stopped abruptly when she caught sight of the captain's helm and expected to see that terrifying silver haired brute but he didn't seem to be anywhere near and for that she was thankful. Her forehead still throbbed and she caressed the slight bump and cuts on it. She grimaced as she realized that the crusty feeling on her forehead was indeed dried blood that must have resulted from that awful hit on the wall the day before.
She shuddered. She really didn't want to confront that man ever again.
There were suddenly loud noises like shouts and crashes. Her eyes widened as she caught a glimpse of the green eyed man talking in an unknown language but she could make out her name between the foreign words. She couldn't believe they had already noted her absence. She had hoped for more time for her to evaluate her position and best options in this situation. As well as getting to know where the hell she was. She plastered herself to the wall until it looked like she wanted to merge with it. Oh, how she wished she could.
They were extremely close now and she inwardly uttered a small prayer before feeling a large, chilly hand grip her shoulder followed by that unforgettable voice.
-I see the mistress didn't find her accommodations to her liking…
She took in a sharp intake of breath and willed her body to do something but the man was so scary. Actually she hadn't been this scared since she broke her father's extremely valuable 13th century adorned vase. He had been so angry she had feared for her life.
But this man was not her father and she felt like she had ruined a whole monument. She gulped but remained silent and Sesshomaru snorted.
He already knew the woman was going to try to escape. She seemed to be cunning and persistent and he just knew she was going to give him a hard time.
Testing the waters, his hand on her shoulder slowly traveled lower until it rested on her waist. He secretly admired her curves and enjoyed her increasingly rapid breathing, her slight trembling and her racing heart that he could feel thumping. What was about a woman's fear that enticed him so?
He saw his crew approach and to Kagome's relief the silver haired captain released her. She felt like she had been inspected. Like a product ready for commerce. Her hands were pulled backwards and she grunted as they were expertly tied. Her wrists were becoming numb from the tightness. She whimpered in shame as some of the men chuckled and leered at her. She heard the deep and surprisingly refined voice of the captain talk to the crew in a foreign language yet his accent was clearly Japanese and for that she saw barely concealed mocking smiles on the men's lips. Even so, they held great respect for him. She dared to glance at the captain who was holding onto her bent arm with a firm grip yet besides that sarcastic remark earlier he didn't seem to even acknowledge her presence as he talked on with his companions. And she couldn't even understand their language! Just who was this guy?
She huffed and her eyes widened in indignation when someone said something with her name on it and laughed openly at her. The captain simply snorted almost delicately and glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Their gazes met and she immediately looked away, blushing with rage.
-Pedro.
Kagome blinked and her stomach turned with his changed tone. It was stern and sweetly apprehensive. Her mouth opened a bit when the green eyed man from earlier stepped forward and nervously nodded at the captain.
*BAM!*
She jumped startled as a pale fist made contact with the one named Pedro and the force of the punch made him fall to the floor painfully. His cry of surprise gave her chills. He laid there limp and for a moment she thought him unconscious until he began moaning in pain. The captain clenched his jaw but remained collected. Just like Bankotsu's crew they stared at Pedro and made no move to help him. Suddenly, she was shoved to another pair of arms and could fully see him once again.
He was so strange…
She noticed that he no longer had Bankotsu's head hanging from his belt. She shivered not wanting to know what happened to it. His eyes traveled up and down her form but once again she didn't feel anything sexual from it. She just felt inspected.
He smirked somewhat darkly before ordering.
-Levem-na para o meu quarto. (Take her to my room)
Kagome didn't understand a single word yet as those infuriating men chuckled lowly she knew that things had just gotten so much worse.
Sesshomaru sighed as he watched the confused and scared girl being dragged away towards his room. He would admit she was far more brave than any other pretty lady he had ever seen before. The girl was struggling as best as possible and he barely could supress a chuckle as one of his men was viciously slapped when he tried to muffle her mouth that was sprouting insults after insults to their clueless ears. He raised an eyebrow as a more vulgar word would come out of her lips every now and then. He could see that the one she slapped, Pedro, was trying very hard not to strike back since he knew she should remain unscathed if their plan was to work. It was amusing to see his face redden in supressed rage and embarassment.
At last they shoved her in and tied her up. They closed the door and self satisfied smiles were on their faces. Sesshomaru shook his head and continued what he was doing before being interrupted by her pitiful atempt at escaping. He checked the route again and remarked their location. It would take at least two weeks until they reached the first docks to gather more supplies. The crew was already grumpy due to lack of food and it would soon start to affect their performance. News about Kagome's kidnap must have been spreading across the whole country by now and what wouldn't he give to see Inuyasha's face right now. He chuckled silently to himself and decided to see how his other two captives were doing.
He opened the door slowly and noticed they were already awake judging by the way their bodies recoiled from the light coming into the dark room and embraced each other in fear. He walked towards them and the taller one he came to know was named Kagura gasped and hugged the other tighter. He stopped in front of them and his eyes sweeped through them with interest. They were nothing extraordinary but he could see they were well taken care of and could be useful to his more fatigued crew. He crouched so he could be at their eye level and the mute one looked at him with teary eyes. She was trembling and clinging tight to the clothes of Kagura. Her eyes kept darting back and forth from his weapons to his face. Taking a deep breath, Kagura was the first one to break the silence.
-What do you want, you beast?
Sesshomaru blinked and Kagura's breathing quickened in growing anger. She knew she had to control herself but Kami everything this man did just made her lose her temper. Her hairdo couldn't hold on and her dark hair spilled down across her back capturing Sesshomaru's gaze. He leaned forward and reached for one strand. Kagura shivered and tried to avoid his touch but he eventually managed to grasp her hair and in one sharp tug make her fall forward and part from the mute. The woman fell face first on the wodden floor with a surprised yelp. The other one had her mouth wide open letting out silent screams with her gaze almost impossibly widened.
-Please...
He heard Kagura moan and he raised her once again by her hair to his eye level. Her strong demeanor seemed to crumble as soon as she no longer felt the mute in her arms. He wrinkled his nose and gave another sharp tug for her to talk. She gasped in pain and the tears finally fell.
-Please...I'll do anything you want...just don't hurt her and my mistress.
He hummed and quite enjoying her open display of horror he yanked her hair backwards so that her throat could be fully exposed and gave a long lick. The woman shivered and did nothing. She had forfeited her dignity for the sake of others.
How noble of her.
He chuckled darkly and released her hair. Unbalanced, she fell again and let out an annoyed growl. Sesshomaru looked directly into the mute's eyes.
-This one only wants you both to be good girls and obey. If you do not displease me then no harm shall befall you.
The mute nodded miserably and helped Kagura to righten herself up. The woman sneered at him in disgust and even though she had suffered his cruelty just now she simply had to tell him.
-You're a foolish coward. And you call youself a man...
He raised an eyebrow.
-A coward you say?
He didn't hesitate as he raised his hand and delivered a powerful slap to her face. Kagura whimpered and touched her bruised cheek. Her dark bangs hid her somber eyes.
-And you're everything I want you to be.
She felt crushed under his words. He was right. Their fate was in his hands alone right now.
Not wanting to remain in the dark room any longer, Sesshomaru stood up and left.
Kagome tugged halfheartedly at the rope attaching her hands to a hook in the wall. She looked around the room and sighed nervously. They had left her here in this place and hadn't returned yet so she figured she would stay here from now on. She wouldn't have a problem with that if not for the bed that was obviously not for her or the great variety of maps rolled neatly on wooden shelves. She already knew this was the captain's bedroom. They had placed her against a dark corner and facing a sturdy, big chest. She imagined he stored his clothes there.
Her breathing quickened and an unwanted blush spread through her cheeks. It was bad enough she was in a man's room but to stay and probably watch him and his morning/ night routines…
She whimpered and shook her head, banishing any sinful images.
That man was crazy if he thought having her in his room would turn her into a docile female, complying with his every order. If anything he just gave her the opportunity to make his life a living hell. Her clothes were enough reason to do so. She looked down at herself and wrinkled her nose. What she would do for a bath now…
She was startled out of her musings by the opening of the door and the silver haired man walked in with sure steps. He didn't even glance at her as he grabbed a map from one of his shelves and splayed it in the desk below. She glared holes into his back and gritted her teeth. How could someone be so infuriatingly aloof? He could not just pretend he didn't have a delicate maiden in his bedroom!
She hated herself even so because no matter how insulted she felt she could never gather the courage to say it to him aloud. So she stayed silently and contented herself by imagining the many ways her father would punish him when he was caught. The first thing she would do herself and that would be cut all that…beautiful, dazzling silver hair and keep it as a trophy. She smiled like a satisfied cat and almost missed the moment he decided to speak to her.
-Hate me all you want, mistress.
She felt like she had just been slapped in the face. He dared to taunt her? Oh she just added something even more vital to cut besides his hair. He straightened his posture and turned around to look down at her. A small smirk made its way to his nicely shaped lips and her blood boiled in irritation. She was starting to despise those lips. How can such a vile person be so stunning? It was simply not fair. He crossed his arms and Kagome looked away from him with an air of blatant disgust.
-Not so talkative now, are we?
She took a deep breath and willed herself to ignore him. It would be much easier for her if she simply pretended he was not there. Of course, that would never work and her eyes widened in horror as she saw him take off his coat from the corner of her eye.
He wouldn't…would he?
The thud of his boots followed and she almost had a heart attack as she heard the soft fluttering of clothes being removed. She curled around herself and huddled to her corner as best as she could. Her face felt hot. Kagome just couldn't believe this was happening to her. She didn't want to but her eyes kept stealing glances to the pale form that now stretched languidly without a single care in the world. The tense muscles drew her in before she could fight his masculine appeal and she let out an embarrassed squeak as he started walking towards the bed. He freed his hair from the tight ponytail and it cascaded prettily like a waterfall over his back. He turned to her and she covered her face before she saw what made him male and disgrace herself more.
Sesshomaru's smirk widened at the young woman's reactions. He decided that that was enough mocking for the poor girl and laid down on his bed. The day had been uneventful but spending an entire day navigating was tiring. He kept looking at her and her amusing prude antics. His lids slowly lowered until he welcomed blissful darkness.
Kagome's mouth hung open in disbelief as she soon heard his light snores. She took a chance and stole a glance at his form but yelped like she had been burned and immediately looked away. She almost saw it again.
Kami, this was torture.
Author's Note: I want to apologize for the really late update but this story takes some time to write and with other stuff to do it is kind of hard to organize myself. I hope you liked this chapter and yes, Sesshomaru's crew is Portuguese ^^ I thought that would be fun to write.
