Author's Note: In which a dilemma is explained.

Disclaimer: I have no idea where this plot came from, but the characters are from the series Inuyasha, which is not mine.

Lucky Shot

Chapter 4: Preliminary Questioning

"Gnhh." This ignominious sound was made by a fatigued futuristic priestess upon regaining consciousness the next morning. "Five more minutes," she muttered.

Something was poking her in the side, and she attempted to ignore it by curling up around Shippo in her nice, warm sleeping bag. The barrage of nudging only became more insistent when she rolled over, and belatedly she understood her fox-child was the one launching the attack. A few more persistent jabs from tiny, pointed claws, and she opened her eyes to inspect the situation. Why was he waking her like this anyway? Normally, he crawled out of the sleeping bag on his own. The only time he kicked or scratched was when she accidentally crushed him in the middle of the night.

Sliding open her eyes, she inspected the fox-kit. His face looked terror-struck, and he motioned her to be silent with one frantic hand. Kagome blinked stupidly, never at her best in the mornings. "What is it Shippo?" she mumbled wearily, failing to heed his warning.

With a groggy glance outside, she quickly summed up the problem. A smiling little girl in a faded, orange checkered kimono happily observed her, while crouching directly in front of a well-known demon wearing red and white. The girl's name was Rin. A simple name for a sweet young child. It was not often that one came across a small human girl under the charge of a powerful demon-lord (who professed to dislike humans), so Kagome easily remembered Rin's name from their scant number of meetings. Yet it was unfathomable why Rin and Sesshoumaru would visit Inuyasha's campsite at the break of dawn…

Then, looking around, Kagome realized she was no longer at her camp. And Sesshoumaru was sitting right there! Less than two metres away! The priestess scurried out of her sleeping bag and stood upright, as her heart rate increased exponentially.

Gathering that the priestess was finally awake, the small girl giggled with delight and plopped down next to the sleeping bag with a smile. The lopsided pigtail on her head bounced as she tipped her head to one side, peering into the strange blankets the priestess used. Rin had never met a fox before, much less one her size, and she felt rather excited to make this one's acquaintance. She had seen the kit from afar on the battlefield; apparently he was cared for by the pretty priestess, like she was by Sesshoumaru.

Meanwhile, Kagome tried to find words to properly express her panic, without giving away how terrified she truly felt. Sesshoumaru could probably smell her fear, and any pretense of bravery would do no good, but she had to try. "Where is Inuyasha?" she demanded, "What are you doing here?"

Sesshoumaru replied ominously, "I will be the one asking questions, priestess." Without missing a beat, he pulled out the twin-eyepiece set from one layer of his kimono. "You will explain what these are."

Of course, the priestess couldn't actually see what he held out for inspection.

Still reeling from the shock of waking to find the Lord of the West watching her sleep, Kagome wasn't sure what to do. Participate in the conversation, feign innocence, or call for help? Choices, choices. Eventually, she rationalized that he would not kill her as long as he needed her for answers.

Edging forward until she was close enough to observe the item in question, she gasped in surprise. Her glasses were here! Right here, on the outstretched palm of the hand (or was it technically the paw?) of an irritable dog-demon, normally hell-bent on killing her companions. How could this be?

As a Sherlock Holmes' story had once taught her: once the impossible has been excluded, the only solution remaining, however improbable, must be the truth. Since her glasses could not fly or teleport to new locations (although they had been time-traveling) this meant Sesshoumaru had stolen them in the hot-springs… which also meant that he had been there while she was bathing… which probably meant that he had seen her naked…

She blushed. It was mortifying and comforting all at once. Humiliating for obvious reasons, yes, but the thought that he had seen her defenseless and refrained from spilling her blood in the waters was a nice consolation prize. Obviously, if the guy wanted her dead, then she would already be six-feet under, ergo she was safe. It wasn't as though he was a peeping tom – he could care less about watching human girls bathe, right?

Next, the rosy blush on her cheeks deepened as she contemplated whether Sesshoumaru had also been bathing nude in the hot spring.

Perhaps if she proved completely uninteresting, then he would let her go. Answering him in the most boring and uninformative way imaginable, she mumbled, "Those are my glasses." In her haste, she mistakenly used the English word for 'glasses' as she often did.

Sesshoumaru frowned slightly at the foreign sounding syllables. "And what do they do?" he continued, even more calmly. If the priestess continued to play dumb, then he might have to forcibly demonstrate her lack of bargaining power. Still, he did not want Rin to witness anything upsetting. For now, he could play her game.

"They help me see," she explained, with a sigh. Sesshoumaru was persistent and stubborn like his half-brother; she would have to be more forthcoming. "I'm a little near sighted. Normally, I wear contacts, but…"

"What is near sight?" asked Rin sweetly, jumping into the conversation. In awe of Kagome ever since the priestess had tried to rescue her from Naraku's kidnapping plot, the young girl smiled and moved closer to the priestess, no longer trying to coax Shippo out of the sleeping bag. Kagome was pretty and smart. She seemed like Sesshoumaru-sama, always informing others of new and unknown things, like poisonous lakes or magical spells. Attempting to demonstrate her listening skills and the knowledge she had gleaned from living with a powerful demon, Rin continued, "Is it the opposite of far sight, like what the eagles have?"

"Er… yes," Kagome replied. Never before had she exchanged so many words with the little girl. The fluffy-haired child looked too friendly to be a human that actually traveled with a demon-lord, day in and day out. Somehow the girl maintained her spunk, even when faced with a silent wall of resistance like Sesshoumaru.

"Are you a turtle then?" the girl asked next.

"Turtle?" said Kagome, confused by what turtles and eagles had to do with glasses and sight. Maybe turtles did not see very well. Only a six-year old could make that connection though, such mental gymnastics were beyond the priestess's ability.

Sensing this explanation might take a while, Kagome sat down on the sleeping bag and tucked her ankles below her legs. Shippo was pretending to be invisible and refused to emerge. The rather obvious lump he made in the padding gave him away, but Kagome couldn't really blame him for hiding. After all, she felt traumatized upon waking up to such a scary sight, but because Sesshoumaru had shown no signs of aggression so far, she began to breathe more easily.

Come to think of it, he usually only attacked his half-brother. His actions yesterday were out of keeping with his customary, controlled demeanor. Thoughts swirled quickly through Kagome's head, as she mulled over this new problem. Why would he have stolen her glasses, attacked his half-brother, thrown her into the air, and finally kidnapped her while she slept? There had to be a line of logic tying all these actions together.

In any case, she would speak carefully – she had caught the attention of an inquisitive child, and only a fool would believe Sesshoumaru wasn't listening to every word she told this girl. "The… um… glasses," she began, using only Japanese words this time, "They bend light. A little bit like a telescope?"

Wishing she could remember more scientific history, and whether the Japanese had invented telescopes by this point in time, she glanced warily at the dog-demon, trying to gauge his expression. Of course, it was an exercise in futility. For one thing, everyone knew Sesshoumaru was a master of the poker-face, and for another, he was still holding her glasses. The world remained slightly blurry and off-kilter.

"A telescope?" Rin inquired, eager to learn this new word.

Sesshoumaru frowned. "Woman, these are not a telescope." Clearly, she didn't believe she was lying. Yet it seemed improbable that a mere human, who traveled with such a rag-tag group, would know anything of devices used occasionally in battles or by war-lords. The only reason Sesshoumaru recognized the word was because of his father's interest in all things new and 'progressive' from every part of the globe. These twin eye-pieces in their thin black frame were far more advanced than any glass bauble wrapped in thick, tanned hide. In fact, they didn't seem to be made from regular glass at all, despite what the priestess claimed.

What she could not make out from his expression, Kagome caught in his forbidding tone of voice. Squirming uneasily under the weight of his glare, she turned the tables. "And why do you have something that belongs to me, Sesshoumaru?" she inquired insolently, "I had not taken you for a thief in the night… or should I say hot springs?"

Her small trick to embarrass him into returning her property worked. The black frames landed in front of her, softly cushioned by the grass, and Kagome snatched the precious item off the ground. Next, she deliberated whether to put them on. Since she had already explained the glasses were meant to help her see, she decided it would not look too suspicious to wear them. At a snail's pace, she unfolded the arms and slid the glasses over her nose.

It was embarrassing, the way Rin and Sesshoumaru followed her every move. She wondered how different she must look to people in the feudal era. Even her modern clothes and her big yellow backpack did not make her feel as strange as her glasses – ingrained memory and emotion perhaps, from younger years when everyone mocked her for having 'four-eyes' and being different. The demon-lord's close and careful observation gave the feeling of being a bug under a microscope, and she felt her cheeks grow warm once again.

As if she had just been shown a parlor-trick, Rin clapped her hands. "Your eyes are smaller now!" cried the girl excitedly.

"Er… no, it just looks that way," mumbled Kagome. The girl was very perceptive, to take in such minor details, but all Kagome could grasp was that people were staring at her. She felt self-conscious.

Sesshoumaru scrutinized the priestess, wondering how such a frail human could be so brave one second and so timid the next. The woman never ceased to amaze him. Furthermore, how dare she imply that he was some kind of a lecherous human! Although she had not said it outright, her insult had been quite clear, and rather remarkably laced with subtle meaning. She had successfully changed the subject, accused him of being a thief, and implied his intentions toward her were less than pure, all in one breath. It was dizzying. The worst part, of course, was that she was right in a sense. He had stolen the eye-piece from her, and since he could not deny her spoken words, how was he to deny her unspoken allegation? Biting back a resentful growl, he fixed his calculating, tawny eyes on her figure and silently dared her to say anything like that again. Next time, he vowed, he would not be so lenient.

The priestess was not looking at him, and his glare was lost on her petite form. Still wrapped in a bout of sudden shyness, she was gazing at the ground near his feet. Despite the fact that he had attacked her one day ago, he did not sense any immediate alarm or anger from her. Instead she only seemed nervous – even more puzzling. It was not because she failed to take him for a threat. Just yesterday, she had brandished a weapon against him, and moments ago his dog-like nose had picked up the scent of her fear. But as soon as he had returned the twin eye-piece to her, fright had morphed into awkward embarrassment. The 'glasses' were so powerful that he could no longer intimidate her. If he hurt her, then would she fear him again?

He cringed at that thought, dismissing the idea. One of the first lessons Father taught was not to harm helpless bystanders or innocent children. True, the priestess had always annoyed him, and he had fought against her companions many times, but he had never tried to gravely injure her. Well, at least not after Tessaiga had saved her life, in Father's gravesite. More importantly, she was weaponless at the moment. Attacking such a foe would be dishonorable.

Suddenly, he wondered if her lack of fear meant something else entirely. It might be a form of trust, as if instinctually she knew he was not going to harm her. The idea pleased him, oddly enough. He had seen on previous occasions how readily she forgave friends and even enemies, and how, once someone was on her good side, she stood by them no matter what the cost. Although she was not physically strong or spiritually powerful, she had ample amounts of courage. It often exasperated him, the way she stepped into fights that did not concern her, but it certainly proved she was brave. What would it be like, he wondered then, to call her a friend?

Quickly forcing the strange, fanciful impulse out of his mind, Sesshoumaru snorted softly. That would never happen. This was Inuyasha's woman, and while he might not know why the pup was waiting, he knew his half-brother intended to claim the priestess one day. The couple's every behavior spoke of it, from the way he protected her in battle to the way she followed him around and cooked his food; they were as good as married. Sesshoumaru would never, in a million years, befriend one of his half-brother's entourage. Neither sibling would ever allow it.

Unfortunately, none of this speculation brought him closer to his original goal. He had to learn more about the priestess, and whether she continued to present a threat with her magical eye-piece. The crucial subject was how these mysterious glasses were tied to her incredible performance yesterday as an archer. "For what purpose did you create such an item?" pressed Sesshoumaru, attempting to get back on track. "Surely it is unwise, to attach such worth to an item easily lost or broken."

Behind the clear surface of the glasses, he could see the priestess's eyes widen as her mouth fell open. The item did make her eyes seem smaller. The closest comparison he could come up with was peering through the backside of a magnifying glass – the front half made writing look larger, while the back half made letters seem to shrink. One of the noblemen had owned a heavily decorated, foreign lens like this, and a young Sesshoumaru had played with it while visiting with his father. But the priestess's eye-piece was far more unusual than a magnifying glass.

Kagome was temporarily stunned. A demon had just chastised her for being careless. 'Easily lost or broken' indeed! She had not forgotten who 'lost' the glasses on her behalf (by stealing them)! And what on Earth was he talking about? It sounded almost like he cared whether she was defenseless or not. "I didn't make them," she replied weakly, realizing she was going to have to field further questions. "I bought them in my village."

"Where is your village?" chirped Rin, accidentally forming a brilliant tag-team with her protector. "May I visit it too?"

"It's far away," Kagome hedged, "Farther than you can walk. You can visit me in Kaede's village though, near the forest where Inuyasha was sealed." The words tumbled out of her quickly, betraying her unease with the entire situation, and her gaze flicked apprehensively toward the dog-demon across the clearing.

Sesshoumaru could detect her half-truth, and it piqued his interest yet again. It made some sense to think she was from a distant land, because her clothing and behavior had always been abnormal, but her Japanese was too good for an outsider. He had to know more. "If the place is so distant," he inquired almost idly, poking holes in her story. "How did you come to be here?"

"Um… because you kidnapped me?" the priestess squeaked, purposefully misunderstanding him. "Speaking of which, I really must be going – Inuyasha will be looking for me, and I know how much you two hate running in to each other, so it would be best if…"

A rumbling growl cut off her protest. Glasses on this time, she could see his icy glare with precision, and she shuddered. "You will leave when this Sesshoumaru allows it," her captor stated flatly, formally, "And not before."

Finally, the gravity of the situation settled in to her unwilling mind. She had been taken prisoner, for reasons unknown, by the most lethal demon she had ever met, and he was showing an unhealthy interest in her activities and origins. For once, it wasn't about Inuyasha – the fight yesterday had been about her. Sesshoumaru had discovered her glasses and suspected she was not all that she seemed. Ironically, she had spent years trying to stand out, wearing a school uniform to force people not to equate her with Kikyou, and now all she wanted was to sink down, blend into the background, and become as utterly unnoticeable as the rest of the human populace in Sesshoumaru's opinion.

Of course, it was too late for that.