Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.
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"Ow!" Kagome yelped again after another failed attempt at moving. She bit her lip as tears came to her eyes. Her left leg burned. "Ouch, ouch, ouch!"
Gently, she tried to use her hands once again to free the leg caught in the thorny bramble. And once again only succeeded in cutting up her hands and arms even more. This was getting ridiculous.
Taking a steeling breath, Kagome grit her teeth and clenched her eyes shut in preparation for her last resort.
A strangled cry left her lips as she forcefully tore her leg from the bush and fell to the ground. Breath unsteady, hands shaking, and unnoticed tears falling, Kagome lay on the forest floor for a moment. She knew none of the cuts were too deep, but there were a lot of them and they hurt.
She lifted one arm, then the other, examining the cuts and scrapes there before pushing herself into a sitting position and pulling her clothes aside to see the real damage. Her right leg didn't look too bad, just a few trickles of blood here and there, but her left leg . . . "Ow," she whimpered again at the sight. Countless pricks, scratches, and gashes covered her leg, each one leaving another trail of blood. She only hoped it looked - and felt - worse than it actually was.
Kagome began the process of standing, bending her right leg and pushing herself up as she eyed a tree not five feet away, only to drop back down at the pain shooting through her left leg as her muscles protested her movement. Okay, bad idea. Using her three working appendages as leverage, Kagome slowly scooted over to the tree's base. Exhausted, she relaxed against the trunk, eyes closed.
She needed to clean her leg. She needed to get back to the village. She needed pain medication that wouldn't be invented for another few hundred years.
Ugh, she thought, and Inuyasha will never let me live this down; he hates it when I go into the forest alone.
Fifteen minutes of arguing with herself over the best way to get back to the village later, Kagome heard a rustling nearby. Currently defenseless and left with no way to hide, she braced herself as telltale footsteps came closer.
"Miko."
She heard Sesshoumau's voice before she saw him. Surprised and delighted with her luck, Kagome struggled to sit up straighter.
"Sesshoumaru!"
As he came into view, she noticed a brief flash of concern in his eyes before his stoic mask came back into place.
"Sesshoumaru, um, well, you see . . ." Kagome sighed at her nervous stuttering and hopefully blurted out, "Can you help me?"
To her surprise, he almost immediately answered in his baritone voice.
"Yes."
"Oh," she paused, at a loss for words again, "Well, that's good." Silence ensued as he waited for her and she couldn't figure out what to say next. Oh, my, this is awkward! Kagome looked down, trying to decide how to proceed. She felt like she knew Sesshoumaru so much better after all their talks in the forest, but this was much different. This was a situation they had to deal with, and now that he was helping her, they were likely stuck together until she got back to the village; this wasn't just a conversation he could walk away from. Well, technically he could walk away . . . but I doubt he will.
She glanced up and watched as Sesshoumaru examined her like she was a sick horse.
"It looks worse than it is?" she feebily tried to break the silence.
"Hn."
She hoped that was a "yes," but she wasn't sure. Sesshoumaru moved closer and knelt down beside her, looking at her exposed leg. Kagome shifted uncomfortably. She could count how many times she had been this close to the taiyoukai, and it wasn't many. And none of those times included him contemplating her exposed, bleeding leg for an extended period of time. In fact, in light of this mating thing she had on her mind constantly these days, she had planned on his first good look at her legs to be under more pleasurable circumstances than this.
"You cannot walk?"
"Huh?" Kagome was broken out of her thoughts, "Oh, I think I can walk, just not very well. I couldn't really stand up all the way to test it earlier."
He gave her a short nod.
"So, I guess we could-" Kagome cut herself off with a surprised squeak as she felt Sesshoumaru's arms under her legs and behind her back. Kagome awkwardly grasped his shoulder armor to steady herself and bit her lip at the pain in her left leg.
I am in Sesshoumaru's arms. She had definitely never been this close to the taiyoukai. She cringed as she saw smears of blood from her arms already dotting his pristine clothing in a poor imitation of his red flowers. Her leg was likely doing something similar.
"But, Sesshoumaru," she protested, "I'm getting blood all over you."
He looked down at her with eyebrow raised, "How else do you intend to return to the village?"
"Well . . . I could try to walk and you could, um, help me?"
Sesshoumaru shook his head. "This is more efficient."
Efficient? Not exactly the word I was thinking.
Huffing, Kagome replied, "As long as you know that your 'efficient' way results in blood stains."
"Hn."
The two continued through the forest, their passage marked by the rustling of bushes and Kagome's occasional badly-muffled whimper when her leg was jostled.
"Miko, how did this happen?"
Surprised at the sudden question, Kagome glanced up to see Sesshoumaru's eyes on her. Blushing, she averted her eyes and mumbled.
"Miko?" Kagome could hear the demand that she speak clearly in the word.
"There was a . . . bee. I wasn't paying attention."
"You were running from a bee?"
Somehow when he said it, it sounded so much worse. But the bee had sounded angry, and she had not been inclined to be stung. Although stumbling into a thorny bush while trying to avoid a bee sting did sound fairly pitiful.
"Yes," she meekly replied.
She felt more than heard him sigh. "Miko, you must be more careful." Kagome could tell he was thinking of her role in battles they had fought together as well. At least those times she had a better excuse for being injured.
"Sorry." She felt like a chastised child.
The journey back to the village was longer than Kagome had anticipated and the sting of her injuries faded some. They talked occasionally, and Kagome eventually readjusted her position after Sesshoumaru commanded, "Miko, relax," and looped her arms around his neck after a moment's internal debate of whether she should put her arm over his hair or under it (underneath won).
The sky grew dusky and Kagome had a sneaking suspicion that, as she wasn't in dire need of medical attention, Sesshoumaru was taking the long way back. Smiling to herself, she relaxed further in his arms, resting her head against his chest. She couldn't say she minded.
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A/N: Whew! Another chapter done. Let me just say that all of you wonderful people alerting, favoriting, and reviewing are amazing! I'm so glad I can share this story with you all - and that you're enjoying it! Thanks for all your encouraging and inquisitive reviews; sorry to those I couldn't reply to, but I appreciate your reviews as well!
That said, please continue to review! :)
