The sun was getting close to setting and it seemed like it was taking
Kagome forever to get to the hut. Her breath was coming out in short puffs
and her chest was heaving as a stinging pain worked its way through her
lungs. She hopped over rocks, skidded down hills, climbed over fallen
trees and wadded through small creeks. She just had to get there before
Naraku did. She came to a rather large hill and ran up its dirt path. It
dipped down slowly into a small village. Kagome was running and running as
fast as she could through that village. Willing her legs to go faster and
not to give in. Forcing her lungs to keep breathing in fresh oxygen that
burned her insides. Her throat was dry and she was sweating very much. It
dripped down the sides of her face and down her back. She held the vile
close to her body, taking as well care of it as she could while in her
current state. Her eyes were becoming blurry and she felt lightheaded, it
was getting hard to run straight and she could not see right. After many
memorized twists and turns in the village she now knew by heart, she made
it to the hut. She stopped and the burning increased tenfold. She knew you
should never just suddenly stop after a long run, it is one of the worst
things you can ever do to your body to just stop it like that. He body
ached for her to keep movement, to stop the pain, but she had to get the
antidote to Lord Sesshomaru. Looking around, she did not spot Naraku.
Figuring that time was of the essence, she burst into the hut and crumpled
down next to Lord Sesshomaru. She slowly picked his head up and placed it
in her lap. She slid to one side and cradled him like a small child. His
head and neck, resting against her arm, half of his torso in her lap. She
slowly lifted Lord Sesshomaru in a sort of sitting angle and popped open
the bottle with her teeth. She spit the cork out of her mouth with disgust
and it rolled out onto the wooden floor. It slowly came to a stop at the
end of Lord Sesshomaru's feet. There, the cork bubbled and fizzed like acid
and it slowly disintegrated away. No one noticed as Kagome continued to
dawdle on Lord Sesshomaru.
She slowly eased his mouth open and put the rim
of the vile to his lips. Kagome made sure he drank every last drop and
when he did, she threw the bottle on the ground. It smashed into many tiny
pieces. They all bubbled, fizzed and slowly dissolved into the wood.
Kagome frantically looked out the window and saw that the sun was giant
and red as it slowly moved passed the trees. Did she make it? Was she too
late? What if there was one last drop he didn't drink? Was Naraku just
tricking them?
Kagome shut her eyes as tight as she could. She felt like her breath was
being sucked right out of her. She hunched over and continued to dip lower
and lower until her back hurt too much to go on. Her hair hung over the
sides of her face and no one could see it if they were peering through the
window. Kagome was biting her lip almost as hard as she could and felt her
teeth dig into it, but they were blocking the blood from seeping out. A
very small sound escaped from Kagome. It sounded like a Kumf, and her body
jerked from it. She made a long whine noise, it was very high pitched but
it was very quiet and soft. After that, tears started to pour from her
closed eyes and they glistened in the air as they fell from her chin,
before they landed in little plits and ploots on Lord Sesshomaru.
"Please don't leave me." Her voice was cracked and it was a small meek
whisper. It had desperation and loneliness seeping from every word. Lord
Sesshomaru's eyes started to shift under his eyelids as he slipped back
into consciousness.
"Please…Please……………;………please." Every uttered plea was filled with
such emotion and backed up feelings that it held thick in the room.
Kagome's eyes remained shut tight again, not noticing Lord Sesshomaru was
waking up. He finally opened his eyes and saw Kagome crying over top of
him.
She was so unhappy, so utterly dark and entrapped in her own void that it
radiated from her. Even her tears appeared to be filled with the darkness
and sorrow that had overtaken her.
One of those said tears, dripped down onto Lord Sesshomaru's lips. His
tongue darted out and tasted the soft droplet. It was as though he had
experienced sadness for the first time over and over again. Like his whole
world was coming to an end and then he was reborn again and again to live
the live of Misery and woe. Pain and suffering. In this darkness, there
was no light. Lord Sesshomaru stirred in Kagome's lap and immediately
Kagome's sobs ceased. Her eyes shot open and she peered down at Lord
Sesshomaru.
"Yo-you're alive! I can't believe it! Thank the gods, they let me keep my
angel!" She swooped down and pulled Lord Sesshomaru in for a hug and he
pushed her off.
"Do not touch me Human. Though you may have saved me from my death, who is it to say that I wanted to sustain it? Who is it to say that I want to
wonder around on this miserable earth and never find purpose? Why do you
insist on keeping me in this hell?"
"Because you are my Angel. My Angel stuck in hell. I keep you here bound
in chains and I clip your wings so you cannot get away from me." Lord
Sesshomaru contemplated this statement. He always thought that the woman
was a bit strange, but he never thought that she was a bit wrong in the
head. Maybe he should reconsider his past decisions?
"An Angel? I assure you that I am no Angel. I am Lord Sesshomaru,
Taiyoukai of the Western Lands. I am the Killing Perfection. The
Aristocratic Assassin. I am in no way and Angel and I refuse to let you go
on speaking of me in such a manner. You will cease talking about me in
that way or I will be forced to remove your human tongue from your throat
and feed it to my dragon. However...you did save this Sesshomaru's life and
for that I am on your debt. If you ever need my assistance you may call
Upon my person and I will see to it that the matter is handled." Lord
Sesshomaru started to get up but he suddenly realized that he had no
clothing on, only this towel. This angered him deeply.
"Human. What is it that you have done to my attire that has caused it to
need to be removed from this Sesshomaru?" Kagome's eyes shot to the ground
and a blush crept across her cheeks beautifully.
"We-well ya see… eh heh… well your fever was getting bad and you were all
wet. I wanted to cool you down and make you dry so you wouldn't catch
cold." Lord Sesshomaru looked quite angry then after her last statement;
he looked quite disappointed in Kagome. Though he never moved his face, it
was in his eyes.
" I thought that you would have figured it out that I do not get colds. I
am a full demon, so I am immune to such petty things. I cannot blame you.
That hanyou probably never told you that about us. He was after all half
demon so he was susceptible to germs and colds and such. Despicable little
pest." Kagome's head hung low and her hair went over her eyes. The only
thing you could see there was dark shadow. Her hands had balled up into
fists and Lord Sesshomaru stood up.
He choose to ignore the young ningen onna who was in obvious pain about
the matter of the half demon. Lord Sesshomaru held the towel up with his
deadly hand. His pale claws with a tint of a light green, sticking out
amongst the dark purple of the towel.
Kagome boiled over in anger and she kicked at Lord Sesshomaru's ankle. He
saw this coming from the moment he mentioned the hanyou and he easily
dodged it. As he jumped, his mind went on the alert, ready to dodge the
next attack. He forgot that he was holding the towel and it fluttered to
the ground. Kagome immediately forgot all of her anger and her eyes went
wide. Lord Sesshomaru saw this and landed back on the ground. He stood
tall and proud. He could feel her eyes all over his body and secretly he
was in disgust. How dare this ningen look upon his body in this form
without his permission?
Well…I was the one who let loose the towel. She is not to blame but
still. She is not worthy to look at me as thus.' Lord Sesshomaru stood
tall and proud as he came to a final decision.
Let her look, she will envy me no doubt. All humans always want what they
can't have, and she isn't any different.' After a few moments of Kagome
gaping, she finally caught herself and blushed deeply.
She cast her eyes down and desperately looked for his towel. She spotted
it near the door and she went over to it. As she was about to grasp it, it
slipped out from her fingers and started to dangle above her head. She saw
two legs that dawned a dark blue hakanma. Kagome shivered involuntarily
and swallowed hard and started to look up. Her eyes traveled up the long
legs and up the waist. It past a dark blue haori with what appeared to be
a sort of seeds or leaf patterning around the article of clothing. Brought
over the haori was a dark purple vest that seemed more for style than for
comfort. She started to see hair as black as ink and it riveted down broad
shoulders and across a hard chest that just begged to be touched and
caressed.
Of coarse the towel was still dangling near Kagome's head but in her
admiration of Naraku, she completely forgot about it, lost in her own
thoughts. As she peered into his molten gaze, he smiled.
"My pet. As much as I enjoy you admiring my body, I would much rather be
on the way back to the castle." He said seductively. Kagome blinked and
starred at him dumbfounded. She didn't remember the agreement for quite
some time. An awkward silence passed through the hut and Kagome looked
around nervously. Lord Sesshomaru stood still, the tip of his tail
swishing back and forth in a sort of annoyed way. Naraku raised his
eyebrow at Kagome.
How could she be so forgetful? Maybe in her grief for when she thought
Sesshomaru was dead, it slipped her mind.'
"Surely you remember the agreement?" It finally hit Kagome like a ton of
bricks and she slumped considerably. Her shoulders hung low and her
posture was obviously that of regret and despair.
Naraku held out the hand that wasn't holding the towel and offered it to
Kagome. She didn't even look up at it as she put her hand in his. His
strong hand wrapped around hers as he closed it around the delicate
appendage. His claws giving him a dangerous appearance against her frail
human hand. Kagome slowly reached up and plucked the towel from Naraku's
other hand and turned to Lord Sesshomaru.
She started to tug at her hand and Naraku took this signal as her wanting
to go to Lord Sesshomaru. He pondered on the subject for a moment then saw
no harm to it; he allowed her to go to him. After all, Lord Sesshomaru did
need to desperately cover himself. Naraku released Kagome and watched as
she dejectedly made her way over to Lord Sesshomaru.
All this time, Lord Sesshomaru watched the scene fold out in front of him,
Interestingly. He watched as the female crept toward him, towel in hand,
and saw her stand before him. She couldn't even look him in the face. She
slowly lifted her arm and held the towel up to him. He ignored it and
starred down at her.
"What agreement is he talking about?"
"Ata. Numuh. Puh." She couldn't form words. Her mind was a total mess and
she couldn't even feel the towel she was holding. Her head still hung low
and she repeatedly tried to form words in her head to speak, but as hard
as she tried, all that came out was gibberish.
"Speak human. I am sure you wish not to waste my time, the consequences
could be dire." She finally looked up at Lord Sesshomaru. Her eyes were a
dusty gray. There were tear streaks down her face. Her lips were no longer
their pink lemonade color as they once were. They now held a sort of pale
blue, like she was cold, it was barely noticeable and Lord Sesshomaru
would not have seen it if it hadn't been for the small tremble on them as
she breathed in an out.
"I'm setting my angel free." Lord Sesshomaru grew angry at her avoidance
of his question. Kagome started to turn and walk to Naraku. Her head hung
low again and she seemed like a ghost that stole a body, just drifting
along in never ending torment and pain. She suddenly stopped and glanced
back at Lord Sesshomaru. She lightly tossed the towel over to him and it
landed at his feet.
"Human…." Kagome continued to slowly make her way towards Naraku. He
watched her with curious eyes. Kagome never ceased to amaze him and the
fact that she called Lord Sesshomaru her angel, stroked Naraku's curiosity
even further.
She made it right up to where Naraku was standing and he grabbed Kagome's
upper arm to keep a hold on her. Kagome blinked slowly and as she did, she
took one more look back at Lord Sesshomaru. She engraved his image into
her memory and then Naraku started to form his miasma cloud.
"Farewell…Lord Sesshomaru." Naraku said in a deep voice and then Kagome
and him were off. Naraku held Kagome around the waist and she tried as
hard as she could to keep off of him but still keep a firm stand on the
miasma.
Kagome stared to have a coughing fit as she took a breath filled with the
toxic substance. Naraku glanced down at Kagome, his face cold yet annoyed.
It was obviously because he was broken out of his deep thoughts by some
loudly coughing human.
Naraku lifted Kagome up, bridal style and took to hopping through the
trees instead of using Miasma. The branches shook and the leaves rustled
every time Naraku landed and jumped off. Animals scurried away and there
seemed to be a darkness that hung around wherever Naraku went.
The sun had now long since set and Naraku's crimson eyes glowed seductively
in the dark. Kagome looked around her, the trees whisked by and she could
no longer see into the darkness. She looked desperately around for
something to focus on, she was starting to feel dizzy and lightheaded.
Left? Nothing but blackness. Rig- whoa! I shouldn't turn my head that
fast. Ugh… just a bunch of stupid forest. Oh Kami I'm feeling so dizzy… I
need to find something t- Kagome's thoughts were cut short as she gazed
into Naraku's eyes. Naraku was more focused on getting to the castle and
didn't notice Kagome's stare.
Those eyes…' Her eyes shifted back and forth as she tried to stare into
both his eyes at the same time. Kagome's breath started to even out and her
eyes started to feel heavy. She had the undeniable urge to feel
comfortable as she slept, and the position she was in was definitely not
comfortable. She shifted slightly and found that to be no use, she started
to shuffle and move into almost every position but nothing seemed to work.
Getting frustrated she started to sit up but before she did, she
remembered not to go too far up or she might knock heads with Naraku.
And falling from this high up might not be so good.'
She slowly eased her way into a sort of sitting position. As she did so,
she starred into Naraku's eyes and studied his facial features. He appeared
to be in deep concentration and it seemed that he didn't even notice that
Kagome was moving and shifting around.
Kagome took this opportunity and sat up into a ccomfortable position. She
leaned against Naraku's shoulder and tried to relax as much as possible.
She felt the presence of a yawn coming on and she stretched her arms out.
As she did this, she lost what little balance she had and started to fall
out of Naraku's arms. Kagome made a loud eep!' noise and immediately
grabbed for the closest thing to support and stabilize her. The closest
thing just happened to be Naraku, more precisely, his neck. She reached
out and put one arm around his neck, and the other, sort of wrapped around
his upper arm. So in a way it looked sort of like an awkward embrace. This
seemed to grab Naraku's attention and his eyes darted directly to Kagome.
He turned his head and grinned at her.
"Why…Kagome. If all you wanted was an embrace, I would have been glad to
comply." Kagome just replied by blushing a deep red and turning her head
so Naraku could not see it. Ah but he did, and all too clearly.
He smirked and turned his attention back to where he was going. He shifted
his arms so Kagome could be more comfortable. Kagome felt him shift his
arms and she complied by shifting with him. She turned on her side and
wrapped her arms around Naraku's torso comfortably. She rested her head
against his chest and could hear his hanyou heartbeat. Naraku was now
cradling Kagome like a pup and couldn't help feel arrogant that he was
able to make Kagome bend to his wishes just by a simple thing like moving
his arms.
Oh yes, she would be an easy win over. Kagomes breathing evened out and
her heartbeat slowed. Her eyelids felt heavy and they started to droop.
No. I can't. Not with…Naraku….' With those last thoughts she fell into a
deep sleep. One her body desperately needed to repair itself physically,
and mentally. Naraku grinned to himself as he felt her fall asleep in his
arms.
"Soon enough Kagome. Soon enough." Naraku looked forward and he could see
the very tip of his castle. Since Kagome was asleep, he took to using his
miasma and made it to the gates in no time.
We're home.'