the mermaid | by kay wiz | GENTLEMAN
"A man said to the universe:
'Sir, I exist!'
'However,' replied the universe
'The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation.'"
— Stephen Crane —
It had been pure and utter torture for the first few hours, the following night. Kagome (in the form of Hanabi) and Sesshoumaru (who was even more silent than usual) had been in a rather awkward state, despite the fact that the real Kagome had patched things up with the taiyoukai just hours earlier. She hadn't had a clue that the night after her "fight" with Sesshoumaru would be tense, so tense that they could barely breathe, but there they were, practically suffocating on the thick air.
Of course, the awkward moments had taken place much earlier. It was now the middle of the night, somewhere around three or four in the morning, just under two hours before Kagome would transform back into her human body, and everything was flowing nicely again, conversation-wise.
It wasn't hard to forget, though, the way Sesshoumaru had refused to meet her eyes, although his attitude remained as cold and stoic as always. She remembered how she had again hidden behind the boulder in the center of the lake, despite the fact that she no longer had the scars from his slashes against her neck. She had had nothing to hide from him this time around, aside from the usual identity thing (but really, that was barely worth mentioning).
But that was to be put aside for now. Although it took hours to resolve and move on from the tense conversation, she and Sesshoumaru had eventually shifted into a comfortable atmosphere once again. Kagome – or Hanabi, for that matter – did not apologize to Sesshoumaru for her rudeness the night prior, and Sesshoumaru did not apologize or even bring up the issue of "the miko girl" again. There was no need to do so. They understood each other's silence, and not a word on the matter was said.
Now Kagome was resting her head atop her folded arms, her chin tickled by the grass on the top of the plateau. She snuggled her nose into the backsides of her elbows, making a small humming noise and resting her eyes shut. A significant annoyance of transforming every night was the fact that she was sleep deprived. She only hoped she wouldn't be cranky the next morning.
"What is it?" she murmured softly. Even with her eyes closed, she could sense Sesshoumaru watching her from his sitting position beside her.
He didn't respond very quickly, but she didn't expect him to in the first place. He was a rather strange demon, she inwardly snickered, because he talked so little. "It's nothing."
"You're sure about that?" she smiled softly into her arms. A few seconds afterwards, she opened her eyes slowly, looking up at him and feeling rather small because of the height difference. "Something on your mind?"
He shook his head minutely. If she hadn't known better, she would've guessed he hadn't moved in the slightest. "Not at all," he assured her.
"Well," she hesitated, "only if you're sure." She rolled her eyes a bit before closing them again. Maybe it was just a fluke, that he had been so talkative the previous nights. It was harder to get him to open up tonight, although all the awkwardness had gone away. "Hey," she sighed after a moment's pause, "tell me about yourself." He threw her an emotionless look, but his lack of an answer urged her to continue. "C'mon, you can't be that bad...can you?"
He turned his head away to look out at the black, inky depths of the lake. "You already know everything about me, so what left is there to say?" She got the hint. He was referring to the fact that she – as Hanabi – seemed to know all his opinions towards those he had encountered (more specifically, his wards, Inuyasha, and so on). Naturally, he didn't know she really knew nothing about him at all, except for the things she had witnessed herself as a human. He probably thought she was some sort of psychic or something.
"Well," she sighed, "there's got to be something."
He just looked at her, though she couldn't actually see him doing so, with her eyes shut. "Tell me about yourself," he said forcefully, albeit quietly. "I do not believe I know anything about you."
"Hn," she muttered. "I wouldn't know what to say."
"You understand my predicament, then."
She chuckled. "Not at all." She opened her eyes again, staring straight in front of her in thought. "How about this: I'll tell you something about me, but only if you'll tell me something about you when I'm finished. Deal?" He seemed to think about it for a moment, but he eventually nodded his head. "Alright, then. What would you like to know?"
Sesshoumaru tossed his brilliant silver hair over his shoulder in a swift, silent motion. His golden eyes observed the water, taking his time to think something up. "Your family," he said finally.
Kagome lifted her head in surprise. She didn't expect him to ask a question that would be so sensitive to her, but he couldn't have known how it would affect her. She smiled softly, aware that she should be holding up her end of the agreement. Her only concerns were letting out too much information. If she didn't shut up early enough, he could find out who she really was, and that wouldn't be very pretty.
"Well, okay," she sighed loudly, trying to seem as casual and immune to his question as possible. "But forgive me if I don't go into too much detail. I don't think I'm very good at storytelling."
He just looked at her from the corner of his eyes, but she assumed he understood.
"Right, well… Let's see, where should I start?"
Sesshoumaru spoke up finally, and it was then that Kagome remembered he had eavesdropped on her and Nayida's conversation that first night – no, it was the second, she recalled, considering he hadn't spoken to her the first night he was really there. He must've remembered the bitter way she spoke about that man.
"Your father," he said smoothly. "Start with your father."
"Oh…" she hesitated. "Yeah, alright." She took a deep breath, clearing her throat a bit before beginning:
"Well, Father works for the king of the entire clan. He's the head captain. You probably didn't know, but merfolk don't really get along with sirens and selkies and such, so sometimes there are fights. Nothing serious though." She paused, realizing Sesshoumaru probably lost her by that point. "Uh, never mind. Well, uh, our clan. All of us are actually part of the same family, but there are so many inner-branches that we're pretty distant relatives, so there are a lot of intermarriages. Nayida's married to her third cousin, did you know?" Stupid, stupid! she told herself. Of course he didn't know. And he probably doesn't care, either.
"Sorry," she shook her head. "I've gone on a tangent again. Back to my father, then?" She watched as Sesshoumaru hesitated – although she barely noticed it – and she did not continue until he had eventually agreed.
"I know this might sound incredibly rude, and this is definitely out of place, but…" She paused, unsure if she should insult her father in the presence of a taiyoukai, but she gave in to the temptation. "I really, really can't stand that bastard!"
She was sure Sesshoumaru was staring at her now. It wasn't everyday one heard a mermaid call her powerful father anything remotely degrading, let alone in terminology like that. Kagome was unfazed, not regretting her words, and her eyes narrowed at the very thought of him.
"He can't stand me either, though," she continued. "We don't hate each other, but we definitely don't like each other. We have a…complicated sort of relationship." Slow down, Kagome, you don't want to give too much away.
She shook her head, pushing her arms off the ledge of the cliff and simply floating in the water instead. She refused to meet Sesshoumaru's eyes. "The only reason my dad pays any attention to me at all is because I remind him of my mom."
She stopped, and Sesshoumaru stared at her form in the lake water. There was a moment of pause, until he spoke for the first time in a while. "Your mother?"
She nodded and made a face. "She and Dad loved each other very much, but then she had to leave and they couldn't see each other anymore." She spoke without pausing, making her words seem as innocent as possible. She didn't want Sesshoumaru asking questions about this particularly uncomfortable piece of the story. If he pressed her for more information, she'd have to tell him about the Bone Eater's Well, the future, her identity. She wasn't about to let that happen.
"It's complicated," she made an excuse, unsure if he had been convinced or not. "Basically, my dad misses my mom. She married another man, who died just a few years after they had a son together. My brother stays with her, and he doesn't know a thing about my dad, except that I have a different one than he does. Dad still loves Momma though, so once he found out about Souta, he got really angry. Ever since then, he's been harder on me than ever before, so for the past ten years, things haven't been going too well.
"Now he practically pretends like I'm Momma, but he knows I'm not, so he gets even more hostile towards me, even though he tries to cover it up by apologizing. Lately, he's been trying to win me over again. It's like he wants us to get close, but I know better than that. He probably wants to make a good impression on me before I have to—"
She stopped abruptly. She was ranting on and on, complaining about the passionate subject that was her father, and she had nearly spoken of her upcoming choice right in the presence of the one youkai she was trying to hide her identity from. How could she be so stupid?
Sesshoumaru looked at her strangely, she noticed. It didn't take a rocket scientist to notice the suddenly tense atmosphere. "What is it?" he drawled handsomely, prying for the first time in the conversation.
"It's nothing," she said quickly, but as long as he didn't ask any more questions, she didn't care whether or not he was convinced. "My relationship with my father is…problematic, but it's not the same for Momma and Souta. Far from it, actually." She didn't notice the strange way Sesshoumaru looked at her just then. The glint in his eyes was that of confusion and unfamiliarity, and she would've commented on it if she had noticed – but she didn't.
"Momma's never mean, even though she scolds sometimes, but that only makes sense, since she's a mother and all." The glint in the taiyoukai's eyes grew hazy, but she didn't notice that either. "Souta's a brat, and he's always messing around, but it's kind of cute, I guess. I couldn't have asked for more of an annoying, perfect younger brother, that's for sure." Now his eyes darkened at her words, the original unfamiliar look settling in. "And then there's Grandpa, and he's insane. He's always telling stories and legends, and it's all very annoying, but I couldn't imagine him any differently."
Kagome smiled, convinced she hadn't given any crucial piece of information away, although she remained as truthful as she could.
"And there you have it," she sighed, finishing up and rubbing the back of her neck a tad nervously. "I told you I'm not much of a storyteller. I've said what you wanted to hear, so if that's all, could we move on?"
Sesshoumaru, she eventually noticed, looked just barely uncomfortable, but she couldn't understand why. She convinced herself she was imagining things. It was true he had shown a lot more emotion than she could even imagine in the past few days, but – except for last night, naturally – he was definitely never uncomfortable. At least, that's what she told herself.
The taiyoukai made a sound in the back of his throat in agreement, blinking at her slowly enough so she could focus on the magenta stripes on his eyelids, matching the ones on his wrists and cheeks. She smiled despite herself, looking down at the bracelet Sesshoumaru had made for her, playing with it absentmindedly.
"Alright, then," she brushed off whatever unsettling feelings she held during her rant on her family. "Let's see, I'm not very creative, I guess, so why don't you tell me about your family too?" Kagome only knew little bits of information about InuTaishou, and even less about Izayoi. As for Sesshoumaru's own mother, she knew absolutely nothing at all.
"I'd rather not say," Sesshoumaru said monotonously, never seeming hesitant or awkward about the question, although he very much was both. Kagome couldn't have known with his façade though, and she could only stare at his unmoving form atop the grass, a bit shocked he refused to answer her.
"Well…" she cleared her throat lightly, "alright, if you insist. Give me a second, then, to think up something good to ask."
"Of course," he watched her closely, making her fish tail fidget under the water. Even though it wasn't too terrible, talking with Sesshoumaru like this, Kagome was still not used to being so civil with Inuyasha's "hated" brother.
She looked away from his piercing golden eyes, feeling as though he would find out exactly who she really was if he kept prying into them. She was paranoid, that was for sure, but she had every right to be. His gaze was so cold but so warm at the same time, but she didn't want to make the mistake of trusting him too much. If she remained as open and forgiving as she was right now, the smart youkai could pinpoint her lies in no time.
She cleared her throat again, staring at the cliff's grassy ledge. In thought about what to ask Sesshoumaru next, she looked up for a brief second, only to find that he was still staring at her. Unnerved at his gaze, she shifted and looked away yet again. What exactly was he trying to pull? Didn't he have anything better to do than stare at her as she thought?
Her eyes widened just a fraction, and she darted her eyes again to him. Now that she thought about it, that was a very good question.
"Alright, I've got one," she said cheerfully, plunging her arms back into the water. "It's such a simple question, I can't believe I didn't think of it earlier." She watched as he raised an eyebrow, the rest of him completely unmoving. "What are your hobbies?"
He lowered his brow, but his face hardened in a look of confusion. "Hobbies?"
"Yeah, you know," she laughed at his expression, "what do you do when you're not, I don't know, trying to kill things?"
"I don't find it particularly amusing to 'kill things', if that's what you're thinking."
"It's not," she rolled her eyes. "I'm just wondering if you ever do anything for fun or just because you like it or something. What do you do in your spare time?" She really wanted to know, now that she thought about it. Sesshoumaru had always been an enigma since she had first seen him, two years prior. If she could just grasp the fact that he was a normal guy, just like everyone else (minus the obvious differences, naturally), she figured the atmosphere would become more comfortable. She needed to know he was just like her, just as human.
Don't be silly, Kagome. He's not human, in case you forgot.
But still, to know that they could have something in common…it excited her.
He seemed to think about her question, but not too deeply. The pause between them lasted only a few seconds, at most, before he looked back at the mermaid in front of him. "Nothing," he said. "I don't have any interests."
Kagome was sure she would fall over, even in the water. "You've got to be kidding me!" she sputtered. "You mean…you don't do anything?"
His brow twitched in slight irritation. "Must you make it sound so pathetic?"
She shook her head, feeling like she was seeing spots in front of her eyes, similar to those times she was forced to get her picture taken the "old-fashioned way" for her school pictures. "It's just…don't you ever do something just to relax? Or just because you have nothing better to do? Don't you ever do something just for yourself, to have fun?"
He exhaled from his nose. "There is much to be done," he said calmly, immune to "Hanabi's" shock. "I do not have time to do anything as such."
Kagome frowned. "Oh c'mon, there's got to be something."
He shook his head at her repetitive assumptions. "And what about you?" he turned the topic back on her. "What do you do 'for fun'?"
She pressed her lips tightly together. "Oh, no you don't!" she accused. "I've already answered my question. I'm not about to answer yours just because you can't seem to think of something good."
She watched as he shut his amused eyes gently, opening them again shortly after to drown his vision within the blue-green color of the lake.
"Then I am afraid that there is nothing I do. Nothing at all."
Jaken chased Rin around the tiny clearing they were stationed in, not at all amused by the girl's flower wreath she stuck onto his head. It was much too small, and he could not get the wretched flowers off. Even with his demonic claws (not to mention the fact that the crown was, indeed, made out of thin, grassy stems), it was virtually impossible to get the thing off.
"You foolish girl!" he cried, waving his staff in the air and tripping over his own feet as he ran after the giggling child.
Sesshoumaru ignored all this, sitting in his usual spot in his usual position, staring out into the same line of trees. He could practically sense Ah-Uhn chuckling to itself – that is, if the heads could indeed do so – at the rather humorous display of the mischievous little girl and the ugly, green kappa. He, however, did not even glance at his wards once.
Ever since just hours before, he had been wondering sporadically to himself. Hanabi's question continued to ring in his ears, and he wasn't sure if he liked that very much.
"What are your hobbies?"
He scoffed at himself. Hobbies? Why would someone as important and regal as he need something as unproductive as a hobby? The only thing he ever did when he didn't have to do anything at all was sit and stare at nothing, like what he was doing now. He didn't think it was much of a hobby though.
"Don't you ever do something just for yourself, to have fun?"
Not likely, he mused. Taiyoukai didn't have fun anyway. What was that mermaid thinking? Perhaps it was easier for her to have a good time than it was for himself. She didn't have to deal with many demons out to kill her or worry about the infamous Shikon no Tama – he truly believed that he was one of the only ones, youkai or human, who didn't much care for the pathetic pink jewel. Surely, he thought, she did not have to worry about problems such as those, and she was therefore allowed to have more "fun" than he.
Still, it bothered him, not having a hobby. It shouldn't have annoyed him, and it shouldn't have been plaguing his mind, but for some reason, it was.
His train of thought stopped abruptly as a rather delectable scent drifted into his nose. He hummed in his throat, catching the familiar smell of green apples coming from the same direction.
It was that miko girl again, he was positive. Her scent intermixed with a few others though, and that was what captured his interest more. He had never smelt anything like that before. There were certain things he recognized, but there were so many other things intertwining with them, they seemed like completely new scents altogether.
His nose twitched at the sensations they caused his taste buds. If he were anyone else, he was certain his mouth would be watering. When was the last time he had eaten anything? And what about Jaken, Rin, and Ah-Uhn? Now that he thought about it, he hoped that Jaken had taken the initiative to feed them all, since he himself forgot.
Jaken and Ah-Uhn seemed to notice the smells as well, although their noses, not being as advanced as Sesshoumaru's, did not receive them as strongly.
"What is that?" Jaken rambled to himself, momentarily forgetting about his pursuit after the human girl. "It smells like…salmon and rice…and beef, too."
"What? What?" Rin asked him cutely, playing with the star-shaped rock around her neck. "I don't smell anything."
"Of course you don't, Rin!" he squawked. "Your human nose couldn't smell any of it unless it was right next to you!"
"I didn't ask you that, Master Jaken!" she fought with him. "I just want to know what it is!"
"And how am I supposed to know that? That smell's got to be coming from miles away–"
"Wait here," Sesshoumaru interrupted calmly, standing from his position without even glancing at his wards.
"Bye, Lord Sesshoumaru!" Rin's emotions made a complete 180, suddenly very cheerful again and waving goodbye.
He ignored her with good intentions, walking away at his calm, steady pace. Whatever it was the miko – Kagome, he remembered, Kagome – was up to, the smells clogging up his nostrils were really very curious.
For the next few moments, his quick speed (although he was walking) brought him to the very same clearing Hanabi resided in, the same clearing where he had briefly met with Kagome for two straight days, not including this one.
And there she was sitting now, on her knees in front of a crackling fire. There was a strange pot of boiling water hanging above the flames, which she was currently checking on, and beside her were many different things: strange paper cups with unusual pictures decorated on them; a large bowl of fresh, moist rice; numerous pairs of thick, wooden chopsticks; another bowl filled with crushed-up pink salmon bits; a jug of water (now nearly empty); a strange sort of material that was see-through and thin; shiny, white plates that didn't look quite usual to him; an umeboshi or two; and a myriad of other things he didn't believe he had ever seen or smelt before.
Emerging from the thick trees of the forest, he watched as the miko looked up and met his eyes. He was surprised when she only looked alarmed, but not frightened or uncomfortable. He had apologized for hurting her just yesterday, but surely that wasn't enough to make her drop all guard around him, was it? Her reaction to his presence was all very strange…
She smiled at him a little hesitantly. It was a tiny smile, the barest lifting of her lips. She immediately looked down again afterwards, shifting her body to the side to work on the rice and other things.
Sesshoumaru stepped closer and closer, eyeing the girl but not coming to the conclusion that she wanted him to leave immediately. She didn't watch him approach her, and even when he came within six or seven meters of her and stopped, she did not run away, but only looked back up at him briefly.
"Miko," he spoke to her from the distance, catching her glare but not regretting calling her what he did, "what are you doing?"
"Cooking," she said bluntly. "Kaede and Inuyasha helped me a lot today, and everyone's busy working right now, so I offered to cook by myself. There's a lot going on in the village though, so I didn't want to take up too much space there."
He thought for a moment about asking why so much was being done in the nearby village this particular day, but he decided against it, deciding the village was full of humans, and they were probably doing something ridiculous and unimportant to him.
The girl looked back down after uncovering the rice bowl, spreading out the strange, thin material over one of the plates. She next lifted the tray with the pickled umeboshi on top, settling it on her lap.
"What are you making, girl?" he furrowed his brow, having known nothing about cooking or any of the steps she was taking.
"Ramen and onigiri," she said, but he only recognized the latter. What on earth was ramen? "I was thinking of doing something different and making gahan or katsu with some dango for dessert, but I don't really have any of the ingredients right now, and it's a little too complicated tonight."
Silence weighed on them as she continued her methods. She took a handful of the rice – Sesshoumaru looked at it distastefully. Should her dirty hands really be grabbing at the food others would be eating soon? – and she carefully molded it into a rounded triangle. She picked up one plum and stuck it into the back, moving the rice around a bit more so the umeboshi wouldn't fall out. Satisfied enough by it, and not wrapping the bottom with a slice of seaweed, she set it down on the plate.
"Want to make one?" her voice stirred Sesshoumaru from his examination.
"No," he said sternly.
"Why not?" she said without hesitation. A look came over her face. "Do you not know how? It's really easy, you know, you just—"
"I understand how to do it, miko," he glared at her. "I simply do not wish to lower myself to make such ridiculous meals."
Her glare intensified the more he spoke, and he found himself rather enjoying the fire in her spirit he awakened in her, although he did not know why. "Well," she said frustratingly, "I'm sorry it isn't as fancy as any of the meals I'm sure you get to eat, but it isn't ridiculous. At least it feeds somebody, doesn't it?"
She didn't give him any time to answer as she turned away and checked the boiling water again. Deeming it ready, she angrily grabbed the paper cups from her side, ripping the tops open and pouring its contents – hard blocks of strange noodles and bits of beef and vegetables – into the pot. The smells of strange spices drifted into Sesshoumaru's nose once again, tickling it with a mouthwatering scent and almost making him sneeze. He wasn't going to admit it aloud, but it did smell rather good.
She stirred the noodles around, breaking them up with chopsticks, before she removed the utensils and set them aside on a paper napkin. She moved back to the onigiri, rolling yet another rice ball with a plum behind it. She put this one on a second plate, each now holding a single rice ball right in the center.
"Are you just going to stand there watching me?" the girl said coldly to him, obviously still irritated. "Isn't it a waste of time to watch such silly human cooking?" He just stared at her, his gaze moving from the ingredients to her hard, chocolate-brown eyes. They weren't much, he thought to himself, compared to Hanabi's brilliant blue ones. But in the back of his mind, his own thoughts disagreed with him, but he didn't pay them any notice.
"Well?" she gave him a look. "You know, you can change your mind. I'll let you make one if you want, even if you don't apologize for your rudeness."
As far as he was concerned, she was the rude one, talking back like that again to the lord of the Western Lands. "No," he said after a bit of a pause. As soon as he said it, he felt a twinge of regret in the pit of his stomach.
Now that he thought about it, he wanted to make a rice ball, if just a little. It wasn't a craving or a need to mold any rice, but he was still reluctant, and he wanted to change his mind and ask the miko (Kagome, he always seemed to forget) to pass the food over to him so he could just try. His pride was in the way, though, and he refused to give in to the infuriating girl his brother was so intent on wooing (although the reason why Inuyasha was so infatuated with the girl was, naturally, beyond him).
"Well, fine," she muttered to herself. "You'd think the guy could just do something and relax, for once."
Sesshoumaru's keen ears caught her words, and he was taken aback.
"It's just…don't you ever do something just to relax?"
Hanabi's words rang through his head yet again. She was right, just as the miko was, though he was not about to admit it. Why couldn't he just lighten up for a second or two? He had no hobbies. At the rate he was going, he would never have any. All he would do for the rest of his life was kill youkai and humans both, and when he wasn't, he would just sit aside and do nothing. Was that really how he wanted to live his immortality? Was he just destined to exist and do nothing special or significant with the life he was given? He helped rid Japan from evil – he did assist in the downfall of Naraku, after all – but was he really going to do nothing but busy himself with serious annoyances like that?
When he broke out of his thoughts, he observed as Kagome (he got it right this time) emptied the salmon into the rice bowl, mixing it up as evenly as she could. Her umeboshi tray was set aside, now empty, beside her familiar big, yellow bag. She paused to stir the soba noodles in its pot, but afterwards, she was immediately set back on forming more onigiri, the seaweed now out and ready to be put to use.
"Just so you are aware," Sesshoumaru started, still not used to Kagome's lack of awkwardness around him, despite the occurrences of the past few days, "my apology towards you yesterday was of no importance whatsoever. You have no reason to act so carefree before me."
She scoffed, a rude and unladylike gesture, he believed. "Yeah, yeah, I know that," she rolled her eyes, setting down her fifth completed rice ball on the first plate. "Forgive me for treating you like a normal person." His eyes narrowed minutely at her sarcasm. "And just so you are aware…" She trailed off, smiling softly down at her work. "It doesn't matter to me anymore, what you think of me. You are not going to stop me from trying to be the most I can be." A determined, motivated look glinted in her eyes, and he picked up on that small feature, amazed and the slightest bit impressed by the strength of her words. "I am not as weak and foolish as you think, Sesshoumaru, so don't you dare judge me." She chuckled just a little before her hands stopped forming the next onigiri for just a second or two.
"I'm really…starting to change. I promise you that."
He did not respond to the last words of her monologue, at least not out loud. She truly was a silly girl, he thought. Did she really take his words two days ago so seriously? She was a weak human, just like all the others. There was nothing special about her whatsoever. She could not change, not in the way she wanted to. It was impossible.
But still…
Just yesterday he had watched her heal her wounds without struggle. Had she always been able to do that? In the past, she had mothered the fox kit, protected Rin, guarded the Shikon no Tama, fought against Naraku and all the others, learned how to use her miko ki just the slightest bit effectively (her archery skills, he had to admit, were rather impressive), and so much more. She had even defied him without a single regret. Maybe she wasn't as weak as he thought.
He nearly shook his head, but stopped himself from looking like an idiot, although the girl was currently working on her twelfth and final rice ball now, and wouldn't notice him.
If her adventurous skills weren't enough, she was still doing more beside them. She could practice leadership, baby-sit, and could read perfectly. Even now, she was cooking. Cooking was not a huge task for a woman, that was for sure, but for her, it seemed to be a mere…a mere pastime for her. She wasn't cooking because it was her duty. She was doing it because she wanted to.
Next to him, he was disgruntled to say, she was much more productive with her time. And she was mortal, too. While he was unsure about where his life was leading him, she seemed to know just how to take her time and live life to the fullest. It didn't exactly glorify him, to his chagrin, being compared to her.
"Kagome!" a male voice called to the miko from the opposite side of the clearing. He emerged from the trees, staff in hand and not looking entirely pleased that the taiyoukai was standing right there.
"Oh, Miroku," she greeted with a smile, her serious tone of voice gone. "What are you doing here?"
The monk looked from her to the silver-haired youkai across the clearing. "I could ask the same about him," he stared with his violet eyes. "Kagome, what is going on?"
"Nothing," she said simply in response, stirring the "ramen" in its pot one last time. "I was just cooking dinner. Sesshoumaru was only watching. Don't worry about it, really." The monk was reluctant to believe her, but, obviously detecting no lies from the miko, he nodded. "Good," the girl continued. "Now, the ramen's done. Help me bring it back?"
He nodded slowly, fidgeting uncharacteristically under Sesshoumaru's scrutinizing stare. "Of course."
"Then here—" She handed strange gloves to him before putting some of her own on, telling him to roll up his sleeves. Still kneeling, she lifted the heavy pot and settled it into the monk's hands, causing him to drop his staff. "It's okay," she said, gesturing to it, "I'll bring that back to camp. Make sure not to touch the pot, it's really hot." She smiled at him again, stepping away.
"You aren't coming, Kagome?" he asked hesitantly, throwing another glance at Sesshoumaru.
She shook her head. "I have to put out the fire first, and I have to clean up after that. Don't worry about me though, I've got everything taken care of."
Sesshoumaru watched as she calmly handled the situation. It was all very curious, the way she was acting. She appeared much too responsible for a human, in his opinion.
"Go back to camp," she told the monk easily. He nodded and turned away, the heavy weight of the water and noodles in the pot only slowing him down a little. "Oh, and Miroku?" He turned to her, as did Sesshoumaru. "Let's not tell Inuyasha about this, okay?"
Sesshoumaru held back a smirk. He wasn't stupid. He was certain after he had brutally attacked Kagome, his younger brother was most likely furious with him. The girl was smart, warning the monk in front of her. If Inuyasha knew of the girl's audience during her cooking, he would cause quite the scene. Without anyone telling him directly about his presence, Inuyasha would probably not know about it; after all, the spicy scents of all the cooking ingredients were most likely already drowning out Sesshoumaru's own scent.
"Of course," the monk said after some thought. It was a wise move, Sesshoumaru mentally commented. It wasn't long before the silhouette of the monk disappeared within the trees, and by the time Sesshoumaru looked down again, the fire was nearly out, having been smothered with the leftover water and some nearby dirt.
The girl opened her yellow bag, putting all the little ingredients inside it, save for the two plates of onigiri and the strange transparent material. He wondered if she was still aware of his gaze, as her eyes were staring straight in front of her as though she were deep in thought. She took a small bottle from the pocket of her strange, indecent skirt, a purple liquid swirling inside it. He knew she forgot about him now, as he watched her pour the entire contents of the bottle over each and every one of the onigiri on one plate.
She threw the clear bottle in her bag afterwards, wrapping the plate with the strange material (he heard her muttering under her breath, and he believed the material to be called "plastic"). She looked up for just a second and met Sesshoumaru's eyes. He noticed a strange emotion swimming inside of her brown orbs, but he couldn't pinpoint what it was exactly.
"Oh," she said softly. "Sorry, would you like some? There were supposed to be two per person, but I have a few extra. You can have them, if you want, even though you were an ass to me just now."
She really was a vulgar girl, wasn't she?
"No," he said reluctantly. "I do not want them."
"Well, fine," she sighed loudly. "But just in case…" She scurried through her bag, pulling out more of the "plastic". From the second, uncovered plate, she removed two salmon rice balls and placed them on the plastic, which she then put on top of the grass by her knees.
"I said I do not want them, miko," he said to her again.
Annoyed, she glared at him, irritated with how he had yet to call her by her name. "And I said it was just in case. If you don't want them, give them to Rin. I'm sure she'd like it."
Sesshoumaru agreed with her. Like he noticed earlier, he wasn't even certain how often Rin was able to eat. It had never really concerned him before, never having felt the pain of hunger. He said nothing, however, and she, in turn, said nothing more herself.
After re-covering the original plate, she stood, grabbing her bag on her way up and settling it on her shoulders. She picked up the plates and dusted her clothes off with her free hand, turning around to go back to her village without another look at the taiyoukai.
"Later, Sesshoumaru," she said over her shoulder, walking away and leaving him alone with the leftover rice balls. She had disappeared.
In silence, he stared at the plastic on the other end of the clearing from him. He scoffed to himself. He did not need her charity, nor her food. She had touched the rice and salmon with her filthy human hands, and he would not allow himself or Rin to eat it.
He turned away, already taking a few steps toward where his wards were settled. But he stopped in his tracks as the scent of the food tantalized his sensitive nose yet again. It really did smell very good. And Rin was probably hungry. The miko had put her time and effort into those onigiri, and he couldn't very well allow them to sit there until bugs or wild animals or youkai ate the food that could have helped his human ward.
He turned back, hesitant but moving towards the plastic with the food lying on it. When he stood right in front of it, he stilled and stared at it for quite some time before eventually leaning over and picking it up. He stared at it, sniffing and detecting the miko's scent of apples woven into the food.
He should have made one of those rice balls, he mused. He regretted not even trying. He stored the thought away in his mind, turning and beginning his ten-mile trek back to his subordinates.
Perhaps, he considered, cooking could be a good hobby.
Sango wished she could understand whatever language cats knew how to speak because Kirara was having a fit. The sun was only just starting to go down, and after an exhausting afternoon of training and running around in the heat, the only thing she wanted to do was crash onto her futon and go to sleep. Her Hiraikotsu seemed to weigh an extra twenty pounds under her tense muscles, but she never had the chance to drop it to the ground and relieve herself of it.
Kirara thrashed around in circles, having already burst into flames and transforming into her larger body, and no matter how much Sango tried to console her, she only panicked even more wildly. If Sango didn't know any better, she'd say Kirara was acting like a spooked horse, raising up to her hind legs and clawing at the air in front of her.
"Kirara!" she cried. "Kirara, calm down! What's wrong? Kirara?" She couldn't let anything go wrong. She couldn't let her pet, her friend, act this way and possibly hurt herself. Sango couldn't remember the last time she had been so worried, and Kirara's bucking and loud cries were beyond unnerving. She had never been afraid of her own cat before, but she was certainly afraid for her now. She hesitantly took a few steps toward her, reaching up to grab a fistful of her fur to push her four paws to the floor. "Kirara? Come on girl, what's wrong?"
The youkai mewed loudly, and after a quick shuffling of her paws and a bristle of her fur, she leaned down in front of Sango, who understood and climbed onto her back.
Sango didn't know what was wrong. Looking quickly to the pink sky, she couldn't see any sign of smoke, no flare of some nearby village in trouble, no demonic auras, nothing. The weather wasn't particularly different than any other day, there was no chill in the air, and everything appeared perfectly normal…all but Kirara's sudden panic. That most certainly was not normal.
Kirara pushed herself off the ground and flew into the air, and for once, Sango had to hug her cat tightly around the neck in fear of falling off. She nearly burned her heel right off when Kirara's flames burst higher and with more life than necessary. "Kirara, where are you taking me? What's going on?" But her voice was drowned out by the mad rush of air in her face.
It wasn't long before Kirara finally began to descend back to land, but the wind pressure made the ride feel much longer than it really was, and the cold air made Sango's eyes sting and water. Through her blurry vision, she could vaguely see a thin river in front of them, something black half-buried in the water. The water moved downhill, and the rapids pushed the black thing back and forth against a rock until Sango wiped her eyes and realized the large mass looked sort of familiar to her.
She took a step closer, and she suddenly felt a chill creep up her spine. She was as cold as ice, as cold as the water in the river, as cold as the stiff body with the face that was all too hauntingly similar to hers.
She rushed forward and fell to her knees, pulling the body out of the river with all the strength she had left, ripping the black cloth he wore because it was stuck on a stray branch underwater. She faintly noticed the dark red color stained on the rock the body was leaning against, faintly felt her muscles searing with overuse, and faintly heard the loud roar Kirara cried, a roar that was filled to the brim with mourning.
Because there in Sango's arms lay Kohaku. And he wasn't breathing.
A/N: REVISIONS ARE ALL DONE! Ahhh, so happy! That took forever, my gosh. I hope you liked the little portion at the end with Sango because that's a new addition (it wasn't in my original story, but I wrote it up just now). Keep in mind that her storyline is DEFINITELY going to be crossing with Kagome/Sesshoumaru's. It'll make it more interesting, I promise. And no, it won't be a love triangle either.
Anyway, to clear up the confusion: Sesshoumaru is NOT going to be a chef. Haha, sorry! The point of the last sentence is just to show how he realizes how empty his life is. That's it.
Whoever draws a picture of Sesshoumaru in a chef's hat will be my favorite human.
