A/N: Hello! I hope everyone is having good holidays so far! Here's the next chapter of Freedom's Will. Enjoy, its humorous, to say the least. Puppy gets a bath…
Freedom's Will
Chapter 9
Just a Little Sport
My head was pounding when I woke up in the morning. The sun was blinding. I just wanted to curl up and hide under the blankets for the whole day. I doubted the puppy would let me but it didn't stop my wishing. I was just surprised that he hadn't dunked me in the nearest pail of water until I puked. But the humiliation of the nobles knowing I had gotten totally drunk last night, which I knew I had from the hangover, would be sufficient for the puppy's punishment for dragging me to the affair.
I dragged a hand through my hair and sat up, wincing at the sunlight. Somehow, my hair had become unfurled while I sleep. Or the puppy had taken it out when I slept, which was almost caring of him. It wouldn't have been comfortable to sleep with my hair in the dressings. Or maybe I had taken it out before I went to sleep. I couldn't remember anything after talking to Byakuya very clearly. I did know that I hadn't been dunked in water, though. I was almost certain that it wouldn't be an event I would have forgotten.
Sesshomaru's golden eyes met mine across from the room. He relaxed in a chair across the room, presumably the place he had slept the night. Unless he had moved in the middle of the night so I wouldn't kill him in the morning. He was smart enough to figure that much out. Not that he didn't deserve to sleep on a chair for a night, receiving some nice cramps and bruises from it. But he looked too relaxed to have slept on a chair, much too comfortable.
"Do you need something, puppy?" I asked him. His staring was getting unnerving and I wasn't in the mood to deal with him. My head already hurt too much to bandy with the block of ice.
"Are you well enough to travel today?" he calmly said. Of course he had to answer my question with a question. As for travelling, if it was with him, there was no way in hell. I eyed him with curiosity. Where was he supposedly going today? Had he actually gained an ally at the party last night? It was funny; I hadn't seen him say a single word to anyone at the whole affair. It would seem that he was usually an ice block to everyone else, too.
"Is there a reason I should be?" I inquired back. He waited to respond.
"There are matters I need to attend to. I would prefer if you came with me," I smirked slightly.
"What, you finally figure out that I'm not going to follow your orders?" It would be better for him if he had discovered that little thing out. He had, after all, said that he would prefer it, not that I had to come with him.
"No," was his whole response. Oh, so we were back to one worded responses. Of course.
"Huh, I'm not well enough to travel, in that case," He made a silent tsking sound that I probably wasn't supposed to hear. I didn't know why he was so disappointed. I thought he would rejoice at the news that he didn't have to pretend anything or deal with me for a whole day. He never reacted accordingly. "What happened last night?"
"You disgraced me," he responded coldly. I laughed. Good, it had turned out like I planned. Unless he was talking about something I didn't know about. I suddenly noticed I had been changed into a simpler, white kimono underneath the sheets. Suddenly, everything was sickeningly clear of something that might have happened.
"How did I get changed?" I asked suspiciously. He looked almost annoyed, or maybe it was amused, as he tossed me my normal kimono. I caught it slowly.
"You sent me out my own chambers and changed yourself." He replied. I eyed him. He didn't seem to be lying.
"Nothing else happened, puppy?" I stated, more as a question. I thought he was going to roll his eyes. But no, that would have totally shattered his icy mask.
"I wouldn't do anything with you inebriated, witch. It would be shameful and you're too low of a demoness to consider it." I glared at him. Stupid bastard! He couldn't go two seconds without reminding me of that, reminding of Naraku. He was much too obsessed with it. It was probably his prideful nobleness that also made him refer to himself as "this Sesshomaru".
I grabbed my fan from beside me and took my good kimono before stamping into the other room. He just watched with, amusement perhaps, as I walked by. I slammed the door, my head pounding with the sound, as well as my movement. Maybe my temper was a little short today but my head wasn't making matters any better in the least.
It took me only a few minutes to change and tie my hair back up. When I stalked back into his room, ready with a good insult and reply to his words, it was empty. I hissed through my teeth. He couldn't stay in one place for just a few minutes. Who knew, maybe I would have changed my mind and joined him in his affairs, if only he had waited for me. Probably not but the thought of him waiting for me would have been nice.
My temper was boiling underneath my skin, partly due to my pounding head and annoying stomach. I really needed someone or something to take it out on. I blankly wondered if there was some type of battling or training grounds near this place. I couldn't imagine the puppy not having one. But then again, he was the type who would find the nearest demon and practice on them. Still, it was a thought that I would enjoy finding out if it was true or not.
I tucked my fan into my sleeve and left his rooms, navigating the halls somehow until I reached the outside. The skies were clear, blue and beautiful as they greeted my face. The sun however wasn't so kind in its greeting. It was way too bright out for me. A cloudy day would have been preferred. At least there was a nice light breeze whisking its way around me.
The dog demons flittering around me seemed to be ignoring my presence, avoiding me as much as possible. The first few I tried to stop, to ask if there was some place around to train in but they walked on with a cold expression, reminding me of the puppy greatly. His attitude must have brushed off onto all his little servants. After asking a couple of the demons and getting the same response, I just quit all together. Instead, I just wandered around aimlessly, searching.
And then, there it was, right in front of me. The training grounds or whatever they were called. It was a nice flat area filled with sand in some spots and nice waving grass in others. Flowers danced around the edge, almost 100 meters away from each other in each direction. It would be a perfect area to practice in. I could even faintly see a few practice dummies lined neatly against the walls. They would be good to take out some of my temper on.
I dragged a few of the dummies into the field and firmly pushed them into the ground before walking away, drawing out my fan. It opened with a slight wisp. I began to dance around, bringing it around in a circle slowly. The wind was instantly drawn to my dance, swirling me around, gathering more and more fury as I increased my spin. When I stopped it was creating a safe bubble around me, the wind roaring like a lion.
"Dance of the Dragon," I calmly said, releasing its fury. Tornadoes touched the ground around me as they quickly tore apart the dummies, swirling them up into the winds. I smiled before sending a dance of blades into the mix. By the time I was done, the dummies fell to the ground in shreds like a bunch of fallen leaves. I walked over to them, kicking them lightly with my foot. Some of the pieces crumbled into dust. I walked over to get some more dummies swiftly.
"Dance of Blades!" I screamed, slicing yet another few dummies in half. This was almost getting boring but there was nothing else to do around here. The puppy was officially gone for the day, cutting off my options of annoying him and Kagome was with Inuyasha, locked in her room with him. I didn't even want to go there. Who knows what awful sights were possible to be seen in there. Rin had also left with the puppy.
I had no doubt that the puppy would be upset with my day's work. I had destroyed almost all his dummies that he presently owned. But anything that annoyed him would be good, even if it was something small. I sent a gust of wind to the next bunch of dummies and dragged them over, punching them into the ground.
My hand swung around, gathering the wind as I prepared the dance of blades one more time. Something grabbed it before I could bring it back up. Seconds later I felt someone slide up behind me. I whipped around quickly.
Sesshomaru stood behind me, his hand clamped around my wrist gently. I pulled away from him in shock.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I asked, staring at him. He stared right back, looking as if nothing at all was wrong. Since when did the puppy have the right to come up behind me and attach onto my arm? I'd rather not have the protective dog crap that he seemed to be doing.
"You're being foolish with your swing," he said. I raised my eyebrows. Was he seriously giving me advice on my attack?
"That's odd," I mocked, "I don't remember you being a wind demon and knowing all about their attacks." He half-smiled again, with it still not reaching his eyes. I wondered if any of his smiles did. I wanted to just force him to fully smile. He didn't have any authority to be smug in this situation, however.
"Don't be like my brother, witch," he told me. I rolled my eyes and walked away from him before swinging back again. Somehow, the puppy caught my arm another time. I hissed at him in anger but he simply ignored me. Instead, he lightly guided my hand back. "Release your attack," he chided. I scowled, considering dropping all my wind then and there, before gathering wind around my fan like I normally would. I could just guess his triumphant face when I did. It was enough to make me grind my teeth together.
His grip was still light as he helped me swing my arm forward as I released the attack, a dance of blades. The blades erupted from the tip and shot off, weaker than normal. I smirked as he carefully released my arm.
"As I said, you're not a wind demon, puppy, so don't give me orders. My attacks are a little different than yours." I grinned. His face was blank.
"Very well, witch," he said. "How do you usually attack?" I smiled at him.
"Step away, my dear puppy," I teased. "We wouldn't want to mess up your pretty hair," His arms folded as he stayed where he was.
"Continue, witch," he ordered. I quickly swung back and let go a stream of blades. My anger made them that much more furious and deadly. I watched with a smile as they sliced the dummies to pieces. I then looked back at him.
His sword was out, pointed carefully towards me. I'm sure surprise was recognizable on my face but I masked it the best that I could.
"What, you want a lesson?" I sarcastically questioned. His face didn't change in the least.
"I wish to test your way," he replied. I almost choked. Since when did he think he needed to improve any of his attacks in any way? Didn't he think he was superior to everyone else?
"Test away, doggy. Unless you want me to help," I mocked, this time careful. I doubted that he would go for that. If he did, I was going to die with shock.
"If I didn't want your assistance, witch, I would have tested it at a later time," he said, as if it was a completely obvious thing. My eyes probably popped with shock, they felt like they were going to. Normally, I would have made a sarcastic comment but somehow, I was unable to find my tongue to shoot something back at him. I just quickly moved behind him, slowly taking his hand that covered his sword.
He swung back as if I wasn't there and my arm moved according to its natural muscle movement, tugging his in the same direction. I faintly noticed that he didn't smell half bad, when you were this close. The puppy must have been part water-dog. My body moved closer to him of its own accord as I helped him swing forward. I didn't see the affects of my help, for his body blocked out all my vision of it. All I know is the puppy tensed up before swinging back again and releasing another attack.
Golden eyes came down to look upon my face. Surprise flickered in them before I heard his sword whisk as it slid back to his side. I suddenly noticed how close I was to his body. I quickly moved away, wanting to clear my throat in embarrassment but unable to do it. My cheeks slightly heated and I only hoped that I wasn't totally red, not in front of him.
"You look as if you've learned something," I informed him. He stared into my eyes before replying.
"Believe whatever you wish, witch," he coldly replied. I smiled at him.
"What's wrong, afraid to admit you were mistaken? " I mocked. His hand came up to my waist before pushing me away and withdrawing his sword.
"I wish to fight you, witch," he told me before rushing right at me, sword deadly in his hands. I leaped back in shock and took back out my fan. I only had a moment to recover before one of his attacks came straight for me. It was much weaker than I had seen before, to my relief. It would seem that he wasn't trying to kill me, in the least.
"Dance of Blades!" The blades hurtled towards him, not at the full strength, either. He quickly dodged them before I change their direction, something I had been practicing the whole day, out of pure boredom. They resisted my control for an instant, and then ran back at him. He wasn't expecting them to do that, for they cut into his arm, splattering a few drops of blood. It took him half a second to appear in front of my face, his green whip turning around me. I pushed him away with a gust of wind but not before the whip sliced into my back.
I hissed when the blood from my back left my body. Stupid dog. "Dance of the Dragons!" The tornadoes rushed at him. I expected him to dodge but he just stood there before taking out a sword and slicing through my winds.
The exchange lasted for a few minutes before he seemed to tire of it, putting away his sword and signaling for me to stop. I took a deep breath and tucked away my fan with relief. He was a harder opponent than I had anticipated. It was good news for my cause of killing Naraku but bad news for any play fights with him. He took it easy only for a while before getting much too serious.
Sesshomaru walked over to me, grabbing my fan from my hands. I was on the edge of objecting when he handed it back.
"Your fan is of poor quality," he educated me before handing it back. I huffed at him. I didn't need his opinion to know that. Naraku had been a cheap ass when he had broken my other fan, when I had once tried to escape his grasp. I could tell the difference the second I used the new fan. Sesshomaru seemed to be thinking about it when I pulled out one of his swords. That he quickly noticed.
I inspected the blade and the handle of the sword with an inaccurate gaze. It looked to be the finest stuff you could get while the blade was made out of some demon fang. Of course it would be the best you could get. It fit the puppy's attitude perfectly. He grabbed the sword from my hand and put it where it belonged.
"Hmm, puppy's a bit protective of his sword, isn't he?" I teased. He eyed me seriously before snatching my fan once again and walking away. I stared at him in shock before running after him. "What the hell are you doing?" I spat. He ignored me and kept walking. I sighed.
That was when I noticed the nice, pretty pond to the left of where he was walking. I had slashed his legs a couple of times, when he wasn't expecting it, enough that he might be imbalanced. It might work, I thought to myself. But still, I doubted I would be able to push hard enough to knock him into it. If only he hadn't just snatched my fan. It took me a full few seconds to run over in front of him, making him stop in his tracks. I glared up at him and snatched my fan from his belt.
He didn't react, instead he just held out his hand, as if it was obvious it was now his property. I smirked at it before using the wind to dump the entire body of water on to his head, thinking of my aching wounds. None of the water so much as dropped on me. I could see the surprise in his face that I had dared to do that to him and I laughed. Water dripped from his hair, his clothes, and every single thing on him. A lily pad covered the top of his head, the flower on it wilting down on the edge of falling into his face.
"You looked like you needed a bath," I cackled in his face before handing him my fan back and merrily walking away. If I had been the type of person to go around skipping, I would have skipped away. In any case, it just sat there, as if dumbstruck.
A/N: Hope everyone enjoyed! I have to say, this was my favorite chapter to write, so far. Don't forget to review…you know you want to (You always do, right? )….
