CH 9

"I want my bed back." Kagome crossed her arms and glared down at Sesshomaru. "Seriously, Sho. Cough up."

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow. "I believe you gave this to me. A gift cannot be taken back." He gazed up at the human girl through his lowered lashes, something he knew would melt her heart like it had so many ladies at court.

"I lent it to you," she corrected, not the slightest bit heart-melted. "I am sick of having leaves and bugs in my hair and clothes from the moment I wake up to the moment I lay back down to sleep!"

The lordling crossed his arms, mimicking her earlier gesture. "Well, this Se-Sho is not returning it to you. The aristocrat must have beauty sleep to keep up his flawless complexion, yes?" He couldn't believe he was saying these things.

Kagome blew a surprised raspberry, missing his mistake completely. "Would you look at that, the aristocrat is actually cracking jokes with the lower class." She pretended to poke her head out the window. "Is the sky falling? Should I be worried?"

Sesshomaru smirked, yet another gesture that was designed to make those of the opposite sex fall madly in love. And yet again, Kagome failed to fall madly in love.

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. If you wanna be a rude guest, fine. Then I'm going to have to go make myself a new grass futon. And you're going to have to come with me."

"Have to?"

Kagome put one hand on her hip. "Yes. It is past noon, and it will be sunset by the time I'm done gathering all the grass I need. I am not going to be in the moor alone. You're bigger than I am, so if any wolves come after us, it's you they'll be targeting."

"Incorrect," he drawled. "Wolves target the weak link of a group." He stood up, towering over the small human girl. He leaned in closer, knowing that the action would intimidate her. "They separate said weak link from the strong, and then they hunt her down mercilessly until she can run no more. And then it's all over."

She stared right back at him, firmly un-intimidated. "If my memory and vision serve me right, you're the one with the messed-up ribs, not me." She was tempted to poke him right in the fracture, but she wasn't that mean.

Sesshomaru stiffened at the reminder of his current incompetence. Good humor dissipating like mist under the sun, he turned away and started gathering up his futon.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Kagome asked. She frowned when a neat roll of grass almost smacked her in the face, falling to the floor. "What the heck, Sho? It's yours, remember?"

"Take it."

She stared at him, a smile slowly stretching her lips. "Awww," she cooed. "Did I hurt your itty bitty feelings?" She got a blank glare for her efforts. She raised her arms in a placating gesture. "Kidding. Seriously." She nudged the futon back to Sho with her toe. "You can keep it. A gift can't be taken back, remember? Aaaand we're going out to the moor to gather some grass."

"Go by yourself. I am the weak link, no?" Sesshomaru turned his back on her.

Kagome snorted, losing her patience. "Kami," she snapped. "Are all you aristocrats this bratty? It's not a criminal offense to admit that you're injured, you know."

Silence.

"Kami!" she repeated, this time more explosively. "Stop sulking! Your ribs got busted, so you're gonna hide in a corner and cry, yeah?" She waited for him to answer, but he was still pretending to be a houseplant, albeit a sulky one. "Well, if all you're gonna do is stay inside and whine about it, you're never gonna get better. The sooner you get outside and walk around, the sooner you'll be good as new. And the sooner you get the better, the sooner you can pay those guys back in spades for beating you up." She saw his ears literally perk up, rather like a dog's, at this. "That's right," she continued. "You have to train so that you can avenge yourself. Mend your pride. Whatever you aristocrats call it. Are you with me?"

Silence.

"Fine, fine." Feigning disinterest, she ducked outside with a length of twine wrapped around her wrist for helping to bring back the gathered grass. She didn't look back, but she heard shuffling footsteps behind her and knew that Sho was right behind her.

And he was, albeit with a petulant glint in his eyes. He was.