Yay! Another chapter! I still feel super bad about how long it took me to write this, so I'm posting this as soon as I can. My internet is being retarded. Anyway, after I posted last chapter, I realized that was supposed to be where they met Inuyasha and Kikyo, and I can't believe I forgot that ::smacks head:: so here is the long awaited confrontation! Yay!
WARNING: KIKYO BASHING AHEAD AT SOME POINT! IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, THEN DON'T READ!
'blah blah blah' : conversations between Hiroki and Kagome
blah blah blah : conversations between Sesshomaru and his inner beast
blah blah blah : notes from the editor
(a/n: blah blah blah) : notes from the author
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Kagome's P.O.V.
Who knew Sesshomaru and Inuyasha were so alike? Honestly, neither of them can stand any sort of damage to their ego. Then next morning, I'd woken up before the others from a sudden lack of warmth at the top of my head. Looking up, I was just in time to see the mat door swing closed and a flash of silver hair. I climbed quietly out of my sleeping bag and followed Sesshomaru out of the hut, yawning widely. Why the hell would anyone want to get up this early? It was the freaking' ass crack of dawn, for Kami's sake.
Sesshomaru was heading for the clearing by the well, and I could see the back of his back gleaming in the sunlight (since I was still wearing his shirt). Even though he was disturbingly pale, his back was firmly muscled and seemed to glow. I shook my head in an effort to clear my head of these thoughts and concentrated on why he was unsheathing his swords. I expanded my aura, but couldn't detect anything remotely threatening. It was when we reached the clearing and I'd perched on a nearby rock that his reasoning became clear.
For a moment, I thought he'd started some sort of interpretive dance, if you're supposed to be trying to communicate that your audience is about to die. Then I realized he was going through sword exercises. All his forms blended together so that I couldn't tell where one ended and another began, while his sword reflected the morning sun. The forms were clearly advanced, and he moved with a powerful feline grace, a compliment that would probably get me maimed were I to speak it. I probably watched him for a good hour or so, lost in the deadly beauty of his movements. When he finally stopped, Sesshomaru was drenched with sweat, which ran down his chest.
Suddenly, my mental drooling was interrupted by his voice. "I think I've proved my point." I looked up at his face to see him gazing down at me with an amused expression. I hefted my mouth off the ground and asked,
"And what was your point," I asked, not liking how much I approved of his sculpted chest.
"That I am an accomplished swordsman, something which is not something to be taken lightly," he told me, with what looked, to me, like a miffed expression.
"What are you talking about? I already knew you were good, what was the point of dragging me up here?" I questioned, completely lost at this point.
"For one thing, I don't believe I dragged you, Miko, you came of your own free will, just as I thought you would," he replied, then, ignoring my indignant hiss, continued, "and I am talking about you little comment from last night." I searched my memory, but I'd been exhausted, so my thoughts were hazy.
"I can't recall. Refresh my memory for me."
"'Oh, it's just you.' Miko, I could slaughter you right here before you could even twitch," he said through slightly clenched teeth. I stared at him. He was griping over that? I wasn't in the mood for his bruised ego. So I responded with a suitable action.
Normal P.O.V.
Sesshomaru watched in confusion as the miko suddenly fell backwards off her rock and hit the ground, clutching at her throat and spluttering. Sesshomaru took a step or two forward and was slightly alarmed at the color ranger her face was going through. But his worry melted away as she coughed out her next words.
"Not(cough) enough room (splutter) for huge (hack)… ego! Testosterone (ack!) choking me!" she gasped, then sat up and glared at him. "Is that all? If you're waiting for me to sink to my knees and let forth a torrent of praise and admiration, then you can forget it. You're ego's inflated enough without my adding to it."
With that, she stood and grabbed his wrist and began tugging him towards the woods. Sesshomaru didn't move, but instead watched her feeble attempts to make him move with mixed annoyance and amusement.
"Miko." She turned and put her hands on her hips.
"What, demon?"
"You are pulling me in the complete opposite of the village. The hut is behind us," he told her, wondering how it was possible to not know the path back the village she'd been walking to for Kami knows how long. But she just rolled her eyes while wiping her hands on his haori.
"I'm aware of where the village is. I'm taking you to the hot springs. In case you haven't noticed, the plants around you are beginning to droop. You absolutely reek."
Kagome's P.O.V.
"Picky picky," I muttered under my breath as I walked back to the hut. When Sesshomaru had finally agreed to take a bath, I'd gone back to the village and gotten all my bath things along with a towel. After putting the towel on the edge of the hot spring, I'd offered him the different shampoo, which he examined at great length before demanding what it was and if it was edible. Then he'd snarled at me for commenting on how the last part of his comment sounded just like Inuyasha. After I finished dumping a large bottle of lavender-scented soap on him to shut him up, he treated me to a few rather inappropriate words, and then told me to leave so that he could have his privacy.
A wide grin spread across my face as I looked down at the pile of clothes in my arms. Sango was walking out of the hut and caught a glance at the bundle.
"Is that what I think it is?"
"Yep."
"He's gonna skin you. You do know that right?" she said, shaking her head, but her expression mirrored mine.
"Hmm, probably. But to do that, he's going to have to come find me. Which means leaving the shelter of the hot springs," I informed her, before collapsing into a fit of giggles. Sango soon joined me on the ground, both of us helpless with laughter. Hiroki appeared at the doorway to the hut and opened his mouth to ask, spotted the stolen clothes, and turned right back around and walked back in. There was a murmur of two male voices, then Hiroki and Miroku emerged from the hut.
"Miroku and I have some business to attend to on the other side of the village, so… we'll be seeing you!" and with that, Miroku and Hiroki shot off in the opposite direction of the hot springs.
"WHAT ABOUT COURAGE AND CHIVALRY?" I called after them.
"WE HAVE MUCH MORE RESPECT FOR SELF-PRESERVATION!" returned Miroku, before they were obscured from view by a hill. The roar that shattered the general silence was enough to have both Sango and me ready to follow the guys.
"WENCH!" echoed over the village. I grabbed Sango's arm.
"Okay, we're going to hide in the hut. I'll cover our auras and such, so all we'll have to do is make sure he can't see us. We'll be practically invisible!" I assured her. She was looking rather pale and the giggle that escaped her sounded hysterical. But she nodded.
I tugged her into the hut and covered her and myself with my bunched up sleeping bag, then tried to do what I had done last night. I imagined two bubbles surrounding Sango's and my person, then imagined them shrinking until they were laying just under our skin, far enough that no one could sense us. It wasn't until I heard the swift gait and felt the pulsing aura of Sesshomaru that I realized that covering our aura wouldn't mask our scent… which led right to our hiding spot.
Fuck. Why had I done this again? Oh, because Sesshomaru was being a prick. Shit shit shit shit shit. Sango gave a terrified twitch next to me. I shifted slightly and saw her eyes squeezed shut while she mouthed prayers to the Kami. Both of us, however, froze when we heard the straw mat being pushed aside. Suddenly, the sleeping bag was wrenched off us and we shrieked in terror at the scene in front of us.
Sesshomaru, who was holding the sleeping bag in his hand, stood over us completely naked. His eyes pinned to me as he attempted to burn a hole through my head with his glare.
"Miko, I desire my clothes."
I threw the bundle of his laundry at him and turned away, clutching Sango as we cowered in the corner. Then a hand reached over and disentangled me from Sango's grip.
"Slayer, I wish to speak to the miko alone. Leave," a now half-clothed Sesshomaru ordered. Sango jumped to her feet and flew out the door.
"TRAITOR!" I screamed after her, but was silenced as Sesshomaru shook me vigorously before pressing me against the wall and leaning over me.
"Miko," he breathed, "that was a very foolish thing to do." He leaned down and licked the inside of my ear while pinning my hips to the wall with his. I let out a small squeak and began squirming against him, but immediately stopped when I heard a rumbling erupt in his chest. He began rocking his hips back and forth against mine and I could feel his hard member through the fabric of his pants and his shirt, which I was still wearing. I reached out to try and push him away, but my arms felt like noodles, which slithered around his neck and pressed me harder against him. My traitorous body was enjoying this. And the thing was, so was I. So was he.
"Sesshomaru," I gasped. I felt him smile against my cheek.
"Hmm?" I cast around for anything that would stop the amazingly pleasurable torture. A hard knot was beginning to form in my lower abdomen, begging to be released, and I knew exactly how I was supposed to achieve that. But I had to make him stop before I lost what was left of my dwindling will to remain pure.
"Someone's coming," I lied, knowing he could probably smell it off me, but to my surprise, he suddenly stopped rocking and looked over his shoulder, though he didn't step back.
"I believe my brother and his bitch have come to pay us a visit," he commented dryly. I jumped at this news before checking myself. Two auras were indeed approaching, and one of them was demonic, while the other was human, but as my aura touched it, it felt chillingly cold and empty of emotion.
I looked at the situation from how it would seem to outsiders. Sesshomaru had me pressed against the wall, half naked. I was wearing nothing but his shirt, and was probably radiating the scent of arousal. SHIT!!! What if Inuyasha found us like this? He'd be so upset, and-
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I needed to toughen up a bit. Inuyasha might be hurt, but he'd made his choice, which made me free to make mine. I was perfectly entitled to be with anyone I wanted to be with, and it was none of Inuyasha's business if it was with his brother or someone he had absolutely no knowledge of.
A small voice in the back of my head told me that it was stupid to be setting myself up for fights. It would only end in tears and blood. It whispered that there was no need to taunt Inuyasha with a nonexistent relationship. A stronger, much louder voice disagreed.
There was a relationship. It may have developed without me realizing it, but there was definitely something. What would I have done if it where anyone else. Inuyasha would have been sat as soon as he walked in naked. I would have never let him get this far. If I'd really wanted to, I had no doubt I could have escaped Sesshomaru.
A movement in front of me brought me back to reality. Sesshomaru had finally released me from his imprisonment, and was walking towards my yellow bag. He searched through it before immerging with pair of cotton Capri pants and a white tank top. He eyed them with curiosity before tossing them to me.
"Put those on. I'd like to be fully clothed when I meet my next victory." I snarled him out of the hut then changed into the clothes, handing him his haori as I walked out the door. He put it on and wrapped it before pulling his armor on over it, which was sitting by the door along with his swords. As he reached almost all the way around his back to attach it, I walked up behind him and knocked his hand away before latching it closed deftly as he wrapped his obi (a/n: I'm not sure what its called.) over it and slipped his swords into place. I reached around the doorframe of the hut and grabbed my bow before coming to stand next to him, feeling like I was in some sort of slow motion dream. I spread my aura over the village and felt for Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Hiroki.
Sango was a few huts away, but was approaching at a run, while Miroku and Hiroki were in the fields, lounging by a fence. Shippo was in the heart of the village playing with the children there. As Sango skidded to a stop next to me, I reached out a mental tendril towards Hiroki.
'Hiroki, Inuyasha and Kikyo are coming. Can you and Miroku come?'
'Yes. We'll be there.' Their auras began moving towards us, so I closed the link. Inuyasha and Kikyo's auras were approaching quickly; they'd be here in a minute or so. As Miroku and Hiroki arrived, I realized what seemed wrong with this scene. We were all preparing for a battle. Sesshomaru was drawing Tokijin (no surprises there) and Sango was supporting Hiraikotsu. Hiroki's katana was already unsheathed, and Miroku was holding his staff in a battle-ready staff. I was gripping my bow with my left hand while the right reached towards the string so that the bow was ready to be drawn.
Sesshomaru leaned over to whisper in my ear. "Change." I looked at him, confused.
"What?"
"Change into whatever you were last night. You'll never be able to take on that clay bitch in your human form." I frowned at him.
"You don't even know if we'll be fighting," I returned heatedly, but I did as he said. He was, after all, right. If it did come down to a face off, I was definitely the weakest link. Gripping the bow, I let my wings unfurl, then loosened my hold so as to keep from puncturing my hands with newly grown claws. Spreading my wings out in a stretch, I glanced over at Sesshomaru. He was focused on two figures that were emerging on the horizon.
I closed my wings with a snap, rocking on the balls of my feet as Inuyasha and Kikyo approached us. Kikyo was walking to Inuyasha's left, holding his hand in hers. Her face was blank, and her eyes reminded me of onyx stones. Inuyasha's appearance was the same as always, but his expression seemed altered, satisfied. However, shock came to replace it as his eyes found mine, and he stopped dead.
"Kagome?" he whispered. Then he noticed the other member to our troupe. "Sesshomaru," he snarled, pulling Kikyo behind him. Sesshomaru's nose twitched in intense dislike.
"Brother."
"Get the hell away from them, you jackass!" he roared, unsheathing Tetsusaiga as he spoke. Sesshomaru leaned forward expectantly, ready to shoot into a run. I elbowed him as a silent reminder that we were all friends… and that I'd bloody his eardrums if he so much as thrust.
"He's not here to fight you, Inuyasha. We had a… situation, and his presence was required," I said, taking step towards him. "I see you've brought someone," I added, turning towards Kikyo and inclining my head. I did not want to start a battle if I could avoid it. But Kikyo stayed still as a statue, her eyes flashing coldly when I met them. There was a moment of tense silence before it was broken by an unexpected shout.
"INUYASHA, YOU JERK!" A blur of orange was all I could see before Shippo tackled Inuyasha, grabbing him by the head and using the momentum to drag in down. Inuyasha reached up and wrenched Shippo of his face, his teeth bared.
"What the hell was that for, Shippo?" he shouted, shaking Shippo by his tail. The kitsune's arms were crossed and he was glaring angrily at Inuyasha.
"We've been worried sick about you! Not to mention that Kagome just arrived yesterday with Sesshomaru because you were taking your own sweet time to go look for her!" Shippo said, sticking out his tongue. Inuyasha's puppy ears were flattened to his head.
"Look, I had some stuff I needed to take care of, so relax," he snapped. Then he turned to Sesshomaru. "And you've delivered Kagome but you're still here-"
"A cunning observation," Sesshomaru interrupted with a smirk.
"-so what the hell do you want?" he finished, glaring at his older brother. Sesshomaru looked like he was about to say something, but stopped. His small smirk widened slightly, and sheathed his sword. Suddenly I felt an arm winding around my waist. Based on past experiences, I turned as slapped Miroku across the cheek, hard. I realized my mistake when he clutched his face in both hands, moaning.
"Why do you not trust me so, Kagome-chan?" he whined. I looked down and realized that the hand was clawed and exceptionally pale. I looked at Sesshomaru with a raised eyebrow. He looked back at me with amusement and pulled me to his hip when I wrinkled my nose at him. In the five seconds it took for this exchange to take place, Inuyasha had turned an ugly shade of puce.
"GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF HER YOU BASTARD!" he thundered, leaping forward. This was the moment Sesshomaru had been hoping for. His hand surged back to Tokijin, and he parried Inuyasha's Tetsusaiga with ease. Using his weight, Sesshomaru pushed Inuyasha back and made a sweep for his legs that almost maimed him. I drew my bow and aimed for the dirt between their feet. When I released the white bolt of power, Sesshomaru leapt away from the spot, and Inuyasha caught on soon enough to jump back before he was purified to hell.
"You two need to get over yourselves. There is absolutely no reason to be attacking each other. So Inuyasha put you're sword down-"
"What about him?" whined Inuyasha, gesturing at Sesshomaru.
"Sesshomaru you too."
"Do not order me, wench!"
"Shut your mouth you asshole!"
"Be silent half-breed."
"Don't tell me what to do you jack-"
"ENOUGH!!!" I roared. "INUYASHA SIT!!" I watched in satisfaction as Inuyasha ate dirt. However, I must give Sesshomaru credit for being creative with such limited choices when it came to making me be quiet. I was definitely not expecting him to stifle my shouting by shoving his tongue down my throat.
(a/n: OOOoooooooo I am so tempted to leave it here. NO::slaps self:: I promised an epic battle! But it would make a great cliffy… NO! Resist the temptation! I hope you all appreciate what I'm going through for your epic battle!)
THAT certainly shut me up. As he pulled away to face a murderous-looking Inuyasha, I reached up to touch my lips. I stood in a daze for who knows how long before an arrow whizzed past my face, missing by inches. Snapping out of it, I drew my bow, mirroring Kikyo, who was smiling rather manically.
"Kikyo! What are you doing?" came the rather panicked voice of Inuyasha. He ran at Kikyo and made an attempt to grab her arm, but was suddenly thrown backwards as his face met a barrier. The barrier crackled dangerously as he sat back up, rubbing his face as his singed hair smoked slightly.
"Inuyasha! Do you seek to finally betray me? I cannot be who I once was without my entire soul! I wish to possess it again! Will you, my true love, keep as one of the broken undead? With my soul I can be reborn, I can become what I should have been had death not claimed me." (a/n:……..huh?)
Inuyasha was on his feet now, and he looked back and forth between Kikyo and me. Then, to my absolute horror, he nodded and turned away from me, abandoning me to the non-existent mercy of Kikyo.
Okay, I think that should be enough! WE HAVE A BETRAYAL ON OUR HANDS!!! What did you guys think? Too sudden, too cheesy, too OOC? Tell meeeee!!! Thank you so much for all the reviews, everyone! I can't believe I've broken 40 without even asking you. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH ::breaks down as readers edge away!!!!!!! Anyway, R&R everyone, Let's go for at least 45. Last I checked, we were at 41, so I think you'll be able to manage. Ciao!!