Chapter 12: Nightmare
It was very different from the first time Kagome had been at the Castle of the West since she had been brought there to heal the lord and leave as soon as the task was done. This time, however, the lord himself accompanied her announcing that she would be the caretaker of a human girl child who was to live at the castle for an undefined amount of time although nobody, except for Jakken, had ever seen the girl or known that their lord had taken a human with him on his travels. The rumors started almost instantly, although the servants had to be extremely careful not to be within earshot of the irritable taiyoukai, while the humans had been given rooms at the east wing of the castle, an area for unimportant guests.
Kagome sat on the tatami mats in their new room, a sleeping Rin next to her. It was late, yet she didn't feel sleepy as her head was still spinning from all what had happened that day. Fighting, dying, being resurrected and then taking off with Sesshoumaru and Rin to stay at his castle. He had not explained himself, of course, the only thing he had said to her during the flight was that he would kill her if she told anyone about being brought back to life with Tenseiga. Judging by the calculating, hostile looks the servants had given her, it would be most prudent to not talk about anything concerning Sesshoumaru at all. It seemed almost as if they were waiting for their lord to announce her being his lover, following in his father's footsteps. Apparently, they didn't know him at all.
Sesshoumaru had stalked off immediately after touching down on the ground, leaving Jakken to deal with them. The little toad had started complaining immediately but Kagome had been able to tell that although he was horrified by her own presence, he was pleased to have Rin back. After waking up the little girl, they had gotten rid of their ruined clothes, taken a bath, eaten a delicious, if simple, meal and retired to their new room where Kagome was sitting now in the dim moonlight, wondering just what she should do now. Her musings, however, were interrupted by Rin who started tossing around on her futon with an expression of utter distress on her sweet features. Worried, the young miko hurried at her side and shook her awake.
"Rin? Rin, it's me, Kagome. Wake up, you're having a nightmare."
The girl's eyes shot open and immediately started to fill up with tears that soon spilled over her round cheeks before she hurled herself at Kagome, sobbing. Trying to make sense of the choked words Rin was mumbling into her yukata, Kagome cradled the girl into her arms, giving as much comfort as she possibly could which did not seem to be enough. There was only one word she was able to understand: Sesshoumaru. Kagome continued trying to calm the child down for several minutes longer but it was futile and so she did the only thing she could think of. She picked Rin up, left their small room and headed towards where she felt Sesshoumaru's youki. Fortunately, there were no sentinels guarding the doors to his rooms this time and so she was able to slip through them without anyone noticing. Taking a deep breath, she walked down the corridor towards his bedroom door. She stopped before the shoji screen, yet before she could even think about being embarrassed to knock on his door at this time at night, the frame slid open, revealing a very pissed-off looking demon – at least she interpreted the tiny crease between his eyebrows in his otherwise expressionless face as such.
"What is the meaning of this, miko?"
Rin went still at the sound of his voice and Kagome was finally able to put the girl down, marveling at the effect his cool voice had on her. As soon as she stood before her lord, however, Rin hid her tear-stained face in Kagome's yukata, suddenly being shy about disturbing the great demon lord at night. Kagome put a comforting hand on the child's head, looking into Sesshoumaru's cold eyes.
"She's had a nightmare and she wanted to see you."
A slight push in the daiyoukai's direction was all Rin needed to overcome her shyness. She pressed her eyes shut and launched herself into Sesshoumaru's legs, hugging his waist. For the tiniest of moments, the mighty taiyoukai actually looked startled before his cold mask was in place again and he was able to glare at the miko in front of him. Before he could start talking, however, Rin's small voice broke the silence.
"L… lord Sesshoumaru I was so scared! They were attacking you and Kagome and granny Kaede and Shippo! T… there was blood and you died and I was so, so alone!"
Sesshoumaru hadn't moved an inch since Rin had collided with his body and it began to dawn on Kagome that he had, in fact, not the slightest idea how to comfort a little girl who was scared by nightmares. Hell, hadn't he ever had a nightmare as a child and been comforted by his parents? Judging by the slightly confused and lost look he gave Rin when he looked down at her, he had not. Trying very hard not to think about how cute they both looked, Kagome motioned for Sesshoumaru to pat the girl's head. She feared that he would have continued to just stand there hoping that Rin would eventually calm down and let go of him on her own. Sending her a truly annoyed look that made her wonder if he was after all able to read minds, he lifted a clawed hand and put it on top of Rin's soft, brown, hair. The effect was instantaneous. The girl relaxed and stopped sniffling, leaning into the demon's touch.
"Rin. While I cannot guarantee for the old miko and the fox kit, it is highly improbable for me to die during the next thousand years. And the miko, like yourself, is now my charge and will be protected. And now you will go back to your bed and sleep without such foolish dreams."
Kagome stared at the demon lord in front of her with wide eyes while Rin disentangled herself from his body and gave him her most dazzling smile. When Sesshoumaru looked up and found the miko staring at him like an imbecile, he lifted one of his perfect eyebrows in a silent inquiry. Shaking herself out of her dumb folded state, Kagome took Rin's small hand and looked Sesshoumaru in the eyes. She saw annoyance, of course, and his usual indifferent, cold mask but apart from that there was also something else. He didn't look at her like a stranger anymore.
To hide her amazed expression, Kagome gave him a small bow.
"Thank you… for everything."
Then she took Rin and left.
Sesshoumaru did not move for several minutes after that.
A/N: An attempt at fluff ^^ aw, he's so clueless. Reviews are like fuel to my writing and greatly appreciated.
