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Chapter 12 Amiable Time with a Block of Ice
Dreams of the neko youkai pervade his mind and are especially intense. In the early morning light when Sesshoumaru wakes his arousal is perfectly tented in his hakama. To complicate matters the miko had moved in her sleep and now there was an outstretched arm lying over his left leg. Her hand rested innocently on his thigh. Somehow sensing his wakeful state she yawns and stretches fully. The tips of her fingertips brush tenderly over his erection causing a small intake of breath. Instead of shriveling disgust to the touch of a human, he becomes achingly harder. An impassioned moan seeps from the miko voicing his frustration. Before her eyes open the lord leaps away into a high tree.
She blinks away the sleep wondering what the blur was. Sitting up and looking around she spots her two bags of stuff and Lord Sesshoumaru's armor. Her hands rub her face. Her body feels like she still needs a few winks of shuteye when her stomach gurgles with emptiness.
'I wonder where Lord Fluffy went to?' She thinks, her right hand scratching her head. She stops then looks at her completely unblemished hand. Brows furrowing at the previous night's activities. She couldn't remember anything past him telling her they were going to start tracking down…somebody? Why is her hand healed? She sure as hell didn't do it on purpose. 'I know I was too tapped out for my body to do it on it own-' her hand goes to her nose. 'It smells like… Sesshoumaru?' She stands up shakily. Her legs feel like lead weights. Expanding her senses she can feel the taiyoukai's aura in a tree not far from her. 'What's he doing in a tree?' She asks herself, just a bit peeved. 'I know he's not hiding.' Aya very much wants to yell at him in 'I love Lucy' fashion but her belly is yelling louder at her. She opens up her bag of goodies and pulls out some salted fish and dried fruit.
Once her stomach is sated she does her toiletries and cleans up. The youkai finally makes an appearance when she finishes washing the travel dirt off her face. He quietly re-adorns his armor.
"Good morning, Lord Sesshoumaru. Would you kindly explain what happened last night?" She has a determined look about her.
"You contracted an infection and became feverish. This Sesshoumaru had no choice but to tend to you."
"Tend to me? I had no idea you had any healing prowess outside that arrogant hide of yours."
There is no point in keeping the truth from her. The more they knew of the bond the easier it could be to dissolve. "I don't. This Sesshoumaru has discovered that your piece of soul has a measure of healing power so I used it on you, Aya, since your reserves were all but gone. I could not have a sick miko on my hands."
"Are you telling me that along with a piece of my soul, you have a chunk of my powers as well? Ah, marvelous!" She says, in a tone that is anything but. She giggled a little crazily then looks up at the sky. "What's next? I'll start having to compete with you for the matchmaking business? Ha ha, how bizarre that would look, you, the Lord of the West, giving out dating advice!"
"Do not mock this Sesshoumaru," staring annoyed at her, she forces back the laughter and murmurs a "sorry," then picks up her things.
About to get a move on when, "Wait a minute, you called me Aya. You said that my name was irrelevant. What changed?" She is immediately suspicious.
Letting out a soft sigh, he enlightened her, "healing the wound was not the only thing. You woke briefly and preformed your 'soul search' on me, successfully this time, and as I recall your payment for doing so was to use your name and so I shall, Aya."
"You saw her?" He nods. "And I didn't get to see her! That just sucks." Aya lets out a huff. "Oh well, at least we got one thing out of the way finally. So, Lord Sesshoumaru, are you ready to go?" He nods again then heads out with the miko trailing behind.
"By the way, thank you, my lord, for tending to me." She adds after a bit.
"Hn." He gives his customary response.
Aya smiles thoughtfully. 'This youkai has many layers and I am slowly pealing them away. What would I find at the center, I wonder.'
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"Ah, Lady Kikyo, what a pleasure to see you again." The evil hanyou greets smoothly. "And you have that mutt's sword too." A hand reaches to touch the hilt that is hanging at the miko's waist. An electric shock forces his hand back causing a distasteful hiss.
"You cannot touch the Tetsusaiga, Naraku. Although you are half human you care not for a living soul, human or otherwise. The fang is meant to protect humans which is why Inuyasha can wield it." Kikyo explains. With an edge in her tone, she spat "He protects that weak girl! I will hold on to it until you have properly disposed of her!"
"My my Kikyo, I do not believe I have ever seen you so angry." Smirking deviously, he says "It's very becoming." He leans into her face from the side.
"Shut it, Naraku! I know of your licentious intentions. It is never happening!" He moves away to a more respectable distance but the smirk does not leave his face.
Being rather good at reading people, he asks "Did Inuyasha say something that upset you?" in a tone of delightful curiosity rather than concern.
Her lips purse together as she adapts a mask of calm. "You never can stay out of someone else's business, can you, Naraku?"
"It is merely an insatiable thirst for knowledge." He defends, again putting the charm on thick.
Her hand shot up. "Save it."
He frowns. "Fine," deciding to change the subject. "Concerning the spell, it's a youkai and miko I need, not two opposing mikos. Correct?"
Kikyo has no obligation to confirm the wretched hanyou of his theory. He can find that out on his own. "I only came to tell you I have the Tetsusaiga, not for you to interrogate me for information." She leaves after that.
He saw the look in her face. He is probably correct though he will have to conduct a second test.
"Kagura!"
She steps into the room, bored. "What do you want?"
He orders her to find a miko and youkai of equal strengths and bring them here. With a wave of her fan, she's off. 'If I am correct, who will I ultimately use as the youkai? The Western Lord is a good choice but he is hard enough trying to kill let alone simply capturing him, and I doubt there is a miko out there to match him.' He returns to his mat to think. 'Toshiko mentioned her half sister is the strongest of her clan and the last of the Haru line. I know a bit of them. Once upon a time they ranked nearly as high as with the great Taisho. I think I will meet this youkai, this Aya. See what she has to offer, should that Toshiko prove successful in controlling her.'
"Hmm, Kanna." The blank eyed girl walks into the room with her mirror. "Let me see what that neko hanyou is doing." The mirror swirls the image of Toshiko trekking up a hill. He had a few of his Siamyosho 'spy' on her so he could watch her from Kanna's mirror. He leans with his head over fisted hand and watches.
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Miroku's back stiffens, from his meditative posture on the ground, by an electric disturbance in the air. His eyes gaze around their humble campsite. Shippo and Kilala are already sound asleep. Sango is just dosing off on the other side of the fire. 'I don't sense any malevolent presence. But there is something familiar about it.' His gut clenches. With his staff in hand he heads toward it, unsurprisingly in the direction Inuyasha took.
The feeling fades but he picks up Inuyasha's aura. Miroku moves quicker, the feeling of dread growing.
He spots him crumpled against a tree with a large burn to his chest. "Inuyasha!" The monk lands beside him, shaking him vigorously.
*…groan….* Inuyasha flutters those yellow eyes open.
"What happened, Inuyasha?" He asks as he takes one arm over his shoulders, lifting him up. They begin walking back to camp.
"K-K-Kikyo…" he grumbles. He hisses as his free hand touches the burnt flesh.
'I knew it felt familiar. It was the miko's energy blast.' confirming his suspicions.
"She…she… She took Tetsusaiga!"
"What!"
Inuyasha rips away from him in search of her. Miroku wretches the hanyou's arm back to him. "Inuyasha! She's long gone. It won't serve to look for her in your state. We must regroup." Miroku's urgent pleading wins out and Inuyasha reluctantly returns to camp. The others already awake from the ruckus when they get there.
Inuyasha is bandaged and the group discusses the next course of action. None can fathom what Kikyo could want with the Tetsusaiga and the group still plans to meet with Keade, seeing no other course of action. Only that they are sure that she was lying about doubling its power. Kikyo is notorious for being near impossible to find if she didn't want to be, and quite unpredictable.
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"My lord, is there some sort of plan when we find this Naraku?" Aya asks on the third day away from the castle. She found out who he was looking for the previous day. They are currently crossing a dry field.
"Yes. Kill him, and there is no we. You are only with me so that this Sesshoumaru can watch you more effectively, as you and trouble get along very well."
*scoff* "I can take care of myself you know."
"Indeed." He says, unconvinced considering the list of recent events to the contrary.
"Like you've never attracted trouble in your life. Ever since I've met you, no scratch that. Ever since I healed you, I've had nothing but problems."
His eyebrow raises a notch, not that she can see, as the miko is walking behind him. "What do you mean scratch that? Have you met me before that incident?"
'Oh shit! The first time I saw him I was youkai! Maybe he won't remember.' "Um, I was far younger at the time and it was such a brief and insensitive interaction I doubt you, my lordliness, would remember." She answers truthfully but in a vague way.
"And yet you do." He responds, truly curious.
A hand comes to scratch the back of her neck. "Well, um, it's not everyday that one meets a powerful youkai," She explains, and mentally adds, 'and a dead sexy one at that- Aahh! brain! I told you not to think like that!' Her cheeks darken slightly. 'Thank kami he's not looking at me.'
He doesn't have to. The sound of her rising heartbeat and the way her anxiety tints her scent confirms she is embarrassed about that meeting or so he thinks. 'She's most likely correct that I will not remember a fleeting moment with a human, however, Aya does not seem the type I would forget. "Explain this interaction." His voice demands, curiosity getting the best of him.
"I was in your way. You told me to move. I did so." She clarifies, thinking he's ordered so on too many occasions to count.
"You simply acquiesced? Knowing you that seems unlikely." He says in that deadpan tone.
"You were one of my first youkai encounters, so I was inclined to oblige you, seeing as I had no idea how to react to one."
"So you were young indeed, Aya."
"Yeah." She still can't get over him using her name. Six times and counting. Yes, she's counting. It's hard not to miss the way her name rolls off his tongue, like the Western Lord is actually considerate for a second, not to mention it sounds almost like honey.
Of course her brain had to mention something like that again. 'Damn it brain! Stop it! It's the bond. The pleasure I've felt is his, not what it would feel if he was giving it to another. It's completely different! And its never going to happening! So get over it and might I remind myself that it is humiliating!' So entranced in her wayward thoughts that she fails to notice Sesshoumaru halt his steps.
"Ooff… wha-…oh…" She blinks in her surroundings. Sesshoumaru glances apathetically at her lack of attention. Aya removes her person immediately from his backside and silky hair. Now alert, she detects a small group of low level youkai in the area. By the scent in the air they are rodents. 'now why would he be wary of such low creatures?' Aya wonders. 'Perhaps he senses something beyond them.' She stretches out her senses as far as they can go but finds nothing else of note. That did not mean that there is something menacing hiding nearby. "What is it?" She asks finally.
"Rats."
She nods. "Probably attracted to the food I carry."
"I do not think so. Low minded youkai tend to stay away from more powerful auras, and yet they seek us out and follow us." He tells her as his eyes slowly scan the land. Aya does likewise, however no further Intel is gained. "Prepare yourself."
"For what?" She is already alert and ready to throw an energy blast at the nearest threat. Then she feels it.
*Gasp!*
Sesshoumaru's aura expands, intensifying quickly in the hopes to scare off the pests to look for trouble elsewhere. Being so near, Aya feels the full brunt of his electrifying essence, inside and out. She looses the grip on the sack over her shoulder for a second time. Every muscle in flux as she bares the intense power that is the Western Lord. As a "miko" her body should be in a horrified fit to get as far away from him or to retaliate with her own aura. Instead it ripples through her much like the wind through the feathers of a bird souring in the air; in one word its exhilarating.
As predicted the rats scamper away out of his range. Sesshoumaru draws his aura back within normal parameters. 'The miko was better prepared then she sounded. Her aura didn't for a second oppose mine.' He spares a look at Aya, her face in complete awe. He allows himself a tiny smirk when she collapses most completely into the dry grass. 'Ah, too much for her, not unexpected.' His smirk remains another few moments before scooping up the woman over his right shoulder, and her bag over the other one, and continues on.
Later on, towards the evening he finds the miko had wound her arms around his tail and was nuzzling her head into it. Normally he would find it repulsive having a human 'pet' him as she was doing but once again her touch was reluctantly inoffensive. Suffice it to say, he didn't mind.
Aya wakes in a semi upright position with her head leaning into the softest fur pillow that ever graced her face. Something warm and strong is bracing her butt up along the upright hard surface, which seems to be shifting a bit.
"Did you sleep well, Aya?" A deep voice very near her head asks blandly. She whips her head to the voice only to see Sesshoumaru's golden eyes glare a mere four inches away. "If you are done napping, you will remove your miko hands from this Sesshoumaru's tail." He gently warns her although there is a hint of amusement in his eyes as Aya realizes where her arms are wrapped around and blushes deeply. She dislodges them as he sets her down on her feet.
"I'm sorry." She apologizes as she takes her sack from him and walks beside him. "I fainted. How embarrassing…"
"Hn." The lord grunts in agreement, however not entirely on her embarrassment. During her passed out state, his right hand was conveniently cupped around her plush right buttock, to hold her in place as he carried her mind you. But, it was just the perfect fit in his large clawed hand that at one point he could not resist one tentative little squeeze. He simply could not fathom where the idea came from or why he wanted to do it to the pure miko. It was just there and once again he demeaned the poor girl, even though she hadn't noticed. 'What is wrong with me? If I should be groping any female it should be the neko Arisu, my mate, not a human miko.'
Sesshoumaru seems lost in his thoughts Aya notices. 'Something's troubling him. I can feel it. It shouldn't be any of my business, but damn my curiosity I want to know. Just let him be Aya. Just let him be for now.' For the remainder of the daylight and into the night the companions trek the countryside in silence.
The two finally make camp inside a small cave as cold wind and the scent of rain foretells of ominous weather. Aya offers the lord a stew of rabbit and roots. Her sensitive hearing picks up the muted grumblings of the taiyoukai's stomach. He'll likely never tell another he's hungry, but that didn't mean he should ignore his needs. She's rarely seen the youkai eat at all, only the occasional sip from a wine skin. She quietly places the steamy aromatic bowl before his seated form then walks to the other side of their meager fire to eat her portion in silence.
It is not long before he takes up the bowl and takes a bite.
"It is acceptable, Aya." He says breaking the silence and leisurely eating it up.
"Hn," She grunts mimicking the Lord, and smiles thoughtfully at him. 'He spoke first and used my name! I dare say this is progress. He even accepted human food! I think it's still too soon to try retrieving our souls again. I have noticed that actions speak louder than words to him. Perhaps doing kind and honorable acts for him will bridge the gap between us. My talking doesn't seem to help that much. It mainly seems to annoy him, not that I don't get a little perverse pleasure from doing so. Communication is key though, so I'll try to communicate more through my actions and hopefully he'll reciprocate with words or non aggressive actions of his own. Why did I not think of this sooner! I just hope I don't offend him too much.'
After eating and cleaning up she bids Sesshoumaru a quick goodnight then huddles into her one blanket to sleep.
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For the next two days the pair treks toward the east in a wide weaving pattern. Aya took on a more reserved and quiet persona. Instead of her perusing questions and simply trying to strike up a conversation, she politely addressed her daily needs and smiled at him at every opportunity. At every meal she offered some to him though he only took her offer one more time. She almost offered to hunt for fresh meat, when it occurred to her it might offend him if she were the one to 'bringing home the bacon' as it were instead of Lord Sesshoumaru, so she refrained. It was killing her not speaking her mind but she could feel Sesshoumaru's aura was a bit more at ease. If the guy would just open up a little, she would be less inclined to bite her tongue all the time.
'What is with the miko the last couple days? Ever since she felt the full force of my aura she's been acting strangely. Although it's nice not to hear those nosy questions, her voice isn't all that bad for a human. Did my aura damage her in some way? That's absurd. I meant no harm to Aya. And what is with the constant smiling? It looks fake. I want a real smile like that day with Rin and the flowers… I do? Yes, an honest expression is better than a lying one.' He turns to the black haired woman to his right. "Why do you smile constantly at this Sesshoumaru? Have you done something wrong and are you compensating by showing false pleasantries?" She stares at him bewildered. 'Ah, confusion and ire. Much better.'
"Huh? I haven't done anything wrong. I was just attempting a more demure attitude. I did not know you would take it as falsehoods."
"Then why are you acting strangely these last few days?"
"I…I wanted to give you some space to…to open up. To give you the opportunity to communicate with me and make you feel more comfortable with me so we can break this bond. My nosy questions didn't seem to help much as you ignore me most of the time when I talk. And, I noticed you react better to what someone does rather than what someone says so I acted on my best behavior." She grimaces hopelessly.
"It does not suit you Aya." He tells her.
"Well at least it got a reaction out of you." She smiles for real.
"Hn."
"Ah don't go back to that! I thought we were making progress." Whining slightly.
"Hn." He says again just for effect.
Her hand goes to her hips. "Oh, now I know you are doing that on purpose."
"Hm." A corner of his lip quirks upward.
"Cut that out you, Lord Sesshoumaru!"
"Hn, hn, hn." He actually chuckles, and at her expense no less. It takes her back hearing the ice lord laugh for the first time.
"This is not exactly what I meant when I said communication." She amends but her wide grin and slightly flustered face shows she didn't mind so much.
Sesshoumaru watches the play of emotions on her face; real ones. 'Yes, much better, and such a pleasing smile.' He admits.
She immediately stops the silent act in favor of being herself. She begins to unleash her torrent of questions, slowly of course. Aya doesn't want to agitate him into complete silence again. 'Yes, definitely progress and a nice little glint to his eyes when he chuckles.'
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"Ye art sure?" The old miko kneels before a suspended pot of soup and stirs it attentively.
"Yes, Lady Keade, your sister Kikyo stole the Tetsusaiga and disappeared." Miroku reiterates on the other side of the pot.
"Mine sister is much changed since her resurrection." She spares a look at the unusually subdued hanyou. "I haven't a clue why she would take thine sword, Inuyasha."
His only response is a grunt and shrug. Miroku speaks again. "Have you seen Lady Kagome recently or a woman going by the name of Aya?" Inuyasha's form minutely tenses at the question.
"Seen? Nae, but I did feel Kagome's aura briefly nearly a week ago and it was accompanied by a strong demonic aura as well. It did not feel threatening but I sought it out just to be sure. However both auras disappeared in the direction of the well before I could see them. I assumed Kagome was being escorted by one she hath made friends with." Keade ladles out soup to Miroku then the rest of the party. All of the inu-tachi seem to relax the tension in their respective bodies at the good news, even Inuyasha.
"At least we know Kagome is safe now." The slayer remarks.
"We'll wait for her return then, unless you Inuyasha want to drag her back like usual?" Says the monk. Inuyasha gets up and leaves the meager hut in favor of solitude without a word.
"Hath something happened to thine friend?" Asks Keade. The monk and slayer both shrugged.
"I think he and Kagome had a really big fight bigger than normal but what do I know. I'm just a kid." Shippo then slurps at his bowl of soup as if he hadn't said anything. Keade thinks best not to pry and let things unfold as they happen.
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Inuyasha sits in his customary perch away from the others' voices and the subjects they might be talking about; mainly him and Kagome and no Tetsusaiga. 'I'm completely useless to you now Kagome. I don't even have my sword to protect you anymore. And of all people to steal it, it was Kikyo. I would easier believe Sesshoumaru to steal it, not Kikyo! I trusted her, damn it! Kagome is right. I am an idiot sometimes. And such an idiot not to see how much I was hurting her.' His chest cavity retracts heavily with a sigh. 'Will she come back here? Yeah she will but not for me. She'll come to see Shippo, Sango, and maybe even Miroku. Also for her duty for the jewel, but when she sees me, she'll sit me a thousand times and then disown me with that killing, hurtful look on her face. Why did I have to realize too late that I love you more than any other person in the world? I do not deserve forgiveness. If only I can see you again without the pain in your eyes. I want to hold you Kagome; will the pain away. How can I? I am its source.' Inuyasha sits there hours on end wallowing in his misery and hoping against tiny hope that she forgives him.
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Days pass without any sign of Kagome. Inuyasha becomes increasingly tense and restless. The hanyou paces the hardened dirt in front of Keade's hut, worry clearly painted on his face.
"Ease up Inuyasha; you're wearing a trench into the walkway." Violet eyes of the monk watch the hanyou's bare feet trek a pointless fifteen foot round trip over and over again. His dog-like ears twitch, but otherwise ignore the monk. 'He could easily get her. He's just afraid of how she'll react to him when she sees him again. I'm sure of it. I think he'll be fine. Lady Kagome never stays angry for long. With nearly a fortnight gone by, she must be calmer by now even if whatever had happened seemed like an especially big blowup. She can't stay mad. She loves the poor mutt.' He eyes Sango sitting next to him sewing a hole in her slayer outfit. Eyes do not stay long at her face though. They travel down her backside to the nice delectable rump that is ever so squeezable.
"Don't even think about it, monk," Her nonchalant tone betraying the threat that lay in those words.
His eyes reluctantly leave the beautiful eye candy and the tempting hand candy for the mundane grey color of the sky. 'Oh, Sango. You know me well. If only you knew me even better, alas, not today.'
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Sesshoumaru thinks back on what the miko had said about their first meeting. After a full week of searching for the evil hanyou, he finds himself surprisingly more at ease with Aya the last few days. He finds himself wanting to sit closer, not that he does, but the urge is there. He does however instigate a few sessions of witty banter if he does say so himself, just to draw out the ire and coy playfulness the miko had displayed days ago.
One little discussion on the previous day centered around medicinal herbs and how humans seem to depend on them so greatly for every little thing. He casually pointed out that youkai required few such remedies for their health. She then pointed out that despite being hardier creatures youkai can still die from youkai type ailments such as poisons and then she added that because youkai do not congregate as thickly as humans that diseases are less likely to develop among them. Before he could open his mouth to point out the failings of humans living such she defended that humans are adaptive creatures and what doesn't kill them makes them stronger and that there was always strength in numbers. From personal experience Sesshoumaru rebuked her saying that when humans fight a youkai such as himself the only outcome from added human bodies is added human dead bodies. Aya rolled her eyes then in exasperation. She admitted that his lordliness is exceptionally powerful but warned that no one on this earth is omnipotent. Everyone has a breaking point and she surmised that if there were enough humans fighting him alone that at some point he would mess up or grow tired enough for someone to do him in. In typical arrogance he scoffed and told her how impossible it was. She groaned and muttered something akin to wondering if there was a medical cure for arrogance, then stated that his so called character flaw must be an incurable youkai disease. He smiled briefly then satisfied at vexing her for the time being.
He rather enjoyed setting her off balance and while he was stuck with her he might as well gain some entertainment value out of her. With such a unique personality and vibrant featured eyes he has to have remembered their first encounter.
The pair currently transverse a steep mountain slope in the midday autumn sun. Surprisingly Aya is keeping up with him as his trek upward takes no effort at all. Although she is huffing slightly from the effort. 'She was young when she first saw me. She was old enough to remember and understand what I was and yet young enough to not know how to deal with a youkai. She looks about twenty-five human years at the oldest. When do mikos begin their training? Perhaps she was about ten, so fifteen years ago I saw her.' He thinks hard to the past while still maintaining his sense of surroundings. 'Hmm, I do not recall a bright eyed child at that time. I was in the north fighting. Only Rin fit's the bill and that was only two years ago. Perhaps she was a bit older, a young teen maybe?' His mind scours the years forward without any matching memory of Aya's, even memories of encountering human families with a girl child. Nothing. He looks backwards in case his age assessment is wrong. He even goes beyond the assumed age of the girl and still nothing stands out. However, in looking back a different memory does coalesce in his mind. One so far back it's impossible but the recognition of that person, gives him pause. 'A neko youkai who blatantly blocked my path and stared without regard to my superiority with those brilliant blues eyes…' He could have smacked himself upside the head if he wasn't so in control of himself. 'Arisu! It's no wonder she runs from this Sesshoumaru. She must have taken that threat to heart. Over fifty years have past since that day and I can still remember the fear she exuded. Well she's become braver or at least better at hiding her fear. It might be harder to convince her that she's my mate, however, I will still succeed.' He shoots a glance back at Aya. The miko seems to be having trouble with her footing on the rocky incline. A hand grips firmly at the scrawny sapling.
'Damn stupid rocks. I wish I could use my claws instead of these flat shoes. I'd have a lot better traction,' grimacing as yet another foot plant becomes a slippery slide. 'Damn taiyoukai so sure footed. I wonder if he's part mountain goat!' She yells mentally while latching onto a blessed sapling. Just then a strong hand yanks her up to a more stable position beside Sesshoumaru.
"You are starting to slow me down, Aya."
"Just starting to slow you down my lord?" A wry grin beams at him.
He ignores the question. "Your awkward footing speaks of an accident waiting to happen. I will not tolerate accidents."
She scoffs, unimpressed with his arrogance. 'Like he can tell the wind not to blow.'
"You will ride with me." The displeasure at the idea shows plainly on her face. Her mouth opens to voice it. "The measure of your cooperation will effect how you will ride with me." Her mouth snaps shut to squelch any complaint. She has no desire to be carried like a sack of rice, which she is sure will happen if she does refuse.
'I doubt he wants a 'human' to touch him much…' "What do you have in mind my lord?" She asks politely. She still has the sack given to her by the village. It is currently being carried on her back since she found some leather to use as a strap. Also it is considerably lighter each day as she uses up her supplies.
"On my back." Her eyes shifted downward in remembrance of that unpleasant time on his back.
'It is better than the alternative' she relents. 'All that hair, again.'
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B/N: He really is a moron isn't he? And what exactly has Kagome been doing this entire time I may ask. It's not fair to put Inu through so much pain, and give him back his damn sword!