Dulcet: I would like to thank those of you who have remained faithful. KEEP ON REVIEWING! IT'S THE BEST WAY TO SHOW ME THAT YOU WISH FOR ME TO KEEP ON WRITING! Now, enjoy... or else.

Disclaimer: If I owned Inu Yasha, Naraku would either be dead, or have figured out some way to deal with that mass of long, unruly hair. -shivers-

Chapter Fourteen: Let's Tie the Score

The shade of the willow tree was the perfect spot for relaxation during this warm time of spring. Yuki sat lounging on the soft grass as she watched Rin playing merrily with Jaken, who seemed rather annoyed by her insisting that he play with her in the first place.

Still, it was such a lovely scene. Gradually Yuki began to close her eyes, suddenly overcome by the weariness that her recent weak condition from Naraku's miasma had caused her. And just as she was about to drift off, she felt a sharp electric shock on the arch of her neck as someone pressed their index and middle fingers to it. With that, the sleeping human opened her eyes with a jolt and slapped her hand to the spot on her shoulder.

A light chuckle accompanied her awakening. Yuki looked to see Gaitsuko standing next to her, watching the two smaller beings play. "No falling asleep on duty, Yuki," Gaitsuko taunted as Yuki began to straighten, "That little brat over there is important to Lord Sesshomaru. God forbid something happened to her."

"I thought you liked Rin," Yuki commented, not looking over at the demoness so that she too was watching the game in front of them.

"Please… I hate kids," Gaitsuko corrected, "They're just so… cheery and… innocent and… ignorant. Then again, so are some adults… like you."

Finally looking away from the faraway pair, Yuki turned to glare at the noblewoman and opened her mouth to say something in retort. But that was when Gaitsuko interrupted her by adding to her preceding statement, "But wait… you're not an adult are you? You're just a little human teenager. I honestly don't even know why you're going to try to beat me at this little game that we've started. You're no match for me. We both know that I'll eventually get Sesshomaru in the end."

A surge of anger and frustration erupted inside of Yuki at that moment. Then suddenly, a nearby shrub spontaneously combusted into flames, the fire devouring the plant and leaving ashes in its stead in seconds. With this action, Yuki seemed more surprised than Gaitsuko, who only looked at where the bush had once sat with an interested eyebrow raised. "It looks like we have a little firefly on our hands," she smiled.

"What?" Yuki questioned, turning her head to look back up at Gaitsuko. The woman only raised an eyebrow in disbelief though. "You mean to tell me that you are actually confused about this little incident?" she questioned, folding her arms slackly in front of her.

But Yuki didn't answer Gaitsuko. She only looked away to avoid the judgmental stare from her enemy. However, this didn't stop the fact that she could still hear the small guffaw that came from the other girl. "So you actually didn't know you could do that?" she asked with a slight chuckle in her voice, "How stupid can you be?"

Yuki cringed at Gaitsuko's taunting. For some reason, a defeat from her felt as if it had tenfold the power of anyone else's attacks. This actually seemed strange to Yuki though. Why did she take these insults so harshly upon herself? Perhaps she simply felt inferior to this lady of the court. But why should she?

There was no reason after all. In fact, if anything, Yuki was Gaitsuko's moral better. So, Yuki was finally able to look up and smile at Gaitsuko. She knew that she was better at heart than this other female. "What are you grinning at?" Gaitsuko asked, staring suspiciously down at Yuki.

Shaking her head as a reply, Yuki continued to smile. First, to defeat this opponent, she would render her powerless. So far, it seemed to be working. "Stop that," the demoness ordered, whipping out her fan and beginning to wave it gently in front of her face as she felt her control over Yuki's morale beginning to slip through her fingers. Yuki could sense her opponent's uneasiness. She was already beginning to crumble just as her strategy was crumbling.

"Lady Gaitsuko!" a girl from a nearby passing group called.

Gaitsuko took this opportunity to take her exit. But before departing, she cunningly put on a fake expression of thought as she reviewed the conversation in her mind. "Let's see…" she said, "Today, I think that I've proven that the game is in my favor since I am obviously better qualified for the prize. See you around Little -Hotaru-!"

Then, with all of the grace in the world she turned and left Yuki.

Just then, Sesshomaru entered into the sight of both Yuki underneath the willow and of Gaitsuko who was with the other women. Upon spotting her, Sesshomaru slowly began to make his way over to Yuki. She smiled to herself as she saw the look on her rival's face as Sesshomaru could be seen going over to the human servant rather than the demon noble. She could tell that this dealt the thunder woman a terrible blow, now tilting the scales in Yuki's favor. So, Gaitsuko decided to try and distract him away from Yuki. "Oh, Lord Sesshomaru!" she cooed, beckoning him to look her way.

He didn't, however, but instead continued towards Yuki. Another most awful strike to Gaitsuko's ego. Then finally he came to the weeping willow with Yuki still sitting underneath it, who was staring off at Rin as if Sesshomaru weren't even there at all. It was all she could to to not begin to panic again.

Then, without saying anything Sesshomaru took a seat next to Yuki and also looked out and watched his two familiar companions at their game. The two of them sat in that silence for a good amount of time, during none of which did Yuki feel uncomfortable with him for once in her life.

Finally, Sesshomaru was able to say something to Yuki. "I dreamt of you last night," he admitted to her.

Yuki was suddenly snapped out of her relaxed trance and was right back where she had always been: confused and worried. That comment had taken her totally by surprise! "Oh?" she asked in a hushed a nervous voice, "What happened in this dream of yours?"

"I'll only tell you if you come to see a dream doctor with me," he replied.

Raising an eyebrow at him, Yuki gave a quick, "Huh?"

"It was a strange dream and deeply disturbed me... enough that I couldn't get back to sleep last night. That's why I have decided to see a dream doctor," he explained looking over at her, "You should be there with me when I explain my dream and receive its meaning. With a dream like the one I had, it would be good idea. That way there won't be any way for me to hide its message from you. You have a right to know it. You are involved after all."

So, for a few moments, Yuki thought about it. This didn't sound like such a good idea to her. What if she didn't like the message that the dream had sent him? This seemed very likely because there was a very small chance that she would like it. After all... he had DREAMT about her.

Regardless of her gut feeling though, she nodded to him. "I'll go," she agreed, regretting it once she had.

-Hotaru- firefly