Hello! I am so sorry that it's been so long since I updated, I was really busy and had tones of homework! Thank you soo much for all the reviews, they were really sweet! Here I go! (Cause I'm Mario) ;)
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha; I only own the characters that aren't included in the anime/manga.
Chapter Twenty-One
Kikyo stared up at the huge coloured objects that appeared to be certain forms of transport that were twisting around the theme park in which the group had finally arrived in. There was no doubt that this area was absolutely gigantic, in fact it almost looked as if it stretched out for miles and miles on end. And to make it even worse, it was filled to the brim with millions of people - humans thankfully. So in a place as jam-packed as this, just how exactly were they ever to find Hanyuu?
It was true that her imperial orchid hair would make her stand out from the crowd and hopefully make her easier to notice, but if she too was wearing these so called 'normal' robes of this era then she would camouflage in perfectly with the rest of the crowd. She wondered if Inuyasha or Sesshomaru would be able to sniff out her scent. It would give them something to start with at least.
Sesshomaru glared viciously at a passing man who bumped into him without even apologizing, only to then walk away completely ignoring his presence. He snarled at the ignorance of the stranger and cracked his knuckles sinisterly. 'Despicable human' he thought aggressively. Just who did he think he was bashing into the powerful Lord of the West without even uttering a word of apology? He simply could not let such a disrespectful being go free so he flared his demonic aura and readied his green whip of light.
However, Inuyasha suddenly barked at him furiously, "Can you just behave for a little while! You can't just go around slicing people to bits here that just happened to bump into you! They don't know who or what you are!" Seriously, Sesshomaru could be incredibly annoying with how proud and high and mighty he was.
The full dog demon scowled down at his younger half brother with menacing cold eyes, "You have no right to lecture me, half breed." he snarled.
Kagome sighed in irritation as she sensed another argument coming. "Seriously you two!" she scolded, "Do I have to put you both on leashes like real dogs or are you going to be good and shut up!?" Sheesh, talk about sibling similarities.
"I seem to recall seeing a sign of some sorts further back that read that dogs are not permitted to be in here, so you are both quite fortunate that you have not been removed from the area by the security." Kikyo added formally, succeeding to make her reincarnation laugh greatly at her statement.
"Yeah!" Kagome agreed, "Looks like we gotta get you boys each a collar and muzzle to keep you in line!"
Kagome laughed more and even Kikyo allowed a small chuckle to escape her lips.
"Psst, hey!" Inuyasha whispered to Sesshomaru quietly so that he would not be overheard, "Since when have those two been BFFs?"
Sesshomaru raised his eyebrow, "Is there a problem with them being civil with one another or are you just sore over the fact that they are not in conflict?"
"No there's nothing wrong with it! It's just weird seeing them being.. well, friendly with each other since they had so many arguments in the past."
"Little brother..." Sesshomaru sighed mentally, "I believe that you were the cause of the majority of their disagreements."
They had always fought for Inuyasha's affections, so much to the point that Kikyo seemed to have even tried to kill Kagome on one occasion. Foolish women and their equally foolish human emotions. But like Inuyasha had said - why were they acting so kind and dignified towards one another after their history together? True they had had that conversation earlier at the foot of the majestic Sacred Tree that sounded relatively forgiving, but surely they would still be a little bitter about the situation towards one another? Especially Kikyo. She seemed to be more of the type to hold a grudge. Sesshomaru's head hurt from all the thinking. The more that he learned about the mysterious priestess, the more questions seemed to form in his mind, and it was indeed rather frustrating.
Inuyasha frowned at his brother and crossed his arms and pouted like a small spoilt child. "Keh. Whatever Sesshomaru." he muttered.
Kagome looked back at the two brothers who were at war once again and whispered across to Kikyo, "Do you think those two will ever learn to get along? Or at least stop hating each other?" Their constant conflict really was annoying and made her want to slap the two of them right in their faces, even though Sesshomaru would probably slit her throat before she even got close.
"Their feelings towards one another are indeed difficult to read but I do not believe that they entirely hate one another," Kikyo answered calmly, "their relationship is still rather challenged and they each refuse to admit the fact that their feelings of hatred and remorse have vanished over time."
Kagome turned her gaze back to the brothers who were still clashing fierce tongues, and Inuyasha had even lunged at Sesshomaru, only to have been grabbed and held at arms length away from him whilst he struggled in his grasp.
She felt a small smile suddenly forming over her face as she caught the look plastered onto Sesshomaru's usually blank and emotionless face. There was no doubt about it that if only for a split second at the very least, the ruthless dog demon Lord's usually cold and reptilian eyes had flashed a warm molten gold and the tiniest of smirks had tweaked at the sides of this month, almost threatening for a grin to form. Even Inuyasha's wide amused toothy grin was visible from Sesshomaru's rough grasp. But what made it even more amazing was the fact that each of their expressions looked true and genuine.
The broken bonds between the pair were gradually beginning to mend themselves over time and it was quite evident to both Kagome and Kikyo that the two brothers had managed to develop feelings for one another, despite the show of supposed hatred that the two both put on for everyone to see.
No matter how much either Inuyasha or Sesshomaru would try to deny it, there was no disguising the unrequited and very much unwanted love that they shared.
Onigumo stood before one of the huge roller-coasters in the vast park and leapt to attention at what he saw. "I FOUND HIM HANYUU! HE'S UP THERE!" he shouted loudly, pointing up at the old man they were seeking who was riding around in the speeding cart that looped and looped around the twisty track uncontrollably.
Hanyuu gasped in alarm at his dangerous position and feared that he would fall from the cart that did not look very secure at all. "Is he safe in that!?" she shrieked in panic as the ride spun and spun on, carrying the old man far away from them and to the other end of the park.
"I don't really know, but he certainly doesn't look it!" he cried back, "Not that I care about his well-being but if we don't do something fast, then there won't be anything left of him to tell us how to get home!"
"Then let's go and help him!" she said, the determination strong in her voice as she began running in the direction of the ride's entrance.
There was a long queue of people who groaned and scoffed as Onigumo and Hanyuu pushed through them all aggressively, completely ignoring the fact that some of them were only very small children in Onigumo's case as he barged past the small infants forcefully, sending them flying.
"Out of my way, peasants!" he yelled in a demanding and threatening tone as he managed to knock a large man out of his way and sent the poor fellow into a group of squealing kindergartens.
In a matter of seconds, they had arrived at the very front of the line and were frantically looking up at the speeding metal cart for the old man they were pursuing. Onigumo strummed his foot impatiently and trod on some loud and annoying teenage boy's foot, that caused him to groan loudly and curse at the bandit from under his breath. Onigumo however, simply ignored the boy's foul language and kept his eyes fixated on the dangerous looking ride before him.
Meanwhile, though neither Onigumo or Hanyuu were aware of it, Hanyuu was being checked out by the cursing boy's friends, as they whistled loudly and elbowed one another in excitement. Not that it was awfully surprising. Hanyuu was, after all, simply lovely looking. And with her demon attributes covered or concealed she almost looked like an ordinary human girl... an ordinary yet tremendously attractive human girl.
One of the boys from the back of the small group emerged and approached the pair with a friendly expression plastered onto his face. He had fair brown hair that fell into his bright azure eyes and he had one of the loveliest honest and genuine smiles that Hanyuu had seen for a long time now. She could not help but return his kind gesture by making a small soft smile appear on her face, making the other boys flush at her impossible beauty even more. Onigumo however, simply glared at the young man and crossed his arms, taking a step closer to Hanyuu in a subconscious protective manor.
The boy with the bright cerulean orbs stopped when he was at arms width from them and laughed fondly, "You two sure are eager to get on this ride, aren't you?" he chuckled in amusement. It would appear that this member of the group of boys was not thinking the lewd thoughts about the bewitching young woman before him that his comrades were.
Instead of having to go through the entire debate over her telepathic way of communication, Hanyuu decided that remaining silent was the best and easiest solution here. So instead, she simply smiled sweetly and nodded her dainty little head, causing her violet hair to fall in spirals at her chest and dazzle brilliantly in the sunlight - almost like a glimmering jewel or enchanted gemstone reflecting light.
Luckily, Onigumo answered the boy's question her, "Oh believe me, we're more than eager! For the old man up on this death trap, this is a matter of life and death! And we need his help with something so we have to save him from certain doom!" he exclaimed.
Hanyuu laughed awkwardly at how blunt and formal Onigumo had just sounded, accidentally flashing her sharp white fangs, although thankfully no one seemed to notice. Hearing her slight chuckle, the boy looked across at her and stared for a few moments as if she had triggered something that caused for him to become incredibly deep in thought as he rubbed his chin. And after a while of silent thinking, he shook his head and laughed again.
"I'm sorry," he said finally, "you just reminded me of someone that I used to know for a moment."
She cocked her head to the side slightly in her bird-like manor and blinked curiously. Who on earth in this time and age could she possibly seem similar to that would provoke such a reaction from this boy whom she had just met?
Pushing the odd feeling of familiarity that had just washed over him, he smiled kindly, "Well my name is Hōjō, it's nice to meet the two of you."
"I'm Onigumo and this here is Hanyuu."
The other boys were rather fascinated by her unusual and mysterious name as they all grinned widely, content with the fact that they had learned the name of this radiant female.
All of a sudden, a tall and muscular man who was wearing a strange orange uniform approached them and opened the gate to the ride with some kind of key. "In you all go." he said firmly.
Wasting no time at all, Hōjō ditched his friends who had become immediately smitten with Hanyuu, and pulled Onigumo and her to the front of the ride, where he then plonked them down on the front seats excitedly. They looked up in confusion to his actions and blinked. They were only here to look for the old man but he appeared to have completely vanished! "Hey..." Onigumo started before he was cut off by Hōjō.
"This is the best part of the vehicle to be sat in!" he explained, "But it can have a bad effect on your stomach afterwards so I'll give you both something to settle them later."
Onigumo scoffed mentally 'oh great, a health nut' he thought to himself as he sat back in the vibrating seat of the metal cart. Whereas Hanyuu was rather alarmed by his words, as her ears and nose already hurt from the strange smells and sounds of this era. She did not like the idea of having an upset stomach to top all of that off too! But before she could protest in sign language, the man with the orange uniform on pulled down on the metal bar suddenly that was covering her and Onigumo. Just how unsafe was this vehicle for it to need so many safety precautions!?
When the man was fully satisfied that the pair were properly secure, he left for the control room and began pressing lots of buttons and panels. Hanyuu trembled slightly and whimpered, clutching onto the bar tightly.
"Hey," Onigumo muttered, not meeting her gaze and keeping his eyes set straight ahead, "What's wrong?"
She was hesitant to answer at first as she lowered her head in embarrassment, a small flush rising on her cheeks "... This bar is squishing my chest." she whispered finally.
He dropped his serious and distant expression as he let out a loud and hearty laugh at her complaint. "Well it isn't exactly the smallest part of your body is it? So it's only to be expected really." He laughed even more at his statement.
She shot him a death glare and scowled coldly, "Shut up."
Changing the mood completely, he turned to face her and looked at her intensely. "Are you afraid?" he asked honestly.
She stared at him for a while, unsure of his reasoning for asking such a thing before she eventually shrugged. "Maybe a little." she admitted quietly.
"Good," he grinned, "Because I'm a little disturbed too at what this thing is going to do to us, and from that Hōjō's last comment about unsettled stomachs, I'm starting to believe that climbing upon this cart was a rather rash thing to do."
Seeing that his statement had relaxed her slightly because of how her tensed shoulders seemed to become a little more natural and he could hear her breathing become steadier, he decided to take this opportunity to his advantage. He slowly shifted his hand across his lap in the direction of her smaller clawed one, and took quick peeks across at her from the corner of his eye just to check that she had not noticed his careful movement. Luckily, she seemed more occupied with her surroundings as her gentle honey eyes were locked onto something else in the distance.
But she was soon snapped from her gaze as a large and masculine hand quickly clasped her own and held onto her fingers tightly. She shifted her head to look at his concealed expression and had her mouth hanging slightly open. Though he had done this before, his action had taken her by surprise and created a tight knot in her stomach that she was not entirely familiar or comfortable with. In fact, she was rather tempted to pull her hand free from his demanding grasp and fold her arms, but she seemed quite unable to do so. For some reason, the way that he was rubbing his thumb over hers gently in a soothing manor was quite calming in the intense situation and tranquillized her nervous state back to neutral.
But woah, hold on just a minute. If she was simply using his hand as a source of comfort then why in the world was she suddenly stroking his fingers with her thumb!? Was she retarded or perhaps going deluded? What did that disobedient wandering thumb of hers think it was doing!?
Before she could come to a rational explanation to by her hand was comfortably fondling his, the metal cart which they were seated in began to vibrate violently and make a loud humming noise. Hanyuu clenched her teeth as she tried to block out the screeching noise from her delicate eardrums, but was distraught when she learned that the metal bar across her restricted her from reaching up to cover her ears. So instead, she tightened her grip on Onigumo's hand so tightly that it was sure to stop the blood from circulating in it.
He looked across at her despairing expression and squeezed her hand back. "Make sure you keep your eyes open," he said, "we'll have a better view of the area from higher up, so keep an eye out for the old man."
She re-opened her eyes and nodded weakly, swallowing and steadying herself.
And then unexpectedly, the ride lurched forward and pulled itself slowly up a steep slope that seemed a lot higher than it probably was. It paused at the top for what seemed like an eternity, allowing Hanyuu to briefly catch her breath, before it suddenly plunged down at an incredible speed and threw its passengers heads back.
Onigumo and Hanyuu shrieked at the very top of their lungs and clung to eachother's hands desperately. They screamed louder than they ever had before in their lives as the ride looped and spun upside down, travelling through tunnels that were pitch black and almost right into the lake that sat next to the park entrance. It was not physically possible for either of them to keep their eyes open, let alone search for any trace of the old man in the crowds below.
Onigumo glanced across at his female companion, who was in hysterics screaming and had her eyes squeezed shut.
"ARE YOU OKAY?" he shouted over the deafening humming of the ride as she opened her eyes and turned her head to face him.
"NO! I'M NOT! THIS IS AWFUL!"
She clutched onto his hand so powerfully she most likely had stopped the blood flowing in it and turned his flesh blue.
The journey seemed to go on forever as the cart continued to spin around uncontrollably, but it finally came to a slow halt.
Hanyuu released his hand and fell back into her seat, panting in exhaustion and blinking rapidly as she tried to process the extremeness of the situation that she had just experienced.
Onigumo did the same as they opened their eyes and made eye contact.
"...Damn." he laughed in exhaustion, making her laugh along with him.
When the metal bar had been removed and they were free from its grasp, Hōjō came around from his seat and smiled in amusement at their faces. "See?" he chuckled, "Didn't I tell you that it was fun?"
They looked up at him and simply panted.
"Come on, I'll show you all the best rides!" he grinned, pulling them both up and dragging them away, apparently forgetting about their true purpose for coming to the park in the first place.
Inuyasha stomped his foot in frustration as he slumped himself down on a low brick wall. "Dammit!" he grumbled, "Where the heck is she!?"
Sesshomaru scanned the area with his narrowed metallic eyes and sniffed for any trace of Hanyuu's scent, but he had no such luck on picking up on anything of the sort. He glanced down at his brother and shot him a look of annoyance. "Be patient, half breed." he said flatly, "This is a large human dwelling in which many of the mortals seem to be residing in, so naturally it will take a little while to locate the pup."
Inuyasha snarled loudly and snapped back, "Don't you think I know that already?! It's just that we must've been here for hours now but we haven't even caught a measly glimpse of her yet!"
Sesshomaru sighed inwardly at his brother's easily triggered temper, "Patience, Inuyasha. It is a very useful emotion which you seem to lack."
Inuyasha suddenly bust out laughing at his brother's previous comment, as he threw his head back and raised an eyebrow. "Oh. So you're lecturing me about EMOTIONS?" he teased.
Not waiting for Sesshomaru to make another remark or for Inuyasha to continue, Kagome spun around fiercely and screeched in their both of their faces, also causing a few people to stare at the scene taking place. "FOR GOD'S SAKE!" she screamed, "JUST GIVE IT A REST ALREADY! YOU'RE ACTING LIKE SPOILT IMMATURE CHILDREN! WHEN ARE YOU JUST GONNA GROW UP AND STOP THIS STUPID AND POINTLESS SQUABBLING!?"
Inuyasha stepped back in fright at Kagome's sudden explosion as Kikyo tried desperately to surpress the smile that was threatening to form on her face. It would appear that Kagome became rather scary to Inuyasha when she was angry, how very amusing. It became even more amusing when she looked across and saw Sesshomaru's expression. His eyebrows were arched so far upward it looked as if they might fly right off of his face, and his usually narrowed eyes had widened at least a fraction of an inch. He seemed shocked at the nerve of Kagome and how bold she was to dare let her mouth run at him! Kikyo smirked at his funny looking face. 'Not accustomed to that kind of treatment and disrespect are you, all mighty demon Lord of The Western Lands?' she thought.
As if he had heard her thoughts, Sesshomaru shifted his gaze to the amused priestess and just stared at her, as if he was trying to figure out just what she was chuckling away at. She coughed and looked away innocently, re-applying her emotionless mask.
Sesshomaru raised his eyebrow at her behaviour and intensified his gaze on her, hoping to make her uncomfortable so that she would reveal just what had amused her so. But she remained as concealed as a closed book.
Inuyasha frowned at Kagome and scoffed, "Keh, whatever." he grumbled.
Kagome's brow twitched, "Do I have to say the word in front of all these people?" she threatened, making him shiver slightly in intimidation when he realised just what she was implying, "You know I don't make empty threats, Inuyasha."
Knowing that this petty little conflict was not going to be ending any time soon, Sesshomaru walked to stand just before Kikyo and looked down at her. He had never really noticed how considerably shorter she was to him, not that it really mattered but it was just something he had failed to notice. Perhaps it was because of her being his ally, he had viewed her as an... equal? Preposterous! He viewing someone as weak and lowly as a human as his equal? 'I must be slowly going out of my mind with age' he thought to himself, 'to consider an insignificant mortal as my equal'.
When she coughed quietly to get his attention, he was drawn out of his thoughts and back to her. "I propose that the two of us continue in our search for Hanyuu without Inuyasha and his woman, it is likely that they will be at this for a while." he said in his usual monotone.
Kikyo glanced across at the fighting couple before her and sighed mentally before turning back to face Sesshomaru. "I understand," she nodded, "let us go."
They managed to ditch Inuyasha and Kagome thankfully without being noticed and made their way to the other side of the park. The amounts of people passing by had decreased considerably and there was still no sign of Hanyuu anywhere. Sesshomaru inhaled deeply and tried to search for a glint of faint purple in the crowds that he had left behind, a faint purple that would hopefully be Hanyuu's hair. But alas, there was no such sight for miles. It was becoming quite bothersome with how the young half demon pup had been managing to evade his senses for so long. It was almost as if she had somehow completely masked her aura, which was quite impossible for a mere half demon so he pushed that thought aside.
Kikyo herself, with her high spiritual powers of detection, also had yet to sense Hanyuu and was rather surprised with how she found herself able to sense Inuyasha even from this far away. This did not make sense. If she could feel Inuyasha's aura from this far away, then why could she not find any trace of Hanyuu? How had the girl managed to avoid her senses for this long now? Something was not adding up.
She spoke up and caught Sesshomaru's attention, "Do you think searching from above would give us more of an advantage?" she asked.
"It would be unwise for us to draw attention to ourselves by flying around in the air above a large area such as this. The humans would only be suspicious and panic." he stated in 'a matter of fact' tone.
"We may not have to fly as you said." she replied, pointing up at a large wheel with carts attached to it that carried small groups of people, "If we could board that strange vehicle there, then we would be able to view the entire vicinity with ease."
He looked up at the show spinning wheel and reached into his trouser pocket, pulling out a long strip of yellow papers that Kagome's mother had called 'tickets'. "I believe that these particular items will grant us passage." he muttered.
Kikyo studied the small strip of yellow papers and poked them, "This is indeed a peculiar land, is it not?"
"Hn." he grunted in agreement.
They arrived at the foot of the colourful looking wheel and stared up at it in bewilderment, it was even weirder looking up close, the pair had never seen anything quite like it before. They showed their strip of odd yellow papers to a man wearing a vivid orange uniform and watched in fascination as he ripped two of the pieces off and shredded them in a little box he wore around his neck.
They then boarded one of the strange suspended carts that were attached to the wheel and sat squished opposite one another. It was small and felt rather unsafe, not to mention awkward with how close it forced them to be. Kikyo's long raven hair kept falling over her bare shoulders and skimming Sesshomaru's knees, that were also pressed firmly against her own.
When the cart finally began to ascend, she found herself unable to look him in the eyes, so instead she kept her gaze on the ground below and searched for Hanyuu. But it was rather distracting when she could feel Sesshomaru's hot breath rushing across the crown of her head. Feeling brave, she allowed herself a quick peek at him as she glanced up from under her dark bangs.
His head was titled ever so slightly to the left and his eyes were distant and scanning the grounds below for his niece. He had a loose strand of silver hair that had fallen from behind his ear that Kikyo had to physically stop her hand from moving to brush it away from his face. He seemed so into his thoughts that he probably wouldn't notice if she just sorted it out for him, but knowing how alert and careful he always was, she decided against it. She would must likely lose her hand if she even tried.
His sudden remark caught her off guard as he kept his eyes on the ground below, "Found something interesting to look at, Priestess?" he asked.
She blinked at his statement. So he had known that she was staring at him for this entire time and he had waited this long to acknowledge her? Then surely he had not been fully concentrating on what he was supposed to be doing if he had known. But how exactly had he known that she had been staring at him? He hadn't exactly spared her a glance in return. Her mouth turned into a straight firm line as she swallowed.
"My memory tells me that you were the one who suggested coming up here in order to make our search for Hanyuu easier, yet you do not show any signs of searching for her with your eyes." he continued, never taking his eyes away from the distance.
Kikyo moved her gaze away from him and down to the park below, not quite knowing what to say to him on how to describe her confusing behaviour to him.
"Kikyo,"
His use of her name and not simply 'priestess' always drew an unfamiliar reaction from her, as she once again turned to look at him. He was looking straight at her this time, with an expression that she had not seen him wear before. His brows were down like they usually were and his mouth was in its usual firm line, but his eyes... they appeared to have transformed from the cold metallic state that they always were to a hot molten colour. Her breath got caught in her windpipe as she let out a muffled gasp of astonishment. It was like she was looking into a pit of burning flames in the furnace of a volcano as his narrow irises danced. Never had she seen him wear such an expression before. It shocked her so much that she completely forgot that she had stopped breathing.
"Breathe Kikyo," he spoke lowly, "it is necessary to survive."
She inhaled a heap of air suddenly and panted lightly under his burning gaze, she felt that if she sat under it for too long she would surely melt. "What is it that you are trying to do?" she managed to choke out.
His eyes narrowed and the burning of the inferno within intensified, making her gulp. "Do your affections for Inuyasha continue to linger?" he asked finally.
The unfamiliar feeling that was choking her subsided when the words left his lips. But now she just found herself confused instead. "..What?" she asked eventually.
He frowned at her moment of brief dumbness as he finally tucked the piece of hair that had been bothering her for so long behind his pointed ear. "I do not like to repeat myself so listen well this time, Kikyo." he said lowly, purposely using her real name instead of priestess again, "Does your weak little human heart still yearn for Inuyasha?"
Kikyo paused. He didn't have to put it so harshly, he could have just asked if she was still in love with his brother. And why was he asking this so randomly anyway? What did he care of her feelings or the relationship between her and Inuyasha? He wasn't exactly the most compassionate person around, nor did he care about other people and their feelings.
She frowned, "What business is it of yours?" she asked coldly, closing her eyes in an attempt to shun him for his rudeness and insensitivity.
Surprisingly, he smirked at her attitude and almost let off a low chuckle. She opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow at him. "None at all," he answered, "I was merely curious."
"Somehow I doubt that that was your reasoning for asking." she huffed, "And in answer to your question: no I do not still love him."
When she looked up to see his expression, she was rather alarmed by how he had shifted so close to her that there must have only been a small centimetre apart. His eyes were still burning away through her as she found herself unable to look away this time. "Do not lie Kikyo." he said firmly.
She narrowed her eyes at him, "I did not lie."
The stray piece of silver hair fell once again from behind his ear and Kikyo, unable to control herself, reached up and tucked it back into place roughly. She flashed him a smug expression as he frowned down at her foolishly bold hand that had dared to touch him without permission. He reached down and grasped it with his larger clawed one and brought it up to his face, making her blink in confusion to his actions.
He smirked, "Disobedience is something that I do not tolerate."
Her eyebrows twitched at his statement as she tried to free her hand from his strong grasp, but it was not coming loose. She glared at him and frowned, making her nose wrinkle up in frustration.
Seeing the lethal look she was giving him, he brought her hand closer to his face and up to his lips. He carefully brushed his large fangs across her soft and creamy knuckles, before he let his tongue slip out and trace her index finger lightly.
His action surprised her as she gasped again in astonishment. 'Why you dirty, sly little...' she thought as his tongue continued to trace her finger before making its way up to her knuckle. His eyes were dancing with amusement at the response he was drawing from her as she shot him a look of pure ice. She tensed her knuckles and twitched her fingers, trying to escape his sneaky tongue that insisted on tasting her flesh. The heat was beginning to rise in her cheeks as she swallowed and looked down. 'Stupid dog' she cursed mentally.
With his work complete and now that he had the reaction from her that he had wanted, he drew back his tongue and smirked against the back of her disobedient hand before planting a small kiss onto the smooth back of it.
She gasped loudly at his unexpected action and took her hand back now that it was free from him. Her cheeks felt as if they were burning and her chest had begun to thrum out the beat of a samba, which she was positive he would be able to hear with his enhanced hearing abilities. She looked up at his smirking face and was quite speechless. He really was filled with surprises.
Now that the cart had finally arrived back at the bottom of the wheel, they stepped out and left the area. Kikyo walked a few paces ahead of Sesshomaru as she tried to reduce the burning of her cheeks and the tingling in her hand left behind. But he simply chuckled to himself at her reaction. Though they had not spotted Hanyuu because of the... distraction, he had had some fairly decent entertainment so it had not been a complete waste of his time.
Oooh look at Sessh getting in there with his sneaky little tongue! He won't let good meat go to waste! Review if you enjoyed and I'll try to post the next chapter sooner than last time! ~Happy