Chapter 25: Candy
Sesshoumaru listened carefully, with rapt interest. What was the miko about to do?
"What can I do for you miss?" Rolf asked once the door was closed.
"Nothing." The miko said sweetly. Sesshoumaru then felt an enormous wave of purification energy sweep through the hold cell. Demons went crazy, smashing again the bars of their cage in a desperate attempt to escape the onslaught. The wave stung Sesshoumaru in his weakened state, burning into his already wounded back. "You see my hand, Mr. Rolf. Do you see this pinkish glow? Do you know what this is, Rolf?" The miko asked.
"... purification energy... but how..." Rolf choked out.
"Quite simple, actually. You see, I am a fairly well trained miko. I know more than even Lili and Kati know, when it comes to demons. I dare say, I know more than yourself, Rolf. I have lived with wild demons, I have fought thousands, and I have loved demons. You see... the demon back there, he is very important to me, which is why I am going to offer you a price you can not refuse and you are going to send him home with me." The mikos voice was heavy with confidence.
"And what price might that be?" Rolf sneered.
"In exchange for you sending him home with me, I will not purify every single demon in your possession." The few higher up demons that could hear the miko speaking as he could, began to go a bit stir crazy at her declaration. He wasn't sure himself, if he'd be safe from her purification energy, as he had never really been her target before. Sure, she had broken his armor with an arrow in the past, and she was largely responsible for Naraku's demise, but Sesshoumaru was stronger than Naraku could ever have hoped to be. Still, in his condition, it was questionable. She could potentially purify him, too. Sesshoumaru did not like this one bit. His fate rested on his captor and this wretched human miko of the halfbreed's. She was as troublesome as he was, possibly more.
"You wouldn't dare!"
"I can purify them from here. I do dare and I will, I have done so on many other occasions." Sesshoumaru could hear they lying in her voice, though her tone remained even. She was bluffing to free him. "Do we have an agreement?"
Sesshoumaru could hear Rolf huffing in anger. He had to admit the little miko had a fire in her soul. He remembered it well for their first encounter when he had tried to melt her with his poison, unsuccessfully. She was the reason Inuyasha had learnt to use Tessaiga. He had seen her fire other times in the past as well, but he wasn't about to dive into memory lane now. What was more important at the moment, was why she was so adamant about him being her choice? She must remember what transpired in the past... after all, she remembered him. She couldn't be a reincarnated version of her former self...
"You will regret this girl!" Rolf barked.
"No... I don't think I will. I am doing this for him... because I'd like to think he would do the same for me. If not, then I know he deserves much better than this. What he is, in that cell, is not the demon he is." The miko stated, as if she knew him! He did not ask for her help, now or ever. He did not need her help. He did not need her. She was wrong. He would never come to her assistance had the rolls been reversed. While they had crossed paths numerous times 500 years ago, it wasn't encounters he would regard as being pleasant.
"Leave!" Rolf demanded.
"As soon as you agree we have a deal! Him... and I will allow the rest of your demons to live."
"Agreed." Rolf ground out.
Sesshoumaru heard the door open before the miko spoke, "I am glad we could come to an agreement, Rolf."
"I will collect the paperwork now, he will be delivered tomorrow." Rolf said, non to gently.
"Oh, that won't do. Someone can bring him now, when I leave. I will ride with to ensure a safe delivery, you know, as long as that is okay with you." The miko stated, there was prideful humor in her voice.
"As you wish." Rolf was clearly annoyed.
"Thank you. Would you care for a piece of candy?" The miko giggled.
"What did you do?" The calm one asked the miko. They didn't know she was a miko, Sesshoumaru concluded. She hid this from her friends?
"Nothing. I just made him aware how beneficial it would be for him to change his mind." The miko said casually, as if nothing at all had happened in that room, while she had been out of earshot of her friends. Sesshoumaru had heard it all clearly. She said he was important to her? Why? What plan did she have in store for him?
Sesshoumaru knew somethjng was going on, and he was going to find out what. He would allow the miko to live for the time being, to figure out what games she was playing. When she was no longer useful and he exposed her deception, he would kill her.