Kagome's eyebrow twitched as the demon lord in front of her threw another insult at his half brother. It wasn't fair the way he treated Inuyasha as nobody asked him to come with them, he showed up of his own accord talking about truce and allies. What he really meant was that he'd try not to kill Inuyasha until the battle was over and he'd treat him anyway he wanted in the meantime. It was highly dishonourable and downright rude to treat your ally in such a manner when you were the one asking for help in Kagome's eyes so she had begun hatching a plan. Whenever they had visited the village and he absented himself due to "human stench and inadequacy", the time travelling miko had taken to teaching her friends how to sing in a round. Being anally retentive as he was, she was sure to piss him off with the amount of noise the game usually ended up in. If not then she had a new game to play with her friends, a win win situation really. Rin seemed to have loved it especially and she was sure that would help her in her scheme against him. She had been studying him for a while and came to realise he was a master of psychological warfare and planned to use his manipulative words to Inuyasha against him. Kagome wanted to wait until the right time to strike and this seemed like it. She had played the game enough with her friends that they knew the order they went in and she had been careful not to sing it unless the intent was to play. Her fighting ring was set and it was time to get the players
"Row row row your boat gently down the stream-"
Rin piped up immediately "Row row row your boat gently down the stream-" then she was followed by Shippo, Miroku and Sango
Kagome had been watching the taiyoukai intently and she realised he stopped listening to Inuyasha's rantings the second Rin began singing. The girl genuinely loved it but she was rather tone deaf. Sesshomaru's shoulders tensed and his jaw ticked as she started again; his face might be expressionless most of the time but he still let things slip. She watched as Inuyasha tried to gain his brother's attention unsuccessfully before realising what was happening, now the game had truly begun. She had deviously included a rule that the round was to be sung 10 times if everybody was singing, if not, you sung until the missing person noticed.
Alright, so I'll stop at 14
Sesshomaru had been growing more irate the longer round went on and he honestly wanted to rip the miko's heart out. It wasn't hard to deduce that she was the ringleader in all this, after all, Rin never tormented his ears with that dreadful song before he joined their ragtag group. It was going on the eighth time they were singing it and his head was beginning to throb. He would not stoop to the miko's level and engage her in whatever game she was playing, she would tire herself out sometime. The way the game sounded was that you stopped singing after the person that preceded you, so he would wait her out. He was a warrior- he'd been through worse conditions in his training than the flat voice of the miko, Rin's fluctuating crooning, the unnaturally high pitch of the slayer, the monk's ridiculous yodelling, the kit's scratchy voice and his half brother's gruff notes combined, singing a senseless song about boats in an imaginary stream and oh GOD he was losing it! He chanced a look behind him and he was met with a pair of blue eyes- everyone was otherwise occupied but she was staring intently at him. She looked away but he saw it, she had been sizing him up. His head was beginning to feel full but he found a new resolve in his verified deductions. She was toying with him
"Row row row"
"-gently down the stream"
"-life is but a dream"
"-your boat gently down"
"merrily merrily merrily merrily"
Nine. The cramped feeling in his head grew and his shoulders began to hurt. He tried tuning them out but they stayed just at the periphery of his mind. Now he was aware of them and the birds, the bugs and the draft of wind around him. The pain moved up his neck and settled at the base of his skull. Great, two headaches
"-stream, merrily merrily"
"Row row row"
"-gently down the"
"-row your boat"
"-merrily life is but a"
Ten. He tried to focus on himself; the rustling of his silks made him even more agitated, his elevated heartbeat stressed him further and his feet following each other faithfully was the only thing holding him down. His head was pulsing harder now and he began to feel lightheaded, Surely this couldn't go on much longer
"-down the stream"
"-life is but a dream"
"Row row row"
"-merrily merrily merrily"
"-your boat gently"
Oh God he couldn't take anymore. He, the great and fearful Lord Sesshomaru, who slayed hundreds in battle and had the largest territory in Japan was feeling faint. The pressure in his head dissipated slightly and a strangle weightlessness set in. He couldn't focus on walking, breathing, hell even the sun was starting to trip him off. He wanted to shout but his throat felt constricted. The taiyoukai was at a loss for action as he never felt such a way before. He summoned up all his energy and used it in one word
"SILENCE"
He was shaking at this point but it was barely from rage "We make camp here for the time being"
"Oi we can't just stop in the middle of the day, we still have a few hours until our rest time!"
Sesshomaru paid no mind to Inuyasha's ranting as he slowly made his way under a tree to sit. Had he stood up any longer, he would have begun to sway.
Kagome was none the wiser to the demon's plight but she could tell that she at least annoyed him and if singing got them to stop during the day then maybe she'd make it a habit. Had she kept her eyes on him earlier she would have seen the turmoil that escaped his gaze but at the moment they were closed and betrayed nothing. She would definitely do this the next time he was mean to Inuyasha, content with her seemingly small victory for now; after all, animals did take a while to learn a new lesson
Hmmm this might be more psychological than i thought
She looked in Sesshomaru's direction and smirked. Who said an old dog couldn't learn a new trick?
Word count: 1159
Prompt: Dizzy