"..." Normal chat.
ABC Thought.
Author's note: So it's decided that I'm going to continue this story up to Yashahime series, thanks to you guys support and motivation. Yay! Still, it's going to take a while for any chapter to be released. Because I need to wait for the series to finish to be able to think of a proper plot for it. Very sorry about that. T_T
Chapter 55
While I'm organizing some old and unused furniture to put into the storage at the back of the house, Sesshomaru appears from the sky and gently lands onto the ground next to me.
"Sesshomaru, welcome back!"
I greet him with a hug, in return he pats my head.
"Nee-san, is there anything else we can help you with?"
Just then Kagome and the others step outside to look for me. It seems that they want to go home since the sun is almost set.
"Nope, I will be fine from here. Thank you!"
I assure her that all the work is done and Kagome smiles. Before leaving, she lends me some of her clothes to wear while I'm waiting for mine to be finished making.
In the end I agree to be addressed as *nee-san* since it feels more intimate. It's also because...
*You're going to get married later on, right? So why not start getting used to it now?*
Or so she said. And I noticed that Kagome's excited for that day to come as much as Rin did.
"Come visit us anytime, okay?"
Kagome holds my hand and encourages us seeing each other more often. Once hearing Inuyasha's nagging from behind, she lets go and bids me goodbye.
After everyone's gone home, I turn to Sesshomaru.
"Dinner's ready, come on in."
Everything is prepared inside our living room, so all we need to do now is to take a seat and eat.
"Itadakimasu!"
As I begin to dig in. Sesshomaru sits there and watches in silent.
"Do you want some?"
Therefore I offer him another bowl with more food and less rice, yet he refuses to take it. And when being asked whether he has eaten anything from outside before returning home, Sesshomaru shakes his head.
I wonder if he ever feel hungry?
Curious, I decide to ask. "Say, Sesshomaru. Can you digest this kind of food?"
Back then, Sesshomaru accepted my cooking from time to time. So I thought that the reason behind him not accepting human food was due to his cold personality.
Still, there could be another possibility that he tried them and ended up with a stomachache...
And my anxiety fades the moment Sesshomaru nods.
"But I notice that you barely eat them. Is it because they're not suited to your taste?"
Seeing him nods again, I sigh in relief.
"Then what do you usually eat? You need food to survive, right?"
After taking a few seconds to considerate, he lists out names of various things that I do not recognize or even know exist. Though I won't be surprised if most of them turn out to be youkai's body parts.
Guess you can say that my plan to cook delicious food for him is doomed to oblivion...
Without realizing, I've halted eating and stare at the floor.
How disappointing, I can't even do something as simple as that for Sesshomaru while being his lover. And surely, I don't want to force him eating human food, after knowing that he isn't so fond of them.
"Don't worry too much about it."
Suddenly he says, as if having read my inner thought.
"It's still feel weird, when I'm the only one who eat these delicious dishes."
And I murmur in response. "There has got to be something that we both can enjoy, right?"
Somehow Sesshomaru looks surprised after seeing how much I'm clinging on to the idea of us eating together, however, he doesn't act annoyed by it and smiles to me.
"Then shall we figure it out, together?"
Once again, I'm drowned within that gentle look of his.
"Okay... Ahem! I mean, sure!"
To wake myself up from ridiculous daydreaming, I cough into my fist several times and nods to end this topic. Jeeze, I need to stop acting like a teenager in love and get used to this.
After finish gulping down today's dinner, I clean up then take a nice bath before going to sleep. And it's not until both of us get into bed that another important piece of memory comes back to me.
"You can fly and fight really well, right?"
Sesshomaru, who has just removed his armor and set them aside since they're too big to fit inside the futon, nods to me.
"Then can you teach me how tomorrow?"
The following morning.
Before I know, I'm already lying on the ground a couple feet away from him.
What just happened?
Staring at the blue sky above my head, I blink a couple times to regain my lost memory from the fight a few seconds ago.
So, Sesshomaru and I were facing against each other, bare-handed. Then I shouted *Go!* and ran forward. When I was about to get close however, he vanished from his spot and suddenly I fell on the ground. Everything happened so fast that I didn't realize what had caused me to lose my balance.
He must have swept my feet.
That's the only conclusion I can think of, since this area is an empty terrain so it's impossible for me to trip over anything.
"Never blindly charge at your opponent."
Sesshomaru approaches and offers his hand to help me get up.
"I only tried to do what you usually did..."
Except it's clearly not working since I'm not as fast as he is. In order to win this match, I have to come up with different approach. Should I aim for his side next? Or maybe his feet.
It's tough to decide since every single move of his never leaves an open spot. Not to mention that they're swift, and deadly too. If he's serious, I would have died for god knows how many times already.
From the start, Sesshomaru has been giving me hints here and there. Though I'm sure that he also wants me to gradually figure things out for myself, instead of being spoon-fed.
"I'm not giving up that easily! One more time!"
Then we try again for a few more rounds until noon. And during our short break, we sit at the top of the hill near our house to enjoy the peaceful scenery together.
"Say, Sesshomaru. Is there anything that you like?"
Thinking that this is a good chance to get to know more about him, I ask.
"Like?"
And Sesshomaru repeats that word dully as if it's something out of this world. Only then I realize that he doesn't fully understand what it means and give him a brief explanation.
"You feel good and happy whenever thinking about it."
Right after hearing so, Sesshomaru states. "There's none."
He didn't even try, did he? Can't just let it end like this, I keep on nagging until Sesshomaru gives in.
"Jeeze. Would you at least give it some thoughts?"
Once letting out a sigh, Sesshomaru stares at my face. And it takes me a moment to realize what he's implying.
"Uhm... Anything that is not related to a girl named Shiomi?"
I'm happy that he thinks of me first. Still, this is not the point of my question so I have to ask him to think of something else. And as soon as Sesshomaru opens his lips to answer, I put up another condition.
"Not a person, but an object."
In instant he falls silent, then I follow his gaze toward the swords hanging on his hip.
"Something that is beyond your possession? Or whatever you enjoy doing is fine too."
Then he stares off into space. For quite a while without speaking a single word. Guess there really isn't any...
"It's okay! I'm sure we will soon figure that out, together!"
Holding my fist up high, I state with great determination and Sesshomaru's eyes widen a little, probably out of surprise. After taking a few seconds to progress, he chuckles at my random enthusiastic attitude and just like that, I feel my skin burns in embarrassment.
"Why the heck are you so handsome?! It's just not fair!"
Emotions running haywire, I quickly cover my face to hide away the deepened blush.
"What are you talking about?"
He responds to my gibberish speech with another chuckle and all of a sudden, I feel his hot breath's blowing by my left ear. Curious, I turn around to see what is happening. Only to realize that Sesshomaru's face has already gotten much closer to mine.
Just as our lips are able to touch. We hear Jaken's call not too far away.
"Sesshomaru-sama..."
It looks like Jaken doesn't want to interrupt us but doesn't have a choice. So it's definitely an urgent matter that he has to attend to.
"Be careful, okay?"
Therefore I remind him before letting go of his hand and Sesshomaru nods. After watching him flying off with Jaken, I return inside the house to take some rest.
Two weeks later.
Kaede's hut.
"I'm here!"
By noon I announce my arrival by the door. Then a happy Rin appears to welcome me with a hug. Sitting on floor in the middle of the house are Sango and Kagome. A bunch of different type of fabrics and a traditional sewing box can be seen lying next to them.
Today they are going to teach me how to sew clothes.
"Alright, let's get started."
Our first lesson is about the basic and learn to sew simple items. When we're half way through, Rin joins us as well for the fun. And turns out she's really good at it.
"It's been two weeks, hasn't it? How are you holding up?"
Sango's awed by how time's flowing so fast. Then she asks me about my new life in this village, and whether I've gotten used to the surroundings.
"Much better than I've expected! It's all thanks to you guys."
Then I go on telling them how I have created a small garden with the empty land next to our house to plant vegetable. Even raising chicken for some eggs while at it.
"I'd love to have a pond as well. Though it's going to take some time for that to happen."
Realize that an obnoxious me from two weeks ago has now been replaced with a fully energetic one, they smile and congrats on my success.
"So... How many kids are you intending to have?"
All of a sudden Sango brings up that topic to us. While Kagome gasps and blushes a little, I stab myself in the finger with the needle and yelp in pain. As I'm trying to tell her that it's too early to have children, Sango explains.
"It's just a question, you know? Not like I'm telling you to give birth now."
After watching our ridiculous overreactions, she stares at us like we've grown two heads.
"One, probably. Yeah."
Both Kagome and I respond in union. Surprised, we turn to each other and grin. Great minds sure think alike!
"But isn't that too little?"
Sango encourages us to have more babies to make things merrier in this deserted village. But I digress.
"Actually, we're reaching to overpopulation very soon. So one is more than enough."
After hearing my reason, Sango cocks her head to one side. Having no idea what I am talking about. "Overpopu... What?"
No longer be able to hold it in, Kagome laughs. Commenting that I may have thinking way too much since we're living in the Feudal era at the moment, not the modern one. So it's going to take quite a while for that to happen.
"Still, how do you have baby?"
Not letting us have a breather, Rin comes up with another question. And once again, I stab my other finger out of shock.
"Well... It's... Uhm..."
While her round eyes are sparkling with great curiosity, Kagome's face and mine are turning pale as none of us knows how to answer properly. Then we turn to Sango for help since she's the most experienced one in this kind of topic. Awkwardly, she gulps a mouthful of air down her throat to prepare for an extra lesson.
...
..
"Oh, I see. So that how it is!"
Much to our surprises, Rin takes it better than any of us has expected. Only spending a few years under Kaede's care, I have to admit that she has become very matured.
"Remember that it will only happen between two lovers, okay?"
Then Kagome reminds her the most important point of this lesson and she nods.
"Rin, do you have someone that you like?"
Curious, I ask whether she has a special person in her mind yet. Since Rin's already reached to her teenager stage. And not missing a heartbeat, she replies.
"Onee-chan and Sesshomaru-sama! Oh! Kohaku and Jaken-sama too! and..."
Rin pretty much lists out everyone and everything that she knows. So I stop her to explain again, in more detail.
"Let me rephrase that. Do you have a crush on anyone? A man or boy, for example."
Hearing so, her head tilts in thought. "Uhm..."
However before Rin can answer, someone appears by the door and puts a halt to our conversation.
"Ah! Sesshomaru-sama!"
As she approaches, Sesshomaru hands her a bag which is wrapped inside a piece of cloth. Opening it up, we finds several colorful fabrics and they're all in high quality.
While Rin's happy with the beautiful present, I stare at him in disbelief. There's more? Where did he get so many of them?
Within no more than two weeks of staying here, Sesshomaru has been showering us with a bunch of extravagant gifts. But there's no way this guy would walk straight into a human's village to buy stuff by himself.
These aren't collected from corpses either. I mean, they look brand new and all...
Just then, a bit of Jaken's silhouette can be seen hiding behind the wall nearby and I understand everything immediately.
So he buys them in his master stead, huh? Clever.
Turns out theses fabrics are meant to be materials for our sewing practices. When realize that Sesshomaru's willing to bring even more next time, I stop him since we don't have enough space to store all of them.
"Thank you so much, Sesshomaru-sama!"
Sitting by my side, Rin smiles and covers her small face with the newly bought fabric like she's sniffing into them, still, it reveals a bit of her cheek that is enough for me to see. And that Rin is actually blushing.
Wait, what?
Quickly, I rub my eyes a several times to make sure that I'm not hallucinating in the middle of the day. But that reddish color remains for a couple of seconds on her face before turning back to normal.
Does that mean Rin likes/loves Sesshomaru?
Finally realizes what is happening, my brain freezes in shock. While deep within my chest, I can hear my heartbeat is getting louder by seconds.
I don't even know what I am suppose to feel right now. Everything just becomes completely blank.
Frankly, I would be lying if I say that I didn't notice her growing attachment toward to Sesshomaru. Those secret glances from behind, or the way she looked at him was also somewhat different. Perhaps the changes had happened way before I returned here.
Oddly enough, my intuition had been telling me that something like this was bound to happen.
Ever since Rin's little, Sesshomaru's been her lord and savior, literally. They've traveled to many places and gone through plenty kind of hardships together. Even now when she no longer goes with him and stays in human village, from time to time, he still visits and giving her gift.
Plus he's kind, cool, strong and handsome. Just who in the world wouldn't fall for such a guy? (Myself included)
But there is nothing wrong to have a crush on someone, even if he/she is taken, right? It's fine since that feeling will fade away one day... won't it? Don't tell me the reason Rin refuse to stay in our house, is also because of this?
Tons of questions start popping out one after another. How irritating that there's no answer to any of them. And why is it that I'm sitting here and getting all worked up over a young girl's first crush?
Not to mention that this is Rin, not some random woman or youkai we meet on the road. I shouldn't be acting jealous all the time like a possessive girlfriend, or Jaken.
Still, I wonder how Sesshomaru will react if he realizes her feelings for him.
In the end the most important thing of all, is Sesshomaru's feeling...
"Nee-san... Nee-san!"
It's not until Kagome continuously laying my arm that I'm awaken from those train of thoughts.
"What's wrong? Are you tired?"
Realize that everyone is staring at me, I shake my head in response and try to laugh it off.
"I-It's nothing! Nothing, really."
Then I dive into the old fabric that we've prepared for today's practice and keep on sewing nonstop. Hoping to erase whatever that is still lingering inside my head.
And just like that, our day ends quietly...
The next morning.
While washing the vegetable to prepare for today's breakfast, I feel a little sting at the tip of my index fingers and notice that there are still small bruises on them.
These are caused by the needle from yesterday... Why is it taking so long to heal?
As I'm in the middle of figuring out what is happening to my regenerative ability, suddenly Sesshomaru appears standing right behind my back like a ghost.
"Shiomi."
For a moment I thought my heart had stopped beating.
"S-Seshomaru? You're still here?"
Hiding the wounds away, I smile and try to act normally. However, my facade can never win against his sharp eyes as Sesshomaru notices my uneasiness just by a single glance.
"What is it?"
Calmly he asks yet I hesitate to say anything, afraid that it may affect our future combat trainings. However the moment his frown deepened, my sentiment vanishes and I quickly show him the bruises on my fingers.
While Sesshomaru's inspecting them, I explain.
"It looks like that regenerative ability is gone."
This happened as soon as I was awakened from the soul realm. The changes wasn't impactful at first, but it slowly became noticeable as time went by.
"Perhaps due to Sora's soul having left my body years ago. This special power is also fading away."
Only then I recalled to Sora's explanation of how I got this ability, which was originally a part of her soul that she transferred into my body when I was little.
"But this won't put an end to our practices, right? Please?"
I plead with the most pitiful voice ever. Despite looking displeased at first, Sesshomaru eventually gives in to my request. To a certain extent.
"Yay-Ouch!"
While I'm cheering around for the good news, he flicks my forehead and demands me to stop acting reckless. Since I'm no longer possess the inhuman healing speed like before and can die in any moment.
"Alright, I promise to be extra careful from now on."
Even after hearing so, Sesshomaru keeps staring at me with an expressionless face like he doesn't buy any of it.
It's understandable, I guess...? Considering how many times I'd gotten myself, and perhaps many others, into endless trouble back then due to my impulsive thinking...
And knowing Sesshomaru, it's always the action that counts. But no problem! I will prove to him that I'll be doing just fine in our upcoming flight training!