disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or its characters.
I am so pleased that you guys are enjoying this story.
The plot, the plans, the things to happen have been playing in my mind a lot recently. I knew I had to make something of them.
I hope you enjoy this next chapter! :)
TaxLady0415: Thank you for your kind words, it really does mean a lot to hears other's thoughts about my writing. It keeps me motived to write more. I too love a more mature Kagome.
Azuraskye21: A mature Kagome is a better Kagome lol! Yes, I used to love the KagXInu relationship but as I got older I realized how truly toxic it was...yuk. Hold your excitement cause this next chapter is all Kagome and Sesshomaru, hope you enjoy it.
SammyJams: I feel the same way. When I read sexy fanfiction I always pretend she is older whether the author states it or not. I have two little girls so I get it. Since I made her older and mature, why not independent as well. I cannot not have Shippo as her son lol. Inu is being a butt at the moment..wink..wink..
Shocked with wide eyes and mouth hanging open, she slowly moved her head following the water up to the shore bank, to the trunk of the tree following it up to a high branch that the Lord of the West sat himself perched against the tree looking down at her.
He raised a brow at her then nodded towards her as to address her undressed situation.
Realizing what he was saying without words jumped out of her shock, quickly trying to cover herself while submerging her body under the water rolling her eyes because she knew the water wouldn't help.
"Lord Sesshomaru…I…um…I"
"Miko, do not studder, it is unbecoming of you." Still keeping his eyes on her but at eye level.
She knew he wouldn't lower himself to be eyeing a human woman's body.
"Yeah, I am sorry I did not realize you were here."
He smirked, "This one realizes that, since you stripped before me and proceeded to swim in this one's lake…bare."
She gulped and blushed bright red that he could see even in the darkness illuminated by the moon. "In my defense, I did check."
"Yes, that you did but failed to sense this one."
"Wait, this," she used one arm to gesture around her, "is all yours?"
He nodded, "hn."
Wide-eyed again, "Oh, I am sorry that I trespassed on it. I had no idea."
"The barrier around this area permitted you in, so this one will take no action against you."
"Wait…there's a barrier around this area? How? Why did I not sense it?"
He just stared at her, slightly amused, "Do you wish to continue this conversation whilst you have no clothing on?"
She reddened again, "No, I wouldn't."
They still stared at each other, neither moving.
"Lord Sesshomaru, would you mind looking away while I dressed properly?"
He looked at her amusingly again, "You wish to cover that which this one has already seen?"
Kagome's mouth hung open again, "Are you teasing me?"
"It is nearly the truth, Miko," he smirked.
"You are teasing me? Who would have thought? But yes, I would prefer you wouldn't look while I changed."
"Very well." In a flash, he disappeared, and then she noticed movement from the vines on the colossal rock feature she thought the entrance to a cave was.
'I was right! Hmmm, I better hurry before he comes back.'
She quickly got the new clothes out of her bag that was the same as before, only the leggings and jacket were a dark purple. Then placed the dirty ones in her bag and put her socks and shoes on. She shook her head, thinking about how crazy this night turned out to be, and processed to rest against the tree trunk while trying to dry her hair.
Sesshomaru came back, sitting right next to her, "ah!" she screamed.
"Oh my Lord, you can warn someone you know."
Amused by her choice of words, he handed her a brass cup, "Drink."
She looked at him, then slowly took the cup from his hand and lifted the cup to smell the contents in it.
"This one will not poison you, Miko. I could have killed you earlier if I wanted to."
She huffed, "This one is aware almighty one of how powerful you are."
He eyed her, "Are you mocking me?"
She looked at him, shocked, "No "this one talk"?".
Realizing he slipped in his speech, he coughed then looked at her, "Are you mocking this one?"
She smiled, "That's more like it. I mocked how you talked about yourself but not about how powerful you are? I am well aware that you could kill me just a flick of your wrist."
He nodded in understanding while taking a sip from his cup, "Drink. It will warm you."
She went back to smelling what was in the cup…" mmm…green tea leaves, ginger….and ah oh lavender! Oh my gosh, how did you come by this, and where can I get some? This will help me sleep at night!" She sipped her tea blissfully.
While she sipped her tea, he studied her, "How did you know it was lavender and how it smelt? It cannot be found on this land in which we reside. And why do you think it will help you sleep?"
She looked at him. She was not willing to tell him her secret just yet. Though they weren't trying to kill each other at the moment due to having the same enemy. She didn't want to risk her secret.
"Would you believe me if said I came upon it once?" she winced, knowing he could smell if she lied.
He looked sternly at her, with a look that spoke 'really.'
"Well, it is common where I am from. A lot of people, including myself, use it to help them rest and sleep. Lavender has a calming ability to help aid your body into relaxing, thus falling asleep."
"Are you not from these lands?"
"It is hard to explain?"
He studied her again, "You wish not to tell this one?"
"Sorry, Sesshomaru, but I must keep my origins a secret?"
This time he looked surprised, "Why is that?"
She sighed at looked onto the water, "Because in the wrong hands, the information about myself and my origins could be deadly. I could be taken and tortured for the things that I know."
"What knowledge could you possibly have that others would seek, Miko?"
"A burden of knowledge, Lord Sesshomaru, and everyone I care about would be put in danger if someone decided to possess it."
He stared at the woman next to him, utterly bewildered by her. The more he interacted with her, the more questions he had. From the moment she pulled Tenseiga out from his father's grave to when she assisted Inuyasha in taking his left arm. She always left so many questions behind with him. He finally stopped chasing Inuyasha and Tenseiga, only momentarily, ever since Naraku dared to try and trick him and then again when he kidnapped Rin. Now he was out for blood, for Naraku's blood. While he knew he was powerful, he also knew that the final blow to come to Naraku would not be from himself nor Inuyasha but from the little petite woman that now sat next to him. He watched her over the years with her unmoving loyalty to his foolish half-brother while he did not respect the Miko in giving her his loyalty back. He watched as her demeanor started to change, as her behavior towards the half-breed began to change, and lastly, as her body started to change.
Though he would die before he ever mentioned it out loud, she had formed into a beauty. So, when she peeled her clothes off earlier and walked into the clear water, he could not take his eyes off her. He tired…Kami he tried…he tried to be disgusted by her Ningen body, but as his eyes followed the outline of her curvy, tan, muscled, toned body…he could stop staring. So, there he sat, watching her like a creep while she enjoyed his waters. He had never lowed himself like this before this moment. Then Kami help him; it took everything he had not to stare at her body when she came almost out of the water when he spoke. It took all of his willpower to keep his eyes on her face. Finally, he shook his head to shake the thoughts away and looked down at the Miko again.
"The lake, cave, and land around were given to this one when I hit a supremacy milestone as an adolescent by my parents. There is a powerful barrier surrounding it: not letting any demon or human pass nor allowing anything to sense or smell whoever was inside. This one apologizes; when I sensed you coming through, I shielded my aura. I had no idea you would go for a night swim."
She eyed him, "You could have stopped me?"
"Yes, I could have." He continued to sip his tea.
"Not going to saying anything else on the matter of you spying on me?"
"This one did not spy; you walked into my domain as you owned it."
"Why did the barrier let me inside? Do you think that it might be broken?"
He chuckled then waved his arm in the air over his head, magic spilling from it. He then motioned her to look up. When she did, she gasped; indeed, the whole area was surrounded by a light purple dome that shined white light surged all over it.
Her only response was, "Oh."
He made the same motion again, and the barrier became unseen again, "It works just fine, Miko. This one is not sure how you entered and is not worried on the matter."
She placed her empty tea down and tried to finish drying her damped hair. "Thank you for allowing me to use the lake. The water was amazing."
"Was it not too cool for your Ningen body?"
She rolled her eyes when he called out her species like he was better than them, "For others maybe it would have been, but I love being in the water, and I was heated. The water helped cool me down in more ways than one."
"What were you doing that brought you here?"
"I was running."
"This one did not sense anything chasing you."
She laughed, "Does every time a woman runs mean they are running from something?"
"Hn."
She laughed again, "No, nothing was chasing me. I like running; it helps me blow off steam."
"Come again, Miko."
"Oh…sorry…I mean, it is a way for me to handle my emotions and process them."
"So, you run around in the night for sport?"
"Yes, I find it relaxing."
"Does the half-breed know that you do this?"
"INU-YAS-HA does not need to know, nor do I care if he did."
"You corrected this one on his name, but you do not care whether he knows about your whereabouts?"
"I stopped caring a long time ago; it is just rude that you keep calling him half-breed is all."
Her response stunned him, he knew that the Miko did not cling onto the hanyou like she once did, but he did not realize its extent. 'What caused that change, I wonder?'
"You still defend him?"
"Well, yes, despite him being a certifiable asshole sometimes, he is still my best friend, and I care for him."
"This one did not realize you had a mouth on you, Miko." He smirked.
"Har har Sesshomaru." She picked up the pebbled rocks she found in the lake, "May I keep these?"
He looked at her hands to see what she was referring to, "You may; they are no use to this one. Why do you want them?"
She gently rubbed the surface of the few rocks she had, each of them smooth but different in colors and shapes. One was a dark teal color that was an oval shape, one was a burnt orange color that almost looked like a deformed crescent moon, and the last one was the shade of blue and shaped like a half-sphere. "I like to collect things as to hold onto the memory attached to them." She looked up at him, "I would like to keep this memory."
Stunned, he eyed her again, "You talk as if you were leaving."
She shrugged her shoulders, "I am not sure where I will be in the future, and if I am forced from here, I would like to take momentous with me."
"Why would you be forced to leave Miko?"
She looked up at him with sad eyes, not saying anything.
"It is of which you cannot speak of?"
She nodded, then turned to eye the water yet again.
They sat there, both staring towards the water as it glistened from the moon, both of them having many thoughts crossing their minds. His were of her, and hers were of where her place in time would be.
Without looking at her, "May this one ask a personal question?"
"You may," she didn't look at him either.
"What did you need to 'blow off' as you put it earlier?"
"Oh…" her scent, which had been somewhat calm the entire time, reeked of sadness, anger, and pain. "It keeps getting pointed out to my attention that I either don't have enough power, looks, or brains of that of the undead Kikyo."
Recognition hit Sesshomaru on many levels, "Kikyo…hm…the Miko that pinned my bother to the tree." By now, he was well aware of her and Inuyasha's history and that she walked the earth again but could not remember her name.
"Even though we are two entirely different people, I cannot help but think that I have been placed unwantedly in her shadow, never to step into my own light." She pulled her legs to her chest, held them, and placed her chin on her arms.
He never thought that he, Lord of the West, a great Inu Daiyoukai, would relate to something so personal with the little Miko beside him. He, too, had fallen into his father's shadow unwilling. He strived to surpass his father's power and strength every day, hence why he sought out Tenseiga. He yearned for the day when his court would stop comparing him to his deceased father and praise him for his own efforts. Thank Kami, he looked like his mother, for that too would weigh down on him. The words out of the Miko's mouth hit all too close to his heart. He understood how she felt, the emotions of feeling like you are not enough, the self-doubts and insecurities he would never voice out loud. He now knew she held those same things in her heart. It was the half-breed's fault, he was sure of it, for only he would make such absurd comparisons. To him, the undead could not even hold a candle flame to the Miko beside him. He was also sure that this might be the reason for the changes in the Miko.
Though he did not know how he could step out of his father's shadow, he began to wonder how the Miko would step out from the undead one's shadow.
Then before he thought clearly on the issue, before he could stop his mouth from speaking, "This one will help you."
She immediately popped up and looked at him, "What?"
Mentally kicking himself, "This one will help you step out of the shadows into your own light."
She was speechless, but he could smell the tears building in her eyes that fought not to break out.
"We will train."
"Train?"
"Hn…hard."
"Hard?"
"This one will train you in combat with and without weapons. I will also train you in your spiritual powers; though my yoki and your reiki are different, they can be controlled by the same training methods. I will teach you how to use your reiki to protect, heal, and attack."
"Why?"
"You question this one's generosity?"
She shook her head, "I just don't understand why you would be willing to help me but at the same time entirely grateful."
"My reasons are my own."
"I accept."
He raised a brow at her, "You agreed before knowing the terms?"
"Yes…um, as long as your terms do not involve Inyuasha or his sword."
"What if this one's terms was for your company Miko?"
"We are spending time together right now. I do not see why we cannot spend more time like is apart from you training me."
"That is not the company in which this one is speaking of Miko," he smirked and looked at her with mischief in his eyes.
She turned red yet again from embarrassment. She was looking at him like a deer in headlights, completely shocked.
"I jest, Miko." He chuckled.
The realization that he was messing with her caused different emotions coarse through her, "Oh my Lord, Sesshomaru, you had me there. I cannot believe you made a joke, and if I were ever to repeat it, which I wouldn't, no one would ever believe me."
"Seriously, Miko, if you agree, this one will train you hard and push you beyond your limits. After that, you will hate me, curse me, and want to kill me," he smirked, "which you cannot, of course."
"I will take whatever task you give me and give it my all. I know this won't be easy, but all you described trumps all of my self-negative thoughts and emotions. I tire of them, and I tire of my old self. I am ready, Sesshomaru."
He stared at her through the depths of her eyes, seeing the flame of which he just ignited.
"We will meet here seven nights from now."
"So far out?"
He smirked at her, "So eager for this one to tire out your body already, Miko?"
She gulped, thinking something totally different and dirty from what he was thinking.
"Relax, Miko, this one has a few things to settle at my estate before I help you."
"Oh…okay…seven nights from now…here."
"You are welcome to use this one's domains but bring no one else."
She nodded, "Understood, and thank you for wanting to help me."
"Think nothing of it, Miko; rest now." He sensed her tiredness overcoming her.
"I should get back."
"Kagome, there are Youkai out beyond the barrier. It is best if you stay for now, and I will return you when they have cleared the area." Both of them realizing his errors in his speech, but neither of them pointing them out.
"Oh, okay, thank you again." She yawned as she leaned up against the tree and closed her eyes.
Sesshomaru closed his eyes, thinking of everything that transpired between them.
'Why did I offer to help her? Why do I care that she has the same insecurities that I do?" Why does she have this effect on me?'
Without looking at her, he knew she was asleep, for her heart steadied, and her head slowly fell onto his side.
He took a deep inhale, 'She smells of jasmine and citrus…mmm…her scent fits perfectly with her soul…soothing and bright.'
As his thoughts were on her, she shivered slightly from the cold, thus bringing him to stretch out his mokomoko out around her to keep her warm.
He sent out his aura to warn the other lower youkai away, which he could have done earlier and sent her on her way but didn't.
He waited a little bit to let her scent envelop him. He knew now that he would never smell something similar to her again.
As the moon continued to rise in the late-night sky, he picked her up bridal style with one arm while his mokomoko huddled her to his chest to hold her against him and keep her warm. Then, he summed his cloud and started to fly towards the small village. He did not know where she laid at night but knew she was never far from the fox kitsune and sought him out instead. It did not take long for him to find the small hut she seemed to share with the kitsune and the slayer.
He quietly went in and gently placed her on her cot, then proceed to take her weird shoes off. The kit stirred awake wide-eyed at Sesshomaru, but Sesshomaru put a finger up to his own lips to tell him to be quiet, then motioned at Kagome. Shippo noticed his mother in different attire than when she laid down to sleep and also picked up on Sesshomaru's scent all over her. Shippo just nodded at him and then crawled back in next to his mother and closed his eyes. Sesshomaru watched the gesture, 'She did adopt the kit as her own despite him being a demon…hn.'
He made his way back outside the hut and stood there pulsing out his aura to find his half-brother. To his shock, he found him miles away with his undead Miko and wondered to himself if he did that while they traveled. Pushing the thought out as to think his brother not to be that foolish, he summed his cloud and flew towards his camp where Rin, Jaken, and A-Un were so they could start heading west in the morning.
'Goodnight, little Miko'
So there it is Chapter 2!
What did you think?
I love to hear from my readers, don't be shy, and I will try to respond to everyone.
Sidenotes:
*Go look up a Japanese wisteria tree, it is so pretty.
*Also, the reason Sessy became curious about the own Lavender situation is that Lavender is native to the Medditerian area. So lavender in the Era was too common to regular folk unless you visited trading ports or traveled which Sessy does. Hence why he asked her.
I think that is it...till next time!