Chapter 16 – To Share
Kagome left Kikyou's group in the next morning, promising that she would visit her in the middle of every month and spend a few days there. Her sister seemed satisfied and Kagome bid everyone goodbye, receiving a glare from InuYasha for walking away with his precious shards, and wondering yet again how Kikyou tolerated his presence.
Speaking of the jewel, said monthly visit would mostly happen because of the shards. Kagome had put a barrier around them that would allow Kikyou to travel without being chased by insane youkai who searched for power, but since she didn't know for how long her barrier would last, she decided that a month was good enough to check how her powers were holding.
Now, even though Kagome was yawning and probably should be resting, she found herself unable to. Rin and Shippo were soundlessly sleeping, cuddled with Ah-Un, while Jaken snored loudly and woke Kagome for the third time already when she almost falling into a deep slumber.
Glaring at the annoying toad that slept close to the campfire, Kagome huffed and sat down, thinking about ways to get back at him for keeping her awake. She would make sure to get up earlier than him tomorrow, if she slept at all, and dump a bucket full of water on his stupid green face. Oh yes, that seemed rather nice considering that winter was arriving and the mornings were colder than usual.
An evil grin appeared on her lips as she imagined how annoyed Jaken would be, it was going to be priceless and she would have to make sure Shippo and Rin were awake, maybe they could even help her prank him. Yes, that sounded good, and just when Kagome was going to think about a good prank, a voice snapped her out of her cunning thoughts.
''Is there something wrong, miko?'' A deep male voice almost made her squeal in surprise and she turned around to see Sesshoumaru sitting with his back to a tree. She could barely make out his features in the dark but he seemed rather amused.
''Just thinking about ways to torture your loyal servant, my Lord.'' She muttered, glaring at said servant and envying how deeply he slept.
''Learn with the children to ignore the sound, with enough practice you will not mind it.'' He commented, making Kagome scoff.
''Doesn't it annoy you?'' Kagome asked, and frowned when she realized something. ''Coming to think of it, I never really see you sleep.''
''This Sesshoumaru can go for weeks before his body requires rest.'' The daiyoukai simply said. ''But to answer your question, yes, I do sleep.''
''That must be pretty cool.'' Kagome commented, looking at him with interest. ''Though I'm not sure if I would know what to do with all the free time, I would probably end up sleeping just to pass the hours and not become bored.''
''There are many things to care for in the West, sometimes not even a whole day is sufficient.'' He answered, making her shrug, being a Lord surely sounded tiring.
They fell into a comfortable silence and it was then that Kagome realized she hadn't thanked him for helping her the day before, making her felt guilty. She had tried to search for him after talking to Kikyou but with everyone staring at her, she didn't feel comfortable enough to bring that subject up. It was better to pretend everything was okay, mostly for Shippo and Rin's sake, since they both spent the whole day trying to cheer her up.
Biting her lip, Kagome now was not only feeling guilty but restless too and sighed. Getting up, she walked to sit next to the fire, facing him, and looked at the ground as she spoke.
''I'm sorry.''
Raising an eyebrow, Sesshoumaru turned away from the stars to face the miko that now stood a few steps away from him. ''For?''
''Um, for yesterday...'' She answered as she fidgeted in place. '' I could've been more useful but when he touched me, it was like something snapped inside of me. Thank you for saving me, Sesshoumaru-sama.''
He stood silent for a while and Kagome wondered what was going through his mind, was he trying to find a nice way of saying that she was a nuisance? She surely felt like one now.
''It was of no consequence.'' The inu merely shrugged, as if his past actions were no big deal. ''You reacted though, and that is all that matters. You should consider speaking to Sakura about this subject.''
A moment of silence took over the night while Kagome tried to understand why would she ever talk to Sakura about this, then comprehension dawned on her.
''Did… Did it happen with her too?'' Kagome asked quietly, fear lacing her scent yet again as she tried to repress the unwanted thoughts from her mind.
''It is not my place to tell, but she is female and might understand your fears better than I.'' The daiyoukai simply said, sparing a glance at her and watching how she calmed herself down with deep breaths.
''Thank you, my Lord.'' Kagome smiled softly at him, nodding and pushing the thought that maybe the happy green eyed youkai went through the same things as her away, she would have time to think about this later. ''I promise I will find a way to repay your kindness.''
''Most would not use the word kind to describe this Sesshoumaru.'' He spoke, raising an eyebrow at her and making her smile.
''Most are wrong.'' She simply answered, leaving him to ponder about what she said.
As a youkai of considerable age and power, Sesshoumaru had been called many things during his life, and most of them had a meaning that left many shaking in fear at the mere sight of him. Assassin, deadly, Killing Perfection, Destroyer of Life, cold-blooded, murderer, monster, and the list went on and on, he couldn't remember half of the names honestly.
He was pretty sure though that no one had ever called him kind, in fact, most people would laugh if they heard this. The Lord of the West, kind? It had to be a joke.
Looking at the miko and seeing her smiling face though, Sesshoumaru couldn't help but think about it, was he really kind? It was never his intention to be when he helped her, he simply did not want to deal with two crying and frightened children, much less a sudden explosion of reiki that would most likely kill everyone.
He remembered what she said, how she had escaped from whom once had been her master, and he had no intention of being there when she turned into a bomb made of pure reiki ready to explode. Helping her was simply easier for him.
''Hey, Sesshoumaru-sama?'' The miko caught his attention again, interrupting his musings as he turned to stare and waited for her to speak. ''Did something happen with Rin and the wolves? She seemed way too terrified of them, I never saw her like that before.''
Ah, there was also Rin. She was another one of the reasons why he helped the miko, his ward would be heartbroken if someone hurt the human while he was there and could have prevented it. He had no doubt she would stop speaking to him for a while and her blind faith that he could protect everyone was touching, deep down he did not want to destroy this image she had of him.
''Rin was killed by wolves two years ago.'' Sesshoumaru spoke, feeling entertained by how confused the miko became once she heard this. ''Tenseiga brings people back to life.'' He explained, putting his hand on the hilt of said sword, which hummed quietly in response.
Kagome's eyes widened when she saw him touching the sword she came to notice he never used. She had never been able to detect any kind of energy coming from it, while the other one crackled the air with youki whenever he unsheathed it.
''This is amazing…'' She whispered, not knowing what else to say.
Sesshoumaru didn't seem to care much about it though, since he simply shrugged in response. ''I have only used it once, it is not very useful to me.''
''Are you kidding me?'' Kagome had to hold back a scream of indignation when she heard this. ''You can bring people back to life! Can't you understand that you have been blessed with a gift?''
''This Sesshoumaru is known as the one who destroys life, miko, not the one who restores it.'' He answered, making the human press her lips into a thin line.
''And yet, you brought Rin back and cared for her.'' She finally said. ''And in a way, you restored my life, saving Shippo's too, because without your help we would be dead right now.''
Frowning slightly, Sesshoumaru realized that she was somehow right and stored this thought in the back of his mind. He would ponder about it later, when he was alone and the miko was asleep.
Silence filled the atmosphere and he could see the miko fidgeting in place and looking uncertain as she stared at him, making him sigh once he realized she wanted to speak but seemed reluctant. ''Ask miko, this Sesshoumaru cannot read your mind.''
She did not want to be seen as a nuisance, but since he told her to ask, she grabbed the opportunity. It wasn't every day that one could have a normal chat with the Western Lord, and she was determined to make out the most of it.
''It's just that I've wondered how you came to care for Rin, she seems really attached to you and it's a bit weird to think that the merciless Lord of the West allows a human child to follow him around.'' She asked, biting her lip and hoping he wouldn't glare at her for being too intrusive.
''She cared for this Sesshoumaru before her death.'' His answer only left her even more confused and he realized that the sooner he told her what she wanted to know, the sooner she would stop staring at him with her oddly bright blue eyes in an unnerving way.
''I had been injured in a fight with InuYasha, where he also cut my arm off.'' He spoke and the miko's eyes widened as her jaw dropped, leaving her with an expression that was quite funny in his opinion.
''He what?!" She was unable to hold back her shriek this time.
''He did it while I was in the middle of my transformation. It's the only time we are left defenseless, the half-breed has no honor.'' Sesshoumaru said as he held back a sigh, he could feel that the girl was rather annoyed but the feeling quickly faded away when she looked at him with curiosity in her eyes.
''How is your true form?'' She asked, looking exactly like Rin did when she heard about him being a giant dog.
''An inu, bigger than the mountain that stands behind you.'' The daiyoukai answered, watching with amusement as she quickly turned to face said mountain and let out a sound of awe before looking at him again.
''Can you show it to me someday?'' She asked, excitedly, and he almost scoffed. It seemed that human females had some kind of strange fascination with inuyoukais.
This was ridiculous, there was no way she would see him in his true form unless he was in the middle of a battle and she happened to be there, and yet…
''Maybe.'' He found himself saying, and cursed his mouth for not obeying his mind, who had allowed it to speak such nonsense?
His thoughts were forgotten though when she gave him a dazzling smile that fully reached her eyes. He could taste her happiness and excitement in the air and though he wanted to tell her that maybe in this case meant no, he found himself unable to destroy her bright mood.
''Thank you so much, Sesshoumaru-sama!" She squealed happily, very much like Rin did in this same situation, except his ward threw herself at him and the miko had a little bit more common sense and knew better than to do that.
He welcomed the silence that followed what she said and mentally sighed in relief, maybe now he could have some peace to ponder about the ryu invasion that seemed to be happening in the other lands too. This was unusual, it affected negatively the peace treaty they-
''Why were you and InuYasha fighting though?'' The miko broke his concentration yet again and he was this close to really sighing, why couldn't she just leave him alone?
''You ask way too many questions, girl.'' He spoke and she smirked, making him narrow his eyes at her.
''We went from miko to girl, is that an improvement or are you trying not to kill me?'' She asked, feeling amused, and that annoyed him.
Hn, maybe he should sleep. His bad mood was probably due to the fact that the last time he had a decent rest was a month and a half ago. Killing the girl was an appealing idea, he was sure her blood would be delicious and he had never bothered to kill a miko before because most of them stood away from his path, but…
''Rin would be displeased.'' His answer only made her eyes shine even more with amusement, making him give up on trying to understand her.
''Indeed.'' Her tone was mocking him and his eyes narrowed, did the girl have a death wish? ''Since you don't want to answer my question, I'll just ask another one.''
There was a pause and the brief silence annoyed him even more. He glared at her, his gaze cold enough to freeze the whole ocean if he wanted to. She wouldn't dare to disobey his I-shall-kill-you-in-a-very-painful-way glare, right?
Apparently she would, since she simply smiled brightly at him and seemed oddly satisfied with his reaction.
He sighed, deciding that tomorrow he would leave Jaken to look over them and fly away to somewhere peaceful, where priestesses weren't annoying and didn't ignore blatant death threats.
''You are insufferable.'' He spoke, and her smile only became bigger, irking him. ''I wanted to reclaim what was mine by right, now go annoy someone else.''
''What is yours by right? Did InuYasha steal something?'' She asked, tilting her head to the side and successfully looking like a curious pup. ''And no one else is awake right now, since I can't sleep either, you'll just have to deal with me.''
''This Sesshoumaru should just kill you to end this foolishness.'' The inuyoukai growled, making her eyes sparkle with laughter.
''Now, don't be a bad inu.'' She teased him, and he wondered when she had lost the fear of death. ''Rin would be sad, not to say traumatized, if she woke up to find pieces of my body scattered on the ground while you look rather pleased with your haori covered in my blood.''
''Then I only need to make sure she never sees the evidence of what happened.'' He said as he thought of his flawless plan, and the insane human burst out laughing after trying to keep a straight face for two seconds.
''I really don't understand why they say you're emotionally constipated, you have a rather nice sense of humor.'' She commented, making him raise an eyebrow at her.
''It was not a joke, miko.'' The daiyoukai spoke but she simply waved her hand in the air, rudely dismissing what he had said.
By this point, Sesshoumaru was sure that she was either fearless or simply moronic. She not only talked to him like he was a common and mortal dog, but dared to annoy him and even got to dismiss him. He dismissed people, the contrary had never happened before and this situation was just wrong.
Growling lowly as to not wake Rin, Sesshoumaru glared yet again and found that he needed to improve his intimidation skills, the miko didn't even bat an eyelash at the image of his annoyed self. She yawned and stretched, the fire behind her making her black hair look midnight blue, and he found himself hoping that she would just go to sleep.
Smiling at him, Kagome spoke. ''Your presence bores me, my Lord.'' That earned her a growl. ''We shall continue this conversation later on, and don't think I forgot about the question you didn't answer."
Turning her back to him, she crawled until she found a comfortable position next to the fire and laid down, turning to look at him one last time before smiling.
''Good night, Sesshoumaru-sama, thank you for entertaining me.''
As her heartbeat slowed down, Sesshoumaru found himself thanking any existent Kami for giving him a break and decided that after dealing with a deranged priestess, he very much needed a nap.
