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ABC Thought

- Who will you think of when you are lonely? -

Chapter 22

"Huh?"

I'm shocked by his sudden request. And after cooling off his adrenaline, Sesshomaru confesses.

"I admit…that I was wrong, for hurting you last night. And you can hate me for all I did and said to you. I don't care!"

He frowns, tighten his grips on my hand. "Just…don't run away from me. It's irritating!"

Running away? No, that's not it. The real reason I didn't want to return to you was...

"I wanted to spend more time with my family. It's already been a while and they've missed me a lot…I'm sorry. I should have told you about it sooner."

... I didn't want to be there to see you and Nanase together. So I tried to distant myself from you in the meantime, hoping to get rid of this feeling and prevent causing any unnecessary tension between the three of us.

"Is that so..."

Realize that I'm not mad at him, his expression soften and the grip on my hand's also loosen up.

"However, there's one thing for sure is that... I do not hate you Sesshomaru, never."

Somehow Sesshomaru's lost for word after hearing my little confession. As I hold onto his slender hand, smiling when our eyes meet.

"You are indeed a weird girl."

Then after a while, he comments. Causing me to be dumbfounded instantly.

"What?! I'm not weird!"

Haven't seen my amusing reaction for a long time, Sesshomaru chuckles.

"Hmph! That's not even funny!"

And this is the first time I have ever seen him laughing so genuinely, even just for a bit.

If only Sesshomaru smiles and communicates to us more often. Instead of acting unfriendly and isolating himself from everyone else all the time…

"Say, Sesshomaru. When I was gone… Did you miss me, by any chance?"

Curious about how he thinks of me, I decide to give it a try.

"Ridiculous,"

Only to receive a cold response and he shifts his head away, still keeping my hand in his.

Oh well, guess I was getting a bit ahead of myself...

Finally remember that Tatsuya is still waiting for me at the theater's entrance, I quickly excuse myself.

"I'm sorry but I have to leave now. Let's meet again later, okay?"

Back to the movie theater

"Tatsuya-kun!"

I call out to Tatsuya, seeing him standing in the middle of the crowd looking confused.

"Sogo-san! Where were you?! I've been looking for you everywhere!"

Spotting me from afar, he rushes over to my side. Seems to be worried and out of breath from all the running.

"I'm sorry, Tatsuya-kun. For leaving so sudden."

Feeling guilty for letting him wait alone, I apologize and Tatsuya smiles it off, sighing in relief to find me still in one piece.

"It's okay, I'm glad that you're alright. Anyway, shall we go?"

"Wait, Tatsuya-kun. Uhm…There's something I need to tell you…"

Meanwhile, at Sesshomaru's gang resting spot.

"Tell me, Jaken. About that old-looking well in the middle of the forest not too far away from here… What kind of secret is it holding?"

Sitting together with Rin and Jaken as a group, Nanase asks Jaken about the well's mystery.

"Hmph! You'd better listen carefully cause I won't repeat it twice!"

Despite being irritated for having to talk to her, he still explains to Nanase that the well she's mentioned is called Bone-Eaters well, which was used to dispose of bodies of youkai by Ningen some time ago.

"Dispose youkai bodies? Then what business does Sesshomaru have with that old well?"

"Sesshomaru-sama you say?"

And Nanase nods, recalls having witnessed Sesshomaru disappear and reappear through the well yesterday.

Hmph! So that's why she suddenly shows interest in that thing. Jaken frowns suspiciously.

"All I've known is that Bone-Eaters is also used as a gateway between this world and another world…"

Therefore Jaken tells her that there are only some people who possess the ability to travel through the Bone-Eaters well. And Sesshomaru is one of them.

"Lemme guess, you tried to follow him yesterday but failed, didn't you?"

Assumes that the woman had tried going through the well by herself like an idiot, Jaken snickers.

"And you failed miserably. Heh! I thought as much!"

His words directly hit the bulls eyes and Nanase shifts her away in embarrassment. Much to his delight.

"But Jaken-sama, didn't you also fail going through the well last time?"

Rin reminds him about his last incident and he instantly yells for the girl to stop talking. "S-Shut up!"

"And what exactly Sesshomaru go to the other world for?"

Ignoring his mockery, Nanase voices out more of her confusions to gain some more information about her mate-to-be whereabouts. And Rin easily catches her bait.

"I know! Sesshomaru-sama goes there to see Onee-chan!"

"That human girl?!"

"Yup! Behind that well is Onee-chan's home world! And Sesshomaru-sama visits her quite often too, whenever he's free."

Right after hearing what Rin's explanation, Nanase's eyebrow twitched in anger. Tch! My instinct was right! He did go out to find that human girl! Just what exactly is happening between those two?! This is not normal at all!

"Oh, Sesshomaru-sama seemed to be really mad when he returned last night. I wonder what happened."

While they are at it, Rin recalls to their frightening situation yesterday.

"Talk about scary… Whoever had pissed Sesshomaru-sama off like that obviously didn't desire to live anymore."

Jaken trembles in fear when he remembers his lord frightening expression.

Sesshomaru was indeed in an extremely bad mood and surrounding him was a heavy murderous aura. As if he was ready to kill anyone who dared to get near or opened their mouth to ask him anything.

Of course, no one in the group back then had a soul to make any move. Even for Nanase...

*Flash back*

Last night

Waiting for Sesshomaru to appear at the tree nearby and once she saw him got out of the well, Nanase was finally be able to confirm her theory. I knew it! he really did go through that thing!

As Sesshomaru landed onto the grass, she rushed over to his side.

"Sesshomaru-sama! Where have you-"

Her jaws froze once receiving a deadly glare from him. Scared, she stammered and instantly back off as Sesshomaru passed her by and flew off into the sky above.

Flopped onto the soft grass, she sighed. For a moment I thought he would have killed me. Perhaps it would be the best for me to leave him alone tonight…

A couple hours later

"Sesshomaru-sama, welcome back!"

Both Rin and Jaken greeted him in joy when Sesshomaru reached their resting spot, but their feet halted the moment feeling something different from him.

"J-Jaken-sama. Is Sesshomaru-sama angry?"

Scared, the girl whispered to Jaken while hiding behind him.

"D-Do you even have to ask?!"

And Jaken stammered, not dared to meet him in the eyes. I have never seen Sesshomaru-sama being this furious before! Just what the hell had happened when he's gone?

Once Sesshomaru swiftly passed by, they flinched in fear. For some reasons his hand and white sleeves were fully covered with thick red liquid that wouldn't stop dripping.

"Wah! Jaken-sama! There's blood on Sesshomaru-sama hand!"

Rin pointed out the obvious fact and the servant groaned, "I know! I saw that too!"

Just who was capable of doing this? Naraku? Or Inuyasha? Jaken listed out the possibilities before turning to the female Inu youkai standing nearby.

"Nanase!" He called her and she shifted her head to him. "You know what happened to Sesshomaru-sama, don't you!"

Nanase glanced at her future mate, who was now sitting under a big tree and staring into the nothingness in the distance, for a short moment before responding.

"I do not know."

"What do you mean you don't know?! Didn't you follow him all day long?!"

"Unfortunately, I lost his track in mid-way."

"And you called yourself fast?! What a joke!"

"Hmph! If you want to know what happened so much, instead of asking me. Why don't you go ask him yourself?!"

"What..? I…"

Jaken stammered and Nanase scoffed at how useless he was.

"And you called yourself his loyal servant?! How pathetic!"

"How dare you, damn wench!"

As their voices gradually getting louder, Rin had to jump to cease the fire before Sesshomaru eventually unleashed his anger on them all.

"Hmph!"

Having enough, Nanase found herself a seat somewhere near Sesshomaru to rest. Quietly watching him staring at the full moon up above the sky.

The atmosphere remained strangled for the rest of the night and in the end, no one knew what had happened to the silver haired Inu Youkai.

*End flashback*

"Maybe Onee-chan and Sesshomaru-sama had a fight?"

Rin blurts out her thought.

"Why do you think so?"

Curious about what causes her to make such claim, Jaken asks.

"Well… Just a hunch."

She tilts her head as he snickers in joy, imagining that justice is finally be served.

"Hah! If that's true then she must be dead meat by now."

"But Sesshomaru-sama would never harm her."

"And how can you be so sure about that?!"

"I mean he hasn't done so ever since we met."

Therefore Rin recalls to countless moment Shiomi has angered Sesshomaru yet he's never once lay a hand on her, even spending his time to save her from danger.

"Who knows! Maybe he would this time! And the blood we saw on his hand yesterday was properly her blood!"

Somewhat jealous of the unfair treatment, Jaken protests.

No, it belonged to many other youkai. Gods knew how many had he slaughtered out of anger last night...

Only Nanase knows the truth from the blood scent but she doesn't bother to explain.

"By the way, Nanase onee-san. What will you do if Sesshomaru-sama doesn't love you back? Will you continue to follow us?"

Rin asks, cutting all of her thoughts.

"What was that? Love, you said?"

Nanase bursts out in laughter at her naive question.

"How absurd! We, the almighty Inu youkai race, do not carry such pathetic, redundant moral feeling in ourselves. That thing so called *love* of yours does not apply on us."

That's right, what Sesshomaru is having for that human girl is nothing but a temporally attraction, nothing more. Soon enough he will forget about her and become mine!

"For once, I actually agree with what you say."

Jaken nods, approving her logical speech. While Rin, on the other hand, not so much.

Back to Shiomi

"Then you shouldn't miss your family union, Sogo-san."

After having told that today my aunt and uncle from oversea is paying my house a visit. And it only happens once per year since they're always busy with work. Tatsuya suggests me to go home right away.

"It's okay, don't worry about it. We still have many other opportunities to go again, right?"

Tatsuya assures when I ask him about the tickets that he's already bought.

"Come on, I will take you home."

When we're about to leave together, a tall white figure appears from behind me and swiftly gets in between us.

"Don't touch her."

All of sudden he orders Tatsuya to stay away from me, not forgetting to give him a deadly glare.

Much to Tatsuya's confusion. "Huh? Who are you?"

And my utmost horror. Damn it! Sesshomaru! Didn't I tell you not to do anything?!

*Flash back*

"Why you are still insisting to be with that man?"

Only a second after my hand left his, Sesshomaru asked me.

"What do you mean why? Tatsuya invited me out today. I can't just leave him at the spot like that."

And I have to explain to him why I am here, again.

"Refuse him."

Sesshomaru outright demanded me to abandon Tatsuya to return with him immediately and of course, I protested.

"No way! Tatsuya has already bought the movie tickets and waiting for me out there!"

"Whatever that man has done do not concern me. Just do it."

Not giving a damn however, Sesshomaru kept on asking me to leave. Assuming that there must be an emergency back at the other world, I asked.

"Why do you want me not to go so badly, Sesshomaru? Is there something wrong?"

However he didn't answer and walked toward to the main street up ahead, cracking his fingers as if he's about to step into battle.

"If you refuse then I, Sesshomaru shall destroy him."

Sesshomaru's sudden declare caused my jaw to drop and quickly, I grabbed the tail of his Mokomoko and yanked him backward.

"Alright! Alright! I get it, I will talk to him! So don't do anything till I'm done okay?!"

"Uh…Oops…?"

Though I instantly regretted my mindless action once he shifted his head back and shoot a sharp glare at me.

*End flashback*

"He is…My cousin!"

I explain that Sesshomaru is one of my distant relatives.

"Your cousin?"

And Tatsuya raises his eyebrow at the new info of my family member.

"Yes! He also came to Japan along with my aunt and uncle to visit us as well. His name is Se-Setsuna! Sogo Setsuna!"

Alright. How old is Sesshomaru again? 18, 19, 20? Wait a minute, isn't he a youkai? Does he even age? Ah, screw it.

"And uhm… He's a year older than us."

Since Sesshomaru's standing right before me and covering all of my view, I have to push him aside to be able to speak to Tatsuya.

"S-Setsuna nii-chan, this is Tatsuya-kun. He's a friend of mine from the same school. And as you can clearly see with your own two eyes. Tatsuya-kun is a good person, so do. not. do anything. to. him, okay?!"

Therefore I tell Sesshomaru to behave properly, emphasis every single word for him to hear.

What an unusual eye color, is he half Japanese? Well, Shiomi did say her aunt and uncle were from oversea.

Tatsuya stares at Sesshomaru's face curiously and notices that he is quite a handsome man. His eyes then stop at those long silky hair, mokomoko and armor. Silver hair and strange looking outfit, is he a cosplayer?

"I see, so you're Sogo-san cousin. How impolite of me, my name is Miyamoto Tatsuya. It's nice to meet you, Setsuna-san."

Tatsuya bows to greet him. Yet Sesshomaru doesn't bother to respond and keeps staring at him like a predator.

"Uhm..."

Confused deeply, Tatsuya's cheerful expression starts to fade.

"I'm sorry, Tatsuya-kun. My cousin is always like that, he is a little shy."

Quickly, I jump into their conversation and make up another excuse.

"Oh, I see. That's okay. I understand."

For some reasons her cousin doesn't stop glaring at me, I wonder if they're in a hurry? Assuming that Shiomi's cousin is here to pick her up since her aunt and uncle must be waiting at home. Tatsuya decides to leave by himself.

"I will see you later at school, okay?"

Therefore Tatsuya bid us goodbye and once he's out of sight, I drag Sesshomaru away from the crowd.

"Come on, let's us go, nii-chan!"

On our way home

"That was a really close one! Seriously, Sesshomaru. What were you thinking? Revealing yourself to everyone like that? And what's worse, even threatening my friend!"

I go on nagging while we are flying up on the sky, having Sesshomaru's carrying me in his arm.

However Sesshomaru doesn't responds to any of my word or looking at me.

Great, now he's ignoring me. Sometimes I really wonder what's running inside that complicated head of his.

At Shiomi's room

"We're leaving."

Once reaching to my room, Sesshomaru demands as he drops me onto my bed.

"Eh? Right now? But I haven't prepared anything yet!"

I lay down onto comfy sheet and whine, not wanting to go.

"Then hurry up."

Doesn't care about my feeling for one bit. He orders and leans against the wall nearby waiting for me.

Why is he still urging me to go back when there is no emergency?! Didn't I already saying that I'm not avoiding him?!

I pout while stuffing various items into my backpack. Once done, I hold up my backpack and rush over to the window to take look outside. Good, no one is around.

"Let's go. Before anyone can see us."

And I urge Sesshomaru to take off, clinging to him by his waist while watching outside the window carefully. However seconds passes and we're still not moving an inch. Confused, I look at him.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"Nothing." For some reasons it takes him quite a moment to respond.

Jeeze, What's with him all of the sudden.

At The Bone-Eaters well.

After getting out of the well first, Sesshomaru extends his hand to me.

Huh? Is he actually offering me help?

Without hesitation, I take that rare generous offer and get carried out of the Bone-Eaters well. Then I recognize Rin, Jaken and Nanase are standing nearby, waiting for our arrivals.

"Onee-chan!"

"Sesshomaru-sama! Welcome back!"

Rin welcomes me with a hug while Jaken, Nanase rush to Sesshomaru and push me aside.

"Sesshomaru, you went off on your own this morning without leaving any notice to me again. I was so worried when waking up and didn't see you around."

Suddenly Nanase's eyes go teary as she speaks.

This sneaky woman! She drops honorific on Sesshomaru-sama only after staying for 4 days?! Her whiny words causes Jaken to glare at her in jealousy and he yells.

"And why does he have to inform you?!"

"What do you mean why? Because we are husband and wife soon-to-be of course."

Nanase claims while shooting her suspicious gaze at me. Getting tired of her endless future mate topics, I get away further from the group.

"Husband and Wife? What nonsense."

Being assigned a status that is made from human out of nowhere, Sesshomaru voices his disgust and walks off. Much to Nanase's distress. And before leaving with him, she huffs and gives me a deadly glare.

"Huh? What's with her?"

And I literally have no idea what I've done to anger Nanase that much.